Method for confirming performance of communication node in communication system and apparatus therefor

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, a method performed by an intermediate node may comprise: a step of receiving a setting message from a northbound node, the setting message including information relating to a message to be combined in a shared unit; receiving a user plane message from each of the plurality of southbound nodes included in the sharing unit; a step for identifying, from among the packets included in each of the received user plane messages, a packet that needs to be combined on the basis of information relating to a message that needs to be combined in the sharing unit; and a step of determining an uplink counter value for each of the plurality of south nodes by counting the identified packets that need to be combined.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method for confirming the performance of a communication node in a communication system and an apparatus thereof. Background Art

[0002] As wireless communication systems develop and evolve into fourth-generation and fifth-generation (5G) communication systems, various functions and specifications are required. Various approaches have been introduced to meet these functions and specifications, one of which is a functional split network infrastructure structure. As a representative configuration of the functional split approach, base stations can be functionally represented as centralized units (CUs), distributed units (DUs), and radio units (RUs). The interfaces for each unit are defined by groups such as 3GPP and the O-RAN Alliance. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Problems to be solved by the invention

[0004] A technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to confirm the communication performance in fronthaul in a method of configuring multiple cells or more than one shared cell.

[0005] Another technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to save resources and confirm the communication status in O-RAN in a method for configuring a shared unit.

[0006] Solutions for solving problems

[0007] According to one embodiment, it may also include: a step of receiving information related to the first interval or the second interval for counter reporting from the above-mentioned northbound node through a control plane message; a step of transmitting the uplink counter value and the uplink combination counter value of each of the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes to the above-mentioned northbound node in each of the above-mentioned first interval; or a step of transmitting the uplink counter value and the uplink combination counter value of each of the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes in the form of a file to the memory or storage server of the above-mentioned northbound node in each of the above-mentioned second interval.

[0008] According to one embodiment, information related to messages that need to be combined in the shared unit may include: transport flow and eAxC (extended antenna-carrier) ID (identifier) ​​information of the messages that need to be combined among the uplink messages to be transmitted by the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes, and the above-mentioned transport flow information includes the source MAC (media access control) or IP (internet protocol) address and the destination MAC or IP (MAC / IP) address of the above-mentioned messages that need to be combined.

[0009] According to one embodiment, the step of identifying packets to be combined in the packets included in each of the received user plane messages based on the information related to the messages to be combined in the shared unit may include: the step of identifying the transport flow and the eAxC ID of the packets included in each of the user plane messages; the step of transmitting the at least one first packet to the northbound node without combining if the destination MAC / IP address of at least one first packet in the packets included in each of the user plane messages is not the intermediate node MAC / IP address; the step of discarding the at least one second packet if the destination MAC / IP address of at least one second packet in the packets included in each of the user plane messages is the intermediate node MAC / IP address and the eAxC ID is different from the eAxC ID included in the information related to the messages to be combined in the shared unit; and the step of identifying the at least one third packet as the packet to be combined if the destination MAC / IP address of at least one third packet in the packets included in each of the user plane messages is the intermediate node MAC / IP address and the eAxC ID is consistent with the eAxC ID included in the information related to the messages to be combined in the shared unit.

[0010] According to one embodiment, the method may further include: when the value of the uplink combination counter of each of the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes is the same, determining that there are no missing packets in the user plane message received from each of the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes, or determining that the same number of packets are missing from the user plane message received from each of the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes.

[0011] According to one embodiment, the method may further include: when the difference between the uplink counter value of the first southbound node among the multiple southbound nodes and the uplink combination counter value of the first southbound node gradually increases, determining that the message received from the first southbound node is continuously missed.

[0012] According to an embodiment, the method may further include: when the value of the uplink combination counter of each of the plurality of south nodes is different, determining that some messages are missed at a specific time or a different number of messages are received.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the intermediate node may include a fronthaul-multiplexer or a cascade radio unit, the northbound node may include other intermediate nodes different from the intermediate node, a distributed unit, a radio unit controller or a service management and orchestration (SMO), and the multiple southbound nodes may include another intermediate node or radio unit.

[0014] According to one embodiment, it also includes: a step of receiving setting information of the uplink counter and the uplink combination counter of each of the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes from the above-mentioned northbound node, and the setting information of the above-mentioned uplink counter and the uplink combination counter may include information representing the measurement interval of the counter, information representing the measurement object entity of the counter, and information of the notification interval or file upload interval for reporting the counter value.

[0015] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, an intermediate node of a communication system may include: a transceiver; a memory; and at least one processor electrically connected to the above-mentioned transceiver and the above-mentioned memory; the above-mentioned at least one processor is configured to: receive a setting message from a north node (north node), the above-mentioned setting message including a setting message containing information related to messages that need to be combined in a shared unit, receive user plane messages from multiple south nodes (south nodes) included in the above-mentioned shared unit respectively, identify the packets that need to be combined in the packets included in each of the received user plane messages based on the information related to the messages that need to be combined in the above-mentioned shared unit, and determine the uplink counter value of each of the above-mentioned multiple south nodes by counting the identified packets that need to be combined.

[0016] Effects of the Invention

[0017] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, when a problem occurs at a port of a southbound node included in a shared unit in an intermediate node, the problem can be identified.

[0018] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the replication or combination performance of the intermediate node may be confirmed based on a counter.

[0019] The effects of the technical concept of the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and those skilled in the art can clearly understand other effects not mentioned through the following description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1a A wireless communication system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0021] Figure 1b An example of a fronthaul structure based on functional separation of a base station according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0022] Figure 2 A diagram illustrating an O-RAN network system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0023] Figure 3 The structure of an O-RAN wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an Ethernet message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 5a and Figure 5b is a diagram illustrating an example of a C-plane message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 6 2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an O-RAN base station including an intermediate node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating a system including a counter in an uplink according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 8 is a diagram illustrating a flow of messages for combining at an intermediate node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating a system including a counter in a downlink according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 10 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a message flow for performing replication at an intermediate node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0031] Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining and reporting performance counters according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0032] Figure 12is a diagram illustrating a performance management portion in the Yang model according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a northbound node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an intermediate node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a southbound node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0036] Figure 16 FIG. 1 is a flowchart for illustrating a method for performing performance measurement and reporting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail together with the accompanying drawings.

[0038] When describing the embodiments of the present disclosure, if it is deemed that a detailed description of a related function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the main purpose of the present disclosure, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Furthermore, the terms described below are defined based on the functions of the present disclosure and may vary depending on the intentions or practices of users and operators. Therefore, they should be defined based on the entire content of this specification.

[0039] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some structural elements can be shown in an exaggerated or omitted or schematic manner. In addition, the size of each structural element does not fully reflect the actual size. In each accompanying drawing, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding structural elements.

[0040] The advantages, features, and methods for achieving the same can be clearly understood by referring to the accompanying drawings and the various specific embodiments described below. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the various embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in a variety of different forms. The various embodiments are provided only to fully illustrate the present disclosure and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the present disclosure of the scope of the invention. The scope of protection claimed by the present disclosure can only be defined by the scope of the claims.

[0041] At this point, it is understood that the individual blocks of the accompanying drawings showing the process flow diagrams and the combination of the accompanying drawings of the process flow diagrams can be executed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be installed in a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device. Therefore, the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device will generate means for performing the functions described in the flowchart blocks (multiple). These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-usable or computer-readable memory that can be mounted on a computer or other programmable data processing device in order to implement the functions in a specific manner. Therefore, the instructions stored in the computer-usable or computer-readable memory can also produce a manufactured item including the instruction means for performing the functions described in the flowchart blocks (multiple). Since the computer program instructions can also be installed on a computer or other programmable data processing device, a series of action steps can be executed on the computer or other programmable data processing device to generate a process executed by the computer, thereby executing the instructions of the computer or other programmable data processing device can also provide steps for performing the functions described in the flowchart blocks (multiple).

[0042] In addition, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for performing a specific logical function(s). In addition, it should be noted that in some alternative execution examples, the functions mentioned in the blocks may not be executed in order. For example, two blocks shown in a consecutive diagram may actually be executed simultaneously, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in reverse order according to the corresponding functions.

[0043] The term "unit or part" used in this disclosure refers to a hardware structural element such as software or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and the "unit" can be configured to perform a specific role. However, "unit" does not mean being limited to software or hardware. The "unit" can also be configured to be located in an addressable storage medium, and can also be configured to execute more than one processor. Therefore, as an example, the "unit" includes structural elements such as software structural elements, object-oriented software structural elements, class structural elements and task structural elements, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, program code segments, drivers, firmware, microcodes, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays and variables. The functions provided in the structural elements and "units" can be combined with a smaller number of structural elements and "units", or further separated into additional structural elements and "units". In addition, the structural elements and "units" can also be implemented as one or more CPUs in a regeneration device or a secure multimedia card. In addition, in an embodiment, “a unit” may include more than one processor and / or device.

[0044] In various embodiments, the technology described in the present disclosure and the systems and devices for implementing the technology not only utilize wireless access technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), LTE, GSM and 5GNR, but also utilize other wireless access technologies such as WiFi or WiMax to support communication methods between networks (or systems).

[0045] The following further describes a number of other embodiments and features of the technical ideas disclosed in the present invention. It should be clear that the teachings of the present application can be implemented in a wide range of forms, and any specific structure, function or form disclosed in the present application is only an example and is not limited. Based on the teachings of the present application, those skilled in the art should understand that the form disclosed in the present application can be implemented independently of any other form, and two or more of these forms can be combined in various ways. For example, any number of forms proposed in the present application can be used to implement a device, or to implement a method. In addition, forms other than one or more of the forms described in the present application, or other structures, functionalities, or structures and functionalities other than one or more forms can be used to implement such a device, or to implement such a method. For example, the method can also be implemented as part of a command stored in a computer-readable medium in order to be executed on a system, device, apparatus and / or processor, or computer. In addition, a form can also include at least one component of a claim.

[0046] The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that in the accompanying drawings, identical structural elements are represented by identical symbols whenever possible. Detailed descriptions of related known functions and structures will be omitted if they may cause confusion with the main purpose of the present invention.

[0047] When describing the embodiments in this specification, descriptions of technical contents that are well known in the technical field to which the present invention belongs and that are not directly related to the present invention will be omitted. This is to convey the main idea of ​​the present invention more clearly by omitting unnecessary descriptions without obscuring the main idea of ​​the present invention.

[0048] For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some structural elements are shown in exaggerated or omitted or schematic forms. In addition, the size of each structural element does not fully reflect the actual size. In each accompanying drawing, the same reference numerals are given to the same or corresponding structural elements.

[0049] The advantages, features, and methods for achieving the present invention can be clearly understood by referring to the accompanying drawings and the various specific embodiments described below. However, the present invention is not limited to the various embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in a variety of different forms. The various embodiments are provided solely to fully disclose the present invention and to fully inform those skilled in the art of the present invention of the scope of the invention. The present invention is defined solely by the scope of the claims. Throughout this specification, the same reference numerals represent the same structural elements.

[0050] At this point, it is understood that the individual blocks of the flowchart's figures and the combination of the flowchart's figures can be executed by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be installed in a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device. Therefore, the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device will generate means for performing the functions described in the flowchart block (s). In order to implement the functions in a specific manner, these computer program instructions can also be stored in a computer-usable or computer-readable memory that can be mounted on a computer or other programmable data processing device. Therefore, the instructions stored in the computer-usable or computer-readable memory can also produce a manufactured item including instruction means for performing the functions described in the flowchart block (s). Since the computer program instructions can also be installed on a computer or other programmable data processing device, a series of action steps can be executed on the computer or other programmable data processing device to generate a process executed by the computer, thereby executing the instructions of the computer or other programmable data processing device can also provide steps for performing the functions described in the flowchart block (s).

