System and method for communication between incompatible radios and a virtual baseband unit - Patents.com

Abstract

Techniques are provided for translating data communicated between a radio and a virtual baseband unit having incompatible data protocols using at least one translation library.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 62 / 916,072 (filed October 16, 2019) and U.S. Patent Application No. 63 / 072,578 (filed August 31, 2020), the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein as if set forth in their entirety. [Background technology]

[0002] Wireless communication service providers are deploying 5G Radio Access Networks (RANs). Such 5G Radio Access Networks are configured to meet the Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) Alliance specifications ("O-RAN Specifications"), including, but not limited to, the O-RAN Fronthaul Working Group Control, User and Synchronization Plane Specification (ORAN-WG4.CUS.0-V04.00) and the O-RAN Alliance Working Group 4 Management Plane Specification (ORAN-WG4.MP.0-v04.00.00), which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0003] The O-RAN specifications are based on the RAN components, e.g. O-RAN specification-compliant radio machine (or O-RAN radio unit or O-RAN radio machine), and O-RAN specification compliant distributed units (or O-RAN distributed units) made by different vendors. The O-RAN distributed units may run on server systems, e.g., local server networks and / or cloud computing systems. The O-RAN distributed units (O-DUs) may include virtual baseband units. The O-RAN specification utilizes a message protocol to communicate between remote radio units and virtual baseband units that differs from those used in legacy systems, e.g., 4G specification compliant radio access networks (or 4G radio access networks). The virtual baseband unit process may include, for example, a radio machine Received from the radio machine Processes, encodes, and transmits baseband data to the radio machine The virtual baseband unit and the radio transmit and / or receive data at one or more frequencies that are translated above the baseband. machine is a component of a communication system, such as a cellular communication system.

[0004] A significant amount of existing 4G-compliant wireless machine (or 4G wireless machine ), for example, there are remote radio units that comply with 4G specifications, and these will be replaced over time with radio units that comply with 5G specifications. machine (or 5G wireless machine ), may or may not be replaced with, for example, remote radio units that comply with 5G specifications. Wireless communication service providers may upgrade portions of their existing 4G radio access networks, for example virtual baseband units, so that they can support both legacy 4G and 5G radio access networks. machine I want it to work with legacy 4G radios. machine For example, 5G radio compliant with O-RAN specifications machineUtilizing the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) input / output (I / O) data protocol (defined by the CPRI specification) that is incompatible with the evolved Common Public Radio Interface (eCPRI) input / output data protocol used by the new 4G radios that comply with the O-RAN specification. machine is being developed, but legacy 4G wireless machine Replacing it is not cost effective. Summary of the Invention

[0005] wireless machine A method is provided for facilitating communication between a wireless device and a virtual baseband unit, the method comprising: machine determining at least one of a characteristic of the wireless communication device and receiving the characteristic of the wireless communication device; selecting at least one translation library corresponding to at least one of the determined characteristic and the received characteristic; machine generating configuration parameters describing capabilities of the virtual baseband unit and transmitting such configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit using a second I / O data protocol and a second message protocol, the first I / O data protocol and the second I / O data protocol being incompatible; and at least one of: (a) translating, in an uplink path, baseband data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane into the second I / O data protocol used by the virtual baseband unit; and (b) translating, in a downlink path, baseband data of the second I / O data protocol into data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane; and transmitting the configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit using the selected at least one translation library. machine converting a message of a first message protocol, which is transmitted from the virtual baseband unit to a second message protocol, into a message of a second message protocol, and transmitting the message of the first message protocol from the virtual baseband unit to the wireless machineand converting messages of the second message protocol sent to the first message protocol, where the first message protocol and the second message protocol are not compatible. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0006] Example embodiments will be described with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, with the understanding that the drawings depict only example embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting in scope.

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a radio access network utilizing a modified fronthaul gateway and vendor-specific interpreter system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for translating data communicated between a virtual baseband unit and a radio having incompatible message protocols. [Diagram 3] 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for communicatively coupling at least one radio to a system configured to perform the method illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0008] According to common practice, the various illustrated features are not drawn to scale, but are drawn to emphasize particular features relevant to the exemplary embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and which show by way of illustration specific exemplary embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized, and that logical, mechanical, and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0010] The embodiment of the present invention is a wireless machine and a virtual baseband unit, machine The I / O data protocol of the virtual baseband unit is not compatible with the I / O data protocol of the virtual baseband unit and / or the wireless machine The message protocol of the virtual baseband unit is not compatible with the message protocol of the virtual baseband unit. The I / O data protocol is a protocol used to convey messages in the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and / or management plane. machine And each virtual baseband unit has an I / O data protocol. CPRI and eCPRI are examples of I / O data protocols. As used herein, wireless machine describes a remote radio unit, a remote radio head, a radio antenna unit, or a similar radio system.

[0011] Each message protocol has a format, i.e., a syntax that has one or more variables. machine The messages sent by machine In the message protocol, which may vary based on one or more characteristics of the wireless machine The I / O data protocol is wireless machine One or more characteristics of, for example, specifications (e.g., wireless machinemay vary based on compliance with the wireless input / output data protocol. machine Its characteristics include wireless machine Specifications that comply with wireless machine Manufacturer, Wireless machine Model number and / or radio machine The characteristics of the virtual baseband unit may include the specifications to which the virtual baseband unit conforms, the manufacturer of the virtual baseband unit, the model number of the virtual baseband unit, and / or the software version of the virtual baseband unit. Messages transmitted by the virtual baseband unit have characteristics based on the characteristics of the virtual baseband unit. The I / O data protocol of the virtual baseband unit may vary based on one or more characteristics of the virtual baseband unit, such as compliance with a specification (e.g., the input / output data protocol of the virtual baseband unit). The characteristics of the virtual baseband unit may include the specification to which the virtual baseband unit conforms, the manufacturer of the virtual baseband unit, the model number of the virtual baseband unit, and / or the software version of the virtual baseband unit.

[0012] Optionally, the virtual baseband unit is an O-DU. For educational purposes, an O-DU is illustrated herein. However, embodiments of the present invention are applicable to other types of virtual baseband units. The virtual baseband unit may be implemented on a server and / or a cloud computing system and may include at least one wireless machine “Baseband unit” refers to a baseband unit configured to be communicatively coupled to the

[0013] Optionally, wireless machine is a legacy radio whose specifications precede those of the virtual baseband unit. machine For example, wireless machine is a 4G radio that complies with the CPRI specification. machine and the virtual baseband unit may be an eCPRI-compliant O-RAN distributed unit (for example, as used in 5G radio access networks). Thus, for example, a CPRI-compliant 4G radio machineThe data provided by the is based on eCPRI-compliant and O-RAN-compliant radio signals in eCPRI-compliant and O-RAN-compliant distributed units. machine The data provided by the eCPRI and O-RAN distributed units will appear to originate from a CPRI compliant 4G radio. machine to the user, it will appear as if it came from a CPRI specification-compliant and 4G specification-compliant virtual baseband unit. Embodiments of the present invention may be applied to other I / O data protocols and different specifications that define message protocols.

[0014] An embodiment of the present invention is a method for implementing a wireless I / O data protocol and / or a message protocol. machine The present invention is applicable to a communication system in which the virtual baseband unit is not compatible with the wireless communication system. machine plus one or more "compatible" radios machine For example, an O-RAN specification-compliant radio unit (O-RU) that is eCPRI specification-compliant may be coupled to a virtual baseband unit, for example, an O-DU. machine Such a compatible radio would not require the functionality of the vendor-specific demapper and mapper, uplink and downlink vendor-specific interpreters, and eCPRI open source encoder and decoder illustrated below. machine would conventionally be communicatively coupled to a virtual baseband unit.

