Measuring instrument and its PTP time error insertion method

Abstract

To provide a measurement instrument capable of implementing a PTP time error insertion function without occurrence of out-of-time synchronism of PTP.SOLUTION: A measurement instrument comprises: an Ethernet section 2 which transmits / receives a packet to / from an O-RU 8 over a network according to the standard of Ethernet; a time generation section 3 which generates a time of a basis of a measurement instrument 1; a transmission time error insertion section 4 which inserts an error into a time generated by the time generation section 3 in the case of PTP error insertion; and a reception time error insertion section 5 which inserts an error into a time reported from the Ethernet section 2 in the case of PTP error insertion. When performing an error addition test with offset, an error amount is gradually increased to an offset value and added by the transmission time error insertion section 4 and the reception time error insertion section 5, and when the error amount reaches the offset value, the error addition test is performed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a measuring device that emulates an O-DU (O-RAN Distributed Unit) of an O-RAN (Open-Radio Access Network). [Background technology]

[0002] In wireless communication networks, one architecture for the Radio Access Network (RAN) that is located between the core network and terminals and is composed of base stations that control the wireless layer is the Centralized RAN (C-RAN), in which multiple wireless units are extended from the baseband processing unit of a centralized base station device and connected via optical fiber or the like.

[0003] In C-RAN, there are insufficient standard specifications for the interface between the baseband processing unit and the radio unit, and there are many areas where each vendor specifies its own specifications, making it difficult to achieve interconnection between baseband processing units and radio units from different vendors.

[0004] To solve these problems, the O-RAN fronthaul specifications were developed, which divide the functions of the radio access network into the O-DU, which acts as the baseband processing unit, and the O-RU (O-RAN Radio Unit), which acts as the radio unit, and specify the functions of each.

[0005] The O-RAN fronthaul specifications include the C / U / S-Plane (Control, User and Synchronization Plane) specification, which specifies the details of equipment operation, and the M-Plane (Management Plane) specification.

[0006] High synchronization accuracy is required between the O-DU and O-RU to realize coordinated control that assumes synchronization between the O-RUs, such as Carrier Aggregation (CA) using multiple O-RUs and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO).

[0007] The O-RAN fronthaul specifications support PTP (Precision Time Protocol) and SyncE (Synchronous Ethernet (registered trademark)), which are protocols for achieving high synchronization accuracy on the O-RU side by synchronizing with the high-performance clock on the O-DU side, as the S-Plane.

[0008] Patent Document 1 describes a communication system in which two or more master devices each transmit and receive a main signal to one slave device using a communication protocol including synchronization information, in which each master device and the slave device transmit and receive the main signal using the communication protocol including synchronization information, and the slave devices calculate synchronization difference information by comparing the synchronization information of each master device with time information of a timer that determines the time information of the slave device, and the timer determines the time information using the synchronization difference information calculated from the synchronization information of the master device selected as the synchronization source and retains the synchronization difference information from the synchronization information of the master device not selected as the synchronization source, thereby selecting one master device as the time synchronization source for the slave devices, while being able to establish communication between the master device not selected as the time synchronization source and the slave devices, and also shortening the time required to switch the master device that will be the time synchronization source for the slave devices. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0009] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2022 / 070351 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0010] In a measuring device simulating an O-DU, a PTP time error insertion function is required based on the O-RAN standard (O-RAN.WG4.CONF.0-R003-v07.00 Sec.3.3.3) to perform a tolerance performance test against O-RU errors, in which a sine-shaped time waveform with an offset is added to the PTP time.

[0011] However, if an error is suddenly inserted into the PTP time in an attempt to insert an offset error, the PTP time synchronization will be lost, making it impossible to test the error insertion.

[0012] Furthermore, when inserting a PTP time error, the error must be inserted only into the time used in PTP, not into the actual time recognized by the measuring device.