[0051] In addition, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of code that includes one or more executable instructions for performing a specific logical function(s). In addition, it should be noted that in some alternative execution examples, the functions mentioned in the blocks may not be executed in order. For example, two blocks shown in a consecutive diagram may actually be executed simultaneously, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in reverse order according to the corresponding functions.

[0052] Here, the term "unit" as used in this embodiment refers to a hardware structural element such as software or an FPGA or ASIC, and the "unit" can perform a certain function. However, "unit" is not limited to software or hardware. The "unit" can also be configured to be located in an addressable storage medium and can also be configured to execute more than one processor. Therefore, as an example, "unit" includes structural elements such as software structural elements, object-oriented software structural elements, class structural elements, and task structural elements, processes, functions, attributes, procedures, subroutines, program code segments, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functions provided in the structural elements and "units" can be combined with a smaller number of structural elements and "units", or further separated into additional structural elements and "units". Furthermore, the structural elements and "units" can also be implemented as one or more CPUs within a playback device or a secure multimedia card.

[0053] Hereinafter, the base station, as the subject that performs resource allocation of the terminal, may be at least one of a Node B, a base station (BS), an eNB (eNode B), a gNB (gNode B), a wireless access unit, a base station controller, or a node on the network. The terminal may include a user equipment (UE), a mobile station (MS), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a computer, or a multimedia system capable of performing a communication function. Furthermore, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be applicable to other communication systems having a technical background or channel morphology similar to the embodiments of the present disclosure described below. In addition, the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be partially deformed and applicable to other communication systems at the discretion of those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0054] The following description uses terms for identifying access nodes, network entities or network functions (NFs), messages, interfaces between network entities, and various types of identification information for illustrative purposes only. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the following terms, and other terms may be used to refer to objects with equivalent technical meanings.

[0055] For ease of description, some terms and names defined in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and IEEE 802.11 standards may be used below. However, the present invention is not limited to the above terms and names and may also be applied to systems based on other standards.

[0056] Hereinafter, various embodiments according to the technical concept of the present disclosure will be described in detail.

[0057] The O-RAN Distributed Unit (O-DU) can be part of the O-RAN system, typically implemented via software. More specifically, the O-DU can be a logical node hosting the RLC / MACI High-PHY layer, which is divided based on underlying layer functions. The O-RU (O-RAN Radio Unit) can be a logical node hosting the RF processing and Low-PHY layer, which is divided based on underlying layer functions. It can perform the functions of transmitting and receiving radio signals, which are the main features of the 3GPP "TRP" or "RRH."

[0058] UE (User Equipment) is a device that enables users to access network services, like a mobile phone.

[0059] Uplink (UL) refers to traffic from the UE to the network and from the O-RU to the O-DU, passing through different network elements. The interface from the UE to the O-RU is wireless, while UL traffic from the O-RU to the O-DU can be wireless or wired (for example, using an Ethernet connection).

[0060] Downlink (DL) refers to traffic from the O-DU to the O-RU and from the network to the UE through the network's structural elements. The fronthaul interface from the O-DU to the O-RU can be wired or wireless (for example, Ethernet), while the interface from the O-RU to the UE can be wireless.

[0061] The O-RAN specification may include four planes: user plane (U-plane), control plane (C-plane), synchronization plane (S-plane) and management plane (M-plane).

[0062] The user plane (U-plane) may have a concept including IQ sample data transmitted between the O-DU and the O-RU.

[0063] The control plane (C-plane) refers in particular to the concept of scheduling information, beamforming information transmission and other real-time control between the O-DU and O-RU, and can be distinguished from the control plane of the UE.

[0064] The synchronization plane (S-plane) usually includes the configuration of time and frequency synchronization methods and the exchange of information. In addition to the O-DU and O-RU, it can also include other network elements.

[0065] The Management Plane (M-plane) represents the concept of non-real-time management actions for the O-RU. This non-real-time management work can be performed bidirectionally by the O-RU and the O-RU controller, which can reside in the O-DU or Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) system, or exist as a separate device.

[0066] The M-plane interface is the link between the O-RU controller and O-RUs for exchanging non-real-time management information.

[0067] The Section Type is a delimiter in the C-plane message format and is composed of different data fields depending on the scheduling format, beamforming information configuration format, ACK / NACK indication response, LAA information exchange, and other purposes.

[0068] Section extension data is selective additional information appended to the end of the section data in the C-plane message flowing from the O-DU to the O-RU. It can transmit additional real-time control information to support or achieve optimization purposes that cannot be achieved in the conventional configuration format.

[0069] A shared cell may indicate an operation mode in which multiple O-RUs are included in the same cell where one or more component carriers are located.

[0070] The O-DU and O-RU can be distinguished based on whether there are multiple network elements and links (or data flows), as shown in Table 1 below.

[0071]

Table 1

[0072] Differentiate based on the number of DUs and RUs and the type of unit configured

[0073]

[0074] In the absence of additional implementation of UE and major changes, based on the allowable configuration, the UE basically does not identify the shared unit and the non-shared unit in a way that distinguishes between them, but identifies them as existing units. Therefore, regardless of the cell type, the nature of the unit remains one. When configured by multiple O-RUs, interference between radio signals such as broadcasting channels such as the system information block (SIB) 1 provided as a single layer within the unit and control channels such as the group common PDCCH can be minimized, thereby having the advantage of providing an excellent propagation environment.

[0075] However, some signals in a shared unit, such as the synchronization signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) and channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS), can be allocated individually or in groups to O-RUs to support positioning and selective operations. Therefore, it is not intended that individual O-RUs in a shared unit always perform the same operations.

[0076] With respect to the O-DU, the operating principles of cell type 2A (shared cell) are essentially the same as those of cell type 1. However, the expected performance of the cell and the requirements for cell configuration differ due to the configuration of multiple O-RUs. Regarding radio signal quality, the noise power in the uplink (UL) signal increases proportionally to the number of O-RUs. Regarding message handling, since network entities handle messages using a single message, as with cell type 1, it is necessary to copy downlink (DL) directional messages and combine uplink (UL) directional messages in the link between the O-DU and O-RU. Combining can include concepts such as sum, aggregate, and add. In O-RAN, a fronthaul multiplexer (FHM) or cascade O-RU is defined as the network node responsible for this functionality.

[0077] In FHM mode, the shared unit can be configured with the FHM function configured between at least one O-DU and multiple O-RUs. The FHM function can perform copy and combine functions and can also support LLS fronthaul like a normal O-RU. Among them, combination can include all expressions such as combine, sum, aggregate, and add. Multiple O-RUs connected to the FHM can share a unit, and can be designed to be divided into multiple units and shared by each group.

[0078] As an example of the cascade mode, one O-RU may be directly connected to the O-DU, and other O-RUs may be connected to the O-RU in a manner that is serially connected to each other.

[0079] Figure 1a A wireless communication system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 1a , a base station 110, a first terminal 120, and a second terminal 130 are shown as part of nodes using a wireless channel in a wireless communication system. Figure 1a Only one base station is shown in FIG. 1 , but more than one other base stations that are the same as or similar to the base station 110 may also be included.

[0080] Base station 110 is a network infrastructure that provides wireless access to terminals 120 and 130. Base station 110 has coverage defined as a predetermined geographical area based on the distance over which a signal can be transmitted. Base station 110 may be referred to as an "access point (AP)", "evolved Node B (eNB)", "fifth generation node (5th generation node)", "next generation node B (gNB)", "wireless point", "transmission / reception point (TRP)", or other technical equivalents thereof, in addition to a base station.

[0081] The terminals 120 and 130 are devices used by users and communicate with the base station 110 through a wireless channel. The link from the base station 110 to the first terminal 120 or the second terminal 130 is referred to as a downlink (DL), and the link from the first terminal 120 or the second terminal 130 to the base station 110 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In addition, the first terminal 120 and the second terminal 130 can communicate with each other through a wireless channel. In some cases, at least one of the first terminal 120 and the second terminal 130 can operate without user intervention. That is, at least one of the first terminal 120 and the second terminal 130, as a device for machine type communication (MTC), may not be carried by the user. Each terminal of the first terminal 120 and the second terminal 130 can be referred to as "user equipment (UE)", "customer premises equipment (CPE)", "mobile station (mobilestation)", "subscriber station (subscriber station)" "remote terminal (remote terminal)", "wireless terminal (wireless terminal)", "electronic device (electronic device)", "user device (user device)" or other terms with equivalent technical meanings.

[0082] In the past, in a communication system in which the unit radius of a base station was large, each base station was configured to include the functions of a digital processing unit (digital processing unit, or digital unit (DU)) and a radio frequency (RF) processing unit (RF processing unit or radio unit (RU)). However, with the use of high-frequency bands in fourth-generation (4G) and / or later communication systems and the reduction in the unit radius of base stations, the number of base stations used to cover a specific area has increased, and the setup burden of the operator for setting up the increased base stations has increased. In order to minimize the setup cost of the base station, the following structure is proposed: the DU and RU of the base station are separated, one or more RUs are connected to one DU via a wired network, and one or more RUs are configured to be distributed on the terrain to cover a specific area.

[0083] Figure 1b An example of a fronthaul structure based on functional separation of base stations according to various embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Unlike backhaul between a base station and a core network, fronthaul refers to the link between a wireless local area network and an entity between base stations.

[0084] refer to Figure 1b Base station 110 may include DU 160 and RU 180. Fronthaul 170 between DU 160 and RU 180 may be implemented via an Fx interface. To implement fronthaul 170, interfaces such as enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) and radio over Ethernet (ROE) may be used.

[0085] With the development of communication technology, mobile data traffic has increased, significantly increasing the bandwidth required for fronthaul between the DU and RU. In a configuration such as a centralized / cloud radio access network (C-RAN), the DU can perform functions related to the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical layer (PHY), while the RU performs functions related to the PHY layer in addition to the radio frequency (RF) layer.

[0086] DU160 may be responsible for upper-layer functions of the wireless network. For example, DU160 may perform the functions of the MAC layer and a portion of the PHY layer. A portion of the PHY layer refers to functions performed at a higher level within the PHY layer, and may include, for example, channel coding (or channel decoding), scrambling (or descrambling), modulation (or demodulation), and layer mapping (or layer demapping). According to one embodiment, DU160 may be referred to as O-DU (O-RAN DU) in accordance with the O-RAN specification. DU160 may be replaced by the first network entity for a base station (e.g., gNB) in the embodiments of the present disclosure, as needed.

[0087] RU180 can be responsible for the lower layer functions of the wireless network. For example, RU180 can perform part of the PHY layer and RF functions. Among them, part of the PHY layer refers to the functions of the PHY layer that are performed at a relatively lower stage than DU160, for example, it can include IFFT transformation (or FFT transformation), CP insertion (CP removal), and digital beamforming. Figure 4An example of this specific functional separation is described in detail in . RU180 may be referred to as an "access unit (AU)", "access point (AP)", "transmission / reception point (TRP)", "remote radio head (RRH)", "radio unit (RU)" or other terms with equivalent technical meanings. According to one embodiment, RU180 may be referred to as O-RU (O-RAN RU) when in accordance with the O-RAN specification. DU180 may be replaced by a second network entity (e.g., other FHM) for a base station (e.g., gNB) in an embodiment of the present disclosure as needed.

[0088] In fronthaul communications between DU 160 and RU 180, RU 180 must continuously perform radio transmission and reception as specified in 3GPP TS within the tolerances set for time and frequency resources (e.g., frequency time error, time alignment error, etc.). To achieve this, the network infrastructure must manage timing and latency for each network element. In particular, the DU and RU, which perform physical layer signal processing, require strict timing control and high accuracy. Functional split option 7 performs signal processing on a per-symbol basis. Therefore, IQ data corresponding to each symbol and its processing information must be transmitted between DU 160 and RU 180 within a specified latency. The message arrival time can be related by the transmission time and latency, as shown in the following formula.

