Processing unit system and design method for integrated aggregated distribution unit

Abstract

This disclosure provides an efficient hardware architecture that complies with 5G-compliant Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture. A combined aggregation and distribution unit (CCDU) ​​is utilized to handle level 1, 2, and 3 schedules in the network. The CCDU design integrates the functionality of aggregation units (CU) and distribution units (DU) and operates over a wide temperature range. A single CCDU is integrated in a 5G-NR MRU (5G New Radio Multi-rat Radio Unit) and functions as a CU, DU to achieve improved wireless performance based on coordination observed repeatedly across the coverage area. In addition, the CCDU provides a low-cost and efficient power solution that can be easily deployed in tower-type site server racks.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] Securing rights A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains matter that is the subject of intellectual property rights, including, but not limited to, copyright, design, trademark, integrated circuit (IC) layout design, and / or trade dress protection, belonging to Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) or its affiliates (hereinafter referred to as the Owner). The Owner has no objection to the reproduction by anyone of this patent document or this patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all rights whatsoever. All rights to such intellectual property are fully reserved by the Owner.

[0002] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to telecommunications infrastructure applications, and more particularly to the design of a processing unit for a Coherent Convergence and Distribution Unit (CCDU). [Background technology]

[0003] The following description of the related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the present disclosure. This section may include some aspects of the art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that this section is not intended as an admission of prior art, but is merely intended to enhance the reader's understanding of the present disclosure.

[0004] Fifth generation (5G) technology is expected to fundamentally change the role that telecommunications technology plays in industry and society at large. The gNodeB is a 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP®) compliant implementation of a 5G New Radio (5G-NR) base station. The gNodeB consists of independent network functions that implement 3GPP® compliant NR Radio Access Network (RAN) protocols, namely, physical layer (PHY), media access control layer (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), radio resource control (RRC), and network real-time analytics platform (NRAP). The gNB further incorporates three functional modules that can be deployed in multiple combinations: aggregation unit (CU), distribution unit (DU), and radio unit (RU). They can operate together or independently and can be deployed with either physical (e.g., small cell chipsets) or virtual resources (e.g., dedicated commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers or shared cloud resources). The CU provides support for higher layers of the protocol stack such as SDAP, PDCP, and RRC, while the DU provides support for lower layers of the protocol stack such as Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and the physical layer. In the 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) architecture, the DU in the Baseband Unit (BBU) is responsible for real-time L1 and L2 scheduling functions, and the CU is responsible for non-real-time higher L2 and L3.

[0005] However, in the existing architecture, the DU and CU units are physically separated, requiring exhaustive and complex methods and protocol support to split the gNB into DU and CU. Splitting the CU functionality from the DU functionality is the most open problem in the gNB internal structure, and these two entities are connected by a new interface called F1. In most common gNB nodes, the CU and DU are physically separated, i.e., they are on separate boards, and therefore the splitting becomes more expensive in terms of temperature requirements, vibration, dust, humidity, latency, power, radiation losses, bandwidth, additional dependency on possible interfaces, and realization of maintaining parameters separately for both CU and DU.

[0006] Furthermore, existing architectures are bulky and utilize greater power which adds to the total cost of manufacturing multiple units. Additionally, existing architectures cannot be easily maneuvered on a tower for installation.

[0007] Therefore, there is a need in the art to realize a processing unit in a CCDU that can overcome the shortcomings of the existing prior art and realize a tailored and flexible division of functionality between a CU and a DU. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] Some of the objectives of the present disclosure that will be satisfied by at least one embodiment herein are listed here below.

[0009] It is an objective of the present disclosure to provide a processing unit capable of supporting an aggregated system in a single unit to reduce costs and increase reliability.

[0010] The objective of this disclosure is to design the hardware in a single Printed Circuit Board (PCB) approach by holding the entire required System-on-Chip (SoC) on board.

[0011] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system that can operate over a wide temperature range.

[0012] An object of the present disclosure is to provide a system that supports the synchronization required by the Global Positioning System (GPS), Precision Timing Protocol (PTP), and holdover.

[0013] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a system that facilitates site alarming over dry contacts to accommodate external alarm devices.

