Radio Access Network Address Reassignment With Automated Erasure
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Solution Overview
Problem
In radio access networks, particularly those using Open RAN architecture, manual intervention is required to erase the management address from radio units during re-instantiation, leading to inefficiencies as networks expand, and this process prolongs the time needed to bring new or reactivated cell sites online.
Innovation Solution
An automated process is implemented to delete the old management address from radio units during re-instantiation, reducing dependency on manual intervention by using an apparatus that assigns a new management address and instructs radio units to erase the old one, thereby streamlining the re-instantiation process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual intervention is used to erase management address from radio units during re-instantiation, then the process can be completed with existing systems, but the re-instantiation time increases and efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by automatically erasing the old management address from the radio unit's memory before assigning the new management address during re-instantiation. This preliminary erasure action eliminates the need for manual intervention and reduces the overall re-instantiation time, directly resolving the technical contradiction between productivity and time loss.
2Ease of operation
If manual intervention is required to erase management address, then system complexity remains low, but the ease of operation deteriorates due to increased manual steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service by enabling the radio unit to automatically erase its own old management address from memory when instructed by the network controller during re-instantiation. This self-service mechanism improves ease of operation by eliminating manual intervention while the automation is integrated into the existing re-instantiation workflow, minimizing the perceived complexity for operators.
3Reliability
If the radio unit retains the old management address in memory, then data persistence is maintained, but communication reliability fails when the address becomes invalid
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies discarding and recovering by automatically discarding (erasing) the old management address from the radio unit's memory during re-instantiation, and then recovering by assigning and storing the new management address. This process ensures communication reliability by preventing attempts to communicate using invalid addresses, while the structured assignment and storage of new addresses maintains data persistence appropriately.
Data Source
AI summary
Radio access network address assignment is performed by assigning, to a distributed unit of an access point for a radio access network, a first management address value from a pool of address values, receiving a notification from a radio unit connected to the radio access network through the distributed unit, instructing the radio unit to erase a recording of a second management address value in a memory unit of the radio unit, and instructing the distributed unit to notify the radio unit of the first management address value after instructing the radio unit.