[0089] Sending time (window) + delay time <= arrival time (window)

[0090] (Transmit window+transport delay<=receive window)

[0091] There are generally two approaches: fixed DU timing, which ensures sufficient margin for transmission delay based on RU180 timing, and dynamic DU timing, which takes advantage of changing the message send / receive timing to provide additional time for fronthaul transmission delay. This approach relies on the message timing management capabilities of DU160 and is therefore determined by DU160. In RU180, it is generally beneficial to process within the shortest deadline using the best resources. Therefore, RU180 provides a delay profile based on specified criteria. These criteria can include subcarrier spacing, bandwidth, fronthaul line rate, buffer depth, and transport flow. Due to the multitude of parameters for message delay management between DU160 and RU180, it is generally expected that optimization based on use case and negotiation between vendors will be implemented, rather than a convergence process based on general requirements and relationships. Even with the DU160's dynamic timing handling, this means dynamic changes based on use cases and deployments, not dynamic changes to the latency of deployed cells. While it's possible to expand this approach to semi-static responses to service degradation, it currently offers no significant advantages.

[0092] O-RAN message timing is managed to ensure smooth transmission and reception between DU 160 and RU 180 within the context of transport delay. The uplink combining function for U-plane messages for FHM and Cascade O-RUs can perform actions based on ta3-prime-max based on the current reference timing ul = 0. Ta3-prime-max is determined by considering Ta4-max in the DU and the forward transport delay (FH transport delay).

[0093] Figure 2 FIG2 shows an O-RAN network system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2In the O-RAN network, which logically separates the functions of the eNB and gNB in ​​existing 4G and 5G systems, the O-RAN standard defines the non-real-time (NRT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 210, the RIC 220 in the O-RAN base station 200, the O-CU-CP 230, the O-CU-UP 240, the O-DU 250, and the O-RU 260. The NRT-RIC 210 is a logical node that enables non-real-time control, optimization of RAN elements and resources, model training, and updates. The RIC 220 is a logical node that centralizes servers in a single physical location and enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources based on data collected from the O-DU 250, O-CU-CP 230, and O-CU-UP 240 via the E2 interface. The O-CU including O-CU-CP230 and O-CU-UP240 is a logical node that provides the functions of radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP). The O-CU-CP230 is a logical node that provides the functions of the C-plane part of RRC and PDCP, and the O-CU-UP240 is a logical node that provides the functions of the U-plane part of SDAP and PDCP. The O-CU-CP230 can be connected to the access and mobility management function (AMF) included in the 5G network (5G core) through the NGAP interface. The O-DU250 is a logical node that provides the functions of RLC, MAC, and high-PHY. The O-RU260 connected to the O-DU250 is a logical node that provides low-PHY functions and RF processing. Figure 2 In the figure, each logical node is shown as a single one, but each logical node can be connected to multiple ones. For example, one O-DU 250 can be connected to multiple O-RUs 260, and one O-CU-UP 240 can be connected to multiple O-DUs 250.

[0094] The present invention is not limited by the names of the various nodes described above, and the configuration of the present invention can be applied to the logical nodes or entities that perform the functions described above. In addition, the above-mentioned logical nodes can be located in the same physical location or different locations, and their functions can be provided by the same physical device (for example, a processor, a control unit, etc.), or their functions can be provided by different physical devices. For example, the functions of at least one logical node described above can be provided in a virtualized manner in one physical device. In the following, O-DU can be expressed in a mixed manner with DU, and O-RU can be expressed in a mixed manner with RU.

[0095] Figure 3 The structure of an O-RAN wireless communication system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. The wireless communication system may include a base station 305 and at least one UE 330a, 330b, ..., 330f. The base station may include a CU 310, at least one DU 315a, 315b, an FHM 320, and at least one RU 325a, 325b, ..., 325f. The CU, DU, FHM, and RU may all be included in the base station, or may exist as separate entities with separate functions.

[0096] In one embodiment, the wireless communication system may be a radio access network (RAN) such as open-RAN. Generally, the RAN may include connections between a network (including base stations) and a UE. The O-RAN may include functional and structural elements in the RAN and may interoperate with other functional or structural elements. Like the traditional RAN structure, the O-RAN may also use a CU / DU split structure. The RU may generally have functions for transmitting, receiving, amplifying, and digitizing radio frequency signals. In one embodiment, the RU may be located near the antenna and the DU. The CU may be located closer to the core network. The FHM may serve as an interface between the RU and the DU and may multiplex or demultiplex information received from the RU before providing the information to the DU. The CU310, DU, FHM, and RU may be expressed as O-CU, O-DU, O-FHM, and O-RU, respectively.

[0097] In the O-RAN architecture, the shared unit structure may include an RU that combines the received I / Q samples before transmitting them from the RU to the DU. In the O-RAN architecture utilizing CU / DU partitioning, two modes of structure may be defined.

[0098] The first mode is FHM mode, where the FHM 320 can search for I / Q samples and compression information from all connected O-RUs 325a, 325b, and 325c via signaling. Multiple O-RUs are connected to the FHM, and each RU can be associated with or wirelessly communicate with more than one UE.

[0099] The second mode can be defined as cascade mode (or cascade O-RU mode). The cascaded O-RUs 325d and 325e can search for I / Q samples and compression information through messaging in the southbound node O-RU (e.g., trailing O-RU, downstream O-RU). The upstream O-RU combines the I / Q samples for transmission to the next RU or DU.

[0100] Figure 4 : This is a diagram showing the structure of an Ethernet message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The destination media access control (MAC) address (Destination MAC address) 400 of the header of the above Ethernet message can indicate the public address of the RU unit in the case of DL, and can indicate the public address of a specific port of the channel card of the DU (which can perform MAC layer actions responsible for scheduling and high-physical layer (high-PHY) actions, and actions that convert data formats according to the interface between the RU and the DU) in the case of UL. The source MAC address (Source MAC Address) 410 can indicate the RU in the case of UL, and can indicate the public address of a specific port of the channel card of the DU in the case of DL.

[0101] The Virtual LAN (VLAN) tag (Tag) 420 is 4 bytes in size and can map C-plane, U-plane, or S-plane messages to different VLAN tags for management. The tag protocol identifier (TPID) included in the VLAN Tag 420 can be set to 16 bits and, to identify frames using IEEE 802.1Q tagged frames, can be set to a value of 0x8100. This field can be located in the same position as the Ethernet type / length field in an untagged frame, thereby distinguishing untagged frames from ordinary frames. The tag control information (TCI) included in the VLAN Tag can also be set to 16 bits and can include the following three fields: the priority code point (PCP) can use 3 bits to indicate the priority of the frame. The drop eligibility indicator (DEI) can be set to 1 bit and used separately from the PCP or in combination with it to distinguish better frames by removing them when traffic is congested. The VLAN identifier (VID) can be set to 12 bits and is a field that indicates which VLAN the frame belongs to. All values ​​other than the reserved values ​​0x000 and 0xFFF can be used as VLAN identifiers, allowing up to 4094 VLANs. The alternative value 0x000 indicates that the frame does not belong to any VLAN. In this case, 802.1Q only specifies the priority, which can be referenced by the priority tag. Since Type / Length (Ethertype) is used for eCPRI, it can be set to a fixed value of 0xAEFE.

[0102] like Figure 4 As shown, the payload 440 may include messages in various flat formats including an eCPRI header. Figure 4 The contents of the various fields or information of the described Ethernet message do not necessarily include all fields, and other fields may be omitted and / or added as needed to implement the present invention.

[0103] Figure 5a and Figure 5b is a diagram illustrating an example of a C-plane message according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 5a shows the C-plane structure of sector type 1, Figure 5b The C-plane structure of segment type 3 is shown.

[0104] First, refer to Figure 5a The transport header 501 may include the fields Figure 4 500 may indicate the eCPRI header shown in the IEEE-1914.3 header or information according to IEEE-1914.3. dataDirection 502 may indicate the direction of the U-Plane message, 0 may indicate UL, and 1 may indicate DL. filterIndex 504 indicates the channel filter of the RU and may be set to 0x1. frameId 506 may indicate a specific frame in 10ms units. subframeId 508 may indicate a specific subframe in 1ms units in the corresponding frame. slotId 510 may indicate a specific time slot in the corresponding frame.

[0105] numberOfsections 514 can represent the number of sections indicated by the corresponding message. For SectionType 516, a C-plane message can only have one section type. In this example, section type 1 can be represented. udCompHdr 518 can indicate the IQ bit width (bit) and compression method of the IQ data of all sections used for the corresponding message. Specifically, the upper 4 bits (upper 4 bits) serve as iqWidth, indicating 1 to 16 bits, and the lower 4 bits (lower 4 bits) can be compMeth indicating the compression method. The above 502 to 518 serve as application headers (application header) 540 that can be commonly applied to the corresponding messages and can be included in all C-plane messages with a similar structure.

[0106] The C-plane message of segment type 1 can include information for any segment. SectionID 522 indicates the segment ID, which can be used for matching between the C-plane message and the U-plane message. rb 524 indicates which PRB to use, 0 indicates using all PRBs, and 1 can indicate using every other PRB. StartPrbc 526 is used to indicate the first PRB in the corresponding segment, and numPrbc 528 can indicate the number of PRBs in the corresponding segment. reMask 530 is a bit pattern indicating the RE (or subcarrier) corresponding to a specific beam in the corresponding PRB, and different beams can be applied to one PRB through reMask. numSymbol 532 can indicate the number of symbols corresponding to the corresponding segment. The fields described above can be referred to as a section header 542 for each segment.

[0107] In addition, the above C-plane message may include a section extension, and whether the section extension is included may be indicated by an extension flag (ef) 520. Figure 5a The contents of each field or information described does not necessarily include all fields, and other fields may be omitted and / or added as needed to implement the present invention.

[0108] refer to Figure 5b , transport header to sectiontype and Figure 5a The same, but there are differences in the subsequent fields. Timeoffset550, framestructure552, cpLength554, and udCompHdr556 are fields that can be confirmed in the C-plane of segment type 3. Timeoffset550 defines the time offset from the start of the time slot to the start of the cyclic prefix (CP). Framestructure552 defines the frame structure, where the first 4 bits define the size of the FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) / iFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) used to process all IQ data related to the C-plane message, and the remaining 4 bits define the subcarrier spacing (SPS) and the number of time slots per 1ms subframe. cpLength554 indicates the length of the cyclic prefix. udCompHdr556 defines the compression method for user data in the data segment and the in-phase, quadrature (IQ) bit width. Most of the remaining fields are the same as Figure 5a Similar, so the description is omitted.

[0109] Figure 6 2 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an O-RAN base station including an intermediate node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0110] refer to Figure 6 The O-RAN base station (or network) 600 may include at least one O-DU 610 a , 610 b ; a middle node 620 a , 620 b ; at least one O-RU 640 a , 640 b , . . . , 640 f ; and a controller 650 .

[0111] The at least one O-DU 610a, 610b may also be referred to as a northbound node centered around the first intermediate node 620a. The intermediate nodes 620a, 620b may be referred to as FHM 620a, Cascade FHM (not shown), or Cascade O-RU 620B. The at least one O-RU 640a, 640b, ..., 640f may be referred to as a southbound node centered around the first intermediate node 620a. The controller 650 may include its functions in the O-DUs 610a, 610b and may exist as a separate device.