[0014] It is an objective of this disclosure to provide a system that operates from standard telecommunications power sources (-48VDC) and the necessary protection for telecommunications sites.

[0015] It is an object of the present invention to provide a high speed processing system which increases the computational power of the system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0016] This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the invention in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0017] In order to achieve the above object, the present disclosure provides a processing system for controlling the function of a combined aggregation and distribution unit (CCDU). The system may include a single combined board, which may further include a housing having a processing unit. The processing unit may be coupled to a memory. The memory may store instructions executed by the processing unit. The processing unit may be configured to handle processing on behalf of the CCDU to implement a set of functionality related to the aggregation unit (CU) and distribution unit (DU) of a gNodeB, such that the CU and DU function from the single combined board and communicate with a radio unit (RU) as a single CCDU. The processing unit may cause the CCDU to functionally split into a CU and a DU for a predefined set of levels of scheduling. The processing unit may manage one or more components of the single combined board via a board management controller (BMC) to assist the CCDU function from the single combined board.

[0018] In one embodiment, the processing unit may manage one or more network interfaces for communicating with the RUs and a backhaul network.

[0019] In one embodiment, the processing unit may include an accelerator unit for correcting errors.

[0020] In one embodiment, the processing unit can manage and control interfaces for one or more data input / output devices, one or more storage devices, and can facilitate CCDU communication across multiple platforms including platform controller hubs and ASICs.

[0021] In one embodiment, the processing unit can expand one or more input / output devices by interfacing with the PCH with a second interface, such as a Direct Media Interface (DMI), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCIe), Genx4 interface, Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash, and Serial AT Attachment (SATA) for Solid State Drives (SSD).

[0022] In one embodiment, the processing unit may include a thermal management module configured to detect temperature variations across the CCDU, where the thermal management module operates across a predefined temperature range and predefined environmental conditions.

[0023] In one embodiment, the processing unit can be configured with a BMC that can provide an Ethernet port for remote monitoring of the CCDU, where the BMC can be operatively coupled to the PCH through either low pin count (LPC), USB, and PCIe.

[0024] In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for controlling the function of a CCDU, the method including the steps of: implementing, by a processing unit, a set of functionality related to a CU and a DU, such that the CU and the DU function and communicate with a radio unit from a single integrated board as a single CCDU, the single integrated board being configured in the processing unit; enabling, by the processing unit, the CCDU to functionally partition the CU and the DU for a set of predefined levels of scheduling; and managing, by the processing unit, one or more components of the single integrated board via a board management controller (BMC) to support the CCDU functioning from the single integrated board.

[0025] In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a non-transitory computer-readable medium including processor-executable instructions to cause a processor to implement a set of functionality associated with a CU and a DU as a single integrated converged and distributed unit (CCDU), such that the CU and DU function from a single integrated board and communicate with radio units, enable the CCDU to functionally partition the CU and DU for a set of predefined levels of scheduling, and manage, via a board management controller (BMC), one or more components of the single integrated board to assist the CCDU in functioning from the single integrated board.

[0026] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the present invention, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the methods and systems disclosed herein, in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention. Some drawings may use block diagrams to illustrate components and may not depict the internal circuitry of each component. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the inventions in such drawings include inventions in electrical or electronic components or circuits commonly used to implement such components. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1 illustrates an example network architecture (100) in or in conjunction with which the proposed system of the present disclosure may be implemented, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1 illustrates an example system architecture (150) of a combined centralized distribution unit (CCDU) ​​in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary existing representation of an aggregation unit and a distribution unit of a gNodeB (200). [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 illustrates an example processing unit diagram (300) of a CCDU, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary computer system (400) in or in conjunction with which embodiments of the present invention may be utilized, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0028] The above will become more apparent from the following more detailed description of the invention.

[0029] In the following description, for the purpose of explanation, various specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent that the embodiments of the present disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. Each of the several features described below can be used independently of each other or in any combination with other features. An individual feature may not address all of the problems discussed above, or may address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above may not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.

[0030] The following description provides only exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure. Instead, the following description of exemplary embodiments provides those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing the exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that various changes can be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described.

[0031] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.

