Virtual Wireless Base Station Orchestrator for Dynamic Capacity Scaling

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional wireless communication base stations are over-engineered to meet peak demand, resulting in higher costs and inefficiencies due to fixed capacity levels that do not align with varying usage patterns, especially in areas like offices, apartments, and stadiums, where demand fluctuates significantly.

Innovation Solution

A virtualized base station system that dynamically adjusts capacity by instantiating, reconfiguring, and shutting down component modules, including baseband modules, to match current demand, using a low-latency switch fabric and orchestrator to manage interconnect channels and handover user equipment between modules.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If base stations are engineered to meet peak demand, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepeak demand coverageVSAvoidbase station capacity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The base station is divided into multiple virtual base station instances, each handling a portion of the total capacity. These virtual instances can be independently activated or deactivated based on demand, allowing the system to scale from 1 to N instances as needed, thus avoiding the complexity of a single large base station while maintaining peak demand coverage.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The base station capacity is made dynamic through on-demand instantiation and deactivation of virtual base station instances. The system can adjust the number of active instances in real-time based on current traffic conditions, transitioning from static over-provisioning to dynamic resource allocation that matches actual demand.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

2Reliability

If base stations are engineered to meet peak demand, then reliability is improved, but cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvepeak demand coverageVSAvoidinfrastructure resources

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

A single physical base station infrastructure serves multiple virtual base station instances, each capable of handling different capacity requirements. This multi-functional approach allows the same hardware resources to be shared across multiple virtual instances that can be activated based on demand, eliminating the need for separate physical infrastructure for each capacity level.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The system changes operational parameters by dynamically adjusting the number of active virtual base station instances based on traffic demand. During peak periods, more instances are activated to increase capacity; during low periods, instances are deactivated to reduce resource consumption, thus optimizing the use of infrastructure resources while maintaining reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Adaptability or versatility

If virtual base station instances are dynamically instantiated and deactivated, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedemand-based capacity adjustmentVSAvoidmodule management

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The virtual base station instances are designed to be self-contained with all necessary processing, memory, and communication capabilities included in each instance. This self-service architecture allows instances to be independently instantiated and deactivated without requiring complex inter-instance coordination, reducing the management overhead despite the dynamic nature of the system.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

4Adaptability or versatility

If virtual base station instances are dynamically instantiated and deactivated, then adaptability is improved, but loss of time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedemand-based capacity adjustmentVSAvoidinstantiation and deactivation time

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

Virtual base station instances are pre-configured with all necessary software components, processing capabilities, and communication interfaces during the initial setup phase. This preliminary preparation ensures that when instances need to be instantiated or deactivated in response to demand changes, the process occurs rapidly without requiring time-consuming configuration or initialization, thus minimizing time loss while maintaining high adaptability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS12089071B2Orchestrator and interconnection fabric mapper for a virtual wireless base station

Publication Date: 2024.09.10 JOHN MEZZALINGUA ASSOC LLC

AI summary

Disclosed is a virtual wireless base station that can dynamically scale its capacity to meet changes in demand for connectivity. The virtual wireless base station includes a plurality of virtual baseband modules, a plurality of interface/router modules, an orchestrator module and a fabric mapper module. Each of the plurality of virtual baseband modules is coupled to the interface/router modules by a low latency switch fabric. The orchestrator determines current and near future demand for connectivity within the virtual wireless base station and either instantiates and connects new virtual baseband processors to meet a rise in demand, or shuts down underutilized virtual baseband processors in case of insufficient demand.