[0112] refer to Figure 6a. The controller 650 can communicate directly with at least one O-DU 610a, 610b; an intermediate node (middle node) 620a, 620b; and at least one O-RU 640a, 640b, ..., 640f. The controller 650 can communicate M-plane messages with at least one O-DU 610a, 610b. The controller 650 can communicate M-plane messages with the intermediate nodes 620a, 620b. At least one O-DU 610a, 610b can communicate C / U-Plane messages with the intermediate node 620a. At least one O-DU 610a, 610b can communicate C / U-Plane messages directly with at least one O-RU 640a, 640b, ..., 640f. The intermediate node can communicate with at least one O-RU included in at least one cell (cell #0, cell #1) 630a, 630b. The first intermediate node 620a can transmit M-plane and C / U-plane messages received from at least one O-DU 610a, 610b or controller 650 to at least one O-RU 640a, 640b, ..., 640f. In this case, the first intermediate node 620a can copy (copy) the same message and transmit it to the O-RUs included in the same cell. For example, the same message can be copied in the first intermediate node 620a and transmitted to O-RU#1 630a and O-RU#2 630b included in cell#0 630a, respectively. In addition, different messages can be transmitted from the first intermediate node 620a to cell#0 630a and cell#1 630b, respectively. According to one embodiment, the second intermediate node 620b can be included in the cell 630b. In this case, the second intermediate node 620b includes its southbound O-RUs and can copy and transmit messages from the upstream end to the corresponding O-RUs. For example, cell #1 630b includes the second intermediate node 620b, which can copy and transmit data received from the first intermediate node 620a to the southbound O-RUs #5 640e and #6 640f.

[0113] refer to Figure 6At least one O-RU 640a, 640b, ..., 640f may transmit a U-plane message to the first intermediate node 620a based on data received from the terminal. The first intermediate node 620a may combine messages received from the at least one O-RU 640a, 640b, ..., 640f. Combining may include all expressions such as combining, summing, aggregating, and adding. The first intermediate node 620a may combine messages received from the at least one O-RU 640a, 640b, ..., 640f and transmit them to the at least one O-DU 610a, 610b. In this case, the first intermediate node 620a may combine data received from O-DUs included in the same unit. According to one embodiment, the intermediate node 620b may be included within the unit 630b. In this case, the second intermediate node 620b includes an O-RU in the southbound direction of the second intermediate node 620b and may combine messages received from the corresponding O-RUs and transmit them to the upper end. For example, in cell #1 630b, according to the cascade structure, the second intermediate node 620b can combine data received from O-RU #5 640e and O-RU #6 640f at the downstream end and transmit the data to the first intermediate node 620a at the upstream end. The word "combine" can include all expressions such as "combine," "sum," "aggregate," and "add." The first intermediate node 620a can combine the data received from the second intermediate node 620b with the data received from O-RU #3 640c and O-RU #4 640d in cell #1 630b and transmit the data to the O-DUs 610a and 620b.

[0114] In the present disclosure, a northbound node may be a concept including a DU, O-DU, O-RU controller, service management and orchestration (SMO), or other intermediate nodes (e.g., an FHM, an FHM connected to a cascaded RU, or a cascaded RU), and may be a single entity that logically or physically includes all functions, or an entity separated into each function. A southbound node may be a concept including an RU, O-RU, or other intermediate nodes (e.g., an FHM, an FHM connected to a cascaded RU, or a cascaded RU), and may be a single entity that logically or physically includes all functions, or an entity separated into each function.

[0115] In the technical field related to O-RAN, the problem of missing some messages during actual message transmission arises. This can be caused by factors such as late transmission within the transmission entity, late reception due to transmission delays caused by long fiber distances, missed timing settings, incorrect user plane message configuration, and network congestion, a bottleneck. To address these issues, a method has been proposed that defines a receive window (Rx-window) and uses a corresponding counter. However, since the receive window counter is based on radio delay parameters, it is not suitable for FHMs in shared units. FHMs lack radios, and there is no defined or sufficient delay parameter for replication or combination, which complicates calculations for various ports. This complexity is further exacerbated by the fact that shared units can include various extended topologies, such as multiple O-DUs, multiple entities, and stepped FHMs. Therefore, to address these issues, a counter that can identify available performance at intermediate nodes is proposed.

[0116] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating a system including a counter in an uplink according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0117] Figure 7 The north node (north node or northbound node) 710 in Figures 1a to 6 The controller 650, DU 315a, 315b or O-DU 610a, 610b in the intermediate node (FHM / Cascade O-RU) 720 can be the same as or similar to the controller 650, DU 315a, 315b or O-DU 610a, 610b in the intermediate node (FHM / Cascade O-RU) 720. Figures 1a to 6 The FHM320, RU325d, 325e or intermediate nodes 620a, 620b in FIG. 7 are the same or similar. The southbound nodes (south node or southbound node) 730a, 730n can be the same as Figures 1a to 6 RU325a, 325b, 325c, 325d, 325e, 325f or O-RU640a, 640b, ..., 640f are the same or similar.

[0118] Figure 7 The intermediate node 720 in the embodiment can function as a FHM or a Cascade O-RU. Figure 7 It can represent the process in which, in the uplink case, the intermediate node 720 receives uplink messages from the southbound nodes 730a and 730n, combines uplink packets, and transmits the combined message to the northbound node 710.

[0119] Reference Figure 7, the first southbound node 730a can transmit an uplink message to the intermediate node 720. The uplink message may include an uplink control plane message or a user plane message. The nth southbound node 730n can also transmit an uplink message to the intermediate node 720. When the intermediate node 720 receives an uplink message from the southbound nodes 730a and 730n, it can identify the source (source) media access control (MAC) or Internet protocol (IP) (hereinafter referred to as MAC / IP) address and destination (destination) MAC / IP address, as well as the extended antenna carrier (eAxC) identifier (ID) of the packet contained in the received message. The MAC / IP address and the destination MAC / IP address can be referred to as a transport flow.

[0120] For received packets, intermediate node 720 may identify packets whose destination MAC / IP address is intermediate node 720. Packets whose destination MAC / IP address is not intermediate node 720 may be transmitted to northbound node 710 without performing a combining process at intermediate node 720.

[0121] The intermediate node 720 can determine whether the eAxC ID is the same as the eAxC ID included in the pre-specified information in the packet whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 720. The pre-specified information can be included in the M-plane message received from the northbound node 710. The northbound node 710 can transmit an M-plane message containing the pre-specified information to the intermediate node 720, where the pre-specified information is used to specify the packets to be combined. For example, the pre-specified information can be represented as "shared-cell-combine-entities" in the M-plane message. "Shared-cell-combine-entities" can include the source MAC / IP address, destination MAC / IP address, and eAxC ID of the packets to be combined. If the eAxC ID is the same as the pre-specified information in the packet whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 720, the intermediate node 720 can check and store it in the memory 725a, 725b. In a packet whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 720, if the eAxC ID is different from pre-specified information, the intermediate node 720 may drop it.

[0122] The intermediate node 720 can determine and count the number of packets whose eAxC ID is the same as the pre-specified information in the packets whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 720. In this case, the values ​​of the uplink counters 740a and 740n can be determined based on the count. For example, the uplink counters 740a and 740n can be identified as "RX_UP_UL" counters. In one embodiment, the uplink counter can determine the value in units of transmission flow (e.g., southbound node MAC / IP address). The uplink counter can represent the number of user plane packets received in the uplink data direction corresponding to the processing elements and eAxC ID set in the shared unit. For example, in the uplink message received from the first southbound node 730a, when the number of packets whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 720 is 5 and the eAxC ID is the same as the pre-specified information, the intermediate node 720 can determine the first uplink counter 740a to be 5. In an uplink message received from the nth southbound node 730n, if the number of packets whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 720 is three and whose eAxC ID is the same as the pre-specified information, the intermediate node 720 may determine the nth uplink counter 740n to be 3. The intermediate node 720 may determine the uplink counter and store the undiscarded messages in the received packets in the memories 725a and 725b. For example, the intermediate node 720 may determine the uplink counter for messages received from the first southbound node 730a and store the undiscarded messages in the received packets in the first memory 725a. The intermediate node 720 may determine the uplink counter for messages received from the nth southbound node 730n and store the undiscarded messages in the received packets in the second memory 725b. The first memory 725a and the second memory 725b may be one memory or separate memories.

[0123] In 735a, intermediate node 720 can confirm packet timing when storing packets in memory. Intermediate node 720 can set a specified timing to confirm the arrival time of packets. Intermediate node 720 can discard packets that arrive too soon or too late compared to the specified timing. In one embodiment, intermediate node 720 stores all received packets in memory and, based on a period specified in the memory, can discard packets that arrive too soon or too late.

[0124] For packets stored in memory, the intermediate node 720 can call packets from the memory that need to be combined at the combining timing into the combiner 760. For example, packets corresponding to symbols that need to be combined at the combining timing can be called from the packets stored in the first memory 725a. For packets derived from the memory, the intermediate node 720 can determine an uplink combining counter by counting the number of packets corresponding to the symbols called at the t-waiting timing. The uplink combining counter can be identified as an "RX_UP_UL_COMBINED" counter. In one embodiment, the uplink combining counter can be determined in units of transmission flow (e.g., southbound node MAC / IP address). Alternatively, the value can be determined by subdividing the unit into eAxC-ID units. The uplink combining counter can be represented by a user plane message "RX_UP_UL" processed by a combining function to generate a combining message for the northbound node corresponding to the processing elements and eAxC ID set in the shared unit. The uplink combining counter can be represented by the number of user plane messages in the uplink direction carried to the combiner to generate the combining message transmitted to the northbound node. For example, the intermediate node 720 may retrieve a packet for combining symbol #0 from among the packets received from the first southbound node 730a and stored in the first memory 725a. If the number of packets is three, the first uplink combination counter 750a may be set to 3. For example, the intermediate node 720 may retrieve a packet for combining symbol #0 from among the packets received from the nth southbound node 730n and stored in the second memory 725b. If the number of packets is two, the nth uplink combination counter 750n may be set to 2. In one embodiment, if the value of the uplink counter 740a and the value of the uplink combination counter 750a are the same, it can be interpreted as indicating that all uplink user plane messages have been combined. However, the values ​​of the uplink counter 740a and the uplink combination counter 750a may differ depending on the timing of calculation. This difference may occur due to differences in the time from storage to processing or in the reference timing used to measure each packet counter. Therefore, the two counters can be synchronized by setting the reference timing to the T-waiting timing.

[0125] For packets received from the first southbound node 730a and the nth southbound node 730n that need to be combined, the intermediate node 720 may page packets of the same symbol together and perform combining in the combiner 760. After performing the combining, the intermediate node 720 may transmit a message containing the combined packets to the northbound node 710.

[0126] According to one embodiment, the northbound node or the midpoint node may determine that messages of a specific transmission stream for uplink combining are continuously missed (or received but not processed by the combiner) by a gradual increase in the difference in size between the nth uplink counter 740n and the nth uplink combination counter 750n.

[0127] According to one embodiment, when all southbound nodes 730a, 730n transmit the same number of user plane messages for each control plane message, the northbound node or intermediate node can confirm whether some messages for uplink combination are missed.

[0128] According to one embodiment, when the first uplink combination counter 750a to the nth uplink combination counter 750n are the same, the northbound node or intermediate node may interpret or determine that no messages are missed in all transmission flows or the same number of messages are missed in all transmission flows.

[0129] According to one embodiment, when the uplink combination counters are all different, the northbound node or the intermediate node can determine that some messages are missed at a specific time, and other messages arrive and are combined at a specified time (ON TIME).

[0130] According to one embodiment, when the first uplink combination counter 750a and the nth uplink combination counter 750n have the same number of packets, they can combine the same number of packets. In this case, if combination is successful on one port, the northbound node or intermediate node can determine that combination is successful on all other ports. However, situations may arise where the number of user plane packets differs. For example, this may occur when the selective beam-ID function is in effect or when different vendors respond to the same control plane packet with different user plane responses.