[0032] It is also noted that particular embodiments may be described as a process that is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe operations as a sequential process, many of the operations may be performed in parallel or simultaneously. Additionally, the order of operations may be rearranged. A process terminates when its operations are completed, but may have additional steps not included in the diagram. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to a return of the function to a calling function or to a main function.

[0033] The words "exemplary" and / or "illustrative" are used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" and / or "illustrative" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it intended to exclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms "includes," "has," "contains," and other similar terms are used in the detailed description or claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising" as an open transitional term, without excluding any additional or other elements.

[0034] Throughout this specification, references to "one embodiment," or "one embodiment," or "one example," or "one example" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

[0035] The terms used herein are merely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" as used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and / or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0036] In this disclosure, various embodiments are described using terminology used in some communication standards (e.g., 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), extensible radio access network (xRAN), and open radio access network (O-RAN)) for illustrative purposes only. Various embodiments of the present disclosure can be easily adapted and applied to other communication systems.

[0037] Typically, a base station is a network infrastructure that provides wireless access to one or more terminals. A base station has coverage that is defined to be a given geographic area based on the distance over which a signal can be transmitted. In addition to "base station", a base station may also be referred to as "access point (AP)", "evolved NodeB (eNodeB) (eNB)", "fifth generation node (5G node)", "next generation NodeB (gNB)", "wireless point", "transmit / receive point (TRP)", or other terms having an equivalent technical meaning.

[0038] Furthermore, a protocol stack or network stack is an implementation of a computer network protocol suite or protocol family for a telecommunication system consisting of multiple network devices. The 5G protocol stack can include Layer 1 (L1), which is the physical layer. The 5G Layer 2 (L2) can include MAC, RLC, and PDCP. The 5G Layer 3 (L3) is the RRC layer.

[0039] The present invention provides the processing unit required for efficient functionality of a combined aggregation and distribution unit (CCDU) ​​for 5G foundation applications that may require network level 1, 2, and 3 processing. The single board approach of the CCDU makes the CCDU more reliable and less costly, but requires a complete design of the processing unit that can support different types of synchronization and provide site alarms over dry contacts to accommodate external alarm devices. In this description, many specific details may be set forth, such as logic implementations, types and interrelationships of system components, etc., to provide a more complete understanding of some embodiments.

[0040] However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be practiced without such specific details. In other instances, control structures, gate level circuits, and / or complete software instruction sequences have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the present invention. Those skilled in the art will be able to use the included description to implement suitable functionality without undue experimentation.

[0041] Referring to Figure 1A, an example network architecture (100) for a 5G New Radio (NR) network (also referred to as network architecture (100)) in which or with which a proposed system (110) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be implemented is illustrated. As shown, the example network architecture (100) may comprise a 5G base station (104) (also referred to as gNodeB (104)). The gNodeB (104) may include at least three functional modules, such as a centralized unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), and a radio unit (RU). The gNodeB may be communicatively coupled to a plurality of first computing devices (102-1, 102-2, 102-3, ..., 102-N) (interchangeably referred to as user equipment (102-1, 102-2, 102-3, ..., 102-N)) (individually referred to as user equipment (UE) (124) and collectively referred to as UEs (102)) via an open radio access network radio unit (O-RU) (114).

[0042] In an exemplary embodiment, the system (110) may be configured with an integrated CU and DU in a single platform or PCB, simply referred to as CCDU (106) as illustrated in FIG. 1B. The CCDU (106) may be operatively coupled to a radio unit (RU) (108) via one or more network interface cards (NICs). The CCDU (106) may include a processing unit (118), a soft-decision forward error correction (SD-FEC) module (116), a backhaul network interface card (NIC) (114), a fronthaul NIC (116), etc. The backhaul NIC (114) may further be communicatively coupled to a backhaul network (112). The CU provides support for higher layers of the protocol stack, such as SDAP, PDCP, and RRC, while the DU provides support for lower layers of the protocol stack, such as RLC, MAC, and physical layers. There is a single CU for each gNB, but one CU controls multiple DUs. Each DU can support one or multiple cells, so one gNB can control hundreds of cells.

[0043] In general, it may be quite clear even to a person not skilled in the art that the existing gNodeB internal structure (200) for the 5G core (206) is shown in FIG. 2, and the existing CU (202) and DU (204) are separate units connected by an F1 interface (208).

