SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SECURELY HOSTING MULTIPLE NETWORK OPERATORS IN A SHARED SPECTRUM ACCESS SYSTEM IN A SINGLE VIRTUAL BASE STATION ENVIRONMENT - Patent application

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a virtual base station capable of hosting multiple network operators and / or private networks in a single computing environment. The virtual base station includes multiple virtual baseband processors configured to communicate with multiple mobile network operators, a supervisor module, a fronthaul network interface configured to couple to one or more remote units, and a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) coordinator module coupled to the supervisor module and the one or more virtual baseband processors. The base station may have one or more CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) daemons that act as a proxy to obtain licenses to and allocate CBRS channels to mobile network operators.

Description

Background of the disclosure

[0001] [Technical field of the disclosure] The present disclosure relates to wireless systems, and more particularly to virtual base stations capable of hosting multiple operators in the same computing environment, such as may be deployed by a neutral host.

[0002] The advent of purely software implemented virtual base stations provides the opportunity to host multiple network operators on a single wireless communications infrastructure. Hosting multiple network operators on a single computing environment presents several challenges. First, the computing environment must be secure enough to avoid a situation where a given network operator becomes susceptible to hacking or denial of service. Second, the entire base station must remain free from interference or bottlenecks, from the computing environment hosting its virtual evolved NodeBs (eNodeBs) and / or next-generation NodeBs (gNodeBs) to remote radio units, in which case a surge in activity within one network operator may affect computing, network or radio resources allocated to other network operators. . third Additionally, with the advent of private networks and shared spectrum access systems, additional challenges arise in that base stations and computing environments must be able to handle situations such as granting and revoking licenses and channel switching to allow a given network operator or private network to change shared spectrum access channels without impacting other network operators or private networks.

[0003] Therefore, there is a need for a system and method that provides uninterrupted access to computing, network and radio resources for multiple network operators, and hosts multiple eNodeBs / gNodeBs, one for each network operator or private network, in a secure environment that can dynamically adapt to changes in available shared spectrum access channels.

[0004] One embodiment of the present disclosure includes a method of configuring and operating a virtual base station hosting multiple network operators, the method including instantiating a plurality of baseband processors each corresponding to one of a plurality of network operators, each baseband processor having one or more cell group processors each having a plurality of band-specific cell processors, allocating a respective different plurality of shared spectrum access channels to each of the plurality of baseband processors, receiving a grant to one or more of the respective different plurality of shared spectrum channels corresponding to each baseband processor, and assigning each of the respective different plurality of shared spectrum access channels for the plurality of baseband processors to its respective corresponding band-specific cell processor.

[0005] Another embodiment of the present disclosure involves a non-transitory computer readable memory having encoded thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a process for configuring and operating a virtual base station hosting multiple network operators, the process including: instantiating a plurality of baseband processors, each baseband processor corresponding to one of a plurality of network operators, each baseband processor having one or more cell group processors, each baseband processor having a plurality of band-specific cell processors, allocating a plurality of respective different shared spectrum access channels to each of the plurality of baseband processors, receiving a grant to one or more of the respective different shared spectrum channels corresponding to each baseband processor, and assigning each of the respective different shared spectrum access channels for the plurality of baseband processors to a respective corresponding band-specific cell processor.

[0006] Another embodiment of the present disclosure involves a server having at least one network interface configured to communicate with a plurality of core networks and a plurality of remote units. The server further includes at least one processor. The server also includes a non-transitory computer-readable memory encoded with instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a process, the process including routing a first communication between a first core network and the remote unit through the at least one network interface, the first communication utilizing a first set of communication channels allocated to the first core network, and the process also including routing a second communication between a second core network and the remote unit through the at least one network interface, the second communication utilizing a second set of communication channels allocated to the second core network. The process also includes receiving, through the at least one network interface, a message to modify the set of first communication channels, and modifying the set of first communication channels according to the message.

[0007] Another embodiment of the present disclosure involves a method of hosting multiple network operators in a single computing environment, the method including allocating a plurality of operator-specific shared spectrum access channels, each of which corresponds to one of the multiple network operators, to each of a plurality of baseband processors, each of which corresponds to one of the multiple network operators, requesting an access grant to its corresponding shared spectrum access channel request subset and receiving an access grant in response thereto for each shared spectrum access channel request subset, receiving by a first baseband processor a revocation of grants corresponding to expiring shared spectrum access channels in the shared spectrum access channel request subset, and the first baseband processor requesting an access grant to any one of the corresponding shared spectrum access channel reserved subsets. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a virtual base station hosting multiple network operators according to the present disclosure. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a fronthaul interface mapping module according to the present disclosure. [Figure 1C] FIG. 1C illustrates an example of a computing environment in which a virtual base station according to the present disclosure may be deployed. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a 5G (fifth generation) virtual base station configured to host multiple network operators in accordance with the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 illustrates an example process for setting up and configuring a base station in accordance with the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a number of virtual baseband processors instantiated by a number of cell groups and their constituent active and inactive cells. [Figure 5A]FIG. 5A shows an example deployment of a virtual baseband processor, each having a group of cells connected to multiple remote units in a multicast daisy-chain fashion. [Figure 5B] FIG. 5B illustrates the state of the example deployment shown in FIG. 5A after one Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD) loses access to one of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) channels. Description of the embodiment

[0009] FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a virtual base station 100 (hereinafter "base station 100") for hosting multiple network operators according to the present disclosure. Base station 100 is a virtual base station implemented in software in a computing environment. The computing environment includes hardware components, such as one or more processors and non-transitory computer-readable memory, that may be configured with appropriate software to operate to implement base station 100. In some implementations, the software is stored in the non-transitory computer-readable memory of the computing environment. In other implementations, the software is stored outside the computing environment and executed in the computing environment, for example, through an application programming interface (API) provided by the computing environment.

[0010] In this example, the base station 100 hosts two mobile network operators (A and B) that share a remote wireless infrastructure. The term "mobile network operator" as used in this disclosure may also refer to a private network. The main difference between a private network is that a private network does not acquire licensed spectrum, but instead relies on a shared spectrum access system. The base station 100 may include one or more virtual baseband processors 105A / B, a local supervisor module 112A coupled to the baseband processor 105A, a CBRS-daemon 114A coupled to the baseband processor 105A, a local supervisor module 112B coupled to the baseband processor 105B, a CBRS-daemon 114B coupled to the baseband processor 105B, a master supervisor module 110, a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) coordinator module 115, and a fronthaul network interface 120 (also referred to as "fronthaul interface 120" in this disclosure). Coupled to the KPI coordinator module 115 are a KPI processing module 125 for mobile network operator A, a KPI processing module 130 for mobile network operator B, a KPI processing module 135 for the system, a shared KPI processing module 140 for mobile network operator A that may be shared with other components in the virtual base station 100, and a shared KPI processing module 145 for mobile network operator B that may be shared with other components in the virtual base station 100. As shown in the figure, the baseband processor 105A communicates with the core network 150 of the mobile network operator A via a dedicated S1 connection 155, and the baseband processor 105B communicates with the core network 160 of the mobile network operator B via a dedicated S1 interface 165. The base station 100 is further coupled to one or more remote units 170 via a fronthaul link 175.

[0011] As shown in the figure, in some implementations, both virtual baseband processors 105A / B are LTE (Long-Term Evolution) eNodeBs. However, other virtual baseband processors, such as 5G NR (New Radio) gNodeBs, can also be used. The term virtual "baseband processor" as used in this disclosure refers to a virtual eNodeB or a virtual gNodeB. In the case of a gNodeB, the term "baseband processor" refers to a gNodeB CA (Central Unit), a gNodeB DU (Distributed Unit), or a combination of a gNodeB CU and a gNodeB DU. It goes without saying that such various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. When the baseband processor is an eNodeB or gNodeB CU+DU combination, each baseband processor may perform upper PHY layer (physical layer) functions based on PHY sharing rules such as the 7-2x sharing specified by the O-RAN (Open Access Radio Network) Alliance.