[0013] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a measuring instrument that can realize a PTP time error insertion function without causing PTP time synchronization loss. [Means for solving the problem]

[0014] The measuring instrument of the present invention is a measuring instrument that simulates an O-DU of an O-RAN, and comprises an Ethernet unit that transmits and receives packets with an O-RU via a network that conforms to the Ethernet standard, a time generation unit that generates a base time for the measuring instrument, a transmission time error insertion unit that, when inserting a PTP error, inserts an error into the time generated by the time generation unit and notifies the Ethernet unit of the time at which the error was inserted, and a reception time error insertion unit that, when inserting a PTP error, inserts an error into the time notified from the Ethernet unit, and when performing an error addition test with an offset, the transmission time error insertion unit and the reception time error insertion unit gradually increase the amount of error up to an offset value and add it, and perform the error addition test when the amount of error reaches the offset value.

[0015] With this configuration, when an error addition test with offset is performed, the amount of error is gradually increased up to the offset value and added, and when the amount of error reaches the offset value, the error addition test is performed. Therefore, it is possible to realize the PTP time error insertion function without causing the PTP time synchronization loss.

[0016] In the measuring instrument of the present invention, the transmission time error insertion section and the reception time error insertion section increase the amount of error by a predetermined error amount every predetermined period, thereby increasing the amount of error up to the offset value.

[0017] With this configuration, the error amount is increased by a predetermined error amount every predetermined period, and the error amount is increased to the offset value. Therefore, it is possible to realize the PTP time error insertion function without causing the PTP time synchronization loss.

[0018] In the measuring instrument of the present invention, the transmission time error insertion section and the reception time error insertion section gradually reduce the amount of errors from the offset value after the error addition test is completed.

[0019] With this configuration, after the error injection test is completed, the amount of error is gradually reduced from the offset value, making it possible to carry out the next test without losing PTP synchronization.

[0020] In addition, the PTP time error insertion method of the present invention is a PTP time error insertion method of a measuring device that simulates an O-DU of an O-RAN, and includes the steps of: when performing an error addition test with an offset, gradually increasing and adding an error amount up to an offset value; and performing the error addition test when the error amount reaches the offset value.

[0021] With this configuration, when an error addition test with offset is performed, the amount of error is gradually increased up to the offset value and added, and when the amount of error reaches the offset value, the error addition test is performed. Therefore, it is possible to realize the PTP time error insertion function without causing the PTP time synchronization loss. Effect of the Invention

[0022] The present invention can provide a measuring instrument that can realize a PTP time error insertion function without causing PTP time synchronization loss. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a time error insertion button of a measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing changes in the time error inserted by the measuring device according to one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] Hereinafter, a measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a measuring instrument 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention is composed of a computer unit having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a flash memory, a hard disk drive, an input port, and an output port.

[0025] This computer unit is configured so that the CPU can control devices connected to the input and output ports by executing an OS (Operating System) stored in a hard disk device, for example.

[0026] The measuring device 1 includes an Ethernet section 2, a time generating section 3, a transmission time error inserting section 4, a reception time error inserting section 5, a packet time receiving section 6, and an operation display section .

[0027] The Ethernet unit 2 transmits and receives packets to and from the O-RU 8 via a network that complies with the Ethernet standard. The Ethernet unit 2 notifies the packet time receiver 6 of the time when it transmitted a packet to the O-RU 8. The Ethernet unit 2 notifies the reception time error inserter 5 of the time when it received a packet from the O-RU 8.

[0028] The time generating unit 3 generates an original time that is used as a transmission time and a reception time by the Ethernet unit 2. The time generating unit 3 supplies the generated time to the Ethernet unit 2 and the transmission time error inserting unit 4.

[0029] When inserting a PTP error, the transmission time error insertion unit 4 inserts an error into the time generated by the time generation unit 3 and notifies the Ethernet unit 2 of the time at which the error was inserted.

[0030] When inserting a PTP error, the reception time error insertion unit 5 inserts an error at the time notified by the Ethernet unit 2, and notifies the packet time receiving unit 6 of the time at which the error was inserted.

[0031] The packet time receiving unit 6 receives the transmission time of the packet from the Ethernet unit 2, and receives the reception time with an error inserted therein from the reception time error inserting unit 5. In the PTP process, the reception time and transmission time are used.

[0032] The operation display unit 7 includes an input unit that accepts operation input from a user, and a display unit that displays a parameter setting screen, test results, etc. The input unit is configured with, for example, a touch pad, a keyboard, a push button, etc. The display unit is configured with a liquid crystal display device, etc.