[0015] Incompatibility means that (a) the virtual baseband unit is machine The wireless I / O data cannot be understood and / or processed, and vice versa. machine and / or (b) the I / O data protocol of the virtual baseband unit is different from the I / O data protocol of the virtual baseband unit. machinesuch that the wireless machine This means that the message protocol of the virtual baseband unit is different from the message protocol of the virtual baseband unit. machine and virtual baseband units cannot communicate and therefore cannot interoperate among themselves. machine legacy radios that use message and I / O data protocols that precede those of the virtual baseband unit machine And wireless machine The I / O data and message protocols of the and virtual baseband units are not compatible. machine or virtual baseband unit) is transmitted to the other (the virtual baseband unit or the radio machine ) into an I / O data protocol and / or message protocol understandable by the IEEE 802.11b.

[0016] For educational purposes, the wireless machine 4G wireless machine and the virtual baseband unit exemplified herein is an O-DU. However, in other embodiments of the present invention, machine And / or the virtual baseband unit may conform to other communications standards and use other I / O data protocols (eg, other than CPRI and / or eCPRI).

[0017] Thus, the radio access network described thereafter is illustrated for educational purposes as having 5G compliant RAN components, e.g., modified fronthaul gateways and O-DUs, however, other embodiments of the invention may utilize RAN components conforming to standards other than those illustrated herein.

[0018] The particular network is illustrated as an Internet Protocol (IP) packet network, e.g., an Ethernet network. However, other types of data networks may be used. Thus, the term "data network" may be used to describe a data network, including, but not limited to, an IP packet network, such as an Ethernet network. The terms data network mapper and data network demapper may be used to refer to a data network mapper and a data network demapper, including, but not limited to, a radio over Ethernet (RoE) mapper and a RoE demapper. The terms baseband data encoder and baseband data decoder may be used to refer to a data encoder and a data decoder, respectively, including, but not limited to, an eCPRI encoder and an eCPRI decoder, respectively. A vendor, as used herein, may include, but is not limited to, a manufacturer. The RoE mapper, RoE demapper, eCPRI encoder, and eCPRI decoder are illustrated herein for educational purposes.

[0019] In a 5G radio access network designed according to the O-RAN specification, a 5G base station (or gNB) includes an O-DU connected to an O-RU through a Fronthaul Gateway (FHG) that complies with the O-RAN specification. The Fronthaul Gateway is the radio machine In close proximity to, for example, wireless machine is located at the base of the mounting structure (pole, tower, roof, or other structure) to which it is attached.

[0020] The O-DU is configured to host the Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control, and Physical (PHY) layers. Optionally, the O-DU is configured to host higher layer protocols, such as Radio Resource Control, Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and optionally, these services may be implemented in a Central Unit (CU). The O-DU is further configured to provide frequency domain baseband data, for example, having in-phase and quadrature (I and Q) components. Thus, the O-DU has some functions similar to a 2G, 3G, and / or 4G virtual baseband unit.

[0021] The data interface of the O-DU (or O-DU interface) is configured to be coupled to either a central unit or a core network. The central unit is configured to be coupled between the O-RAN distributed unit and the core network. Optionally, the O-RAN distributed unit and / or the central unit are configured to be implemented in software running on a first server (or a first server circuit) or a first cloud computing system (or a first cloud computing system circuit). The uplink and downlink data communicated through the O-DU interface includes data in the user plane (U), control plane (C), synchronization plane (S), and / or management plane (M). The user plane data is data in the radio frequency (RF) and / or management plane (M) of the RAN. machine The control plane data includes voice and / or data transmitted to and from user equipment coupled to the corresponding radio. machine The control plane data includes messages used to control how the RAN (which receives the control plane data) processes the user plane in-phase and quadrature data streams in real time on the uplink and downlink paths. The synchronization plane data is transmitted between the nodes of the RAN (e.g., the virtual baseband unit and the radio machineor between a modified fronthaul gateway and a virtual baseband unit or radio machine The management plane data includes data for synchronization and timing information (between the machine The control, synchronization, and / or management planes include data for operation, management, and maintenance of the uplink path, where such operation, management, and maintenance is not required in real time. The control, synchronization, and / or management planes are bidirectional. Thus, a ping or query sent in one of the control, synchronization, and / or management planes of the downlink path may result in an acknowledgment and / or response data in the same plane of the uplink path.

[0022] The fronthaul gateway is configured to perform some physical (PHY) layer signal processing on the baseband data previously performed in a baseband unit of a 4G or earlier compliant radio access network, such signal processing including performing discrete Fourier transforms and inverse discrete Fourier transforms on the baseband data of the uplink and downlink paths of the RAN and / or weighting of certain baseband data of the uplink and / or downlink paths, respectively.

[0023] Optionally, the O-DU and the fronthaul gateway are coupled by a network, for example, an Ethernet network. The O-DU is configured to transmit and receive baseband data to and from the fronthaul gateway, respectively, in an eCPRI data protocol conforming to the O-RAN specification. Optionally, when such a network is used and it is a RoE type Ethernet network, the fronthaul gateway is configured to transmit and receive baseband data to and from the O-DU, respectively, in a RoE type Ethernet format conforming to IEEE standard 1914.3-2018, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0024] 1 illustrates a block diagram of one embodiment of a radio access network 100 utilizing a modified fronthaul gateway 108 and a vendor-specific interpreter system 104. Each of the components including the vendor-specific interpreter (VSI) system 104 and the modified fronthaul gateway 108 may be implemented in software, for example, as one or more software modules. The modified fronthaul gateway 108 may alternatively be referred to as a modified fronthaul gateway circuit. The vendor-specific interpreter system 104 may alternatively be referred to herein as a vendor-specific interpreter circuit.

[0025] The radio access network 100 has an uplink (UL) path 103b used to communicate data from user equipment (e.g., smartphones, tablets, and laptop computers) to a core network, and a downlink (DL) path 103a used to transmit data from the core network to the user equipment. The core network is communicatively coupled to an O-DU 102 such that data from the user equipment is transmitted to the O-DU 102 in the uplink path. Additionally, data from the O-DU 102 is transmitted to the user equipment in the downlink path. The downlink path 103a includes an eCPRI-DL path (eCPRI-DL) and an eCPRI-DL path (eCPRI-DL) described subsequently. The uplink path 103b includes an eCPRI-UL path (eCPRI-UL) and a CPRI-UL path (CPRI-UL) described subsequently.

[0026] User equipment is communicatively coupled through a core network, through radio access network 100, to one or more other networks, e.g., the Internet. Embodiments of the present invention may be used in cellular base stations and / or digital distributed antenna systems (digital DAS). For example, one or more universal access points (UAPs, also known as remote antenna units or remote units) of a digital DAS may communicate with 4G wireless machine Cellular remote radios such as machine Instead of the wireless LAN 101, the wireless LAN 101 may be coupled to a modified fronthaul gateway 108. For clarity, the wireless LAN 101 illustrated in FIG. machine (or at least one radio machine ) 110 includes one or more UAPs and / or one or more cellular remote radios. machine may include.

[0027] The radio access network 100 includes an O-DU 102, a vendor specific interpreter system (VSI system) 104, a modified fronthaul gateway (FHG) 108, and at least one radio access point having an I / O data protocol that is incompatible with the I / O data protocol of the O-DU 102. machine (or wireless machine ) 110. The O-DUs 102 are configured to be communicatively coupled to a core network, e.g., optionally through a central unit. The O-DUs 102 are configured to be communicatively coupled to one or more modified fronthaul gateways. However, for educational purposes, FIG. 1 illustrates one modified fronthaul gateway 108. Each modified fronthaul gateway 108 includes at least one radio having an I / O data protocol that is incompatible with the I / O data protocol of the O-DU 102. machine 110. At least one radio having an I / O data protocol incompatible with the I / O data protocol of the O-DU 102. machine 110 is at least one radio machine It can be called.