[0012] Each CBRS-Demon 114A / B may be connected to a CBRS SAS (Spectrum Allocation System) 182 via an Internet connection. Each CBRS-Demon 114A / B may operate independently and may be connected to one SAS or to different SASs. Alternatively, the base station 100 may have a single CBRS-Demon that serves all baseband processors 105A / B. It goes without saying that various modifications such as these may be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[0013] The fronthaul network interface 120 may include, for example, a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) that may be implemented on a Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) board. Alternatively, depending on the base station 100 architecture, an Ethernet connection may be used for the fronthaul link 175. In this case, a packet-based eCPRI (Enhanced Common Public Radio Interface) connection may be used for communication between the fronthaul interface 120 and the remote unit 170. Such a connection may carry packetized eCPRI data representing TD (time domain) or FD (frequency domain) baseband signals, upper and lower PHY layer shared data (e.g., as specified by O-RAN as 7-2x shared), or F1 interface data (if each "eNodeB" 105A / B is a gNodeB CU and each remote unit 170 has gNodeB DU functionality) between the fronthaul interface 120 and the remote part. It should be appreciated that various implementations of the fronthaul link 175 and the fronthaul interface 120 are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0014] The master supervisor module 110 sets up and configures the components in the base station 100 so that the eNodeBs of other network operators do not impair the functionality of each baseband processor 105A / B or cause insufficient performance as measured by each mobile network operator's KPIs. As shown in the figure, the master supervisor module 110 is coupled to each baseband processor 105A / B (via their respective local supervisor modules 112A / B), the KPI coordinator 115, and the fronthaul network interface 120. The master supervisor module 110 may further communicate with a neutral host 180 that operates the base station 100 via an Internet connection. The communication between the master supervisor module 110 and the neutral host 180 may be in the form of a user interface or the like. Furthermore, the master supervisor module 110 may grant the neutral host 180 access to the system KPI module 135 of the mobile network operators A / B and their respective shared KPI modules 140 / 145. Depending on how the base station 100 is configured, the master supervisor module 110 may or may not have access to the respective KPI processing modules 125 / 130 of the mobile network operators A / B.

[0015] The master supervisor module 110 may also be connected to the core networks 150 / 160 of the mobile network operators A / B via the Internet. This may facilitate communication of configuration information such as carrier information and CBRS channel information, and KPI information obtained via the KPI coordinator 115. Alternatively or in addition, the KPI modules 125 / 130 may directly communicate KPI information to the respective mobile network operator core networks 150 / 160 via their respective baseband processors 105A / B. It goes without saying that such various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[0016] Each baseband processor 105A / B may include software modules implementing the RRC (Radio Resource Control), PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol), RLC (Radio Link Control), MAC (Medium Access Control), and PHY portions of an LTE or 5G protocol stack for both the control and data planes. By employing container technology, the master supervisor module 110 (in conjunction with an operating system of the base station 100's computing environment) may instantiate and de-instantiate each baseband processor 105A / B individually. The master supervisor module 110 may instantiate each local supervisor module 112A / B, which may subsequently configure and operate its corresponding baseband processor 105A / B (described below). Each baseband processor 105A / B is coupled to a respective fronthaul network interface 120 via a bidirectional digital BB (baseband) I / Q (in-phase / quadrature) data connection 107. For DL ​​(download) signals, the BB I / Q data on data connection 107 is a digital representation of the BB signal that is then combined with a CPRI signal by the fronthaul network interface 120 (e.g., each assigned to a CPRI antenna carrier) and transmitted to each remote unit 170. Each remote unit 170 reads the signal of interest from the CPRI data stream and upconverts the signal to an analog RF (radio frequency) signal that is amplified for transmission via an antenna associated with the remote unit 170.For UL (uplink) signals, the BB I / Q data on the data connection 107 is a digital representation of the downconverted RF signal detected by each antenna of one or more remote units 170, which amplifies and digitizes the signal and formats it according to the CPRI specification for transmission to the fronthaul network interface 120. The fronthaul network interface 120 then identifies and extracts the BB I / Q data corresponding to the carriers allocated to the baseband processors 105A / B and relays it via the data connection 107 to the appropriate eNodeB.

[0017] 1B illustrates an example of a fronthaul network interface 120 including a mapping module 185 overlaying a CPRI transmission layer 195. The mapping module 185 acts as a coordinator between the baseband processors 105A / B and the CPRI transmission layer 195, allowing the different baseband processors 105A / B to operate independently without affecting the other baseband processors. This is particularly important as it allows the baseband processors of one network operator to be restarted, configured or reconfigured (e.g., locking or activating individual cells) without affecting the operation of other network operators. It also allows the basestation 100 to dynamically instantiate baseband processors, add or remove additional baseband processors and de-instantiate them.

[0018] To do so, a mapping module 185 in the fronthaul network interface 120 may map the samples of a given baseband processor 105A / B (via their respective bidirectional digital baseband I / Q data connections 107) to an allocated DMA (Direct Memory Access) buffer 192, which may then be mapped to a predefined sample range within a given CPRI block in the CPRI transmission layer 195. A CPRI connection is a synchronous connection that transmits a fixed amount of data at a fixed time. A CPRI transmission block has a fixed size based on the bandwidth of the CPRI link (fronthaul link 175), thereby keeping the CPRI link utilization at 100% at all times. The mapping module 185 maps the samples corresponding to each baseband processor 105A / B to specific portions of each CPRI block. For example, the mapping module 185 may allocate the baseband processor 105A a first bandwidth portion of the CPRI block for its data (e.g., 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, taking into account the number of carrier components corresponding to the baseband processor 105A / B). Even if a part of the CPRI block is empty, the entire block is transmitted by the fronthaul network interface 120 at the appropriate timing interval (using padding for the unused part). The mapping module 185 may allocate the baseband processor 105B a second bandwidth allocation (e.g., one of the bandwidths listed above for the corresponding carrier components of the other baseband processor 105A / B) to a second part of the CPRI block via the second DMA buffer 192. The mapping module 185 may make such allocations so that the CPRI blocks can be used concatenated, since each allocated CPRI block in the eNodeB is appended to the previous CPRI block. The mapping module 185 may accommodate additional eNodeBs as well.For example, the master supervisor module 110 may instantiate two additional baseband processors 105C / D (not shown) and configure the fronthaul interface module 120 for the two new baseband processors 105C / D and their respective bandwidth requirements. Taking into account the free space in the CPRI block and the bandwidth requirements of each additional baseband processor 105C / D, the mapping module may allocate the remaining bandwidth of the CPRI block to the baseband processors 105C and 105D via additional DMA buffers 192, thereby filling the CPRI block. This requires the mapping module to allocate new DMA buffers 192 to the new baseband processors 105C / D one by one and map the new DMA buffers 192 to each allocated slot in the CPRI block in the CPRI transmission layer 195. Then, for example, in response to fluctuations in connection demand, the master supervisor module 110 may shut down baseband processors 105B and 105D by instructing the fronthaul network interface 120 (and thus the mapping module 185) to remove these two baseband processors from the CPRI block. Thus, the mapping module 185 may perform such an operation by disconnecting the corresponding DMA buffers 192 from the inactive baseband processors 105B / D, leaving the corresponding portions of the CPRI block unused, thereby allowing the fronthaul interface module 120 to pad the unused data portions.

[0019] When a given baseband processor locks or shuts down a cell, or when the master supervisor module 110 shuts down a given baseband processor, the CPRI blocks that were allocated to that cell or the entire baseband processor may be available for re-allocation by the mapping module 185. For example, when a given baseband processor locks or shuts down a cell, the mapping module 185 may re-allocate the newly released CPRI blocks to either the same baseband processor or to another baseband processor that is activating a new cell. Alternatively, the mapping module 185 may allocate the newly released CPRI blocks to a new baseband processor.

[0020] Each baseband processor 105A / B may asynchronously read and extract data from a corresponding DMA buffer 192. The DMA buffer 192 may handle the synchronous process of reading / extracting data to / from the CPRI transmission layer 195.

[0021] The CPRI data can be in either time domain I / Q format or frequency domain I / Q format.

[0022] An advantage of the mapping module 185 is that it allows the removal and addition of baseband processors while other existing baseband processors are in operation, without interfering with their operation.