[0131] Figure 8 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a flow of executing combined messages at an intermediate node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0132] Figure 8 The northbound node (not shown) in Figures 1a to 7 The controller 650, DU 315a, 315b, O-DU 610a, 610b or northbound node 710 in the same or similar. The intermediate node (FHM / Cascade O-RU) 800 can be the same as Figures 1a to 7 The FHM320, RU325d, 325e, intermediate nodes 620a, 620b or intermediate node 720 in FIG. are the same or similar. The southbound node (not shown) can be connected to Figures 1a to 7The RUs 325a, 325b, 325c, 325d, 325e, 325f, O-RUs 640a, 640b, ..., 640f or southbound nodes 730a, 730n are the same or similar.

[0133] Figure 8 Can Figure 7 An example of the flow of messages and packets in a system including a counter in the uplink is described.

[0134] refer to Figure 8 , intermediate node 800 can receive uplink user plane messages from multiple southbound nodes (not shown). First, intermediate node 800 can receive a first uplink user plane message (hereinafter referred to as a first uplink message) 805a from a first southbound node at a first port 810. For example, first uplink message 805a may include six packets, namely, packets 91, 92, 93, 94, 01, and 02.

[0135] The intermediate node 800 may have previously received information 825 from a northbound node (not shown) via a management plane message indicating packets to be combined in a shared cell. This information indicating the packets to be combined in a shared cell may include the transport flows and eAxC IDs of the packets to be combined. For example, the information indicating the packets to be combined in a shared cell may be identified as "shared-cell-combine-entities." The transport flows may include source MAC / IP addresses and destination MAC / IP addresses. The intermediate node 800 may identify the transport flows and eAxC IDs in the received first uplink message 805a.

[0136] For packets included in the received first uplink message 805a, the intermediate node 800 can determine whether the destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 800 based on the information 825 indicating the packets to be combined in the shared unit. For packets 817 whose destination MAC / IP address is not the intermediate node 800, the intermediate node 800 can transmit them to the northbound node without separately storing them. For example, the packet 94 of the first port 810 may correspond to the packet 817 whose destination MAC / IP address is not the intermediate node 800.

[0137] When the intermediate node 800 determines that the packet with the destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 800, it can confirm whether the eAxC ID of the packet with the destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 800 corresponds to the eAxC ID predetermined in the information indicating the packets to be combined in the shared unit. If the eAxC ID of the corresponding packet does not correspond to the predetermined eAxC ID, the intermediate node 800 can discard the corresponding packet. When the eAxC ID of the packet with the destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 800 corresponds to the predetermined eAxC ID, the intermediate node 800 can count the number of corresponding packets and determine the uplink counter value. The uplink counter can be identified as the "RX_UP_UL" counter. For example, the uplink counter value in the first uplink message 805a can be determined to be 5 based on the total of 5 packets: 91, 92, 93, 01, and 02 (815a).

[0138] When the eAxC ID of a packet whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 800 corresponds to a predetermined eAxC ID, the intermediate node 800 may store the corresponding packet in the memory 830. For example, at the first port 810, packets 91, 92, 93, 01, and 02 may be stored in the memory 830.

[0139] In addition, the intermediate node 800 may receive a second uplink user plane message (hereinafter referred to as the second uplink message) 805b from the second southbound node at the second port 820. For example, the second uplink message 805b may include 5 packets, 91, 92, 93, 01, and 02. Figure 8 In the example, only packets 91 and 92 may be received by the intermediate node 800 within the T-waiting timing, while packets 93, 01, and 02 may not be received by the intermediate node 800 within the timing.

[0140] The intermediate node 800 may receive information 825 indicating packets that need to be combined in a shared unit from a northbound node (not shown) in advance via a management plane message. The intermediate node 800 may identify the transport stream and eAxC ID in the received second uplink message 805b. For packets included in the received second uplink message 805a, the intermediate node 800 may determine whether the destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 800 based on the information 825 indicating packets that need to be combined in a shared unit. For packets whose destination MAC / IP address is not the intermediate node 800, the intermediate node 800 may transmit them to the northbound node without separately storing them. For example, packets that are not immediately transmitted to the northbound node at the second port 820 may not be immediately transmitted to the northbound node.

[0141] When the eAxC ID of a packet destined for the intermediate node 800 corresponds to a predetermined eAxCID, the intermediate node 800 may count the number of corresponding packets and determine an uplink counter value. For example, the uplink counter in the second uplink message 805b may be determined to be 2 based on a total of two packets 91 and 92 (815b).

[0142] When the eAxC ID of the packet whose destination MAC address is the intermediate node 800 corresponds to the predetermined eAxC ID, the intermediate node 800 may store the corresponding packet in the memory 830. For example, in the second port 820, packets 91 and 92 may be stored in the memory 830.

[0143] The intermediate node 800 can call the packets 832 and 834 that need to be combined from the memory 830 to the combiner 840 according to the combination timing of each symbol. For example, in order to perform combination for symbol #9, the intermediate node 800 can call the packets 91, 92, and 93 832 received and stored from the first uplink message 805a, and call the packets 91 and 92 834 received and stored from the second uplink message 805b to the combiner 840, respectively.

[0144] The intermediate node 800 can count the packets called for each symbol combination to determine uplink combination counters 835a and 835b. The uplink combination counter can be identified as "RX_UP_UL_COMBINED." For example, since the intermediate node 800 called three packets, 91, 92, and 93, received and stored from the first uplink message 805a, the first uplink combination counter 835a can be 3 at the T-waiting timing. Furthermore, since the intermediate node 800 called two packets, 91 and 92, received and stored from the second uplink message 805b, the second uplink combination counter 835b can be 2 at the T-waiting timing. At this point, the memory may already store packets 01 and 02 received at the same timing from the first uplink message 805a.

[0145] The intermediate node 800 may combine the called packets in the combiner 840, include the combined packet 845 in the third uplink message 805c, and transmit it to the northbound node according to the timing. At this time, the uncombined packets may be included in the third uplink message 805c for transmission.

[0146] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating a system including a counter in a downlink according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0147] Figure 9The northbound node 910 in Figures 1a to 8 The controller 650, DU 315a, 315b, O-DU 610a, 610b or northbound node 710 in the same or similar. The intermediate node (e.g., FHM / Cascade O-RU) 920 can be connected to Figures 1a to 8 The FHM320, RU325d, 325e, and intermediate nodes 620a, 620b, 720, and 800 in FIG. 9 are the same or similar. Southbound nodes 930a and 930n can be connected to Figures 1a to 8 The RUs 325a, 325b, 325c, 325d, 325e, 325f, O-RUs 640a, 640b, ..., 640f or southbound nodes 730a, 730n are the same or similar.

[0148] Figure 9 The intermediate node 920 in the embodiment can function as a FHM or a Cascade O-RU. Figure 9 It can represent a process in which, in a downlink case, the intermediate node 920 receives a downlink message from the northbound node 910, replicates (or copies) the downlink packet, and transmits the replicated message to the southbound nodes 930a and 930n.

[0149] Reference Figure 9 , northbound node 910 can transmit a downlink message to intermediate node 920. The downlink message may include a downlink control plane message or a user plane message. When intermediate node 920 receives a downlink message from northbound node 910, it can identify the source MAC / IP address, destination MAC / IP address, and eAxC ID of the packet contained in the received message. The source MAC / IP address and destination MAC / IP address are referred to as a transport flow.

[0150] For received packets, the intermediate node 920 can identify packets whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 920. Packets whose destination MAC / IP address is not the intermediate node 920 can be transmitted to the southbound nodes 930a and 930n, and the replication process is not performed at the intermediate node 920.

[0151] Intermediate node 920 can determine whether the eAxC ID in a packet whose destination MAC / IP address is intermediate node 920 is the same as the eAxC ID included in the pre-specified information. The pre-specified information can be included in an M-plane message received from northbound node 910. Northbound node 910 can transmit an M-plane message containing the pre-specified information to intermediate node 920. The pre-specified information specifies the packets to be replicated. For example, the pre-specified information can be represented as "shared-cell-copy-entities" in the M-plane message. The "shared-cell-copy-entities" can include the source MAC / IP address, destination MAC / IP address, and eAxC ID of the packets to be replicated. If the eAxC ID in a packet whose destination MAC / IP address is intermediate node 920 is the same as the eAxC ID included in the pre-specified information, intermediate node 920 can check the information and store it in memory 950. Alternatively, the information can be transmitted directly to replicator 960 without being stored in memory. In a packet whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 920, if the eAxC ID is different from pre-specified information, the intermediate node 920 may drop it.

[0152] The intermediate node 920 can determine and count the number of packets whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 920 and whose eAxC ID is the same as the eAxC ID included in the pre-specified information. In this case, the values ​​of the downlink counters 940a and 940n can be determined based on the count. For example, the downlink counters 940a and 940n can be identified as "RX_XX_XX" counters. The downlink counters 940a and 940n can have various forms. The "RX_XX_XX" counters can include "RX_UP_DL" indicating a count of downlink user plane packets, "RX_CP_UL" indicating a count of control plane packets for the uplink, and "RX_CP_DL" indicating a count of control plane packets for the downlink. For example, if, in a downlink user plane message received from the northbound node 910, the number of packets whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 920 and whose eAxC ID is the same as the pre-specified information is four, the intermediate node 920 can determine the downlink user plane counter ("RX_UP_DL") to be 4. Furthermore, in a downlink control plane message received from the northbound node 910, when the number of packets whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 920 and whose eAxC ID is the same as the pre-specified information is two, the intermediate node 920 may set the downlink control plane counter (RX_CP_DL) to 2. Furthermore, in a message received from the northbound node 910 for an uplink control plane message, when the number of packets whose destination MAC / IP address is the intermediate node 920 and whose eAxC ID is the same as the pre-specified information is three, the intermediate node 920 may set the uplink control plane counter (RX_CP_UL) to 3.

[0153] The intermediate node 920 may determine downlink counters 940a, 940n and store undiscarded messages in the received packets in the memory 950. For example, the intermediate node 920 may determine downlink counters for messages received from the northbound node 910 and store undiscarded messages in the received packets in the memory 950.

[0154] For packets stored in the memory, the intermediate node 920 can call the packets that need to be copied at the copy timing from the memory to the copier 960. For example, the intermediate node 920 can call the packets corresponding to the symbols that need to be copied at the copy timing from the packets stored in the memory 950. For packets derived from the memory, the intermediate node 920 can determine the downlink copy counters 955a and 955n by counting the number of packets of the corresponding symbols called at the copy timing. Among them, the downlink copy counters 955a and 955n can be identified as "RX_XX_XX_COPIED" counters. The downlink copy counters 955a and 955n can represent the number of packets of user plane messages or control plane messages in the downlink direction carried to the copier in order to generate a copy message transmitted to the southbound node. For example, among the packets received from the northbound node 910, the intermediate node 920 may retrieve a downlink user plane packet for performing duplication from the packets stored in the memory 950, and when the number of packets is 4, the downlink user plane duplication counter ("RX_UP_DL_COPIED") may be determined to be 4. Furthermore, among the packets received from the northbound node 910, the intermediate node 920 may retrieve a downlink control plane packet for performing duplication from the packets stored in the memory 950, and when the number of packets is 2, the downlink control plane duplication counter ("RX_CP_DL_COPIED") may be determined to be 2. Furthermore, among the packets received from the northbound node 910, the intermediate node 920 may retrieve a control plane packet used in the uplink for performing duplication from the packets stored in the memory 950, and when the number of packets is 3, the downlink control plane duplication counter ("RX_CP_UL_COPIED") may be determined to be 3.

[0155] The intermediate node 920 may call the packet received from the northbound node 910 and perform replication at the replicator 960. After performing the replication, the intermediate node 920 may transmit a message including the replicated packet and the unreplicated packet destined for the corresponding southbound packet to the first southbound node 930a and the nth southbound node 930n.