[0028] Each modified fronthaul gateway 108 includes at least one wireless machine 110 to the VSI system 104. For educational reasons, at least one wireless machine A port of 110 will be illustrated herein as a CPRI port having a CPRI uplink path (CPRI-UL) and a CPRI downlink path (CPRI-DL), for example in FIG. machine Only one or more than one radio, for example using a daisy chain machine can be linked to

[0029] The O-DU 102 is configured to transmit and receive data, respectively, to and from the VSI system 104 in a data format, for example, optionally, in the e-CPRI data format. machine The VSI system 104 is configured to be coupled to the modified fronthaul gateway 108. The modified fronthaul gateway 108 and the vendor specific interpreter system 104 are configured to transmit and receive data, respectively, to and from the modified fronthaul gateway 108 in a data format, for example, optionally in a CPRI data format. machine 110, for example, 4G wireless machine to interoperate with a virtual baseband unit, e.g., the O-DU 102. The O-DU 102 includes at least one port, and each port is an eCPRI port that includes an eCPRI uplink path (eCPRI-UL) and an eCPRI downlink path (eCPRI-DL).

[0030] The VSI system 104 is (a) Wireless machine and receiving the signal. machine The characteristics of wireless machine Manufacturer, Wireless machine Model number and / or radio machine may include a software version, (b) selecting at least one translation library corresponding to at least one of the determined characteristics and the received characteristics; (c) Wireless machine generating configuration parameters describing the capabilities of the virtual baseband unit; and transmitting such configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit; (d) at least one of: (i) converting baseband data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane in an uplink path into an input / output data protocol used by the virtual baseband unit; and (ii) converting baseband data of an I / O data protocol into at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane in a downlink path; and (e) using at least one selected translation library, machine transmitted from the radio to the virtual baseband unit. machine (ii) converting a message of the message protocol of the virtual baseband unit to a message protocol of the virtual baseband unit; and machine The virtual baseband unit message protocol message is sent to the wireless machine At least one of converting to a message protocol.

[0031] The illustrated embodiment of the VSI system 104 comprises an eCPRI open source encoder 104c, an eCPRI open source decoder 104d, an uplink vendor specific interpreter (UL VSI) 104b, and a downlink vendor specific interpreter (DL VSI) 104e. However, the VSI system 104 may be implemented in different ways. The operation of the VSI system 104 is illustrated for educational reasons with respect to the VSI system 104 illustrated in FIG.

[0032] Optionally, eCPRI open source encoder 104c is configured to implement (d)(i) above. Optionally, eCPRI open source encoder 104d is configured to implement (d)(ii) above. Optionally, UL VSI 104b is configured to implement (e)(i). Optionally, DL VSI 104e is configured to implement (e)(ii).

[0033] Optionally, the VSI system 104, and any of its components, are configured to be executed by a first server system (or a first server system circuitry) and / or a first cloud computing system, which also execute the O-DU 102. Optionally, the VSI system 104 is configured to be executed by a second server system (or a second server system circuitry) and / or a second cloud computing system (or a second cloud computing system circuitry), which are communicatively coupled to the first server system and / or the first cloud computing system. Optionally, the second server system and / or the second cloud computing system are communicatively coupled to the first server system and / or the first cloud computing system, for example, by an IP data network.

[0034] The eCPRI open source encoder 104c is configured to implement (d)(i) above. Thus, the eCPRI open source encoder 104c is configured to receive control plane, synchronization plane, management plane, and / or user plane data previously converted by the inputs and received therein from the corresponding outputs of the UL VSI 104b in the uplink 103b and convert such data to the eCPRI data protocol. The eCPRI open source encoder 104c is further configured to transmit the data converted to the eCPRI data protocol to the O-DU 102. Thus, the eCPRI open source encoder 104c is configured to transmit the data to the O-DU 102 in the uplink 103b. machineWhen generated from the UL VSI 104b in another format, such as the CPRI data format, the baseband data in the uplink path is transmitted to the O-DU 102 in the eCPRI data protocol. The eCPRI open source encoder 104c converts the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data into corresponding eCPRI packets. The user, control, synchronization, and management plane inputs of the eCPRI open source encoder 104c are respectively coupled to the user, control, synchronization, and management plane outputs of the UL VSI 104b. The output of the eCPRI open source encoder 104c is configured to be coupled to the uplink input of the OD-U 102.

[0035] The eCPRI open source encoder 104d is configured to implement (d)(ii) above. The eCPRI open source decoder 104d extracts different types of payload data from the eCPRI packets and transmits each type of payload data to the DL VSI 104e in a corresponding plane. The different data types correspond to user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data. Thus, the eCPRI open source decoder 104d is configured to receive data of the eCPRI data protocol from the O-DU 102 of the downlink path 103a, extract data in the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane (based on the O-RAN standard) from the data received in the eCPRI data protocol, and transmit data in the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane from the output to the corresponding input of the DL VSI 104e. The input of the eCPRI open source decoder 104d is configured to be coupled to the downlink output of the O-DU 102. The user, control, synchronization, and management plane outputs of the eCPRI open source decoder 104d are configured to be coupled to the user, control, synchronization, and management plane inputs, respectively, of the UL VSI 104e.

[0036] The UL VSI 104b is configured to receive data in the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane from the modified fronthaul gateway 108. The UL VSI 104b transmits user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and / or management plane messages over the air. machine to a protocol conforming to the O-RAN specification. The user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane inputs of the UL VSI 104b are configured to be coupled to corresponding uplink outputs of the modified Fronthaul Gateway 108 (e.g., the user plane output of the Uplink Low Physical Layer System (UL Low PHY) 108b, and the control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane outputs of the vendor-specific mapper 108a, respectively).

[0037] The DL VSI 104e receives user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane messages of the O-RAN specification protocols and forwards such received messages to the radio machine (Wireless machine 110) protocol messages. The DL VSI 104e is configured to transmit such converted data to the modified fronthaul gateway 108, for example, over the optional Ethernet network 106. The user, control, synchronization, and management plane outputs of the DL VSI 104e are configured to be coupled to corresponding downlink inputs of the modified fronthaul gateway 108 (e.g., the user plane output of the downlink low physical layer system (DL Low PHY) 108e, and the control, synchronization, and management plane outputs of the vendor-specific demapper 108f, respectively). Optionally, as discussed below, the VSI system 104 further comprises a first RoE open source demapper 104a and a first RoE open source mapper 104f.

[0038] wireless machineThe determination of the characteristics may be performed automatically and / or manually. machine The characteristics may be, for example, the corresponding wireless machine Such data may be known because the software must already have been acquired, installed, and / or updated. Such data may reside in an external processing system, e.g., a database, which may optionally be communicatively coupled to the VSI system 104, e.g., via the Internet. Additionally or alternatively, a person or system may manually configure the VSI system 104, e.g., a database, to wirelessly machine The characteristics of the object may be stored.

[0039] Optionally, the VSI system 104 is machine and configured to determine a vendor of the wireless VSI system 104 to facilitate the conversion of the VSI system 104 as identified in (e) above. machine The characterization system 104g includes a wireless communication system 104g. However, this functionality may be implemented in one or more other components of the VSI system 104. machine The characterization system 104g (or any component incorporating its functionality) is communicatively coupled to the UL-VSI 104b and DL-VSI 104e, and optionally, to the eCPRI open source encoder 104c.