[0023] The KPI coordinator module 115 configures and maintains the KPI modules 125 / 130 / 135 / 140 / 145 according to configuration information provided by the master supervisor module 110. The KPI coordinator module 115 may control access to each of such KPI modules. For example, mobile network operator A may have access to only KPI modules 125 / 140 / 145, mobile network operator B may have access to only KPI modules 130 / 140 / 145, and the master supervisor module 110 may have access to only KPI modules 135 / 140 / 145. In another example, the master supervisor module 110 may have access to all KPI modules 125 / 130 / 135 / 140 / 145. It is also possible for the KPI coordinator 115 to intercept or extract relevant data from each baseband processor 105A / B, or for each KPI module to be directly coupled to its corresponding baseband processor 105A / B. For example, the KPI module 125 can be directly coupled to the baseband processor 105A, which is purely virtualized and implemented in software and can be instrumented to allow the KPI module 125 to directly access the relevant KPIs or the data underlying them. It goes without saying that such variations are possible without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[0024] The KPI modules 125 / 130 may include proprietary code provided by the mobile network operators A / B and hosted as agents in the computing environment of the base station 100. Each of the KPI modules 125 / 130 may intercept or extract data from the fronthaul interface 120 and use the data to measure KPIs of interest. All or part of a mobile network operator's specific algorithms and implementations of KPI extraction and analysis may be hidden from the neutral host 180 and other mobile network operators. Furthermore, the KPI modules 125 / 130 may be integrated into the respective baseband processors 105A / B. Each of the KPI modules 125 / 130 may provide data to a shared KPI processing module 140 / 145, which may subsequently report to and generate alerts for the KPI coordinator 115. Additionally, the master supervisor module 110 may grant the neutral host 180 access to the system KPI modules 135 of mobile network operators A / B and their respective shared KPI modules 140 / 145. An example of this is when the KPI module 125 of mobile network A uses proprietary KPI data and analytics to identify an anomaly in a hardware component (such as an amplifier) ​​in a given remote unit 170 and issues an alert to the neutral host 180 via the KPI coordinator 115. Thus, an example of a shared KPI is a hardware anomaly in the remote unit 170 or the fronthaul link 175. When the KPI modules 125 / 130 measure KPIs or identify exceptions or anomalies that are configured to be shared with the system 100, they may store such information in their respective shared KPI modules 140 / 145 and make the information available to the KPI coordinator 115.Examples of KPIs include ERAB (Evolved UTRAN (Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network Radio Access Bearer) accessibility, ERAB holdability, IP (Internet Protocol) throughput, IP latency, cell availability and mobility, which are KPIs defined by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) technical specification 32.450, as well as proprietary KPIs.

[0025] The KPI module 125 / 130 may generate mobile network operator A / B specific alerts and generate and provide KPI data and notifications that may be sent periodically (e.g., every 15 minutes) to the mobile network operator A / B via a northbound interface (not shown). For example, the KPI module 125 / 130 may only extract and compile proprietary data for the mobile network operators A / B to process within their respective core networks 150 / 160, and may perform no or minimal embedded analytics within the base station 100. It should be understood that various modifications such as these may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0026] System KPI processing module 135 may extract or receive data from each remote unit 170 regarding its health. Thus, each remote unit 170 and fronthaul network interface 120 may be equipped with built-in sensors and software elements that monitor the functionality of the components and report anomalies to system KPI processing module 135. Additionally, system KPI processing module 135 may compile data regarding the functionality of the computing environment hosting base station 10, such as the average and peak processing loads of each thread corresponding to the software modules described in this disclosure.

[0027] The remote unit 170 may be one or more conventional macro remotes, one or more small cells, one or more DAS (Distributed Antenna System), and / or JMA Wireless. TM (JMA Wireless TM ) one or more TEKO TM Cell Hub (TEKO TMRemote Units 170 may include, for example, a Cell Hub, a 10Gb / s 12Gb / s 16Gb / s 18Gb / s 19Gb / s 20Gb / s 21Gb / s 22Gb / s 23Gb / s 24Gb / s 25Gb / s 30Gb / s 31Gb / s 32Gb / s 33Gb / s 34Gb / s 35Gb / s 36Gb / s 37Gb / s 38Gb / s 40Gb / s 41Gb / s 42Gb / s 43Gb / s 44Gb / s 45Gb / s 46Gb / s 47Gb / s 48Gb / s 50Gb / s 51Gb / s 52Gb / s 53Gb / s 54Gb / s 55Gb / s 60Gb / s 61Gb / s 62Gb / s 63Gb / s 64Gb / s 65Gb / s 70Gb / s 70Gb / s 71Gb / s 72Gb / s 73Gb / s 74Gb / s 75Gb / s 76Gb / s 77Gb / s 78Gb / s 79Gb / s 80Gb / s 81Gb / s 82Gb / s 83Gb / s 84Gb / s 85Gb / s 86Gb / s 87Gb / s 88Gb / s 90Gb / s 91Gb / s 92Gb / s 93Gb / s 94Gb / s 95Gb / s 96Gb / s 97Gb / s 98Gb / s 99 In a variation in which the fronthaul link 175 carries packetized time or frequency domain data using an eCPRI connection, each remote unit 170 may have circuitry and / or processing capabilities to depacketize the DL data stream into a digital stream (and possibly subsequently processed into an analog RF signal) and packetize the received digitized UL signal for transmission to the appropriate baseband processor 105A / B. In a variation in which one or more baseband processors 105A / B function as gNodeB CUs, each remote unit 170 may have appropriate circuitry and / or processing capabilities to perform 5G DU functions. In a variation in which the fronthaul link 175 is an Ethernet connection, each remote unit 170 may have the capability to perform any combination of TD / FD eCPRI and 7-2x sharing and 5G DU processing. Needless to say, such various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0028] Remote units 170 may be arranged in a daisy chain configuration, as shown in FIG. 1A, or in a hub-and-spoke configuration, or a combination thereof.

[0029] For large facilities such as a university campus or stadium, remote units 170 may be distributed throughout the facility to minimize the risk of mutual interference. With further reference to this variation, each remote unit 170 may be located such that any remote unit 170 may receive the majority of the traffic at any given time. In the stadium example, a first remote unit 170 (RU1) may be located in the stadium parking lot, a second remote unit 170 (RU2) may be located in the stadium's stadium, and a third remote unit 170 (RU3) may be located in the stadium's concourse. The majority of the UE (User Equipment) traffic at any given time during the event may occur in either the parking lot or the concourse or the stadium, and then reconcentrate in the concourse or parking lot. In this case, it may be advantageous to treat all three remote units 170 as one cell sharing a CPRI antenna carrier. In this example, a single virtual baseband processor 105A may transmit DL data to all three remote units 170 in a multicast mode over one CPRI antenna carrier. Thus, the scheduler in the baseband processor 105A will allocate a different set of REs (resource elements) to each UE in the coverage of any one of the remote units 170, and each remote unit 170 will receive the same DL CPRI antenna carriers. However, each remote unit 170 will not receive the same signal in the UL, since in the UL, each remote unit 170 will receive UL signals from a different subset of UEs. In this case, assuming a daisy-chain configuration and each UE is allocated a unique set of REs, each remote unit 170 may add its own CPRI antenna carrier data to the CPRI antenna carrier data of the previous remote unit 170. For example, RU2 may add its UL CPRI antenna carrier data to the UL CPRI antenna carrier data of RU1, and RU3 may add its UL CPRI antenna carrier data to the UL CPRI antenna carrier sum data already added by RU2.Various implementations of such summation may be implemented without departing from the scope of this disclosure. For example, in deployments requiring high signal-to-noise ratios, such as indoor deployments, a simple summation of time domain signals (e.g., all frequency bins in a given subframe in a single TTI) may be performed. Furthermore, interference suppression algorithms may be used to ensure a reliable uplink channel in situations of high co-channel activity.

