Uplink packet routing in a system-on-a-chip base station architecture

1. A method comprising:

encapsulating, at a first system-on-a-chip (SOC) device implemented in a base station, an uplink radio bearer packet in a first header to form a first encapsulated packet, wherein the first header includes a first address of a destination that is external to the base station and connected to a second SOC device by a backhaul network, and wherein the second SOC device is implemented in the base station and connected to the first SOC device by a backplane interface;

encapsulating, at the first SOC device, the first encapsulated packet in a second header to form a second encapsulated packet, wherein the second header includes a second address of the second SOC device; and

transmitting the second encapsulated packet from the first SOC device towards the second SOC device indicated by the second address over the backplane interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first header includes a first media access control (MAC) address of the destination.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein encapsulating the uplink radio bearer packet in the first header comprises accessing the first MAC address of the destination from a table stored on the first SOC device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein encapsulating the uplink radio bearer packet in the first header comprises encapsulating the uplink radio bearer packet in the first header including a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier associated with the backhaul network.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein encapsulating the first encapsulated packet in the second header comprises encapsulating the first encapsulated packet in the second header including a field having a value that indicates that the first header and the uplink radio bearer packet are included in a payload of the second encapsulated packet.

6. A method comprising:

receiving, at a first system-on-a-chip (SOC) device over a backplane interface from a second SOC device, a first encapsulated packet having a first payload and a first header that includes a first address of the first SOC device, wherein the first SOC device and the second SOC device are implemented in a base station and wherein the first payload includes an uplink radio bearer packet and a second header that includes a second address that indicates a destination that is external to the base station and connected to the first SOC device by a backhaul network;

removing, at the first SOC device, the first header from the first encapsulated packet to form a second encapsulated packet having the second header and a second payload including the uplink radio bearer packet; and

transmitting the second encapsulated packet towards the destination indicated by the second address over the backhaul network.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first address is a first media access control (MAC) address of the first SOC device and the second address is a second MAC address of the destination.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

transmitting information to the second SOC device, wherein the information is used to populate a table stored on the second SOC device with MAC addresses of destinations connected to the backhaul network.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first header includes a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier associated with the backhaul network.

10. The method of claim 6 , wherein removing the first header from first encapsulated packet comprises removing the first header from the first encapsulated packet in response to the first header including a field having a value that indicates that the first payload of the first encapsulated packet includes the uplink radio bearer packet and the second header.

11. A first system-on-a-chip (SOC) device configured to be implemented in a base station and connect to a backplane interface that is connected to a second SOC device that is implemented in the base station, the first SOC device comprising:

at least one processor configured to:

encapsulate an uplink radio bearer packet received at the first SOC device in a first header to form a first encapsulated packet, wherein the first header includes a first address of a destination that is external to the base station and connected to the second SOC device by a backhaul network; and

encapsulate the first encapsulated packet and the first header in a second header to form a second encapsulated packet, wherein the second header includes a second address of the second SOC device; and

a hardware acceleration engine configured to transmit the second encapsulated packet from the first SOC device over the backplane interface towards the second SOC device indicated by the second address.

12. The first SOC device of claim 11 , wherein the first header includes a first media access control (MAC) address of the destination.

13. The first SOC device of claim 12 , further comprising:

a table to store MAC addresses of destinations connected to the backhaul network, and wherein the at least one processor is configured to access the first MAC address of the destination from the table.

14. The first SOC device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to encapsulate the uplink radio bearer packet in the first header including a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier associated with the backhaul network.

15. The first SOC device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to encapsulate the first encapsulated packet in the second header including a field having a value that indicates that a payload of the second encapsulated packet includes the uplink radio bearer packet and the first header.

16. A first system-on-a-chip (SOC) device configured be implemented in a base station and to connect to a backplane interface that is connected to a second SOC device that is implemented in the base station, the first SOC device comprising:

an interface for connecting to the backplane interface; and

a hardware acceleration engine configured to:

receive, via the interface, first encapsulated packet received by the second SOC device, wherein a first header of the first encapsulated packet includes a first address that identifies the first SOC device, and wherein a payload of the first encapsulated packet includes an uplink radio bearer packet and a second header that includes a second address that identifies a destination that is external to the base station and connected to the first SOC device by a backhaul network;

remove the first header from the first encapsulated packet to form a second encapsulated packet; and

transmit, via the interface, the second encapsulated packet over the backhaul network towards the destination indicated by the second address.

17. The first SOC device of claim 16 , wherein the first address is a first media access control (MAC) address of the first SOC device and the second address is a second MAC address of the destination.

18. The first SOC device of claim 17 , wherein the first SOC device is configured to transmit information to the second SOC device, wherein the information is used to populate a table stored on the second SOC device with MAC addresses of destinations connected to the backhaul network, the MAC addresses comprise the first MAC address of the first SOC device and the second MAC address of the destination.

19. The first SOC device of claim 16 , wherein the first header includes a virtual local area network (VLAN) identifier associated with the backhaul network.

20. The first SOC device of claim 16 , wherein the hardware acceleration engine is configured to remove the first header from the first encapsulated packet in response to the first header including a field having a value that indicates that the payload of the first encapsulated packet includes the uplink radio bearer packet and the second header.