Wireless communication system, communication control method, and computer program

Abstract

This system provides a wireless communication system that improves the utilization efficiency of hardware accelerators in base stations conforming to the O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network) standard. [Solution] A base station of an O-RAN specification wireless access network assigns an AAL (Acceleration Abstraction Layer) profile instance 111, which defines the signal processing function of the DU (Distributed Unit) on a per-user terminal basis, to a HW accelerator 12. The AALI-C-App (AAL Interface-Common-Application) or AALI-P (AAL Interface-Profile), which is the interface between the AAL application and the AAL implementation, has a procedure for specifying the target user terminal or a list of user terminal identifiers for the AAL profile instance.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, a communication control method, and a computer program.

Background Art

[0002] The Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Alliance is considering the opening and intelligentization of next-generation wireless access networks such as the 5th generation (5G) mobile communication system (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 1-5). The O-RAN specifications established by the O-RAN Alliance stipulate, for example, a technique of allocating an AAL (Acceleration Abstraction Layer) profile instance that defines the signal processing function of a base station in a Radio Access Network (RAN) to a hardware (HW) accelerator.

Prior Art Documents

Non-Patent Documents

[0003]

Non-Patent Document 1

Non-Patent Document 2

Non-Patent Document 3

[0004] However, in the conventional O-RAN specification described above, AAL profile instances are defined collectively for all user equipment (UEs) connected to the base station. Therefore, it is necessary to allocate AAL profile instances to a large-scale hardware accelerator capable of processing the maximum number of UEs that the base station can connect to simultaneously. This presented a challenge in that the utilization efficiency of the hardware accelerator was poor when the actual number of UEs connected to the base station was small.

[0005] This invention was made in consideration of these circumstances, and its purpose is to improve the utilization efficiency of hardware accelerators. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication system that assigns an AAL (Acceleration Abstraction Layer) profile instance, which defines the signal processing functions of a base station of an O-RAN-compliant wireless access network on a per-user terminal basis, to a hardware accelerator. One aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication system in which the AALI-C-App (AAL Interface-Common-Application), which is an interface between an AAL application and an AAL implementation, has procedures relating to the AAL profile instance. One aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication system in which AALI-P (AAL Interface-Profile), which is an interface between an AAL application and an AAL implementation, has a procedure relating to the AAL profile instance. One aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication system in which the procedure relating to the AAL profile instance includes a procedure for specifying the user terminal to which the AAL profile instance is intended. One aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication system in which the procedure relating to the AAL profile instance includes a procedure specifying a list of identifiers of user terminals to which the AAL profile instance pertains.

[0007] One aspect of the present invention is a communication control method performed by a wireless communication system, which involves assigning an AAL (Acceleration Abstraction Layer) profile instance, which defines the signal processing functions of a base station of an O-RAN-compliant wireless access network on a per-user terminal basis, to a hardware accelerator.

[0008] One aspect of the present invention is a computer program that causes a computer in a wireless communication system to perform the step of assigning an AAL (Acceleration Abstraction Layer) profile instance, which defines the signal processing functions of a base station of a wireless access network conforming to O-RAN specifications on a per-user terminal basis, to a hardware accelerator. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, the effect of improving the utilization efficiency of the hardware accelerator can be obtained. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows an example of the configuration of a base station DU (Unit Device) of a wireless communication system according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an AAL architecture with O-RAN specifications according to one embodiment. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of a definition of a UE list according to one embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of an "AALI-C-App API Init Sequence" according to one embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows another example of the "AALI-C-App API Init Sequence" according to one embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a Distributed Unit (DU) of a base station in a wireless communication system according to one embodiment. The DU10 is a device that primarily performs signal processing functions such as modulation, demodulation, and coding of digital signals, among the base station functions of an O-RAN specification Radio Access Network (RAN). An O-RAN specification RAN base station mainly consists of a DU, a Radio Unit (RU) that has the function of handling radio frequency (RF) between the antenna and terminals, and a Central Unit (CU) that controls the RU and DU and connects to the core network.

[0012] DU10 comprises an AAL Application 11 and a HW Accelerator Physical Unit 12. The number of HW Accelerator Physical Units 12 installed in DU10 is determined by factors such as the desired processing capacity for DU10 (e.g., the maximum number of UEs that can be simultaneously connected to a base station) and limitations on the equipment costs of DU10.