[0030] In the above embodiment, the fronthaul link 175 is a CPRI link and BB time domain data is communicated between the base station 100 and the remote unit 170. In another variation, the remote unit 170 may perform the lower PHY functions that are performed by the baseband processor 105A / B in other implementations. In this example of PHY layer sharing, the fronthaul link 175 is considered to be a midhaul link. The term "fronthaul link" as used in this disclosure may also refer to a midhaul link. For example, the PHY layer sharing may be performed according to "7.2 Sharing" in 3GPP Technical Report 38.816 Version 1.0.0, but may also be performed according to other proposed PHY layer sharing schemes depending on the available bandwidth of the fronthaul link 175. In this example employing 7.2 sharing, the data communicated over the fronthaul link 175 may be packetized to represent frequency domain data streams of PUCCH (Physical Uplink Control Channel), PUSCH (Physical Uplink Shared Channel), PDCCH (Physical Downlink Control Channel), and PDSCH (Physical Downlink Shared Channel) data for each UE connected to the remote unit 170, and the fronthaul network interface 120 may be an Ethernet interface and / or a router. With further reference to this example, the remote units 170 in the illustrated daisy chain configuration may add the UL data of the previous remote unit 170 to the UL data it receives, as described above. This example may be advantageous because the addition is performed in the frequency domain. It goes without saying that various modifications such as these may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0031] In one variation of the virtual base station 100, the virtual baseband processor 105A / B may be a NodeB CU, and thus the DU may be incorporated in the remote unit 170. In this case, the data connection 107 and the fronthaul network interface 120 and the fronthaul link 175 may implement an F1 interface over Ethernet. It goes without saying that such variations are possible without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[0032] 1C illustrates an example of a computing environment 101 in which base station 100 may be deployed. Computing environment 101 includes server 113, which may consist of one or more rack or blade servers, each of which may have multiple processor cores. Server 113 may have one or more processor cores 117 connected to one or more storage devices 131. Server 113 is coupled to Internet 121 via Internet connection 123 and server network interface 127. Server 113 may also have a fronthaul network interface card 129. If fronthaul is implemented according to the CPRI specification, fronthaul network interface card 129 may be a PCIe board with circuitry to convert digital signal data to and from CPRI format for transmission over fronthaul link 175. Additionally, the server 113 may be provided with hardware accelerator components such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) programmed using known Intellectual Property (IP) blocks to perform specific high speed calculations for signal processing as required, deployed on standard computer interface cards.

[0033] In the illustrated example, the server 113 has two separate network interfaces 127 and 129, although other implementations are possible. In another implementation, one network interface is provided for communicating with both the Internet 121 and the remote unit 170. More generally, the server 113 has at least one network interface capable of communicating with the Internet 121 and the remote unit 170. The server 113 can communicate with the core network via the Internet 121. Thus, as described in this disclosure, the server 113 can route communications between the core network and the remote unit. Such routing can include bidirectional or unidirectional communications. As described in this disclosure, routing communications from the core network to the remote unit can include multicast communications.

[0034] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a second virtual base station 200 (hereinafter "base station 200") according to the present disclosure. Base station 200 is a virtual base station implemented in software in a computing environment (e.g., computing environment 101 shown in FIG. 1C). The computing environment includes hardware components, such as one or more processors and non-transitory computer-readable memory, that may be configured with appropriate software to implement base station 200. In some implementations, the software is stored in the non-transitory computer-readable memory of the computing environment. In other implementations, the software is stored outside the computing environment and executed in the computing environment, for example, through an API provided by the computing environment.

[0035] The base station 200 includes a master supervisor module 210, one or more DUs 205 (in the illustrated example, two DUs 205A / B are provided, one for each mobile network operator), and a KPI coordinator module 215. The KPI coordinator module 215 is connected to a KPI processing module 225 for a mobile network operator A, a KPI processing module 230 for a mobile network operator B, a system KPI processing module 235, a KPI processing module 240 for a mobile network operator A that may be shared with other components in the virtual base station 200, and a KPI processing module 245 for a mobile network operator B that may be shared with other components in the virtual base station 200. Although not illustrated, the base station 200 may have a local supervisor module corresponding to the DU 205A / B and a CBRS-daemon module connected to the CU 252A / B, similar to the base station 100.

[0036] The difference between the base station 200 and the base station 100 is that there is a shared CU / DU (Central Unit / Distributed Unit) in each virtual gNodeB, and the virtual CU 252A / B is hosted on the computing infrastructure belonging to the mobile network operator or the private network A and B, respectively. That is, the CU 252A / B may be deployed in each core network 150 / 160 of the mobile network operator or the private network A and B, respectively. Thus, the CU 252A is coupled to the DU 205A hosted in the computing environment of the base station 200 via the F1 interface 272. Similarly, the CU 252B is coupled to the DU 205B hosted in the computing environment of the base station 200 via its own F1 interface 272. The F1 interface 272 may be implemented via an Ethernet connection established by the Ethernet interface 257. Each DU 205A / B may include a mix of pure software implementations running on traditional processor hardware and special purpose hardware such as FPGAs and other hardware accelerators.

[0037] Base station 200 is coupled to one or more remote units 270 via fronthaul link 275 and fronthaul network interface 220, which is substantially similar to fronthaul network interface 120, including CPRI implementations as well as Ethernet-based "7.2 sharing" variations, as previously described. Fronthaul link 275 may include a CPRI link or an Ethernet link depending on the fronthaul architecture, as previously described in connection with base station 100. The possible variations of fronthaul (e.g., CPRI, TD eCPRI, FD eCPRI, 7-2x, etc.) and daisy-chain configuration examples for remote unit 270, including the addition of uplink antenna carriers, apply to base station 200 as well as base station 100.

[0038] The remote units 270 may include, for example, one or more conventional macro remote sections, one or more small cells, one or more DAS, and / or one or more TEKO cell hubs provided by JMA Wireless. In one variation, the lower PHY layer processing may be embedded in each remote section 270, in which case the fronthaul link 275 may be a midhaul link rather, and the DU 205A / B may perform the upper PHY layer processing. The specific partitioning of the PHY layer may vary. As previously mentioned, it goes without saying that such variations are possible without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[0039] The master supervisor module 210 sets and configures the components in the base station 200 so that none of the components included in the base station 200 impairs the functionality of each DU 205A / B or causes insufficient performance measured based on the KPIs of each mobile network operator. As shown in the figure, the master supervisor module 210 is coupled to each DU 205A / B, the KPI coordinator 215, and the fronthaul network interface 220. Furthermore, the master supervisor module 210 may also communicate with the neutral host 180 that operates the base station 200. The communication between the master supervisor module 210 and the neutral host 180 may be in the form of a user interface or the like. Furthermore, the master supervisor module 210 may grant the neutral host 180 access to the system KPI module 235 of the mobile network operators A / B and their respective shared KPI modules 240 / 255. An example of this is where the KPI module 125 of mobile network A may use proprietary KPI data and analytics to identify an anomaly in a hardware component (such as an amplifier) ​​within a given remote unit 170 / 270 and issue an alert via the KPI coordinator 115 / 215 to the neutral host 180. Depending on how the base station 200 is configured, the master supervisor module 210 may not have access to the respective KPI processing modules 225 / 230 of mobile network operators A and B.

[0040] The master supervisor module 210 may also be connected to the core networks 150 / 160 of the mobile network operator networks or private networks A / B via the Internet. This may facilitate communication of configuration information such as carrier information and CBRS channel information and KPI information obtained from the KPI coordinator 215. Alternatively or in addition, the KPI modules 225 / 230 may directly communicate KPI information to the respective mobile network operator core networks 150 / 160 via their respective DUs 205A / B. The KPI coordinator module 215 and the KPI modules 225 / 230 / 235 / 240 / 245 may be substantially similar to the corresponding ones of the KPI modules 115 / 125 / 130 / 135 / 140 / 145. It goes without saying that such various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

[0041] Each software-based component in the base station 100 / 200 may be deployed in a computing environment using container technology, allowing the component to operate independently and instantiate / destroy the component according to instructions issued by the master supervisor module 110 / 210.

[0042] Each component or module in the base station 100 / 200 may be configured with machine-readable instructions encoded in one or more non-transitory memory devices and executed by one or more processors to perform the respective described functions. The term "module" as used in this disclosure may refer to a set of machine-readable instructions encoded in a non-transitory memory and executable by one or more processors. The machine-readable instructions corresponding to a module, when executed by the processor, perform the function assigned to the module according to this disclosure. Each module may be implemented as one or more execution threads that may be executed by one or more processors using container technology. As used in this disclosure, "non-transitory computer-readable memory" refers to a tangible storage medium (such as not an electromagnetic or optical signal) and refers to the medium itself, and is not limited to the storage of data, such as whether it is RAM (random access memory) or ROM (read only memory). For example, non-transitory media may refer to embedded volatile memory that is encoded with instructions that require the memory to be reloaded with appropriate machine-readable instructions after a power cycle.