[0040] wireless machine The characterization system 104g is machine 110 radios machine This is configured to automatically determine the characteristics of the wireless machine This may be done automatically by analyzing data on one or all of the planes from 110. For example, machine The characterization system 104g may transmit to the VSI 104, e.g., DL VSI 104e, one or more messages of the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane (e.g., a particular wireless machine (has a protocol corresponding to the characteristics) machine Wireless out of 110 machineto send a response message (protocol expected by DL VSI104e) over the air machine The VSI 104, e.g., the UL VSI 104b, may receive a response that is not available or is undesirable (e.g., wireless machine If the VSI 104 receives the desired response data (e.g., a message) rather than data indicating that the data received by the VSI was unintelligible, the VSI 104 may, for example, forward the message to the VSI 104 via a radio machine The characterization system 104g may be configured to machine Optionally, the response message may include machine 110 such radios machine The characteristics of the can be further distinguished.

[0041] Optionally, such wireless machine Wireless machine Upon automatically determining one of the characteristics, at least one translation library is selected. One translation library may be selected for use by both the UL VSI 104b and the DLVSI 104e, or a separate translation library may be selected for each of the UL VSI 104b and the DLVSI 104e. The at least one translation library may be part of the VSI system 104 (and one or more components therein) or may be located remotely elsewhere, for example. The set of translation libraries from which the at least one translation library is selected may be stored external to the VSI system 104 and / or the VSI 104. FIG. 1 illustrates that the at least one translation library 104h is within the VSI 104. The at least one translation library may translate protocols of messages in the UL path data of the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and / or management plane into the over-the-air (wireless) data. machineThe at least one conversion library 104h converts the protocols of messages in the DL paths of the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane from the message protocol used by the O-DU 102 to the message protocol used by the OD-U 102. machine The at least one translation library 104h may be at least one database, at least one neural network, and / or other system for facilitating the translation.

[0042] The database or other system may be programmed with a vendor-supplied list of definitions that identify the purpose and function of each data field in each of the data planes. machine The ICD may be in the form of an Interface Control Document (ICD) that collectively defines a protocol for messages configured to be received and / or transmitted in the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and / or management plane by the wireless device. The ICD defines how data in each plane is communicated over the wireless device through the control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane. machine The neural network may further include functional information, value ranges, and descriptions of how the neural network is used to facilitate control, synchronization, and management of the wireless machine by using messages configured to be received and / or transmitted in a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and / or a management plane, and over the air machine The O-DU 102 may be communicatively coupled to the O-DU 102 and may be trained with corresponding messages configured to be transmitted and / or received in the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and / or management plane.

[0043] Optionally, the modified fronthaul gateway 108 is machine is connected to a modified fronthaul gateway 108. To that end, the vendor-specific mapper 108a may detect whether an antenna-carrier (AxC) container, e.g., an antenna-carrier container without data, is associated with an unknown wireless machine Detects whether radiation is being emitted from each radio machine includes or is associated with one or more antennas and is a wireless machine Each antenna of the 108a has a unique antenna-carrier container. A vendor-specific demapper 108f maps such antenna-carrier containers to an unknown wireless machine If detected from an unknown wireless machine The VSI system 104 will communicate (e.g., over the management plane) the existence of such unknown wireless machine Wireless machine Optionally, the modified fronthaul gateway 108 may initiate an automatic determination of the characteristics. machine The VSI system 104 does not need to detect whether it is connected to a modified fronthaul gateway 108, and the VSI system 104 machine Each of the 110 radios machine If such a wireless device automatically sends data to the DL VSI 104e to initiate communication with the O-DU 102, machine Wireless machine In such cases, UL VSI104b (and possibly wireless machine The characterization system 104g) uses a database and / or a neural network to wirelessly machine Each of the 110 radios machine Analyze messages received from each radio to determine which library is machine The government will then decide whether to respond to the above.

[0044] The embodiment of the modified fronthaul gateway 108 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a vendor-specific mapper 108a, a UL Low PHY 108b, a DL Low PHY 108e, and a vendor-specific demapper 108f. The modified fronthaul gateway 108 may be implemented in other ways. machine The output of the vendor-specific demapper 108f is configured to be coupled to the CPRI uplink (CPRI-UL) output of the UL Low PHY 108b. The user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane outputs of the vendor-specific mapper 108a are respectively coupled to the user plane input of the UL Low PHY 108b and to the uplink inputs of the VSI system 104 (e.g., the control, synchronization, and management plane inputs of the UL VSI 104b). machine 110. The user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane inputs of the vendor-specific demapper 108f are respectively coupled to the user plane output of the DL Low PHY 108e and the downlink output of the VSI system 104 (e.g., the control, synchronization, and management plane output of the DL VSI 104e). Optionally, the modified fronthaul gateway 108 further comprises a second RoE open source mapper 108c and a second RoE open source demapper 108d.

[0045] Optionally, the VSI system 104 is coupled to the modified fronthaul gateway 108 through an Ethernet network 106. The Ethernet network 106 may comprise at least one Ethernet cable, at least one Ethernet switch, at least one Wi-Fi access point, and / or at least one Ethernet router. When the VSI system 104 is coupled to the modified fronthaul gateway 108 by the Ethernet network 106, the VSI system further comprises a first RoE open source demapper 104a and a first RoE open source mapper 104f, and the modified fronthaul gateway 108 comprises a second RoE open source demapper 108d and a second RoE open source mapper 108c. The input and output of the first RoE open source demapper 104a are respectively coupled to the output of the second RoE open source mapper 108c (through the Ethernet network 106) and the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane inputs of the UL VSI 104b. The inputs and outputs of the first RoE open source mapper 104f are respectively coupled to the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane outputs of the DL VSI 104e and the input of the second RoE open source demapper 108d (through the Ethernet network 106). The inputs and outputs of the second RoE open source mapper 108c are respectively coupled to the user plane output of the UL Low PHY 108b, and the control, synchronization, and management plane outputs of the vendor-specific mapper 108a, and the input of the first RoE open source demapper 104a (through the Ethernet network 106). The inputs and outputs of the second RoE open source demapper 108d are respectively coupled to the output of the first RoE open source mapper 104f (through the Ethernet network 106), and the user plane input of the DL Low PHY 108e, and the control, synchronization, and management plane input of the vendor-specific demapper 108f.

[0046] Alternatively, the VSI system 104 may be directly connected to, or otherwise coupled to, or part of, the fronthaul gateway 108. Thus, for example, the VSI system 104 may be deployed along with the fronthaul gateway 108, e.g., at the site of a cellular base station. If the VSI system 104 is part of or in close proximity to the fronthaul gateway 108, the RoE open source mapper and RoE open source demapper of the VSI system 104 and modified fronthaul gateway 108 may not be required. Thus, in some embodiments of the present invention, the RoE open source mapper, RoE open source demapper, and data network between such mappers and demappers are optional.

[0047] The VSI system 104 is configured to transmit and receive data, respectively, to and from the O-DU 102, using, for example, an eCPRI format and / or another data format. The VSI system 104 and the modified fronthaul gateway 108 are configured to communicate over an Ethernet network 106, using, for example, a RoE type Ethernet format and / or another data format.

[0048] The modified fronthaul gateway 108 is machine 110, e.g., wireless machine The modified fronthaul gateway 108 may be implemented by a processing system (or processing circuitry). The modified fronthaul gateway 108 and the wireless machine 110 is configured to communicate via a communication protocol, such as Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI), which is a time division multiplexing communication protocol, and / or another communication protocol. performing at least one of a discrete Fourier transform and data weighting on user plane data in an uplink path and at least one of an inverse Fourier transform and data weighting on user plane data in a downlink path; At least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data in the downlink path is transmitted over the air machine translating data into the I / O data protocol used by the machine and at least one of converting data of an I / O data protocol used by the device into at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data.