[0044] In an exemplary embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the system (110) or CCDU (106) may include a processing unit (118) having one or more processors (302) coupled to a memory (304) that may store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (302), may cause the processing unit (118) to perform L1 and L2 functionality. The one or more processors (302) may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, edge or fog microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuits, and / or any device that processes data based on operational instructions. Among other functions, the one or more processors (302) may be configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory of the processing unit (118). The memory may be configured to store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which may be fetched and executed to create or share data packets across a network service. The memory (304) may comprise any non-transitory storage device including, for example, volatile memory, such as RAM, or non-volatile memory, such as EPROM, flash memory, and the like.

[0045] In one embodiment, the system (110) may include multiple interfaces (306). The interfaces (306) may include various interfaces, for example, interfaces for data input / output devices, referred to as I / O devices, storage devices, etc. The interfaces (306) may facilitate communication of the system (110) with multiple platforms, such as a platform controller hub (320) and an extended application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) (318) consisting of (system-on-chip) SoC components related to the functionality of the CCDU (106). In an exemplary embodiment, the SoC may include, but is not limited to, a soft decision forward error correction (SD-FEC) module (116). The interfaces (306) may also provide a communication path for one or more components of the CCDU (106). Examples of such components include, but are not limited to, a processing unit / engine (118) and a database (310).

[0046] In an exemplary embodiment, the system (110) can be assembled into a single board (interchangeably referred to as a LAN on Motherboard (LOM)) with a predefined number of layers. The predefined number of layers ensures that the system is not bulky and heavy. By way of example and not limitation, the predefined number of layers can be at least 14. In one example, the system (110) can include one or more network connections that are directly connected to the LOM. Instead of needing a separate network interface card to access a local area network, such as Ethernet, the circuitry can be mounted on a single board. An advantage of the system (110) can be additional available peripheral component interconnect (PCI) slots that are not used by the network adapter.

[0047] In an exemplary embodiment, the CCDU (106) can be designed for outdoor applications to operate over a predefined temperature range and predefined environmental conditions, unlike COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) servers used in AC environments. For example, the predefined temperature range may range from 0° to at least 60° C. in deserts and other tropical and equatorial regions, while the predefined environmental conditions can include dry, wet, cold, or dusty environments.

[0048] In an exemplary embodiment, the CCDU in a single board can have a chip-down approach, where one or more components corresponding to a network interface card (NIC) can be part of a single board, which increases the mean time between failures (MTBF) and significantly reduces the cost. Because the components are all integrated into a single board, therefore, separate components (cards) may not be needed, but rather, a single board can be used, which not only reduces the process of manufacturing but also reduces the cost and improves the reliability of the system. Because the components are all integrated into a single board and controlled by a processor, therefore, separate components (cards) may not be needed, but rather, a single board can be used, which not only reduces the process of manufacturing but also reduces the cost and improves the reliability of the system. Furthermore, the CCDU is an integrated solution of aggregation unit (CU) and distribution unit (DU) for 5G networks, which is a nominal power consumption device that operates at less than 400W. The integrated aggregation distribution unit (CCDU) ​​design with the disclosed processing system is very compact and can be easily installed in a tower-type site server rack. It can also be deployed quickly and outputs high performance with low power consumption.

[0049] In an exemplary embodiment, the system (110) may include, but is not limited to, at least four (x4) 25G optical fibers (SFP) as fronthaul connections to the fronthaul NIC (116) and at least two (x2) 10G optical fibers (SFP) as backhaul connections to the backhaul network (112).

[0050] In an exemplary embodiment, the system (110) may be further coupled to one or more alarm devices (not shown in FIG. 1B) capable of transmitting alarm signals over dry contact, overtemperature, critical environmental conditions, and critical electrical conditions. The system (110) may be operated from a standard telecommunications power source of, but not limited to, -48VDC, with all required protection measures for a telecommunications site.