[0156] Figure 10 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a message flow for performing replication at an intermediate node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0157] Figure 10 The northbound node (not shown) in Figures 1a to 9The controller 650, DU 315a, 315b, O-DU 610a, 610b or northbound node 710, 910 in the example are the same or similar. The intermediate node (e.g., FHM / Cascade O-RU) 1000 can be connected to Figures 1a to 9 The FHM320, RU325d, 325e, intermediate nodes 620a, 620b, 720, 800, 920 in FIG. are the same or similar. The southbound node (not shown) can be connected to Figures 1a to 9 The RUs 325a, 325b, 325c, 325d, 325e, 325f, O-RUs 640a, 640b, ..., 640f or southbound nodes 730a, 730n, 930a, 930n are the same or similar.

[0158] Figure 10 Can Figure 9 An example of the flow of messages and packets in a system including multiple counters in a downlink is described.

[0159] refer to Figure 10 , intermediate node 1000 may receive a downlink user plane message or a control plane message from a southbound node (not shown). First, intermediate node 1000 may receive a downlink message 1005 from the southbound node at first port 1075. For example, downlink message 1005 may include nine packets, namely, packets 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 22, 31, 32, and 33.

[0160] Intermediate node 1000 may have previously received information 1070 from a northbound node (not shown) via a management plane message, indicating packets that need to be copied and transmitted to a southbound node included in a shared cell. The information indicating packets that need to be copied and transmitted to a shared cell may include the transmission flow and eAxC ID of the packets that need to be copied. For example, the information indicating packets that need to be copied and transmitted to a shared cell may be identified as "shared-cell-copy-entities." The transmission flow may include a source MAC address and a destination MAC address. Intermediate node 1000 may identify the transmission flow and eAxC ID in the received downlink message 1005.

[0161] For packets included in received downlink message 1005, intermediate node 1000 can determine whether the destination MAC / IP address is intermediate node 1000 based on information 1070 indicating that the packet needs to be copied and transmitted to the southbound node included in the shared unit. For packets 1015 whose destination MAC / IP address is not intermediate node 1000, intermediate node 1000 can transmit them to the southbound node with the destination MAC / IP address set, without separately storing them. For example, packets 23, 15, and 34 at first port 1075 may correspond to packets whose MAC / IP address is not intermediate node 1000. In particular, packets 15 and 34 may be packets 1045 whose destination MAC / IP address is the first southbound node, and packet 23 may be packet 1050 whose destination MAC / IP address is the second southbound node.

[0162] When intermediate node 1000 determines a packet destined for intermediate node 1000 with a MAC / IP address, it can confirm whether the eAxC ID of the packet destined for intermediate node 1000 corresponds to the eAxC ID predetermined in information 1070 indicating packets that need to be copied and transmitted to the shared unit. If the eAxC ID of the corresponding packet does not correspond to the predetermined eAxC ID, intermediate node 1000 can discard the corresponding packet. If the eAxC ID of the packet destined for intermediate node 1000 corresponds to the predetermined eAxC ID, intermediate node 1000 can count the number of corresponding packets and determine a downlink counter. The downlink counter can be identified as an "RX_XX_XX" counter. The "RX_XX_XX" counter can include a "RX_UP_DL" counter 1020 indicating downlink user plane packets, a "RX_CP_UL" counter 1025 indicating an uplink control plane counter, and a "RX_CP_DL" counter 1030 indicating a downlink control plane counter. For example, a user plane counter ("RX_UP_DL") 1020 for the downlink in the downlink message 1005 may be determined to be 4 based on 4 packets, 11, 12, 13, and 14. A control plane counter ("RX_CP_UL") 1025 for the uplink in the downlink message 1005 may be determined to be 2 based on 2 packets, 21 and 22. A control plane counter ("RX_CP_DL") 1030 for the downlink in the downlink message 1005 may be determined to be 3 based on 3 packets, 31, 32, and 33.

[0163] The intermediate node 1000 may call packets that need to be replicated to the duplicator 1040. For example, the intermediate node 1000 may call corresponding packets to combine downlink user plane packets, downlink control plane packets, and control plane packets for uplink.

[0164] For packets to be input to duplicator 1040 in order to generate a replicated message to be transmitted to the southbound node, intermediate node 1000 may determine a duplication counter 1035 by performing a count prior to input. The duplication counter may be identified as "RX_XX_XX_COPIED." For example, since intermediate node 1000 directs duplicator 1040 to determine four packets, namely, downlink user plane packets 11, 12, 13, and 14, to be replicated in downlink message 1005, the downlink user plane duplication counter 1035a may be 4. Furthermore, since intermediate node 1000 directs duplicator 1040 to determine two packets, namely, downlink control plane packets 21 and 22, to be replicated in downlink message 1005, the downlink control plane duplication counter 1035b may be 2. Since the intermediate node 1000 calls the duplicator 1040 to determine the three control plane packets 31 , 32 , and 33 for uplink to be duplicated in the downlink message 1005 , the uplink control plane duplication counter 1035 c may be 3.

[0165] Intermediate node 1000 may replicate the called packet in replicator 1040, include the replicated packet in a first downlink message 1060 at second port 1080, and transmit the replicated packet to a first southbound node (not shown). Furthermore, intermediate node 1000 may include the replicated packet in a second downlink message 1065 at third port 1085, and transmit the replicated packet to a second southbound node (not shown). In this case, unassembled packets 1045 and 1050 may be included together in respective downlink messages 1060 and 1065 and transmitted.

[0166] Figure 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method of determining and reporting performance counters according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0167] Figure 11 The action described in can be Figures 1a to 10 The actions performed by the northbound node, midbound node, and southbound node respectively. Figure 11 The northbound node 1105 in Figures 1a to 10 The controller 650, DU 315a, 315b, O-DU 610a, 610b or northbound node 710, 910 in the same or similar. The intermediate node (e.g., FHM / Cascade O-RU) 1110 can be connected to Figures 1a to 10The FHM320, RU325d, 325e, intermediate nodes 620a, 620b, 720, 800, 920 in the southbound node 1115 can be the same or similar. Figures 1a to 10 The RUs 325a, 325b, 325c, 325d, 325e, 325f, O-RUs 640a, 640b, ..., 640f or southbound nodes 730a, 730n, 930a, 930n are the same or similar.

[0168] Figure 11 The northbound node in the [1] may include multiple nodes. A northbound node may exist for the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane, respectively. Each northbound node can be logically configured to integrate the O-RU controller, DU, O-DU, SMO, etc. (e.g., hierarchical mode), and the O-RU controller, SMO, DU, and O-DU can be distinguished from each other and function as separate devices.

[0169] In step S1101, northbound node 1105 may request and receive information about the intermediate node from intermediate node 1110. The information about the intermediate node may include topology configuration. For example, northbound node 1105 may request and receive information about intermediate node 1110, information about southbound node 1115 connected to intermediate node 1110, information about shared units, and information about eAxC IDs associated with the shared units.

[0170] In step S1102, northbound node 1105 may request and receive southbound node information from at least one southbound node 1115. The southbound node information may include topology configuration. For example, northbound node 1105 may request and receive southbound node 1115 information, shared unit information, and eAxC ID information associated with the shared unit.

[0171] In step S1103, northbound node 1105 generates U-Plane configuration information based on the capability information of the intermediate node and at least one southbound node received in steps S1101 and S1102, and transmits the information to intermediate node 1110 and at least one southbound node 1115. The U-plane configuration information may be transmitted via a management plane message.

[0172] In step S1104, the northbound node 1105 may set information for specifying the packets to be copied and information for specifying the packets to be combined, and transmit the information to the intermediate node 1110. The above-mentioned information for specifying the packets to be copied and information for specifying the packets to be combined may be transmitted via a management plane message. The information for specifying the packets to be combined may be identified as "shared-cell-combine-entities" in the management plane message. The information for specifying the packets to be combined may include the source MAC / IP address, destination MAC / IP address, and eAxC ID of the packets to be combined. The information for specifying the packets to be copied may be identified as "shared-cell-copy-entities" in the management plane message. The information for specifying the packets to be copied may include the source MAC / IP address, destination MAC / IP address, and eAxC ID of the packets to be combined.

[0173] In step S1105, northbound node 1105 may set performance counters for at least one southbound node 1115. The performance counters may be transmitted to at least one southbound node 1115 via a control plane message. The performance counters may include a counter for a receive window (Rx-Window) and a counter for transmit statistics (Tx-stats).

[0174] The counter for the receiving window may include the counter shown in Table 2 below.

[0175]

Table 2

[0176] Measurement object RX_ON_TIME RX_EARLY RX_LATE RX_CORRUPT RX_TOTAL RX_ON_TIME_C RX_EARLY_C RX_LATE_C RX_SEQID_ERR RX_SEQID_ERR_C RX_ERR_DROP

[0177] RX_ON_TIME is a counter indicating the number of data packets received within a specified time (based on the receive window defined by the delay parameter) within the "receive window measurement interval (Rx-window-measurement-interval)".

[0178] RX_EARLY is a counter indicating the number of data packets received earlier than the "receive window measurement interval (Rx-window-measurement-interval)".

[0179] RX_LATE is a counter indicating the number of data packets received later than the "receive window measurement interval (Rx-window-measurement-interval)".

[0180] RX_CORRUPT is a counter that indicates the number of packets received with corruption or header errors during the Rx-window-measurement-interval.

[0181] RX_TOTAL is a counter that indicates the total number of packets (data and control) received during the receive window measurement interval (Rx-window-measurement-interval).

[0182] RX_ON_TIME_C is a counter indicating the number of control packets received during a specified time period within the receive window measurement interval (Rx-window-measurement-interval).

[0183] RX_EARLY_C is a counter indicating the number of control packets received earlier than the receive window measurement interval (Rx-window-measurement-interval).

[0184] RX_LATE_C is a counter indicating the number of control packets received later than the receive window measurement interval (Rx-window-measurement-interval).

[0185] RX_SEQID_ERR is a counter indicating the number of data packets received with an incorrect sequence ID within the Rx-window-measurement-interval.

[0186] RX_SEQID_ERR_C is a counter indicating the number of control packets received with an incorrect sequence ID within the receive window measurement interval (Rx-window-measurement-interval).

[0187] RX_ERR_DROP is a counter that represents the total number of inbound messages dropped by the O-RAN entity for any reason within the Rx-window-measurement-interval.

[0188] The counters for transmission statistics may include the counters shown in Table 3 below.

[0189]

Table 3

[0190] Measurement object TX_TOTAL TX_TOTAL_C

[0191] TX_TOTAL is a counter indicating the number of outbound packets (data and control) transmitted during the Tx-measurement-interval.

[0192] TX_TOTAL_C is a counter indicating the number of outbound control packets transmitted within the "Transmission Measurement Interval (Tx-measurement-interval)" and can only be used when the RU supports LAA / LBT function.

[0193] When the northbound node 1105 sets a performance counter for at least one southbound node 1115, a message can be transmitted to set a method for reporting the corresponding counter to the northbound node 1105. First, it can be set to report in a notification manner. The notification method can be a method of instructing that the information of the performance counter determined during the measurement interval is transmitted to the northbound node 1105 periodically at each specified interval (for example, the notification interval) or when an event occurs. Second, it can be set to report in a file upload manner. The file upload method can be a method of transmitting the performance counter determined during the measurement interval in the form of a file to the northbound node's memory or a separate storage server at each specified upload interval at each specified time (for example, a specified upload timing). For the notification method, the northbound node can identify and use the information immediately after receiving it from the intermediate node, while the difference in the file upload method is that it is stored in the form of a file and can be viewed and confirmed as needed.

