Interceptor system for characterizing digital data in telecommunication system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-RE48134-E
Application number	US-201715491914-A
Country	US
Kind code	E1
Filing date	Apr 19, 2017
Priority date	Jan 14, 2013
Publication date	Jul 28, 2020
Grant date	Jul 28, 2020

Abstract

Certain aspects are directed to an interceptor system for characterizing digital data communicated between certain points in a telecommunication system. The interceptor system includes an interface device and a processing device. The interface device can retrieve data from at least one communication link between a radio frequency processing unit and a baseband processing unit of a telecommunication system. The data includes digital data communicated between the radio frequency processing unit and the baseband processing unit. The processing device can determine an interface link protocol for communicating with terminal equipment via the telecommunication system. The interface link protocol can be determined based on an organization of the data retrieved from the communication link.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An interceptor system comprising:
an interface device configured to retrieve data from at least one communication link between a radio frequency processing unit and a baseband processing unit of a telecommunication system, wherein the data includes digital data communicated between the radio frequency processing unit and the baseband processing unit; and a processing device configured to determine an interface link protocol for communicating with terminal equipment via the telecommunication system, wherein the digital data comprises physical layer data, wherein the at least one communication link comprises at least one downlink channel and at least one uplink channel, wherein the interface link protocol comprises a manner in which the physical layer data is transferred among co-located or distributed nodes situated on the same side of an air interface of a telecommunications system, wherein at least one parameter of the interface link protocol is unknown and inaccessible directly from the digital data, the determination based on identifying an organization of the data retrieved from the at least one communication link, wherein the organization of the data comprises a manner in which the data is sequenced in a data stream.

2. The interceptor system of claim 1 , wherein the interface device is configured to be communicatively coupled to the at least one communication link, wherein the baseband processing unit comprises a radio equipment controller and the radio frequency processing unit comprises a remote radio head.

3. The interceptor system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one communication link is established via at least one of a fiber optic cable or an electrical cable.

4. The interceptor system of claim 1 , wherein the digital data comprises physical layer data, wherein the at least one communication link comprises at least one downlink channel and at least one uplink channel and wherein the processing device is configured to analyze the organization of the physical layer data by:
identifying the at least one downlink channel by detecting at least one forward beacon in the physical layer data, the at least one forward beacon associated with the at least one downlink channel; and
determining that downlink physical layer data communicated via the at least one downlink channel is associated with uplink physical layer data communicated via the at least one uplink channel.

5. The interceptor system of claim 4 , wherein the processing device is configured to identify the at least one downlink channel by performing operations comprising:
decoding a system information broadcast channel associated with the at least one downlink channel; and
identifying a cell associated with the at least one downlink channel based on decoding the system information broadcast channel.

6. The interceptor system of claim 4 , wherein the processing device is configured to identify the at least one downlink channel by identifying at least one frame and at least one slot marker of the downlink physical layer data.

7. The interceptor system of claim 4 , wherein the processing device is configured to identify the at least one downlink channel by identifying a sample width and a sample rate of the downlink physical layer data.

8. The interceptor system of claim 4 , wherein the processing device is further configured to analyze the organization of the physical layer data by identifying the at least one uplink channel.

9. The interceptor system of claim 8 , wherein the processing device is configured to identify the at least one uplink channel by performing operations comprising:
retrieving a first uplink signal and a second uplink signal;
determining that the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal are similar based on cross-correlating the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal; and
grouping the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal in a diversity pair based on determining that the first uplink signal and the second uplink signal are similar.

10. The interceptor system of claim 4 , wherein the processing device is configured to determine that the downlink physical layer data is associated with the uplink physical layer data by performing operations comprising:
transmitting test physical layer data to the baseband processing unit via the interface device, wherein the test physical layer data is transmitted via the at least one uplink channel, and
detecting that the downlink physical layer data from the baseband processing unit is received via the at least one downlink channel in response to transmitting the test physical layer data.

11. The interceptor system of claim 10 , wherein the processing device is configured to add the test physical layer data to the uplink physical layer data.

12. The interceptor system of claim 10 , wherein transmitting the test physical layer data to the baseband processing unit via the interface device comprises transmitting an uplink random access preamble message via a carrier signal of the at least one uplink channel.

13. The interceptor system of claim 4 , wherein the interceptor system is communicatively coupled to a unit of a distributed antenna system, wherein the processing device is further configured to:
extract additional physical layer data communicated between the baseband processing unit and the distributed antenna system via the at least one downlink channel or the at least one downlink channel;
convert the extracted physical layer data to a first data format compatible for transmission to the distributed antenna system or a second format compatible for transmission to the baseband processing unit; and
communicate the converted physical layer data to the unit of the distributed antenna system or the baseband processing unit.

14. The interceptor system of claim 4 , wherein the interceptor system is communicatively coupled to an analog base station, wherein the processing device is further configured to:
extract additional physical layer data communicated between the analog base station and at least one of the baseband processing unit and the radio frequency processing unit;
convert the extracted physical layer data to an analog format compatible for transmission to the analog base station or a data format compatible for transmission to the at least one of the baseband processing unit and the radio frequency processing unit; and
communicate the converted physical layer data to the analog base station or the at least one of the baseband processing unit and the radio frequency processing unit.

15. The interceptor system of claim 1 , wherein the processing device is further configured to:
determine that the baseband processing unit is configured to communicate via a first data format incompatible with a second data format used by the radio frequency processing unit;
convert the data between the first data format and the second data format; and communicate the converted data between the baseband processing unit and the

radio frequency processing unit.

16. The interceptor system of claim 1 , wherein the processing device is further configured to perform diagnostics on physical layer data communicated between the baseband processing unit and the radio frequency processing unit.

17. The interceptor system of claim 16 , wherein the processing device is further configured to transmit test physical layer data to the baseband processing unit or the radio frequency processing unit, wherein the test physical layer data is formatted based on physical layer data communicated between the baseband proc

Assignees

• Commscope Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Gravely Thomas B
• Kurk Morgan C
• Osinusi Oluwatosin O
• Beck Andrew E
• Boyle Patrick

Classifications

• H04L43/18

  Protocol analysers · CPC title

• H04W24/02 Primary

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title