[0051] Processing Unit The processing unit / engine (118) may be implemented as a combination of hardware and programming (e.g., programmable instructions) to implement one or more functionalities of the processing unit (118). In the examples described herein, such a combination of hardware and programming may be implemented in several different ways. For example, the programming for the processing unit (118) may be processor-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, and the hardware for the processing unit (118) may comprise processing resources (e.g., one or more processors) for executing such instructions. In this example, the machine-readable storage medium may store instructions that, when executed by the processing resources, implement the processing unit (118). According to such an example, the system (110) may include a machine-readable storage medium that stores instructions and processing resources for executing the instructions, or the machine-readable storage medium may be separate but accessible to the CCDU (106) and the processing resources. In other examples, the processing engine (118) may be implemented by electronic circuitry.

[0052] The processing unit (118) may include one or more modules / engines selected from any of a baseboard management controller (BMC) (312), a local area network (314) (interchangeably referred to as an Ethernet controller (322)), a clock synchronizer module (316), and other modules (318). In one example, the processing unit may be, but is not limited to, a 32-core processing engine. The memory (204) may include, but is not limited to, 256 GB random access memory (RAM).

[0053] In an exemplary embodiment, the processing unit (118) can functionally divide the CCDU (106) into CUs and DUs for various levels of scheduling. In an exemplary embodiment, the processing unit (118) can cause the distributed unit (DU) (106-2) to perform real-time L1 and L2 scheduling functions, etc., based on a set of predefined instructions associated with the gNodeB (104). In another embodiment, the processing unit (118) can cause the aggregation unit (CU) (106-1) to perform non-real-time, higher L2 and L3 layer scheduling functions, etc., based on a set of predefined instructions associated with the gNodeB (104). The CU (106-1) can further be configured to control the functionality of the DU through the processing unit (118).

[0054] In an exemplary embodiment, the processing unit (118) may be scalable and may include a platform controller hub (PCH) (320) for expanding input / output (I / O), which may further provide interfaces to the processor unit (118) with a second interface, such as, but not limited to, a Direct Media Interface (DMI), or a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCIe), or a Genx4 interface, a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) for a Basic Input / Output System (BIOS), Flash, PCIe, and a Serial AT Attachment (SATA) for solid state drives (SSD).

[0055] In an exemplary embodiment, the BMC (312) can be used for board management functionality that can provide an Ethernet port for remote monitoring of the processing unit (118). The BMC (312) can be operatively coupled to the PCH (320) through either low pin count (LPC), USB, or PCIe.

[0056] In an exemplary embodiment, a communications network may include at least a portion of one or more networks having one or more nodes that transmit, receive, forward, generate, buffer, store, route, switch, process, or a combination thereof, such as, by way of example and without limitation, one or more messages, packets, signals, waves, voltage or current levels, some combination thereof, etc. A network may include, by way of example and without limitation, one or more of a wireless network, a wired network, the Internet, an intranet, a public network, a private network, a packet-switched network, a circuit-switched network, an ad-hoc network, an infrastructure network, a public switched telephone network (PSTN), a cable network, a cellular network, a satellite network, a fiber optic network, or some combination thereof.

[0057] In one embodiment, the one or more user equipment (102) can communicate with the system (110) via a set of executable instructions resident on any operating system. In one embodiment, the one or more user equipment (102) and the one or more mobile devices can include one or more combinations of any electrical, electronic, electromechanical, or apparatus or devices such as, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a laptop, a general-purpose computer, a desktop, a personal digital assistant, a tablet computer, a mainframe computer, or any other computing device, where the computing device can include one or more built-in or externally coupled accessories including, but not limited to, a visual aid device such as a camera, an auditory aid, an input device for receiving input from a user such as a microphone, a keyboard, a touch pad, a touch-enabled screen, an electronic pen, a receiving device for receiving any audio or visual signal in any range of frequencies, and a transmitting device capable of transmitting any audio or visual signal in any range of frequencies. It can be understood that the one or more user equipment (102) and the one or more mobile devices are not limited to the devices mentioned and various other devices can be used. A smart computing device may be one of the preferred systems for storing data and other private / confidential information.

[0058] In one embodiment, the processing unit (118) can be configured as data and processing control for various modules of the CCDU (106), such as the BMC (312), the Ethernet controller (322), the ASIC (318), and the clock synchronizer module (316), etc. The processing unit (118) can provide an integrated solution with CU and DU for 5G-NR networks.