[0043] A variety of non-transitory computer readable memory may be used, including, for example, a solid state drive (SSD), a hard disk drive (HD), a compact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), a Blu-ray disc (BD), a memory stick, or any suitable combination thereof. In some implementations, the non-transitory computer readable medium is configured as part of the computing environment 101. In other implementations, the non-transitory computer readable medium is configured separately from the computing environment 101.

[0044] 3 illustrates an example process 300 for instantiating and configuring a representative base station 100 / 200 according to the present disclosure. The process 300 may be executed by one or more processors (hereinafter "processors") associated with the base station 100 / 200, may be stored in a non-transitory memory as machine-readable instructions, and may be implemented as a functional module as described above. In the following description, reference may be made to components within the base station 100, but such references should be understood to also apply to the base station 200. Furthermore, references to the process 300 should be understood to also apply to any combination of eNodeBs, gNodeBs (CU or CU+DU combinations) or DUs within the base station 100 / 200.

[0045] In step 305, the processor executes instructions to instantiate the master supervisor module 110 / 210 to perform a system discovery scan. In doing so, the processor's operating system may employ container technology to instantiate the master supervisor module 110 / 210 as well as other modules of the base station 100 / 200. In step 305, the processor executes instructions to cause the master supervisor module 110 / 210 to establish communication with each remote unit 170 via the fronthaul interface 120 / 220, thereby obtaining address, channel capabilities, location, and power information of each remote unit 170 / 270. This may include establishing communication with each POI (Point of Interface) in the remote unit 170 / 270. With further reference to step 305, the master supervisor module 110 / 210 may create a database using the information obtained in the system discovery scan.

[0046] In step 310, the processor executes instructions such that the master supervisor module 110 / 210 establishes communication with the network operator's core network 150 / 160 and the neutral host 180 to obtain mobile network operator configuration data, including licensed spectrum carrier parameters and KPI information from each mobile network operator via the respective core network 150 / 160. Additionally, the master supervisor module 110 / 210 may query the mobile network operator for CBRS PAL (Priority Access License) numbers that the mobile network operator may have. The master supervisor module 110 / 210 may also establish communication with private networks that the base station 100 / 200 deploys and supports. This may include the master supervisor 110 / 210 querying one or more private network servers for BRS PAL numbers or other network configuration information. The master supervisor module 110 / 210 may load the obtained appropriate data into a database for subsequent configuration of the eNodeB / gNodeB / DU and KPI coordinator modules, respectively. The master supervisor module 110 / 210 may allocate channels in the remote unit 170 / 270 (e.g., POIs, etc.) according to the licensed spectrum channels of each mobile network operator, match the channels in the remote unit 170 / 270 to each mobile network operator, and load the appropriate information into the database. The master supervisor module 110 / 210 may further allocate CBRS channels to each mobile network operator and private network, and load the appropriate information into the database.

[0047] Although the following description refers to CBRS, it should be understood that the present disclosure may also apply to shared spectrum access systems such that a base station may request access to one or more shared spectrum channels or bands.

[0048] Still referring to step 310, the processor executes instructions to instantiate the baseband processor 105A / B (base station 100) or DU 205A / B (base station 200), local supervisor module 112A / B and CBRS-daemon 114A / B. This may be done using container technology, so that each mobile network operator and private network may have its own baseband processor, local supervisor module and CBRS-daemon. The master supervisor module 110 / 210 may map CPU and bus resources to each baseband processor 105A / B according to their individual capacity requirements.

[0049] With further reference to step 310, the processor executes instructions such that the supervisor 110 allocates CBRS channels to each baseband processor 105A / B. This may be done according to a pre-configured order in which a given network operator A / B prioritizes a certain number of CBRS channels (which may be in addition to the CBRS channels that may have PAL numbers). For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the supervisor 110 may allocate CBRS channels 1-3 to baseband processor 105A and CBRS channels 4-6 to baseband processor 105B.

[0050] At step 315, each CBRS-Demon 114A / B registers its respective remote unit 170 / 270 with the CBRS SAS (Spectrum Allocation System) 182. In doing so, each CBRS-Demon 114A / B acts within each remote unit 170 / 270 as a domain proxy for its assigned channels and registers each channel as a CBSD. In the example shown in FIG. 5B, CBRS-Demon 114A would register with SAS 182 for CBRS channels 1-3, and CBRS-Demon 114B would register with SAS 182 for CBRS channels 4-6. This may be done by an array in which each remote unit 170 / 270 is an array element and CBRS-Demon 114A / B may specify that intra-group interference coordination be handled by CBRS-Demon 114A / B. As part of the registration process, if the response (step 310) from the mobile network operator corresponding to the CBRS-Demon 114A / B indicates that the mobile network operator or private network has PAL authorization, the CBRS-Demon 114A / B will indicate so in the registration process and each CBSD will be registered as being within a PPA (PAL Protection Area), thereby gaining access to CBRS channels that reserve PAL.

[0051] In step 325, the processor executes instructions such that the CBRS-daemon 114A / B acting as a proxy for its CBSD sends a grant request to the SAS. The grant request takes the form of an array in the case of a group request, where each CBSD request in the array specifically requests a CBRS channel that was allocated to it by the master supervisor module 110 / 210 in step 310. Depending on the number of mobile network operators and private networks, and the computing resources available in the computing environment of the base station 100 / 200, the master supervisor module 110 / 210 may limit the number of CBRS channels (which may be a subset of its CBRS channel allocation) for which a given CBRS-daemon 114A / B may issue a grant request. The remaining subset of CBRS channels may be reserved for a given baseband processor if a grant for the CBRS channel expires. Each grant request in the array may correspond to a particular CBSD. The grant request may also include, for each channel requested for each CBSD, which channels are requested under a PAL authorization and which channels are requested under a GAA authorization. Each grant request in the array may include a frequency range and a desired Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) corresponding to each frequency range.

[0052] With further reference to step 325, each CBRS-Demon 114A / B receives a license from the SAS. The license may include, for each CBSD, granting access to PAL reserved channels as well as channels granted under General Authorized Access (GAA). Conditions for each channel may include a maximum EIRP. Of course, there is no guarantee that the SAS will grant access to each requested CBRS channel. The SAS may deny access to a given channel and recommend an alternate channel. Each CBRS-Demon 114A / B may store information corresponding to the CBRS grant and associated parameters for configuring its corresponding baseband processor 105A / B in local storage.

[0053] In step 340, the processor executes the instructions for each local supervisor module 112A / B to configure its respective baseband processor 105A / B so that each local supervisor module 112A / B can query the database for all information related to its respective mobile network operator or private network, such as licensed spectrum carriers, allocated CBRS channels (whether or not access to a given CBRS channel was granted in step 325), CBRS channels granted access in step 325 and associated parameters, POI or remote unit channel addresses, and any other relevant information obtained in step 310. If it is necessary to isolate resources of each mobile network operator and private network from other operators while maintaining security, the master supervisor module 110 / 210 can create a copy of the database for each local supervisor 112A / B, such copy can include only information related to the particular mobile network operator or private network. By provisioning a cell for each licensed spectrum carrier and each allocated CBRS channel, each local supervisor 112A / B configures its corresponding baseband processor 105A / B such that each local supervisor 112A / B may assign each allocated CBRS channel to a given band-specific cell processor 420 / 425 / 420. The local supervisor module 112A / B may activate cells corresponding to CBRS channels for which access was granted in step 325. The local supervisor module 112A / B may maintain in an inactive or locked state any cells corresponding to allocated CBRS channels for which access was denied in step 325.Additionally, if the master supervisor module 110 / 210 has configured the CBRS-daemon 114A / B to only request grants for a subset of the allocated CBRS channels (the active subset), the local supervisor module 112A / B may configure any cells corresponding to the remaining CBRS channels (the inactive subset) to a locked or inactive state. A locked cell (i.e., a locked cell) may be an instantiation of a band-specific cell processor protocol stack implementation that has no connection (and thus no connected UEs) to the fronthaul interface 120 / 220, as described below.