[0013] The AAL application 11 includes a queue that holds AAL Profile Instances 111 and an AAL-LPU (AAL Logical Processing Unit) 112 that processes the AAL Profile Instances 111. The AAL-LPU 112 is a logical hardware accelerator implemented by a hardware accelerator physical unit 12.

[0014] The AAL profile instance 111 according to this embodiment defines the signal processing functions of a base station in the O-RAN specification RAN on a per-UE (User Entity) basis. For example, the AAL profile instance 111 may be defined for one UE, or it may be defined for multiple UEs.

[0015] In the example of FIG. 1, the AAL profile instance 111 is defined for each of the three UEs (UE1, UE2, UE3). Specifically, the AAL profile instance 111-1 is defined for UE1, the AAL profile instance 111-2 is defined for UE2, and the AAL profile instance 111-3 is defined for UE3.

[0016] DU10 allocates the AAL profile instance 111, which defines the signal processing function of the RAN base station in the O-RAN specification on a per-UE basis, to the HW accelerator. In the example of FIG. 1, DU10 allocates the AAL profile instances 111-1, 111-2, and 111-3 of each UE1, 2, 3 to the HW accelerator. As a result, the HW accelerator physical unit 12-1 is allocated to the AAL profile instance 111-1 of UE1, the HW accelerator physical unit 12-2 is allocated to the AAL profile instance 111-2 of UE2, and the HW accelerator physical unit 12-3 is allocated to the AAL profile instance 111-3 of UE3.

[0017] As a result, the AAL-LPU112-1 that executes the AAL profile instance 1ll-1 of UE1 is realized by the HW accelerator physical unit 12-1 allocated to the AAL profile instance 111-1 of UE1. Also, the AAL-LPU112-2 that executes the AAL profile instance 111-2 of UE2 is realized by the HW accelerator physical unit 12-2 allocated to the AAL profile instance 11l-2 of UE2. Also, the AAL-LPU112-3 that executes the AAL profile instance 111-3 of UE3 is realized by the HW accelerator physical unit 12-3 allocated to the AAL profile instance 111-3 of UE3.

[0018] As described above, by assigning an AAL profile instance 111, which defines the signal processing function of the RAN base station in the O-RAN specification on a per-UE basis, to the HW accelerator, the utilization efficiency of the HW accelerator can be improved. For example, if the connection of UE3 to the base station is disconnected, power consumption can be reduced by stopping (powering off) only the unnecessary HW accelerator physical unit 12-3. In addition, since the number of HW accelerator physical units 12 can be increased or decreased, it is possible to smoothly respond to changes in the desired processing capacity for DU10, thereby improving the scalability of DU10.

[0019] Figure 2 shows the O-RAN specification AAL architecture according to this embodiment. The O-RAN specification AAL architecture in Figure 2 is described, for example, in Non-Patent Document 1.

[0020] In this embodiment, the interface between the AAL application and the AAL implementation includes a procedure relating to the AAL profile instance 111. This procedure relating to the AAL profile instance 111 includes a procedure for specifying the target UE of the AAL profile instance 111. Examples 1 and 2 of this interface are given below.

[0021] (Example 1 of an interface between an AAL application and an AAL implementation) Example 1 of an interface between an AAL application and an AAL implementation is the AALI-C-App (AAL Interface-Common-Application), indicated by the symbol IF1 in Figure 2. The AALI-C-App is an interface between an AAL application and an AAL implementation for management and orchestration within the O-Cloud (O-RAN Cloud Platform). The AALI-C-App is independent of the AAL profile.

[0022] (Example 2 of the interface between AAL application and AAL implementation) Example 2 of the interface between an AAL application and an AAL implementation is AALI-P (AAL Interface-Profile), indicated by the symbol IF2 in Figure 2. AALI-P is an interface specific to the selected AAL profile.

[0023] Figure 3 shows an example of a UE list definition according to this embodiment. In this embodiment, in the O-RAN specification AAL architecture shown in Figure 2, the target UEs of the AAL profile instance 111 are specified by specifying a list of UE identifiers (UE-IDs) in the AAL profile configuration.

[0024] Figure 3 shows an example definition when using a list of UE-IDs as the UE list for downlinks (DL). For example, the definition of the downlink UE-ID list shown in Figure 3 could be added to "6.2.2b Summary of Configuration" of "6.2 O-DU AAL_DOWNLINK_High-PHY Profile Specification" in Non-Patent Literature 2. For uplinks (UL), a similar definition example could be added to "6.3.2b Summary of Configuration" of "6.3 O-DU AAL_UPLINK_High-PHY Profile Specification" to represent the downlink UE-ID list.