[0049] The uplink path 103b of the modified fronthaul gateway 108 will be described first. The modified fronthaul gateway 108 of the uplink path 103b comprises a vendor specific mapper 108a, an uplink low physical layer system (UL Low PHY) 108b, and a second RoE open source mapper 108c. The vendor specific mapper 108a maps at least one control word and at least one CPRI AxC container to, for example, a wireless machine 110, converting the received data (in a vendor-specific format) in each control word and CPRI AxC container into user, control, synchronization, and / or management plane data, and transmitting the user, control, synchronization, and / or management plane data. Optionally, the mapping (or conversion) data, including the vendor-specific mapper 108a and / or the vendor-specific demapper 108f, is performed over the air. machine110 vendor. Optionally, such mapping data may be in the form of a look-up table and / or database. The mapping data identifies, for each control word and corresponding CPRI AxC container data, the structure of the data in the control word and corresponding CPRI AxC container data, which corresponds to the antenna from which the data originates. Such data includes user, control, synchronization, and management plane data, and antenna identifiers. Optionally, the vendor-specific mapper 108a compares the data in the control word and corresponding CPRI AxC container data with the antenna from which the control word and corresponding CPRI AxC container originate to determine what software and / or hardware should be used to convert the vendor-specific control word and container data to user, control, synchronization, and / or management plane data. machine Optionally, the vendor-specific mapper 108a may be implemented using software including look-up tables, databases, and / or neural networks.

[0050] Optionally, the CPRI container is a wireless machine 110. The CPRI AxC container may be an antenna-carrier container (or CPRI AxC container) of data associated with a specific antenna coupled to one of the antennas 110. The CPRI AxC container includes one or more sets of data, e.g., 16 bits, e.g., one I / Q sample. The CPRI AxC container may contain user plane data, and the control word may contain control, synchronization, and / or management plane data. The format of such CPRI data provided within the control word and CPRI AxC container may be consistent with the wireless machine 110 vendors, e.g., 4G wireless machine is unique to

[0051] The UL Low PHY 108b is configured to receive user plane data, for example, from the vendor-specific mapper 108a, perform at least one of the following types of processing on the received user plane data: discrete Fourier transform and data weighting, and transmit the processed user plane data, for example, to an optional second RoE open source mapper 108c or an uplink vendor-specific interpreter (UL VSI) 104b. The data weighting is used to achieve digital beamforming, where the in-phase and quadrature data in the user plane are multiplied by complex beamforming weights. The optional second RoE open source mapper 108c is used when the Ethernet network 106 interfaces the VSI system 104 and the modified fronthaul gateway 108. The optional second RoE open source mapper 108c is configured to receive the processed user plane data, for example, from the UL Low PHY 108b, as well as control, synchronization, and management plane data, for example, from the vendor-specific mapper 108a. The second RoE open source mapper 108c is further configured to generate a RoE type Ethernet frame containing the processed user, control, synchronization, and management plane data and transmit the Ethernet frame to the Ethernet network 106.

[0052] The second RoE open source mapper 108c generates an RoE type Ethernet frame as follows: The second RoE open source mapper 108c generates a data payload from the received processed user plane data, and the control, synchronization, and management plane data are placed in the data payload. The second RoE open source mapper 108c generates a transport layer segment including a transport layer segment header and a data payload. The second RoE open source mapper 108c generates a transport layer segment including a source and destination port, and a checksum value. The source and destination ports are the endpoints for the logical connection. The checksum, e.g., the sum of the payload data bytes, is used by the endpoint to verify that the data payload of the transport layer segment was received without error. The transport layer segment header also includes a sequence number to facilitate the receiver of the transport layer segment to reconstruct the data of multiple data payloads in the correct order. The transport layer segment header can be a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) header.

[0053] The second RoE open source mapper 108c generates IP datagrams by adding an IP header to each transport layer segment. This forms an IP packet. The second RoE open source mapper 108c generates an IP header that includes a source IP address and a destination IP address. The IP address may be the IP address of the O-DU and / or the wireless machine The IP header may also include expiration data that limits the lifetime of that portion of the payload data.

[0054] The second RoE open source mapper 108c generates an RoE type Ethernet frame by generating and appending an Ethernet header and an Ethernet trailer to the IP packet. The Ethernet header includes source and destination media access controller addresses. The Ethernet trailer includes a frame check sequence, which is a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) value used by the receiver of the Ethernet frame to detect any data corruption in the frame during communication of the Ethernet frame.

[0055] The modified fronthaul gateway 108 of the downlink path 103a comprises a second RoE open source demapper 108d, a downlink low physical layer system (DL Low PHY) 108e, and a vendor-specific demapper 108f. The second RoE open source demapper 108d is configured to receive RoE type Ethernet frames from the Ethernet network 106 and extract user, control, synchronization, and management plane data from the received Ethernet frames. The second RoE open source demapper 108d is further configured to, for example, send user plane data to the DL Low PHY 108e and send control, synchronization, and management plane data to the vendor-specific demapper 108f.

[0056] The DL Low PHY 108e is configured to receive user plane data, e.g., from the second RoE open source demapper 108d, perform at least one of the types of processing of a discrete inverse Fourier transform and data weighting on the received user plane data, and transmit the processed user plane data, e.g., to the vendor-specific mapper 108e. The vendor-specific demapper 108f is configured to receive the processed user plane data and the control, synchronization, and management plane data, and convert such processed user plane data and the control, synchronization, and management plane data into control words and CPRI AxC containers, each of which is associated with a wireless communication device for which the control word and CPRI AxC container are designated. machine Each CPRI AxC container contains processed user plane data and each control word contains control, synchronization, and / or management plane data. The CPRI AxC containers and control words are transmitted to a radio associated with an antenna identified by an antenna identifier in each container. machine In one embodiment, the mapping (or transformation) data is configured to be transmitted wirelessly to machine The mapping data is provided by the vendor of the CPRI AxC container 110. The mapping data identifies, for each CPRI AxC container data corresponding to the antenna from which the data originates, the structure of the data in the CPRI AxC container data. Such data includes user, control, synchronization, and management plane data, as well as antenna identifiers. The vendor-specific demapper 108f maps each CPRI AxC container to a unique radio associated with the antenna identified by the corresponding antenna identifier. machine The conversion software may be, for example, a look-up table or a database. Thus, the vendor-specific demapper 108f converts data originating in a non-CPRI format, e.g., originating in an eCPRI format, into a wireless machine 110 to present the data in CPRI format.

[0057] In the uplink path 103b, the VSI system 104 comprises an uplink vendor-specific interpreter (UL VSI) 104b, and an eCPRI open source encoder 104c. Optionally, the UL VSI 104b comprises a UL control plane vendor-specific interpreter (cVSI) 108b-1, a UL synchronization plane vendor-specific interpreter (sVSI) 108b-2, and / or a UL management plane vendor-specific interpreter (mVSI) 108b-3.

[0058] Optionally, when the VSI system 104 is coupled to a modified fronthaul gateway 108, it needs to include an open source demapper to extract data from the data format used by the network, as illustrated below. The first RoE open source demapper 104a is configured to receive RoE type Ethernet data from the Ethernet network 106, extract processed user plane data and control, synchronization, and management plane data from the data payload of the received Ethernet frame, and transmit the extracted processed user plane data and control, synchronization, and management plane data to the UL VSI 104b. The extracted processed user plane data and control, synchronization, and management plane data are in a vendor-specific format.

[0059] Optionally, the vendor-specific mapper 108a may map the wireless communications link where the CPRI AxC containers and corresponding control words originate to determine what software and / or hardware should be used to convert the vendor-specific container data and corresponding control words to user, control, synchronization, and / or management plane data. machine The conversion software may be, for example, a look-up table or a database.