[0194] In step S1106, the northbound node 1105 may configure the measurement object and reporting format of the shared cell performance counter for the intermediate node 1110. The measurement object and reporting format of the shared cell performance counter may be transmitted through management plane messaging and may be identified as "performance-measurement-objects" and "shared-cell-stats". In addition, the shared cell performance counter measurement object configuration may include information on the counter measurement interval in the shared cell. The counter measurement interval may indicate the period for measuring the shared cell replication performance counter and the shared cell combined performance counter. The shared cell performance counter measurement object configuration may include information indicating the reporting method after measuring the counter value. According to one embodiment, the reporting method may include a notification method or a file upload method. The shared cell performance counter may include information indicating the notification interval in the notification method and the upload interval in the file upload method. The shared cell performance counter may include a shared cell replication performance counter and a shared cell combined performance counter. The shared unit replication performance counter may include a downlink counter and a downlink replication counter. The downlink counter is a "RX_XX_XX" counter, which can be identified as "RX_UP_DL" representing the count of downlink user plane packets, "RX_CP_UL" representing the control plane count for uplink, and "RX_CP_DL" representing the control plane count for downlink. The downlink copy counter can be identified as individual "RX_XX_XX_COPIED" counters. The downlink copy counters may include a user plane downlink copy counter ("RX_UP_DL_COPIED"), a control plane downlink copy counter ("RX_CP_DL_COPIED"), and a user plane uplink copy counter ("RX_CP_UL_COPIED"). The shared unit combined performance counter may include an uplink counter and an uplink combination counter. The uplink counter may be identified as a "RX_UP_UL" counter. The uplink counter may represent the number of user plane packets received in the uplink data direction corresponding to the processing elements and eAxCID set in the shared unit. The uplink combination counter may be identified as a "RX_UP_UL_COMBINED" counter. The uplink combination counter may indicate the user plane message of "RX_UP_UL" processed by the combining function to generate a combined message for the northbound node corresponding to the processing elements and eAxC ID provided in the shared unit.

[0195] In step S1107, after completing the setup, northbound node 1105 can transmit and receive user plane messages and control plane messages with intermediate node 1110 and at least one southbound node 1115. Northbound node 1105 can be distinguished from a node that transmits management plane messages. The management function of transmitting management plane messages may not transmit and receive user plane messages or control plane messages. In this case, northbound node 1105 that transmits and receives user plane messages or control plane messages with intermediate node 1110 and southbound node 1115 can represent a node that does not have management functions.

[0196] In step S1108, the intermediate node 1110 may perform a copy process on the downlink data and measure a downlink counter according to the set information, and perform a combining process on the uplink data and measure an uplink counter. Figure 9 and Figure 10 The combination process performed by the intermediate node 1110 can be the same as or similar to the replication process described in Figure 7 and Figure 8 The combined processes described in are the same or similar.

[0197] In step S1109, intermediate node 1110 may transmit the measured counters to northbound node 1105 according to a configured manner and timing. Intermediate node 1110 may transmit the measured downlink counters and uplink counters to northbound node 1105 according to a configured manner and timing. Northbound node 1105 may store the received counter values ​​according to a configured manner or use them for performance evaluation.

[0198] In step S1110, at least one southbound node 1115 may transmit the measured counters to northbound node 1105 according to a set manner and timing. At least one southbound node 1115 may transmit the measured receive window counter and transmission statistics counter to northbound node 1105 based on a set manner and a set timing.

[0199] Figure 12 is a diagram illustrating a performance management portion in the Yang model according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0200] Reference Figure 12In the Yang model, the configuration of the O-RAN performance management component can be confirmed. The O-RAN performance management component can be divided into three categories: the O-RU and FHM's measurement capabilities, the configuration of performance measurement objects, and the configuration of report subscriptions. First, in O-RAN performance management, the measurement capabilities component can include "shared-cell-stats-objects" information 1205.

[0201] In the performance-management-objects configuration section, the "measurement-group" section can include "shared-cell-measurement-interval" information 1210, which indicates the interval for measuring "shared-cell-stats." In addition, it can include a notification interval and an upload interval. The location of the server used to upload files and password or authentication information can also be provided. Shared-cell-measurement-objects information 1215 can include "measurement object," "active," "object-unit," "report-info," and "shared-cell-measurement-result-grouping" information.

[0202] The "Measurement object" field can specify measurement objects such as RX_UP_UL and RX_UP_UL_combined. The "object-unit" field specifies the measurement configuration unit, which can be a transport flow. Currently, only the count form of "report-info" is supported. This can be reported or uploaded as a pe-measured-result configured with a transport flow (processing element) and its count.

[0203] The measurement-result-stats section of a notification subscription configuration can include "shared-cell-stats" 1220. "Shared-cell-stats" 1220, as a counter, can count per transport flow. A transport flow can include a processing element, a destination MAC / IP address, and a source MAC / IP address. In other words, it can indicate counting per southbound node or cascaded O-RU.

[0204] Figure 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a northbound node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0205] Figure 13 The northbound node 1300 in Figures 1a to 11 The controller 650, DU 315a, 315b, O-DU 610a, 610b or northbound node 710, 910, 1105 in the embodiment are the same or similar.

[0206] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, each function of the northbound node 1300 may be included in a device, and each function may be distinguished according to each device. The northbound node 1300 may include other intermediate nodes (e.g., an FHM, an FHM connected to a cascaded RU, and a cascaded RU), an O-RU controller, an SMO, a DU, and an O-DU.

[0207] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the northbound node 1300 may include a controller (or processor) 1310 for controlling the entire operation of the northbound node, a transceiver (or transceiver unit) 1320 including a sending unit and a receiving unit, and a memory 1330. Of course, the northbound node 1300 is not limited to the above example, and may include more than Figure 13 More or fewer configurations may be used than those shown.

[0208] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transceiver 1320 can send a signal to another network node (e.g., a southbound node, an O-RU, an O-DU, an SMO, an intermediate node, an upper-layer network entity) or receive a signal from another network node. The signals sent to or received from the northbound node may include C-plane, U-plane, S-plane, M-plane signals, uplink data, and downlink data. In addition, the transceiver 1320 can receive a signal via a wireless path or a wired path such as an optical fiber and transmit it to the processor 1310, and can transmit a signal determined and output by the processor 1310.

[0209] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 1310 is capable of controlling the northbound node device to execute Figures 1a to 12 On the other hand, the processor 1310, the memory 1330, and the transceiver 1320 do not necessarily have to be implemented as separate modules. Of course, they can be implemented as a component in the form of a single chip. In addition, the processor 1310, the memory 1330, and the transceiver 1320 can be electrically connected. In addition, the processor 1310 can be an application processor (AP), a communication processor (CP), a circuit, an application-specific circuit, or at least one processor.

[0210] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the memory 1330 can store data such as basic programs, applications, and setting information used for the operations of the northbound node 1300. In addition, the memory 1330 can store uplink and downlink data (user plane, control plane) received by the northbound node 1300. In particular, the memory 1330 can provide the stored data upon request by the processor 1310. The memory 1330 can be composed of a storage medium such as ROM, RAM, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD, or a combination of storage media. In addition, there can be multiple memories 1330. In addition, the processor 1310 can execute the aforementioned embodiments based on the program for executing the aforementioned embodiments of the present disclosure stored in the memory 1330.

[0211] Figure 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an intermediate node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0212] Figure 14 The intermediate node 1400 can be connected to Figures 1a to 13 The FHM 320 , RU 325 d , 325 e , and intermediate nodes 620 a , 620 b , 720 , 800 , 920 , and 1110 are identical or similar.

[0213] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the intermediate node 1400 may include FIG. 1 to FIG. Figure 13 The intermediate node (FHM, cascaded O-RU) described in

[15] can include various functions of the intermediate node in one device, or can be split into different devices.

[0214] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the intermediate node 1400 may include a controller (or processor) 1410 for controlling the entire operation of the intermediate node, a transceiver (or transceiver unit) 1420 including a sending unit and a receiving unit, and a memory 1430. Of course, the intermediate node 1400 is not limited to the above example, and may include more than Figure 14 More or fewer configurations may be used than those shown.

[0215] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transceiver 1420 may send a signal to another network node (e.g., a southbound node, a northbound node, an O-DU, an O-RU, an RU controller, an SMO, or other intermediate nodes) or receive a signal from another network node. The signals sent to or received from the intermediate node may include C-plane, U-plane, S-plane, M-plane signals, uplink data, and downlink data. In addition, the transceiver 1420 may receive a signal via a path such as an optical fiber and transmit it to the processor 1410, and may transmit a signal determined and output by the processor 1410 via the above-mentioned channel.

[0216] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 1410 is capable of controlling the intermediate node device to execute FIG. Figure 13 Any action in the embodiment of . On the other hand, the processor 1410, the memory 1430 and the transceiver 1420 do not have to be implemented as separate modules. Of course, it can be implemented as a component in the form of a single chip. In addition, the processor 1410, the memory 1430 and the transceiver 1420 can be electrically connected. In addition, the processor 1410 can be an application processor (AP), a communication processor (CP), a circuit, an application-specific circuit or at least one processor. The processor 1410 of the intermediate node 1400 may include a combiner, a copier, etc. for performing actions. Each function can be included as a separate device, or can be included as a function in the processor 1410. The processor can be controlled to perform the actions of the combiner and the copier.

[0217] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the memory 1430 can store data such as basic programs, applications, setting information, etc. for the actions of the intermediate node. In addition, the memory 1430 can store uplink and downlink data (user plane, control plane) received by the intermediate node. In particular, the memory 1430 can provide stored data based on the call of the processor 1410. The memory 1430 can be composed of a storage medium such as ROM, RAM, hard disk, CD-ROM and DVD, or a combination of storage media. The memory 1430 may include at least one buffer for temporarily storing uplink data or downlink data. In addition, there may be multiple memories 1430. In addition, the processor 1410 can execute the aforementioned embodiments based on the program for executing the aforementioned embodiments of the present disclosure stored in the memory 1430.

[0218] Figure 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a southbound node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0219] Figure 15 The southbound node 1500 can be connected to Figures 1a to 14 The RUs 325a, 325b, 325c, 325d, 325e, 325f, O-RUs 640a, 640b, ..., 640f or southbound nodes 730a, 730n, 930a, 930n, 1115 are the same or similar.

[0220] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, each function in the southbound node 1500 may be included in a single device, or each function may be split into separate devices. The southbound node 1500 may include other intermediate nodes (e.g., an FHM, an FHM connected to a cascaded RU, and a cascaded RU), an RU, and an O-RU.

[0221] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the southbound node 1500 may include a controller (or processor) 1510 for controlling the entire operation of the southbound node, a transceiver (or transceiver unit) 1520 including a sending unit and a receiving unit, and a memory 1530. Of course, the southbound node 1500 is not limited to the above example, and may include more than Figure 15 More or fewer configurations may be used than those shown.

[0222] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the transceiver 1520 can send a signal to another network node (e.g., a southbound node, a northbound node, an O-RU, a controller, an SMO, an intermediate node, an upper-layer network entity) or receive a signal from another network node. The signals sent to the southbound node or received from the southbound node may include C-plane, U-plane, S-plane, M-plane signals, uplink data, and downlink data. In addition, the transceiver 1520 can receive a signal through a wireless path or a wired path such as an optical fiber and transmit it to the processor 1510, and transmit the signal determined and output by the processor 1510 through the above-mentioned channel.

[0223] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 1510 can control the southbound node to execute FIG. Figure 14 On the other hand, the processor 1510, the memory 1530, and the transceiver 1520 do not necessarily have to be implemented as separate modules. Of course, they can also be implemented as a component in the form of a single chip. In addition, the processor 1510, the memory 1530, and the transceiver 1520 can be electrically connected. In addition, the processor 1510 can be an application processor (AP), a communication processor (CP), a circuit, an application-specific circuit, or at least one processor.

[0224] According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the memory 1530 can store data such as basic programs, application programs, and setting information used for the operation of the southbound node 1500. In addition, the memory 1530 can store uplink and downlink data received by the southbound node. In particular, the memory 1530 can provide the stored data upon request by the processor 1510. The memory 1530 can be composed of a storage medium such as ROM, RAM, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, and a DVD, or a combination of storage media. In addition, there can be multiple memories 1530. In addition, the processor 1510 can execute the aforementioned embodiments based on the program for executing the aforementioned embodiments of the present disclosure stored in the memory 1530.