[0059] Exemplary Computer System 400 FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary computer system in or with which embodiments of the present invention may be utilized, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, the computer system (400) may include an external storage device (410), a bus (420), a main memory (430), a read-only memory (440), a mass storage device (450), a communication port (460), and a processor (470). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a computer system may include more than one processor and communication port. The processor (470) may include various modules related to embodiments of the present invention. The communication port (460) may be a port used with a modem-based dial-up connection (RS-232), a 10 / 100 Ethernet port, a gigabit or 10 gigabit port using copper or fiber, a serial port, a parallel port, or any other existing or future port. The communication port (460) may be selected depending on the network, such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or any network to which the computer system is connected.

[0060] The memory (430) may be a random access memory (RAM) or any other dynamic storage device commonly known in the art. The read-only memory (440) may be any static storage device, such as, but not limited to, a programmable read-only memory (PROM) chip for storing static information, such as, for example, boot-up or basic input / output system (BIOS) instructions for the processor (470). The mass storage device (450) may be any current or future mass storage solution that can be used to store information and / or instructions. Exemplary mass storage solutions include, but are not limited to, a Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) hard disk drive or solid state drive (with, for example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) and / or Firewire interface, either internal or external), one or more optical disks, a redundant array of independent disks (RAID) storage device, such as an array of disks (e.g., a SATA array).

[0061] The bus (420) communicatively couples the processor (470) to other memory, storage, and communication blocks and may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) / PCI-Extended (PCI-X) bus, a Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), a Universal Serial Bus (USB), etc., for connecting expansion cards, drives, and other subsystems, as well as other buses such as a Front Side Bus (FSB) that connects the processor (470) to a software system.

[0062] Optionally, operator and administrative interfaces, such as, for example, a display, keyboard, and cursor control devices, may also be coupled to the bus (420) to support direct operator interaction with the computer system. Other operator and administrative interfaces may be provided through a network connection connected through a communications port (460). The components described above are meant only to illustrate various possibilities. In no way should the exemplary computer system described above limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0063] Thus, the present disclosure provides a unique and efficient hardware architecture design of a all-in-one Converged Distribution Unit (CCDU) ​​that can realize the functionality of CU and DU in a single box solution. The CCDU is designed for outdoor applications to operate over a wide temperature range and different environmental conditions, unlike commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) servers that are very often used in air-conditioned (AC) environments. The CCDU can have a chip-down approach, where all the components corresponding to the NIC card are part of a single board, which increases the mean time between failures (MTBF) and significantly reduces the cost.

[0064] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the preferred embodiment, it will be understood that many embodiments may be made and many modifications may be made to the preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other modifications in the preferred embodiment of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, and it is therefore to be clearly understood that the foregoing description is to be undertaken merely as an illustration of the invention, and not as a limitation thereof.

[0065] Advantages of the present disclosure Some of the objectives of the present disclosure that will be satisfied by at least one embodiment herein are listed here below.

[0066] The present disclosure provides a processing unit that can support aggregated systems in a single unit to reduce cost and improve reliability.

[0067] The present disclosure provides a hardware design approach by holding the entire required system-on-chip (SoC) on a single printed circuit board (PCB).

[0068] The present disclosure provides a system capable of operating over a wide temperature range.

[0069] The present disclosure provides a system that supports synchronization required by the Global Positioning System (GPS), Precision Timing Protocol (PTP), and holdover.

[0070] The present disclosure provides a system that facilitates a site alarm over a dry contact to accommodate an external alarm device.

[0071] The present disclosure provides a system that operates from standard telecommunications power sources (-48VDC) and the protection required in telecommunications sites.

[0072] The present disclosure provides a processing system that increases the computational power of the system.