[0060] For example, wireless machine The UL VSI 104b (e.g., mVSI 104b-3) uses a management message protocol, e.g., Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), that is different from the management message protocols of the O-RAN management plane, e.g., Netconf / Yang model or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON). The UL VSI 104b (e.g., mVSI 104b-3) uses messages, e.g., over the air, transported in CPRI format. machine 110 and transmits such messages, for example in SOAP format, over the air. machine to a corresponding or equivalent O-RAN format (e.g., Netconf / Yang model format) and transmit the message in the O-RAN format to the eCPRI open source encoder 104c. As another example, user plane data transmitted from the first open source demapper 104a corresponding to a CPRI AxC container, i.e., an antenna-carrier container, will be mapped by the UL VSI 104b to a corresponding O-RAN defined eAxC, i.e., an extended antenna-carrier, and transmitted to the eCPRI open source encoder 104c. Optionally, control, synchronization, management, and user messages may be translated by the UL cVSI 104b-1, UL sVSI 104b-2, UL mVSI 104b-3, and UL uVSI 104b-4, respectively. Optionally, no interpreter is required for the user plane data.

[0061] Optionally, the O-DU 102 and the VSI system 104 are coupled by another Ethernet network, including at least one Ethernet cable, at least one router, at least one Wi-Fi access point, and / or at least one switch.

[0062] In the downlink path 103a, the VSI system 104 includes an eCPRI open source decoder 104d and a downlink vendor-specific interpreter (DL VSI) 104e. Optionally, the DL VSI 104e includes a DL control plane vendor-specific interpreter (cVSI' or DL ​​cVSI) 108e-1, a DL synchronization plane vendor-specific interpreter (sVSI' or DL ​​sVSI) 108e-2, a DL management plane vendor-specific interpreter (mVSI' or DL ​​mVSI) 108e-3, and / or a DL user plane vendor-specific interpreter (uVSI' or DL ​​uVSI) 104e-4.

[0063] Optionally, the VSI system 104 includes an open source mapper when the VSI system 104 is coupled to a modified fronthaul gateway 108, and needs to generate, e.g., on a frame-by-frame basis, RoE type Ethernet data for use by the network as illustrated below: The first RoE open source mapper 104f is configured to generate RoE type Ethernet data using user, control, synchronization, and management plane data from the DL VSI 104e, and transmit the RoE Ethernet data to the Ethernet network 106.

[0064] The DL VSI 104e (e.g., DL mVSI 104e-3) is configured to receive messages, e.g., management messages, in an O-RAN M-plane format (e.g., Netconf / Yang model), convert such messages from the O-RAN format to an RRH ICD-defined format (e.g., SOAP format), and send the messages in the RRH ICD-defined format to the first RoE open source mapper 104f. Optionally, user, control, synchronization, and management messages may be converted by the DL uVSI 104e-4, DL cVSI 104e-1, DL sVSI 104e-2, and DL mVSI 104e-3, respectively. Optionally, no interpreter is required for user plane data.

[0065] The first RoE open source mapper 104f is configured to receive interpreted data (e.g., interpreted control, synchronization, and management plane data, and user data) from the DL VSI 104e and convert the interpreted data into frames of Ethernet data having a RoE Ethernet type, as described elsewhere herein. The first RoE open source mapper 104f is further configured to transmit the frames of Ethernet data having a RoE Ethernet type to the Ethernet network 106. The second RoE open source demapper 108d is configured to receive Ethernet frames of the RoE type from the Ethernet network 106 and extract user, control, synchronization, and management plane data from the received Ethernet frames. The second RoE open source demapper 108d is further configured to transmit the user plane data to the DL Low PHY 108e, for example, and the control, synchronization, and management plane data to the vendor-specific demapper 108f.

[0066] Optionally, the vendor-specific mapper 108a and the vendor-specific demapper 108f may machine Optionally, the vendor-specific mapper 108a and the vendor-specific demapper 108f are provided by a wireless machine The modified fronthaul gateway 108 is implemented to correspond to the type of wireless machine Two different types of radio including 110 machine If present, the vendor-specific mapper 108a and the vendor-specific demapper 108f machine For each type of , a different vendor-specific mapper and demapper are provided.

[0067] FIG. 2 shows a virtual baseband unit and a radio with incompatible message protocols. machine2 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method 200 for transforming data communicated between a VSI system 104 and a VSI device 106. The blocks of the flow diagram are generally arranged sequentially for ease of explanation, but it should be understood that this arrangement is merely exemplary, and it should be recognized that the processing associated with the method (and the blocks shown in the figure) may occur in a different order (e.g., where at least some processing associated with the blocks is performed in parallel and / or in an event-driven manner). Optionally, method 200 is performed by VSI system 104, although method 200 may be performed by other devices.

[0068] Optionally, in block 220, wireless machine In block 222, the wireless device detects whether the wireless device is communicatively coupled to the virtual baseband unit, for example, using the techniques illustrated herein. machine Such characteristics may be determined or provided as illustrated herein.

[0069] In block 224, machine At least one translation library corresponding to the determined and / or received characteristics is selected. machine and generating configuration parameters (e.g., in a Netconf / Yang model or other format) describing the capabilities of the wireless device and transmitting such configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit. machine To that end, at least one translation library may be used to request configuration information or to detect a wireless machine In order to initiate the process of exchanging messages, such as modifying configuration parameters that may change the behavior of the machine Such configuration information and parameters may be transmitted to the radio, each of which may include messages typically transmitted during initial operation of the radio. machineThe at least one translation library may proceed by a trial and error approach to discover the correct vendor library to use, for example based on a list of predefined vendors, and the at least one translation library may be machine ping (i.e. wireless machine (transmit a signal to elicit a response from the machine The translation library listens for a corresponding response from each of the predefined vendor's initial message formats until a valid response is received. The pings or requests may start randomly from a predefined list of vendor's initial messages, or may proceed according to a predefined order, for example based on a user-defined vendor. Once at least one translation library receives a valid response, the translation library uses the response to generate a wireless machine Identify a specific vendor for the wireless machine A portion of the at least one library may be a sub-library of the at least one library.

[0070] Table 1 is provided below for educational purposes only to illustrate how at least one translation library may implement a translation procedure from the NETCONF / Yang protocol to the wireless unit management protocol of an identified vendor. machine The NETCONF server is included, and the virtual baseband unit, e.g., O-DU, is included, as a NETCONF client. In the NETCONF / Yang protocol, the NETCONF client obtains information from the NETCONF server or transmits information over the air. machine The following table 1 illustrates how at least one translation library translates NETCONF client-initiated requests for information retrieval or modification into wireless machine or wirelessly machineHere is an example of how to map to a vendor specific message: [Table 1]

[0071] To illustrate an example of how the translation library may implement translation of responses sent from a wireless unit to NETCONF / Yang server response messages, or response messages and information, Table 2 is provided below. [Table 2]

[0072] As shown in Table 1, in the NETCONF / Yang protocol, the NETCONF client can transmit NETCONF tags that can be sent by the NETCONF client in a virtual baseband unit, e.g., an O-DU.<get_config> The request requests information from the NETCONF server by sending a message with<get_config> To obtain the configuration parameters required in the request, the NETCONF / Yang client may convert the identified wireless machine Send a vendor message<edit_config> A NETCONF tag that can be translated by at least one translation library by modifying radio parameters specified in a NETCONF client request message.<edit_config> A request to modify specific configuration data may be sent by sending the request using

[0073] Optionally, this block is machine The one or more configuration parameters may be implemented by the characterization system 104g and / or the VSI system 104. Optionally, the one or more configuration parameters may be wirelessly transmitted from the VSI system 104, e.g., the DL VSI 104e, to obtain a response message including the configuration parameters at the UL VSI 104b. machineBy sending a message to machine Optionally (additionally or alternatively), the VSI system 104, e.g., wireless machine The characterization system 104g determines the determined wireless machine When the characteristics are determined, the VSI system 104, e.g., machine The characterization system 104g is machine At least one configuration parameter may be obtained from a different data source, for example, from a data repository, such as a database, stored in the VSI system 104 or located remotely from the VSI system 104 in a processing system communicatively coupled to the VSI system 104.