[0225] Figure 16 FIG. 1 is a flowchart for illustrating a method for performing performance measurement and reporting according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0226] The following reference Figure 16 , for Figures 1 to Figure 15This section summarizes and explains the performance counter measurement methods for intermediate nodes described in [1]. Each action is not mandatory in a series of processes; you can configure only a subset of actions based on the situation.

[0227] In step S1601, an intermediate node (eg, Figures 1a to 11 The FHM 320, RU 325d, 325e, intermediate nodes 620a, 620b, 720, 800, 920, 1110 in the embodiment can be connected from the northbound node (e.g. Figures 1a to 11 The controller 650, DU 315a, 315b, O-DU 610a, 610b, other intermediate nodes or northbound nodes 710, 910, 1105) receives information related to the message to be combined in the shared unit (e.g., Figure 8 Information used to indicate the groups that need to be combined in the shared unit, Figure 11 The information used to specify the groups that need to be combined).

[0228] The information related to the messages that need to be combined in the shared unit includes the transport flow of the messages that need to be combined in the uplink messages to be transmitted by the multiple southbound nodes and the information of the eAxC (Extended Antenna Carrier) ID (identifier) ​​(for example, Figure 11 The information of the transport stream may include the source MAC (media access control) or IP (internet protocol) address and the destination MAC or IP (MAC / IP) address of the message to be combined.

[0229] In step S1602, the intermediate node can select from multiple southbound nodes (e.g., Figures 1a to 11 RU325a, 325b, 325c, 325d, 325e, 325f, O-RU640a, 640b, ..., 640f, or other intermediate nodes, or southbound nodes 730a, 730n, 930a, 930n, 1115) receive user plane messages (e.g., Figure 8 first uplink user plane message 805a, second uplink user plane message 805b).

[0230] In step S1603, the intermediate node identifies the packets that need to be combined among the packets included in each user plane message based on information related to the messages that need to be combined in the shared unit.

[0231] The intermediate node identifies the transport flow and eAxCID of the packets contained in each of the user plane messages, and if the destination MAC / IP address of at least one first packet in the packets contained in each of the user plane messages is not the intermediate node MAC / IP address, the at least one first packet (e.g., Figure 8 Packets 817 whose destination MAC / IP address is not the intermediate node 800 are transmitted to the northbound node without being combined. If the destination MAC address of at least one second packet included in each of the user plane messages is the MAC / IP address of the intermediate node and the eAxC ID is different from the eAxC ID included in the information related to the message that needs to be combined in the shared unit, the at least one second packet is discarded. If the destination MAC / IP address of at least one third packet included in each of the user plane messages is the MAC / IP address of the intermediate node and the eAxC ID is consistent with the eAxC ID included in the information related to the message that needs to be combined in the shared unit, the at least one third packet can be identified as the packet that needs to be combined.

[0232] In step S1604, the intermediate node may determine the uplink counter value (eg, Figure 7 The uplink counter values ​​740a, 740n and Figure 8 uplink counter values ​​815a, 815b).

[0233] In one embodiment, the intermediate node stores the identified packets that need to be combined in a memory (e.g., Figure 7 Memory 725a, 725b and Figure 8 830), at a predetermined timing (e.g., Figure 8 T-waiting), the grouping related to the symbols to be combined stored in the above memory (for example, Figure 8 832, 834) calls to a combiner (e.g., Figure 7 The combiner 760 and Figure 8 In the combiner 840), by counting the called packets, the uplink combination counter value (eg, Figure 7 The first uplink combination counter 750a, the nth uplink combination counter 750n or Figure 8 Uplink combination counters 835a, 835b).

[0234] In one embodiment, the intermediate node may receive the first interval for the counter report from the northbound node via a control plane message (eg, Figure 11 interval in the notification method) or a second interval (e.g., Figure 11 The interval in the file upload method) related information (for example, Figure 11 The uplink counter value and the uplink combination counter value are transmitted to the northbound node at each of the first intervals, or the uplink counter value and the uplink combination counter value are transmitted in the form of a file to the memory or storage server of the northbound node at each of the second intervals.

[0235] In one embodiment, when the value of the uplink combination counter of each of the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes is the same, the intermediate node can determine that there are no missing packets in the user plane messages received from each of the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes, or the same number of packets are missing from the user plane messages received from each of the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes.

[0236] In one embodiment, when the difference between the uplink counter value of the first southbound node among the above-mentioned multiple southbound nodes and the uplink combined counter value of the above-mentioned first southbound node gradually increases, the intermediate node can determine that the message received from the above-mentioned first southbound node is continuously missed.

[0237] In one embodiment, when the value of the uplink combination counter of each of the plurality of south nodes is different, the intermediate node may determine that some messages are missed or a different number of messages are received at a specific time.

[0238] In one embodiment, the intermediate node may receive setting information of the uplink counter and the uplink combination counter of each of the plurality of southbound nodes from the northbound node. The setting information of the uplink counter and the uplink combination counter may include information indicating a measurement interval of the counter (e.g., Figure 12 "shared-cell-measurement-interval" 1210), information indicating the measurement target entity of the counter (for example, Figure 12 "shared-cell-stats-objects" 1205), and information on a notification interval or a file upload interval for reporting counter values.

[0239] In one embodiment, the intermediate node may include a fronthaul multiplexer or a cascade radio unit, the northbound node may include other intermediate nodes different from the intermediate node, a distributed unit, a radio unit controller, or a service management and orchestration (SMO), and the multiple southbound nodes may include another intermediate node or radio unit.

[0240] The various actions of the methods described above can also be performed by any appropriate means capable of performing the corresponding functions. Means include, but are not limited to, various hardware and / or software components and / or modules, including application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or processors. Generally, when there is an action corresponding to a figure, such action may also have a corresponding relative means and a functional component with the same number.

[0241] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the present disclosure may be implemented or executed by a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD), discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, designed in a manner to perform the functions disclosed in this application. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but as an alternative, the processor may also be any commercially available processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented by a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors coupled to a DSP core, or any other configuration.

[0242] Furthermore, the term "determining" encompasses a variety of actions. For example, "determining" may include calculating, estimating, processing, deriving, investigating, searching (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), confirming, etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (accessing data in a memory), etc. Furthermore, "determining" may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, etc.

[0243] Anyone skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations without departing from the essential characteristics of the technical concept of the present invention.

[0244] Therefore, the embodiments illustrated in the present disclosure are used to illustrate the technical concept of the present disclosure rather than to limit the technical concept of the present disclosure, and the scope of the technical concept of the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments.

[0245] The protection scope of the technical idea of ​​the present disclosure should be interpreted according to the claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the technical idea of ​​the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method performed by an intermediate node in a communication system, comprising: The step of receiving a setup message from a northbound node, the setup message containing information related to messages that need to be combined in the shared unit; A step of receiving user plane messages from a plurality of southbound nodes included in the shared unit respectively; a step of identifying, among the packets contained in each of the received user plane messages, packets to be combined based on information related to the messages to be combined in the shared unit; as well as The step of determining an uplink counter value of each of the plurality of southbound nodes by counting the identified packets that need to be combined.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The step of storing the identified groups that need to be combined in a memory; The step of calling the group associated with the symbols to be combined stored in the memory to the combiner at a predetermined timing; as well as The step of determining an uplink combination counter value of each of the plurality of southbound nodes by counting the called packets.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: receiving information related to the first interval or the second interval for counter reporting from the northbound node via a control plane message; as well as the step of transmitting an uplink counter value and an uplink combined counter value of each of the plurality of southbound nodes to the northbound node at each of the first intervals; Alternatively, the step of transmitting the uplink counter value and the uplink combined counter value of each of the plurality of southbound nodes to the memory or storage server of the northbound node in the form of a file at each second interval.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein Information related to the message that needs to be combined in the shared unit includes: The transmission stream of the messages to be combined and the information of the eAxC ID in the uplink messages to be transmitted by the multiple southbound nodes, The information of the transmission stream includes the source MAC or IP address and the destination MAC or IP address of the message to be combined.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The step of identifying, among the packets contained in the received user plane messages, the packets to be combined based on information related to the messages to be combined in the shared unit, comprises: a step of identifying the transport flow and the eAxC ID of the packets contained in each of the user plane messages; If the destination MAC / IP address of at least one first packet in the packets included in each of the user plane messages is not the intermediate node MAC / IP address, the at least one first packet is transmitted to the northbound node without being combined; a step of discarding at least one second packet if the destination MAC address of at least one second packet among the packets contained in each of the user plane messages is the intermediate node MAC / IP address and the eAxC ID is different from the eAxC ID contained in the information related to the message to be combined in the shared unit; and If the destination MAC / IP address of at least one third packet among the packets included in each of the user plane messages is the intermediate node MAC / IP address and the eAxC ID is consistent with the eAxC ID included in the information related to the message that needs to be combined in the shared unit, then identify the at least one third packet as the packet that needs to be combined.

6. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: When the value of the uplink combination counter of each of the plurality of southbound nodes is the same, a step of determining that there are no missing packets in the user plane message received from each of the plurality of southbound nodes, or a step of determining that the same number of packets are missing from the user plane message received from each of the plurality of southbound nodes.

7. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: When a difference between an uplink counter value of a first southbound node among the plurality of southbound nodes and an uplink combination counter value of the first southbound node gradually increases, determining that a message received from the first southbound node is continuously missed.

8. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: When the value of the uplink combination counter of each of the plurality of south nodes is respectively different, it is determined that part of the messages are missed at a specific time or a different number of messages are received.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The intermediate node includes a forward multiplexer or a cascaded radio unit, The northbound node includes other intermediate nodes, distributed units, wireless unit controllers or service management and orchestration different from the intermediate node, The plurality of southbound nodes include another type of intermediate node or wireless unit.

10. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: receiving, from the northbound node, setting information of an uplink counter and an uplink combination counter of each of the plurality of southbound nodes; The setting information of the uplink counter and the uplink combination counter includes information indicating a measurement interval of the counter, information indicating a measurement object entity of the counter, and information of a notification interval or a file upload interval for reporting a counter value.

11. An intermediate node of a communication system, comprising: transceiver; Memory; as well as at least one processor electrically connected to the transceiver and the memory; The at least one processor is configured to: receiving a setup message from a northbound node, the setup message containing information related to messages that need to be combined in a shared unit, receiving user plane messages from a plurality of southbound nodes included in the shared unit, respectively; identifying, among the packets contained in each of the received user plane messages, packets to be combined based on information related to the messages to be combined in the shared unit, and An uplink counter value of each of the plurality of southbound nodes is determined by counting the identified packets that need to be combined.

12. The intermediate node according to claim 11, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: storing the identified groups that need to be combined in a memory; calling the group associated with the symbols to be combined stored in the memory to the combiner at a pre-specified timing; as well as An uplink combined counter value of each of the plurality of southbound nodes is determined by counting the invoked packets.

13. The intermediate node according to claim 12, wherein: The at least one processor is further configured to: receiving information related to the first interval or the second interval for counter reporting from the northbound node via a control plane message; transmitting an uplink counter value and an uplink combined counter value of each of the plurality of southbound nodes to the northbound node at each of the first intervals; or At each second interval, the uplink counter value and the uplink combined counter value of each of the plurality of southbound nodes are transmitted in a file format to a memory or a storage server of the northbound node.

14. The intermediate node according to claim 1, wherein: Information related to the message that needs to be combined in the shared unit includes: The transmission stream of the messages to be combined and the information of the eAxC ID in the uplink messages to be transmitted by the multiple southbound nodes, The information of the transmission stream includes the source MAC or IP address and the destination MAC or IP address of the message to be combined.

15. The intermediate node according to claim 11, wherein: The at least one processor is configured to: Perform the actions of the method described in claims 5 to 10.

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