[0033] When the time error insertion function is selected by the user operating the input section of the operation and display section 7, the operation and display section 7 displays, for example, a time error insertion button 71 as shown in FIG.

[0034] When a time error insertion button 71 is selected by a user operating the input unit of the operation display unit 7, the operation display unit 7 instructs the transmission time error insertion unit 4 and the reception time error insertion unit 5 to start PTP error insertion processing.

[0035] When performing an error insertion test with an offset, the transmission time error insertion unit 4 and the reception time error insertion unit 5 gradually increase the amount of error up to the offset value in step 1, as shown in Fig. 3. The same amount of error is inserted at the transmission time and the reception time.

[0036] The transmission time error insertion unit 4 and the reception time error insertion unit 5 increase the error amount by a predetermined error amount every predetermined period, for example, to increase the error amount to the offset value. The predetermined period is, for example, equal to or less than the control period of the PTP. The predetermined error amount is an error amount that does not cause the PTP time synchronization to be lost.

[0037] When the amount of errors reaches the offset value, the transmission time error insertion unit 4 and the reception time error insertion unit 5 add the amount of errors to the sine shape as an error addition test in step 2.

[0038] When the error injection test is completed, the error amount is gradually reduced from the offset value, allowing the next test to be performed without losing PTP synchronization.

[0039] In this manner, in the above-described embodiment, when performing an error addition test with an offset, the transmission time error insertion unit 4 and the reception time error insertion unit 5 gradually increase the amount of error up to the offset value and then perform the error addition test when the amount of error reaches the offset value.

[0040] As a result, when performing an error insertion test with an offset, the amount of error is gradually increased up to the offset value, and the amount of error is increased up to the offset value. Therefore, it is possible to realize the PTP time error insertion function without causing the PTP time synchronization to be lost.

[0041] Furthermore, the transmission time error insertion unit 4 and the reception time error insertion unit 5 increase the amount of errors by a predetermined amount of errors every predetermined period, thereby increasing the amount of errors up to the offset value.

[0042] This increases the amount of error by a predetermined amount every predetermined period, and the amount of error is increased to the offset value. This makes it possible to realize the PTP time error insertion function without causing the PTP time synchronization to be lost.

[0043] Furthermore, the transmission time error insertion section 4 and the reception time error insertion section 5 gradually reduce the amount of errors from the offset value when the error addition test is completed.

[0044] This allows the amount of errors to be gradually reduced from the offset value when the error injection test is completed. This allows the next test to be performed without losing PTP synchronization. For example, it allows tests to be performed in sequence using the error injection patterns in O-RAN.WG4.CONF.0-R003-v07.00 Sec.3.3.3 Table3.3.3-1.

[0045] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention, and all such modifications and equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the following claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 1 Measuring instrument 2 Ethernet section 3 Time generator 4 Transmission time error insertion section 5. Reception time error insertion section 6 Packet time receiver 7 Operation display section 8 O-RU 71 Time error insertion button

Claims

1. A measuring device (1) for simulating an O-DU of an O-RAN, an Ethernet unit (2) for transmitting and receiving packets to and from the O-RU (8) via a network conforming to the Ethernet standard; a time generating unit (3) for generating a base time of the measuring device; a transmission time error insertion unit (4) that, when inserting a PTP error, inserts an error into the time generated by the time generation unit and notifies the Ethernet unit of the time at which the error was inserted; a reception time error insertion unit (5) for inserting an error at the time notified from the Ethernet unit when inserting a PTP error, When performing an error addition test with an offset, the transmission time error insertion unit and the reception time error insertion unit add an amount of error by gradually increasing the amount of error up to an offset value, and perform the error addition test when the amount of error reaches the offset value.

2. 2. The measuring instrument according to claim 1, wherein the transmission time error insertion section and the reception time error insertion section increase the amount of error by a predetermined error amount every predetermined period, thereby increasing the amount of error up to the offset value.

3. 3. The measuring instrument according to claim 1, wherein the transmission time error insertion section and the reception time error insertion section gradually reduce the amount of error from the offset value after the error addition test is completed.

4. A PTP time error insertion method for a measuring device (1) that simulates an O-DU of an O-RAN, comprising: When performing an offset error addition test, gradually increasing and adding an amount of error up to an offset value; and performing the error addition test when the amount of error reaches the offset value.

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