[0054] The creation of a locked cell may occur as follows: The local supervisor module 112 may execute instructions to instantiate a cell in a given baseband processor 105. The local supervisor 112 may pre-configure a locked cell for a given CBRS channel, but may leave the pre-configured locked cell unassigned to a slot in the fronthaul interface 120 / 220. In this case, the processor operating the given baseband processor 105 / 205 may consume a nominal amount of resources in executing instructions to operate a locked cell with no connected UEs and no assigned resources in the fronthaul interface 110 / 210. Either a given baseband processor 105 / 205, or the system 100 / 200 in general, may maintain multiple locked cells pre-configured in a locked or "parked" state on a given CBRS channel (if the SAS 182 grants access to the channel). For example, multiple baseband processors 105 / 205 may each maintain a locked cell for the same CBRS channel, with the master supervisor module 110 / 210 selecting only one or more baseband processors 105 / 205 as baseband processors that have active cells on that CBRS channel. When multiple baseband processors 105 / 205 share a given CBRS channel, the master supervisor module 110 / 210 may work with the corresponding local supervisor module 112 to allocate unique carrier components within that CBRS channel. In allocating the carrier components, the local supervisor module 112 may instantiate one or more band-specific cell processors, one for each carrier component.

[0055] In a variant in which the fronthaul connection 175 is implemented via Ethernet and the fronthaul interface 120 is a router, for a given locked cell the connection to the router may be disconnected from the corresponding baseband processor.

[0056] As described below in subsequent steps 345 and 350, if a given baseband processor 105 / 205 is granted access to a pre-configured CBRS channel, the local supervisor module 112 may execute instructions to assign the appropriate slots of the fronthaul interface 120 / 220 to the corresponding band-specific cell processor and issue instructions to it to connect to the UE. Such an approach may be necessary if the software underlying the virtual baseband processor 105 / 205 does not facilitate ongoing channel reconfiguration upon CBRS authorization changes. It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0057] 4 illustrates multiple instantiated and configured baseband processors (105A, B...N in the figure). In this example, baseband processor 105A has three cell groups 405A-C, which may correspond to remote units 170 / 270, respectively. Instantiated within cells 405A-C are a set of one or more band specific cell processors 415 / 420 / 425 / 430, each of which includes a protocol stack implementation for processing one or more carrier components of its assigned band. In the illustrated example, band specific cell processor 415 is assigned to a mobile network operator licensed band 415, band specific cell processor 420 is assigned to CBRS channel 1, band specific cell processor 425 is assigned to CBRS channel 2, and band specific cell processor 430 is assigned to CBRS channel 3. These band-specific cell processors 415 / 420 / 425 / 430 may be implemented by software-based protocol stack implementations embodied in a set of machine-readable instructions encoded in non-transitory memory. Each cell group 415A-C may have a scheduler component 410 that performs MAC layer scheduling and carrier aggregation between each set of component carriers within a given cell group.

[0058] Each cell group 405A-C may refer to a cell group processor. A cell group processor may be defined as a set of band-specific cell processors that can serve a given UE or set of UEs in a coverage area. Using multiple band-specific cell processors may enable carrier aggregation across multiple bands within a cell group processor. Furthermore, for a shared spectrum access system such as CBRS with multiple CBRS channels (one per band-specific cell processor), one band-specific cell processor may be parked in an inactive or locked state and assigned to a CBRS channel that is not currently in use to provide redundancy upon license expiration. Each band-specific cell processor may be a software-implemented LTE or 5G NR protocol stack that operates on one or more carrier components within its assigned band or CBRS channel. Each protocol stack may include its own scheduler (e.g., MAC layer, etc.) with which the local scheduler 410 may work to implement carrier aggregation, etc.

[0059] 4, in response to a proxy grant request issued by CBRS-daemon 114A, SAS 182 (not shown) grants each CBSD access to CBRS channels 1 and 2 in step 325. Each CBSD may be mapped to a given remote unit 170 / 270. Local supervisor 112 configures band-specific cell processors 420 and 425 for CBRS channels 1 and 2, respectively, and configures band-specific cell processor 430 (assigned to CBRS channel 3) to remain in a locked state.

[0060] It should be understood that the example shown in Figure 4 includes a baseband processor 105A corresponding to a network operator. If the baseband processor 105A is assigned to a private network, the band-specific cell processor 415 may be omitted and the baseband processor 105A may operate only on shared spectrum access (e.g., CBRS) channels. It should be understood that various modifications such as these may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0061] 3, in step 345, the processor executes instructions to configure the fronthaul network interface 120 / 220 (which may include instantiating any software modules (such as mapping module 185) that configure and operate the fronthaul interface), perform necessary data conversions, and act as a router between the hardware of each baseband processor 105A / B or DU 205A / B and the fronthaul network interface 120 / 220, as previously described. This may include configuring ports for the DMA buffers 192 to be allocated to each baseband processor 105A / B or DU 205A / B. Alternatively, if the fronthaul network interface 120 / 220 is an Ethernet interface supporting packet-based communications between the baseband processors 105A / B or DUs 205A / B, the fronthaul network interface 120 / 220 may be configured as a packet-switching network fabric between the baseband processors 105A / B or DUs 205A / B and the remote units 170 / 270.

[0062] In step 350, the processor executes instructions to establish communications between the base station 100 / 200 and the remote unit 170 / 270 to configure the remote unit 170 / 270 to select the carrier band and power level to be used by mobile network operators A and B and any private networks.

[0063] In step 355, the processor executes instructions to instantiate the KPI coordinator 115 / 215 and the KPI modules 125 / 225, 130 / 230, 135 / 235, 140 / 240, and 145 / 245, and to establish communication channels between the specified KPI modules and their respective baseband processors 105A / B or DUs 205A / B.

[0064] Once all the software modules are instantiated, the processor executes instructions such that the master supervisor module 110 / 210 establishes inter-task communication between the software modules as shown in FIGS.

[0065] At this stage in process 300, base stations 100 / 200 have begun operating as intended, and each mobile network operator and private network may function independently using separate resources within the shared computing environment and topology of fronthaul and remote units 170 / 270. The remaining description of process 300 below describes examples where the SAS (at any time during operation) revokes the license for one or more CBRS channels or recommends switching to a new CBRS channel.

[0066] In operation, each CBRS-Demon 114A / B can issue heartbeat requests to, and receive heartbeat responses from, the SAS 182 on behalf of, and as a proxy for, its CBSD (its channel within the remote unit 170 / 270).

[0067] At step 360, the CBRS-Demon 114A / B may receive notification from the SAS 182 that a grant for a given CBRS channel to a given CBSD has expired. This may be via a CBRS heartbeat response according to known procedures.

[0068] In step 365, if a grant has expired, the affected CBRS-daemon 114A / B may do two things: (1) send a signal to its corresponding local supervisor module 112A / B indicating the expiration of the grant to its assigned CBRS channel, and (2) issue a new grant request to the SAS 182 requesting a grant to its assigned CBRS channel or channels from its set of inactive channels. If the SAS 182 grants access to the newly requested CBRS channel, the local supervisor module 112A / B may activate an existing locked cell that is pre-configured for the newly granted CBRS channel (as described below in connection with step 370).

[0069] It may be the case that a given baseband processor 105A / B has a cell that crosses two CBRS channels. For example, referring to FIG. 4, cell group 1 (405A) may have a single cell with frequencies present in both CBRS1 (420) and CBRS2 (425). In this case, a grant revocation may remove access to a portion of the spectrum that a given cell is using. In response, the CBRS-Demon 114A / B, the local supervisor module 112 for cell group 1405A, and the scheduler 410 and master supervisor module together either (1) lock the cell that crosses two CBRS bands and send a grant request for the two newly allocated CBRS channels that can serve the cell, or (2) limit the bandwidth of the cell to fit within the CBRS channels that are still granted, and then send a grant request for another allocated CBRS channel, Scheduler 410 allows for carrier aggregation between the still-granted CBRS channels and the newly-granted CBRS channels.

