Commissioning a central controller in a cloud radio access network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11777794-B2
Application number	US-202117190794-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 3, 2021
Priority date	Apr 18, 2020
Publication date	Oct 3, 2023
Grant date	Oct 3, 2023

Abstract

A cloud radio access network (C-RAN) includes a plurality of remote units (RUs), each with a wireless transceiver to exchange RF signals with at least one UE. The C-RAN also includes a central controller communicatively coupled to the plurality of RUs via a fronthaul comprising one or more ETHERNET switches. The central controller is communicatively coupled to an activation server via a backhaul network. The central controller also includes at least one processor configured to, following initial power up, establish a connection to the activation server indicated by activation server information pre-configured on the central controller. The at least one processor is also configured to receive a commissioning package, which includes commissioning information, from the activation server. The at least one processor is also configured to configure the central controller based on the commissioning information.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A cloud radio access network (C-RAN), comprising:
a plurality of remote units (RUs), each configured to exchange radio frequency (RF) signals with at least one user equipment (UE); and
a central controller communicatively coupled to the plurality of RUs via a fronthaul network comprising one or more ETHERNET switches, wherein the central controller is communicatively coupled to an activation server via a backhaul network;
wherein at least one processor is located in the central controller, wherein the at least one processor is configured to:
following initial power up, establish a connection to the activation server indicated by activation server information pre-configured on the central controller;
receive a commissioning package, which includes commissioning information, from the activation server; and
configure the central controller based on the commissioning information.

2. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the central controller is a Third Generation Partnership Project Fifth Generation (5G) Central Unit (CU) or Distributed Unit (DU), wherein the C-RAN implements a 5G air interface to communicate with the plurality of RUs.

3. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the central controller is a baseband controller, wherein the C-RAN implements a Third Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution air interface to communicate with the plurality of RUs.

4. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the activation server information comprises any of the following:
a username and a password for the central controller to use when accessing the activation server;
an Internet Protocol (IP) address or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the activation server; and
a port number of the activation server.

5. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises information about at least one security gateway that is used by the central controller to securely connect to an operator's network.

6. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises information about an IP Security (IPSec) tunnel to be used for data bearer traffic.

7. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises an indication of a reference clock to which the central controller should synchronize.

8. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises a list of the RUs that the central controller should allow to connect during a discovery process.

9. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises information used by the central controller to derive IP addresses to assign to the RUs.

10. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises at least one ROOT certificate for the central controller to use when setting up at least one secure connection with an operator's network.

11. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises a license file indicating at least one feature that has been licensed for use in the central controller.

12. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises an indication of an addressing model to use when communicating with an operator's network.

13. The C-RAN of claim 12 , wherein the addressing model indicates Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) or Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

14. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises a single/dual tunnel indicator that indicates whether an operator of the central controller combines operations, administration, and management (OAM) traffic on a same tunnel as user data traffic.

15. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) server information in an operator's enterprise network for the central controller to contact with alarms in response to failures.

16. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates of the central controller and the RUs.

17. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises control traffic flow information indicating whether or not the central controller should combine timing packets and IPSec packets into a single ETHERNET port.

18. The C-RAN of claim 1 , wherein the commissioning information comprises information for an authentication server that implements a directory service the central controller can access for user authentication.

19. A method performed by at least one processor in a central controller in a cloud radio access network (C-RAN), the method comprising:
following initial power up, establish a connection to an activation server indicated by activation server information pre-configured on the central controller;
receive a commissioning package, which includes commissioning information, from the activation server; and
configure the central controller based on the commissioning information.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the central controller is a Third Generation Partnership Project Fifth Generation (5G) Central Unit (CU) or Distributed Unit (DU), wherein the C-RAN implements a 5G air interface to communicate with a plurality of RUs.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the central controller is a baseband controller, wherein the C-RAN implements a Third Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution air interface to communicate with a plurality of RUs.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the activation server information comprises any of the following:
a username and a password for the central controller to use when accessing the activation server;
an Internet Protocol (IP) address or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the activation server; and
a port number of the activation server.

23. The method of claim 19 , wherein the commissioning information comprises information about at least one security gateway that is used by the central controller to securely connect to an operator's network.

24. The method of claim 19 , wherein the commissioning information comprises information about an IP Security (IPSec) tunnel to be used for data bearer traffic.

25. The method of claim 19 , wherein the commissioning information comprises an indication of a reference clock to which the central controller should synchronize.

26. The method of claim 19 , wherein the commissioning information comprises a list of remote units (RUs), which are communicatively coupled to the central controller and that the central controller should allow to connect during a discovery process.

27. The method of claim 19 , wherein the commissioning information comprises information used by the central controller to derive IP addresses to assign to a plurality of RUs to which the central controller is communicatively coupled via a fronthaul network.

28. The method of claim 19 , wherein the commissioning information comprises at least one ROOT certificate for the central controller to use when setting up at least one secure connection with an operator's network.

29. The method of claim 19 , wherein the commissioning information comprises a license file indicating at least one feature that has been licensed for use in the central controller.

30. The method of claim 19 , wherein the commissioning information comprises an indication of an addressing model to use when communicating with an operator's network.

Assignees

• Commscope Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Ramakrishnan Shanthakumar
• Sambandan Devaraj

Classifications

• H04L41/0806 Primary

  for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play · CPC title

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W76/10 Primary

  Connection setup · CPC title

• H04W88/12

  Access point controller devices · CPC title

• H04W88/085

  Access point devices with remote components · CPC title