[0025] Figure 4 shows an example of the "AALI-C-App API Init Sequence" according to this embodiment. The "AALI-C-App API Init Sequence" in Figure 4 is described, for example, in Non-Patent Document 5. The "AALI-C-App API Init Sequence" is the procedure in AALI-C-App, indicated by code IF1 in the AAL architecture of the O-RAN specification shown in Figure 2 above.

[0026] When using the above-described interface example 1 "AALI-C-App" as an interface that has a procedure for specifying the target UE of AAL profile instance 111, as an example of this embodiment, in step S7 "setAalProfileInstanceConfig" of the "AALI-C-App API Init Sequence" in Figure 4, the AAL application specifies a list of UE-IDs of the target UE of AAL profile instance 111 to the AAL implementation.

[0027] Figure 5 shows another example of the "AALI-C-App API Init Sequence" according to this embodiment. In the "AALI-C-App API Init Sequence" of Figure 5, in addition to the "AALI-C-App API Init Sequence" of Figure 4 described above, the next step S20 to be executed is added.

[0028] When using the above-described interface example 2 "AALI-P" as an interface having a procedure for specifying the target UE of AAL profile instance 111, in an example of this embodiment, in step S20 of Figure 5, the AAL application specifies a list of UE-IDs of the target UE of AAL profile instance 111 to the AAL implementation.

[0029] According to the embodiment described above, the effect of improving the utilization efficiency of the hardware accelerator can be obtained.

[0030] Furthermore, this will enable improvements in overall service quality, such as in wireless communication networks, and will contribute to Goal 9 of the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): "Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation."

[0031] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and design modifications and the like are also included within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[0032] For example, a computer program to implement the functions of each of the above-mentioned devices may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on this recording medium may be loaded into a computer system and executed. The term "computer system" here may include hardware such as an operating system and peripheral devices. Furthermore, "computer-readable recording media" refers to writable non-volatile memory such as flexible disks, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, and flash memory, portable media such as DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs), and storage devices such as hard disks built into computer systems.

[0033] Furthermore, "computer-readable recording media" also includes volatile memory (such as DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory)) within computer systems that act as servers or clients when programs are transmitted via networks such as the Internet or communication lines such as telephone lines, which retain programs for a certain period of time. Furthermore, the above program may be transmitted from a computer system that stores the program in a memory device or the like to another computer system via a transmission medium or by transmission waves within the transmission medium. Here, the "transmission medium" used to transmit the program refers to a medium that has the function of transmitting information, such as a network (communication network) like the Internet or a communication line (communication line) like a telephone line. Furthermore, the above program may be intended to implement some of the functions described above. It may also be a so-called differential file (differential program) that can implement the aforementioned functions in combination with programs already recorded in the computer system. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0034] 10…DU, 11…AAL Application, 12…HW Accelerator Physical Unit, 111…AAL Profile Instance, 112…AAL-LPU

Claims

1. Assign an AAL (Acceleration Abstraction Layer) profile instance, which defines the signal processing functions of a base station in an O-RAN-compliant wireless access network on a per-user terminal basis, to a hardware accelerator. Wireless communication system.

2. The AALI-C-App (AAL Interface-Common-Application), which is an interface between the AAL application and the AAL implementation, has procedures relating to the AAL profile instance. The wireless communication system according to claim 1.

3. AAL Interface-Profile (AALI-P), which is an interface between an AAL application and an AAL implementation, has procedures relating to the AAL profile instance. The wireless communication system according to claim 1.

4. The procedure relating to the AAL profile instance includes a procedure for specifying the user terminal to which the AAL profile instance is intended. The wireless communication system according to any one of claims 2 or 3.

5. The procedure relating to the AAL profile instance includes a procedure for specifying a list of identifiers of user terminals to which the AAL profile instance pertains. The wireless communication system according to any one of claims 2 or 3.

6. A communication control method performed by a wireless communication system, Assign an AAL (Acceleration Abstraction Layer) profile instance, which defines the signal processing functions of a base station in an O-RAN-compliant wireless access network on a per-user terminal basis, to a hardware accelerator. Communication control method.

7. In the wireless communication system's computer, A step of assigning an AAL (Acceleration Abstraction Layer) profile instance, which defines the signal processing functions of a base station in an O-RAN specification wireless access network on a per-user terminal basis, to a hardware accelerator. A computer program designed to execute something.

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