[0070] In step 370, the local supervisor module 112A / B may transfer or hand over the UE connected to the CBSD and CBRS channel for which the grant has expired to other active cells in its cell group (which may include the newly activated cell corresponding to the CBRS channel newly granted in step 365) and then lock the band-specific cell processor corresponding to the CBRS channel for which the grant has expired.

[0071] The handover or transfer of the UE connected to the failed CBRS channel to another cell in the group of cells may be performed as follows: In one example, the scheduler 410 may issue instructions to handover each UE from the cells corresponding to the failed CBRS channel using a conventional method specified in the 3GPP specifications. Alternatively, the local supervisor module 112A / B may issue an instruction to the master supervisor module 110 / 210, which in turn may issue a command to the appropriate remote unit(s) 170 / 270 (corresponding to the failed CBSD) to reduce the transmit power corresponding to the failed CBRS channel. The UE connected to the failed CBSD will then autonomously identify an alternative cell in its group of cells and connect to the cell with a stronger signal. The advantage of this approach is that it leverages the UE's ability to identify and connect to its best alternative cell without intervention by the scheduler 510. Another advantage of this approach is that it makes it easier to immediately shut down radios that are subject to license revocation, as required by CBRS regulations.

[0072] Still referring to step 370, the master supervisor module 110 / 210 may instruct the fronthaul network interface 120 / 220 (and the mapping module 185) to: Issue instructions to connect the newly activated cells to the remote units 170 / 270 affected by the CBSD grant revocation (which may include instructions to disconnect the affected band-specific cell processors corresponding to the revoked CBRS channels from their respective DMA buffers 192 and connect the newly activated band-specific cell processors to the corresponding DMA buffers 192); issuing instructions to the affected remote units 170 / 270 to begin transmitting and receiving on the new CBRS channel at the beginning of the identified initiation frame and to cease transmitting on the stale channel; issuing commands to the affected daisy-chained remote units 170 / 270 to add an uplink signal on the new CBRS channel; and to issue instructions to remote units 170 / 270 corresponding to unexpired CBSDs to discontinue adding uplink data from remote units 170 / 270 affected by the expiry; The processor may execute the instructions. With further reference to step 370, the master supervisor module 110 / 210 may issue a notification to the associated core network 150 / 160 informing it that the CU 252 corresponding to the expired CBRS channel will switch to a new channel. The band-specific cell processor assigned to the expired CBRS channel may then be disconnected from any UE or fronthaul interface 120 / 220 consuming a nominal amount of processor resources when idle and may operate in a locked state.

[0073] Although the above example describes the use of CBRS, it should be understood that any dynamic shared spectrum allocation system in which one or more frequency ranges are available locally to a remote unit or base station based on time-dependent requests / grant, and the channels are otherwise publicly available, may be applied to the present disclosure. The CBRS channels used in this disclosure are an example of a shared spectrum allocation channel. Furthermore, although the example discloses a CBRS-Demon, it should be understood that any dynamic shared spectrum region proxy that obtains grants and grant revocations from a dynamic shared spectrum allocation system on behalf of one or more remote units may be applied to the present disclosure.

[0074] Figure 5A is a diagram illustrating a deployment of a base station 100 / 200 including baseband processors 105A / B similar to that of Figure 4. In this example, each baseband processor 105A / B has at least one cell group 405 configured for multicast operation. Each set of band-specific cell processors for licensed bands and CBRS channels (415 / 420 / 425 in this example) is coupled to the fronthaul network interface 120 via a bidirectional digital baseband I / Q data connection 107. As shown, baseband processor 105A has a locked band-specific cell processor 430 for CBRS3 and baseband processor 105B has a locked band-specific cell processor 430 for CBRS6. Each CBSD / remote unit 170 includes an RF processing block (505) for the licensed band of mobile network operator A, an RF processing block (510) for the licensed band of mobile network operator B, an RF processing block (515) for CBRS channel 1 allocated to mobile network operator A, an RF processing block (520) for CBRS channel 2 allocated to mobile network operator A, an RF processing block (525) for inactive CBRS channel 3, an RF processing block (530) for CBRS channel 4 allocated to mobile network operator B, an RF processing block (535) for CBRS channel 5 allocated to mobile network operator B, and an RF processing block (540) for inactive CBRS channel 6. Each may include lower layer LTE or 5G protocol stack processing, such as PHY layer processing.

[0075] 5A, the terms CBSD and remote unit may be used interchangeably. Additionally, although the example uses LTE terminology and base station 100 reference numerals, it will be appreciated that the example may be applied to 5G base station 200 as well.

[0076] In the example shown in FIG. 5A, each of the individual RF processing blocks 505 / 510 / 515 / 520 / 530 / 535, except for RF processing block 525 / 540, is daisy-chained and coupled to a corresponding set of carrier components in the cells 405 of either baseband processor 105A or baseband processor 105B. This allows for multicast operation where multiple remote CBSDs 170 can share a cell. In this example, all UEs connected together to remote CBSDs 170 at a given carrier component can share one data frame. In the downlink (DL) case, a given baseband processor 105A / B can use a single carrier component processing thread (i.e., a single data spectrum access frame) for all daisy-chained CBSDs, and therefore can copy and send copies of a single data frame to all CBSDs 170. However, for the uplink (UL), a given RF processing block (e.g., CBRS4 (530)) in one CBSD 170 may only receive signals from UEs connected to that frequency CBSD 170. The other CBSDs 170 are each assigned to a different set of REs in the data frame of that carrier component and receive signals from a unique set of UEs. Thus, each CBSD 170 sums the signal it receives from its own antenna with the data it receives from its downstream neighbors.

[0077] As noted above, the daisy-chain topology of remote units 170 allows for both DL multicast and UL carrier component summation, where CBSD2 may sum band-specific UL signals received from its connected UEs with corresponding band-specific signal data received from CBSD3, and CBSD1 may sum its connected UEs' UL signals with corresponding band-specific signal data from CBSD2.

[0078] 5A, each of the baseband processors 105A and 105B includes a cell group processor 405 configured for multicast operation. However, as shown in FIG. 4, each of the baseband processors 105A / B may include other computational cell group processors that may be configured for multicast operation with other remote units (not shown) or may be configured in a manner that couples each cell group to one or more remote units with functionality other than multicast. Of course, such variations are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

[0079] With further reference to the example shown in FIG. 5A, the fronthaul interface 120 and the fronthaul link 175 may be accompanied by a CPRI link. In this case, each RF processing block includes circuitry for receiving a CPRI stream from a downstream remote unit 170, extracting CPRI stream data corresponding to a given band of that RF processing block, adding the extracted CPRI stream data to data that the RF processing block generates based on the signal received from its antenna (from its connected UE), inserting the sum data into the corresponding CPRI block, and transmitting the new CPRI data to the next remote unit 170 upstream or to the fronthaul interface 120. As mentioned above, such addition may be performed over a single TTI (Transmission Time Interval). In a variant in which the fronthaul link 175 is an Ethernet connection, the fronthaul interface 120 may be a router for each baseband processor 105A / B to communicate with the various remote units 170 using packetized data streams. In this example, the uplink addition may be performed in the fronthaul interface 120 or in the appropriate baseband processor 105A / B.

