Distributed Radio Unit Scheduling for Custom Signal Injection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Modern wireless communications face challenges in optimizing radio system performance due to tradeoffs in size, weight, thermal dissipation, reliability, complexity, and cost, necessitating improved methods for data collection and system adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A distributed unit schedules and injects custom signal data into a radio unit's communication path, enabling performance measurement, self-testing, and efficiency improvements through hardware acceleration and data preconditioning, allowing for real-time adjustments to improve radio unit performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If radio unit size and complexity are reduced to lower capital expenditures, then deployment cost decreases, but performance evaluation and troubleshooting capabilities are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into distributed units (DUs) and radio units (RUs), with the DU handling higher-layer processing and the RU handling physical layer functions. This segmentation allows the RU to be simpler and more cost-effective while the DU provides advanced processing capabilities including performance evaluation and troubleshooting functions.
Solution Approach 2:
A performance evaluation entity in the DU acts as an intermediary that receives performance measurement data from the RU and conducts detailed analysis. This mediator provides comprehensive performance evaluation capabilities without requiring the RU itself to be complex, thus resolving the contradiction between RU simplicity and evaluation capability.
2Productivity
If more hardware acceleration and processing capabilities are added to radio units, then real-time data analysis improves, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Processing capabilities are segmented between the DU and RU. The RU performs real-time signal processing with hardware acceleration for immediate data preparation, while the DU performs higher-level data analysis and performance evaluation. This segmentation enables real-time analysis without requiring the entire system complexity to be concentrated in the RU.
Solution Approach 2:
The RU performs partial processing actions (signal conditioning, basic measurements) with hardware acceleration, while leaving excessive or advanced analysis actions to the DU. This partial action approach enables real-time processing capabilities without requiring the RU to have complete analysis functionality, thus controlling complexity.
3Reliability
If distributed unit schedules custom signal traffic, then radio unit performance and energy efficiency improve, but scheduling complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The DU scheduler autonomously manages custom signal traffic scheduling without requiring complex coordination with external entities. It self-determines when to inject custom signals into the communication path based on performance evaluation needs, enabling performance improvement through autonomous scheduling decisions.
Solution Approach 2:
The DU scheduler performs preliminary scheduling actions by pre-planning custom signal injections based on anticipated performance evaluation requirements. This preliminary action allows the system to prepare performance test conditions in advance, improving radio unit performance evaluation without requiring complex real-time scheduling decisions.
Data Source
AI summary
The described technology is generally directed towards scheduling, by a distributed unit, the injection of custom traffic (signals/data) into a radio unit communications path. The custom traffic can be used to improve the performance of the radio unit, such as to perform antenna calibration, to perform test and measurement operations to obtain performance data, which can be used, for example, to modify operating parameters of the radio unit to improve performance of the radio unit. The distributed unit coordinates with the radio unit to schedule and synchronize such custom traffic in unscheduled (physical resource block), such as interleaved with to live-air and non-live-air traffic. Further, the distributed unit, which has scheduling knowledge of upcoming traffic of the radio unit, can communicate such knowledge to the radio unit for the radio unit to change its operating state based on the upcoming traffic knowledge.