[0073] The present disclosure provides a processing unit that establishes data and processing control across various modules of the CCDU to further create a unified solution for 5G New Radio (5G-NR) networks. [Explanation of symbols]

[0074] 100 5G New Radio (NR) Network, Network Architecture 102 User Equipment, UE 102-1 First Computing Device, User Equipment 102-2 First computing device, user equipment 102-3 First computing device, user equipment 102-N First Computing Device, User Equipment 104 gNodeB, 5G base station 106 Integrated Concentration and Distribution Unit, CCDU 106-1 Aggregation Unit, DU 106-2 Distributed Unit, DU 108 Radio Unit (RU) 110 System 112 Backhaul Network 114 NIC backhaul, backhaul network interface card (NIC), backhaul NIC, open wireless access network radio unit (O-RU) 116 Soft Decision Forward Error Correction (SD-FEC) Module, Fronthaul NIC 118 ICX-SP processing unit, processing unit, processing engine, processing unit / engine 120 NIC Backhaul 124 User Equipment (UE) 124-1 Sector 1 E-CPRI 124-2 Sector 2 E-CPRI 124-3 Sector 3 E-CPRI 200 gNodeB internal structure 202 CU 204 DU, Memory 206 5G Cores 208 F1 Interface 218 other modules 302 Processor 304 Memory 306 Interface 310 Database 312 Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), Board Management Controller (BMC) 314 Local Area Network Controller, Ethernet Controller 316 Clock Synchronizer Module 318 Other Modules, Expansion Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) 320 Platform Controller Hub, PCH 322 Ethernet Controller 400 Computer Systems 410 External storage device 420 Bus 430 Main memory 440 Read-only memory 450 Mass Storage Device 460 communication port 470 Processor

Claims

1. A system (110) for controlling the functions of a Unified Consolidation and Distribution Unit (CCDU) ​​(106), comprising: a single integrated board, the single integrated board comprising: The system includes a housing having a processing unit (118), the processing unit (118) is coupled to a memory, and the memory is configured to transmit to the processing unit (118): implementing a set of functionality associated with a centralized unit (CU) and a distributed unit (DU) as the CCDU (106) such that the CU and the DU function from the single integrated board and communicate with a radio unit (RU) (108); enabling the CCDU (106) to functionally partition the CU and the DU for scheduling of a set of predefined levels; A system (110) storing instructions for managing, via a board management controller (BMC) (312), one or more components of the single integrated board to support the CCDU (106) functioning from the single integrated board.

2. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to manage one or more network interfaces for communicating with the RUs and a backhaul network.

3. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to use an accelerator unit for correcting errors.

4. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit is configured to manage and control interfaces for one or more data input / output devices, one or more storage devices, and facilitate communication of the CCDU through a plurality of platforms including a platform controller hub (PCH) and an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

5. 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the processing unit is configured to expand the one or more input / output devices by interfacing with the PCH with a second interface including a Direct Media Interface (DMI), a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCIe), multiple interfaces, a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash, and a Serial AT Attachment for Solid State Drives (SSD) (SATA).

6. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing unit comprises a thermal management module configured to detect temperature variations across the CCDU, the thermal management module operating over a predefined temperature range and predefined environmental conditions.

7. 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the processing unit is configured with the BMC providing an Ethernet port for remote monitoring of the CCDU, the BMC being operatively coupled to the PCH through any of a low pin count (LPC), a universal serial bus (USB), and a PCIe.

8. The system (110) of claim 1, wherein the processing unit (118) comprises a local area network controller (314) and a clock synchronizer module (316).

9. 2. The system (110) of claim 1, wherein the processing unit (118) is configured to control one or more interfaces for the functionality of the CCDU (106).

10. A method for controlling the functioning of a Cooperative Consolidation and Distribution Unit (CCDU) ​​(106), comprising the steps of: implementing a set of functionality associated with the CU and the DU by a processing unit (118) such that the CU and the DU function from a single integrated board as a single CCDU (106) and communicate with radio units, the single integrated board being configured in the processing unit (118); enabling the CCDU (106) to functionally partition the CUs and the DUs for scheduling a set of predefined levels by the processing unit (118); managing, by the processing unit (118) via a board management controller (BMC) (312), one or more components of the single integrated board to support functioning of the CCDU (106) from the single integrated board; A method comprising:

11. The processor: implementing a set of functionality associated with the CU and the DU as a single integrated convergence and distribution unit (CCDU) ​​(106) such that the CU and the DU function from a single integrated board and communicate with the radio units; enabling the CCDU (106) to functionally partition the CU and the DU for scheduling of a set of predefined levels; A non-transitory computer-readable medium including processor-executable instructions for causing a board management controller (BMC) (312) to manage one or more components of the single integrated board to support the CCDU (106) functioning from the single integrated board.

Images