[0080] 5B illustrates the state of the system of FIG. 5A after a grant of a single CBRS channel for a single CBSD 170 has expired. In this example, baseband processor 105A may initially have its licensed band 415 and active band-specific cell processors for CBRS1 (420) and CBRS2 (425). Referring to step 360 of process 300, at the time of the grant expiration, the CBRS-daemon (not shown) in baseband processor 105A receives a grant expiration from the SAS that revokes access to CBRS channel 2 for CBSD2. As specified in step 365, the CBRS-daemon may send a grant request to the SAS requesting a grant to the assigned CBRS3 of the pre-configured and locked band-specific cell processor 430 in baseband processor 105A. If the SAS grants access to CBRS3, the CBRS-Demon may issue instructions to the local supervisor module (not shown) of the baseband processor 105A that the CBRS2 RF processing block 520 in CBSD2 should be shut down and that connected UEs should be handed over to other channels, per step 370. In response, the local supervisor module of the baseband processor 105A may unlock and activate the band specific cell processor 430 corresponding to CBRS3, hand over each affected UE to other channels (e.g., by powering down the RF processing block 520 of CBSD2 and initiating the UE to establish a connection with other channels in CBSD2), and lock the CBRS2 band specific cell processor 425.Following this, the master coordinator module (not shown) may issue instructions to the fronthaul interface module 120 to allocate CPRI slots (and DMA buffers) to the CBRS3 band-specific cell processor 425 of the baseband processor 105A, issue instructions to CBSD1 and CBSD3 to remove CBSD2 from the CBRS2 daisy-chain configuration, issue instructions to CBSD2 to activate the CBRS3 RF processing block 525 which may contain information about the newly allocated CPRI slots for the CBRS3 band-specific cell processor 430 of the baseband processor 105A, and further issue instructions to CBSD2 to shut down the CBRS2 RF processing block 520. The new I / Q data connection for the CBRS3 band-specific cell processor 430 of the baseband processor 105A is shown as data connection 107A (shown as a thicker line in FIG. 5B), the new fronthaul link between the fronthaul interface 120 and CBSD2 for CBRS3 is shown as fronthaul link 175A (shown as a thicker line in FIG. 5B), and the new link between CBSD1 and CBSD3 for CBRS2 is shown as data connection 175B (shown as a thicker line in FIG. 5B).

[0081] Unless otherwise expressly defined, the term "subset" may refer to some or all of the elements of a respective corresponding set. Additionally, in this disclosure, denial of a channel may include expiration of authorization (for a channel that was previously authorized) and denial of authorization (for a channel that was never authorized).

Claims

1. 1. A method of configuring and operating a virtual base station hosting multiple network operators, comprising: a processor of the virtual base station instantiating a plurality of baseband processors for the virtual base station, the baseband processors each corresponding to a different one of a plurality of network operators, the baseband processors having one or more cell group processors each having a plurality of band specific cell processors, each of the plurality of baseband processors operating independently from other baseband processors of the plurality of baseband processors; the processor of the virtual base station allocating a plurality of shared spectrum access channels, each of which is different, to each of the plurality of baseband processors of the virtual base station; each of the plurality of baseband processors receiving from a spectrum allocation system a grant to one or more of the plurality of different shared spectrum access channels corresponding to a respective baseband processor of the virtual base station; each of the plurality of baseband processors independently assigning each of the respective different shared spectrum access channels for the plurality of baseband processors to a band-specific cell processor of a corresponding one of the plurality of baseband processors of the virtual base station; The method includes:

2. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: configuring each band-specific cell processor assigned a granted shared access channel to be in an active state; and configuring each band-specific cell processor not assigned a granted shared access channel to be in a locked state.

3. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining information corresponding to each of the plurality of network operators and configuring each of the plurality of baseband processors using the information of a network operator corresponding to each of the plurality of baseband processors.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the information includes licensed band information and shared spectrum access priority information.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising configuring each of the plurality of remote units to operate on its corresponding licensed shared spectrum access channel.

6. 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: coupling each active band-specific cell processor to a fronthaul interface; and coupling the plurality of remote units to the fronthaul interface.

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein coupling each active band-specific cell processor to a fronthaul interface includes coupling each active band-specific cell processor to a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) fronthaul interface.

8. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein coupling each active band-specific cell processor to the CPRI fronthaul interface includes coupling each active band-specific cell processor to a CPRI fronthaul interface Direct Memory Access (DMA) buffer.

9. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein coupling each active band-specific cell processor to the fronthaul interface includes coupling each active band-specific cell processor to an Ethernet router.

10. 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: receiving a grant revocation corresponding to a revoked shared spectrum access channel among the plurality of granted shared spectrum access channels corresponding to a revoked remote unit; and issuing an instruction to the revoked remote unit to power down a radio corresponding to the revoked shared spectrum access channel.

11. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: disconnecting the active band-specific cell processor corresponding to the failed shared spectrum access channel from the failed remote unit.

12. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising: switching the active band-specific cell processor corresponding to the expired shared spectrum access channel to change to a locked state.

13. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein configuring each of the plurality of remote units to operate on its corresponding granted shared spectrum access channel includes configuring one or more of the remote units to perform lower PHY (physical layer) functions for the granted shared spectrum access channel.

14. 14. The method of claim 13, wherein configuring one or more of the remote units to perform lower PHY layer functions for the granted shared spectrum access channel includes configuring one or more of the remote units to perform lower PHY layer functions with a 7-2x sharing.

15. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein configuring each of the plurality of remote units to operate on its corresponding licensed shared spectrum access channel includes configuring one or more of the remote units to function as a gNodeB distributed unit.

16. Hardware comprising one or more hardware components configured to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 15.

17. A non-transitory computer readable memory encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 15.

18. 1. A method of hosting multiple network operators in hardware comprising a single hardware component or components, comprising: allocating, by a processor of the virtual base station, the plurality of different shared spectrum access channels, including a shared spectrum access channel request subset that is a portion of the plurality of shared spectrum access channels and a shared spectrum access channel reservation subset that is a remainder of the plurality of shared spectrum access channels, to each of a plurality of baseband processors of the virtual base station, each corresponding to one of a plurality of network operators, each of the plurality of baseband processors operating independently from other baseband processors of the plurality of baseband processors; each baseband processor of said virtual base station requesting a grant to a corresponding shared spectrum access channel request subset; receiving in response an access grant from a spectrum allocation system for each of the plurality of baseband processors of the virtual base station for each shared spectrum access channel request subset; receiving, from the spectrum allocation system, a grant revocation corresponding to an expiring shared spectrum access channel of the shared spectrum access channel request subset, by a first baseband processor of the virtual base station, the first baseband processor being one of the plurality of baseband processors; the first baseband processor of the virtual base station requesting a grant of access to one of the shared spectrum access channel reserved subsets corresponding thereto; The method includes:

19. 20. Hardware comprising one or more hardware components configured to implement the method of claim 18.

20. 20. A non-transitory computer-readable memory encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 18.

21. 1. A method of configuring and operating a virtual base station, comprising: a processor of the virtual base station instantiating a baseband processor of the virtual base station, the baseband processor corresponding to one of a plurality of network operators and having at least one cell group processor, the at least one cell group processor having a plurality of band-specific cell processors, the baseband processor operating independently from other baseband processors of the virtual base station; The processor of the virtual base station allocates a plurality of different shared spectrum access channels to the baseband processor corresponding to the one network operator; the baseband processor receiving a grant to one of the plurality of shared spectrum access channels from a spectrum allocation system; the baseband processor assigning each of the plurality of shared spectrum access channels to a corresponding one of the plurality of band-specific cell processors; the baseband processor configures the band-specific cell processors to which the granted shared spectrum access channels are assigned to be in an active state, and configures the band-specific cell processors among the plurality of band-specific cell processors to which the granted shared spectrum access channels are not assigned to be in a locked state; the processor of the virtual base station coupling, via a network interface, a remote unit to the band-specific cell processor to which the granted shared spectrum access channel is assigned; the baseband processor receiving from the spectrum allocation system a grant revocation corresponding to the granted shared spectrum access channel based on the revoked remote unit; the processor of the virtual base station issuing instructions to the remote unit to power down a radio corresponding to a stale shared spectrum access channel; The method includes:

22. 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising: disconnecting the band-specific cell processor corresponding to the expired shared spectrum access channel from the remote unit.

23. 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising switching the band-specific cell processor corresponding to the expired shared spectrum access channel from an active state to a locked state.

24. issuing a request to grant access to an unused shared spectrum access channel; receiving a grant to the unused shared spectrum access channel, such that the unused shared spectrum access channel becomes a newly granted shared spectrum access channel; switching a band-specific cell processor corresponding to the newly granted shared spectrum access channel from a locked state to an active state; issuing a command to the remote unit to turn on a radio corresponding to the newly granted shared spectrum access channel; coupling the band-specific cell processor corresponding to the new licensed shared spectrum access channel to the remote unit via the network interface; 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

25. Hardware comprising one or more hardware components configured to implement the method of any one of claims 21 to 24.

26. 25. A non-transitory computer readable memory encoded with instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of any one of claims 21 to 24.

Images