[0074] In block 226, at least one of (a) translating user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and / or management plane messages into a message protocol used by the virtual baseband unit in the uplink path, and (b) translating data of the message protocol used by the virtual baseband unit into user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and / or management plane data in the downlink path. In block 227, the at least one translation library is used to translate the wireless machine The message protocol for messages sent from the virtual baseband unit to the wireless machine and a message protocol of messages sent to the WAN. Optionally, such a conversion is a conversion of a message protocol of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and / or management plane messages.

[0075] Optionally, at block 228 at least one of converting Ethernet frames in the uplink path to at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data, and converting at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data to Ethernet frames in the downlink path. Optionally, the Ethernet frames in the uplink path are received from an Ethernet network, and the Ethernet frames in the downlink path are transmitted by the Ethernet network.

[0076] FIG. 3 illustrates a system configured to perform the method 200 illustrated in FIG. 2, including at least one wireless machine 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method 300 for interfacing a fronthaul gateway with a cellular network. The blocks of the flow diagram are generally arranged sequentially for ease of explanation, but it should be understood that this arrangement is merely exemplary, and it should be recognized that the processing associated with the method (and the blocks shown in the figure) may occur in a different order (e.g., where at least some processing associated with the blocks is performed in parallel and / or in an event-driven manner). Optionally, method 300 is performed by a modified fronthaul gateway, although method 300 may be implemented by other devices. Optionally, method 300 is performed in conjunction with method 200.

[0077] Optionally, at block 330, at least one of converting Ethernet frames in the downlink path to user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data and converting user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data in the uplink path to Ethernet frames. At block 332, at least one of performing a discrete Fourier transform and data weighting on the user plane data in the uplink path and an inverse Fourier transform and data weighting on the user plane data in the downlink path. At block 334, the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and / or management plane data in the downlink path are converted to wireless machine and converting data to the I / O data protocol used by the wireless machine and converting data of an I / O data protocol used by the device into user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data.

[0078] The processor system (or processor circuit), cloud computing system (or cloud computing circuit), and server (server circuit) disclosed herein may include state machines, neural networks, and / or other types of computing systems. Such systems may include a processing circuit coupled to a memory circuit. The processing circuit may include one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processing (DSP) elements, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and / or field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The processor system may include or function with software programs, firmware, or other computer-readable instructions stored, for example, in the memory circuit, to perform various process tasks, calculations, and control functions used in the methods described herein. These instructions are typically tangibly embodied on any storage medium (or computer-readable medium) used to store computer-readable instructions or data structures.

[0079] The memory circuit may be implemented using any available storage medium (or computer-readable medium) that can be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer or processor, or any programmable logic device. Suitable computer-readable media may include storage or memory media such as semiconductor, magnetic, and / or optical media. For example, computer-readable media may include volatile or non-volatile media such as conventional hard disks, compact disks-read only memory (CD-ROM), DVDs, Blu-ray disks, random access memory (RAM) (including but not limited to dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), and / or flash memory.

[0080] The methods of the present invention may be implemented in computer readable instructions, such as program modules or applications, that may be stored in a computer readable medium and executed by a processing circuit. Generally, program modules or applications include routines, programs, objects, data components, data structures, algorithms, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.

[0081] As used herein, a database can be any type of conventional database or data storage format, such as, for example, a data file. Although separate databases are listed herein, one or more of such databases may be combined.

[0082] Exemplary embodiments Example 1 is a wireless machine and a virtual baseband unit, comprising: machine determining at least one of a characteristic of the wireless communication device and receiving the characteristic; selecting at least one translation library corresponding to at least one of the determined characteristic and the received characteristic; machinegenerating configuration parameters describing capabilities of the virtual baseband unit and transmitting such configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit using a second I / O data protocol and a second message protocol, the first I / O data protocol and the second I / O data protocol being incompatible; and at least one of (a) translating, in an uplink path, baseband data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane into the second I / O data protocol used by the virtual baseband unit; and (b) translating, in a downlink path, baseband data of the second I / O data protocol into data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane; and transmitting the configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit using the selected at least one translation library. machine converting a message of the first message protocol, which is transmitted from the virtual baseband unit to the virtual baseband unit, into a second message protocol; machine and at least one of converting a message of a second message protocol to a first message protocol that is sent to the first device, where the first message protocol and the second message protocol are not compatible.

[0083] Example 2 includes the method of example 1, wherein the configuration parameters are in a Netconf / Yang model format.

[0084] In a third embodiment, at least one message is transmitted wirelessly. machine to obtain a response message including at least one configuration parameter; machine and obtaining at least one configuration parameter from a data source other than the data source.

[0085] Example 4 is a wireless machineThe method of any one of Examples 1 to 3, further comprising detecting whether the virtual baseband unit is communicatively coupled to the virtual baseband unit.

[0086] Example 5 includes the method of examples 1-4, wherein the converted data includes at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data.

[0087] Example 6 includes the method of Examples 1 to 5, further including at least one of converting an Ethernet frame in the uplink path into at least one of data of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane, and converting at least one of data of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane into an Ethernet frame in the downlink path.

[0088] Example 7 includes performing at least one of a discrete Fourier transform and a data weighting on user plane data in an uplink path, and at least one of an inverse Fourier transform and a data weighting on user plane data in a downlink path; and transmitting at least one of the data of the user plane, the control plane, the synchronization plane, and the management plane in the downlink path to the wireless machine and converting data to the I / O data protocol used by the wireless machine and converting data of an I / O data protocol used by the device into data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane.

[0089] Example 8 is a program product including a processor-readable medium having program instructions embodied thereon, the program instructions, when executed by at least one programmable processor, for causing the at least one programmable processor to wirelessly communicate using a first input / output (I / O) data protocol and a first message protocol. machine determining at least one of a characteristic of the wireless communication device and receiving the characteristic; selecting at least one translation library corresponding to at least one of the determined characteristic and the received characteristic; machine generating configuration parameters describing capabilities of the virtual baseband unit and transmitting such configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit using a second I / O data protocol and a second message protocol, the first I / O data protocol and the second I / O data protocol being incompatible; and at least one of (a) translating, in an uplink path, baseband data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane into a second input / output data protocol used by the virtual baseband unit; and (b) translating, in a downlink path, baseband data of the second I / O data protocol into data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane; and transmitting the configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit using the selected at least one translation library. machine converting a message of the first message protocol, which is transmitted from the virtual baseband unit to the virtual baseband unit, into a second message protocol; machine and converting messages of a second message protocol sent to the first message protocol into a first message protocol, where the first message protocol and the second message protocol are not compatible.

[0090] Example 9 includes the program product of example 8, in which the configuration parameters are in a Netconf / Yang model format.

[0091] In a tenth embodiment, the program instructions, when executed by the at least one programmable processor, wirelessly transmit at least one message to the at least one programmable processor. machine to obtain a response message including at least one configuration parameter; machine and acquiring at least one configuration parameter from a data source other than the data source.

[0092] Example 11 is a method for controlling a wireless communication between the at least one programmable processor and the at least one programmable processor, the method comprising: machine The present invention includes the program product of any one of Examples 8 to 10, further configured to cause the device to detect whether the virtual baseband unit is communicatively coupled to the virtual baseband unit.

[0093] Example 12 includes the program product of examples 8-11, in which the converted data includes at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data.

[0094] Example 13 includes the program product of Examples 8-12, wherein the program instructions, when executed by the at least one programmable processor, are configured to further cause the at least one programmable processor to perform at least one of: converting Ethernet frames in an uplink path into at least one of data of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane; and converting at least one of data of the user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane into Ethernet frames in a downlink path.

[0095] Example 14 is a wireless machine to a virtual baseband unit, the system including a first circuit configured to at least one of: perform at least one of a discrete Fourier transform and data weighting on user plane data in an uplink path, and perform at least one of an inverse Fourier transform and data weighting on user plane data in a downlink path; and at least one of: convert data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane in the downlink path to data of a first input / output (I / O) data protocol, and convert data of the first I / O data protocol in the uplink path to data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane; and a second circuit communicatively coupled to the first circuit, the second circuit configured to communicate over the air using the first I / O data protocol and a first message protocol. machine and at least one of determining and receiving a characteristic of the wireless communication device; selecting at least one translation library corresponding to the at least one of the determined characteristic and the received characteristic; and machine generating configuration parameters describing capabilities of the virtual baseband unit and transmitting such configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit using a second I / O data protocol and a second message protocol, the first I / O data protocol and the second I / O data protocol being incompatible; and at least one of (a) translating, in an uplink path, baseband data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane into the second I / O data protocol used by the virtual baseband unit; and (b) translating, in a downlink path, baseband data of the second I / O data protocol into data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane; and transmitting the configuration parameters to the virtual baseband unit using the selected at least one translation library. machine converting a message of a first message protocol, which is transmitted from the virtual baseband unit to a second message protocol, into a message of a second message protocol, and transmitting the message of the first message protocol from the virtual baseband unit to the wireless machine and a second circuit configured to at least one of: converting messages of a second message protocol sent to the first message protocol into the first message protocol, where the first message protocol and the second message protocol are not compatible.

[0096] Example 15 is a wireless communication device communicatively coupled to the first circuit. machine and a virtual baseband unit communicatively coupled to the second circuit.

[0097] Example 16 includes the systems of examples 14 and 15, wherein the configuration parameters are in Netconf / Yang model format.

[0098] In embodiment 17, the second circuit transmits at least one message wirelessly. machine to obtain a response message including at least one configuration parameter; machine and acquiring at least one configuration parameter from a data source other than the data source.

[0099] In the eighteenth embodiment, the second circuit is a wireless machine is further configured to detect whether the virtual baseband unit is communicatively coupled to the virtual baseband unit.

[0100] Example 19 includes the system of examples 14-18, wherein the converted data includes at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data.

[0101] Example 20 includes the system of Examples 14-19, wherein the first circuit is further configured to perform at least one of: converting Ethernet frames in the downlink path into at least one data of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane; and converting the at least one data of the user plane, the control plane, the synchronization plane, and the management plane into Ethernet frames in the uplink path; and the second circuit is further configured to perform at least one of: converting Ethernet frames in the uplink path into at least one data of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane; and converting the at least one data of the user plane, the control plane, the synchronization plane, and the management plane into Ethernet frames in the downlink path.

[0102] Several embodiments of the invention have been described, as defined by the following claims. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications to the described embodiments can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. 1. A method for communication between a radio and a virtual baseband unit, comprising: at least one of determining a characteristic of the radio and receiving a characteristic of the radio using a first input / output (I / O) data protocol and a first message protocol; selecting at least one translation library corresponding to the at least one of the determined characteristics and the received characteristics, where the first I / O data protocol and the second I / O data protocol are not compatible; At least one of: (a) converting baseband data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane of the first I / O data protocol in an uplink path into the second I / O data protocol used by the virtual baseband unit; and (b) converting baseband data of the second I / O data protocol into at least one of the user plane, the control plane, the synchronization plane, and the management plane of the first I / O data protocol in a downlink path. using the selected at least one translation library to translate messages in the first message protocol sent from the radio to the virtual baseband unit to the second message protocol, and to translate messages in the second message protocol sent from the virtual baseband unit to the radio to the first message protocol, wherein the first message protocol and the second message protocol are not compatible.

2. 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of: sending at least one message to the radio to obtain a response message including at least one configuration parameter; and obtaining the at least one configuration parameter from a data source other than the radio.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting whether the radio is communicatively coupled to the virtual baseband unit.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transformed data includes at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data.

5. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising at least one of: converting Ethernet frames in an uplink path into at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data; and converting the at least one of the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data into Ethernet frames in a downlink path.

6. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing at least one of a discrete Fourier transform and data weighting on user plane data in the uplink path, and at least one of an inverse Fourier transform and data weighting on user plane data in the downlink path.

7. At least one programmable processor, at least one of determining a characteristic of a radio and receiving the characteristic of the radio using a first input / output (I / O) data protocol and a first message protocol; selecting at least one translation library corresponding to the at least one of the determined characteristics and the received characteristics, where the first I / O data protocol and the second I / O data protocol are not compatible; At least one of: (a) converting baseband data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane of the first I / O data protocol in an uplink path to the second input / output data protocol used by the virtual baseband unit; and (b) converting baseband data of the second I / O data protocol to at least one of the user plane, the control plane, the synchronization plane, and the management plane of the first I / O data protocol in a downlink path. using the selected at least one translation library to translate messages in the first message protocol sent from the radio to the virtual baseband unit to the second message protocol, and to translate messages in the second message protocol sent from the virtual baseband unit to the radio to the first message protocol, where the first message protocol and the second message protocol are not compatible; A program that performs the following.

8. The program described in claim 7, further causing the at least one programmable processor to perform at least one of the following: sending at least one message to the radio to obtain a response message including at least one configuration parameter; and obtaining at least one configuration parameter from a data source other than the radio.

9. The program described in claim 7, further causing the at least one programmable processor to detect whether the radio is communicatively coupled to the virtual baseband unit.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the converted data includes at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data.

11. The program of claim 7, further causing the at least one programmable processor to perform at least one of the following: converting Ethernet frames in an uplink path into at least one of data of a user plane, a control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane; and converting data of at least one of data of the user plane, the control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane into Ethernet frames in a downlink path.

12. 1. A system configured to couple a radio to a virtual baseband unit, comprising: A first circuit, at least one of performing a discrete Fourier transform and data weighting on user plane data in an uplink path and performing an inverse Fourier transform and data weighting on user plane data in a downlink path; a first circuit configured to at least one of converting data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane in a downlink path to data of a first input / output (I / O) data protocol, and converting data of the first I / O data protocol in an uplink path to data of at least one of the user plane, the control plane, the synchronization plane, and the management plane; a second circuit communicatively coupled to the first circuit, at least one of determining a characteristic of the radio and receiving a characteristic of the radio using the first I / O data protocol and a first message protocol; selecting at least one translation library corresponding to the at least one of the determined characteristics and the received characteristics, where the first I / O data protocol and the second I / O data protocol are not compatible; At least one of: (a) converting baseband data of at least one of a user plane, a control plane, a synchronization plane, and a management plane of the first I / O data protocol in an uplink path into the second I / O data protocol used by the virtual baseband unit; and (b) converting baseband data of the second I / O data protocol into at least one of the user plane, the control plane, the synchronization plane, and the management plane of the first I / O data protocol in a downlink path. and a second circuit configured to use the selected at least one translation library to at least one of: translate messages in the first message protocol sent from the radio to the virtual baseband unit to the second message protocol, and translate messages in the second message protocol sent from the virtual baseband unit to the radio to the first message protocol, where the first message protocol and the second message protocol are not compatible.

13. the radio communicatively coupled to the first circuit; The system of claim 12 , further comprising: the virtual baseband unit communicatively coupled to the second circuit.

14. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second circuit is further configured to: send at least one message to the radio to obtain a response message including at least one configuration parameter; and obtain the at least one configuration parameter from a data source other than the radio.

15. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second circuit is further configured to detect whether the radio is communicatively coupled to the virtual baseband unit.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the transformed data includes at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data.

17. the first circuitry is further configured to at least one of: converting Ethernet frames in a downlink path into at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data; and converting the at least one of the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data into Ethernet frames in an uplink path; 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the second circuitry is further configured to at least one of: converting Ethernet frames in an uplink path to at least one of user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data; and converting the at least one of the user plane, control plane, synchronization plane, and management plane data to Ethernet frames in a downlink path.

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