Management of radio units in cloud radio access networks
There is provided a system, method, and interfaces for Radio Access Networks and Cloud Radio Access Networks.
1. A system comprising:
a Network Management System (NMS) Server comprising an NMS Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) Client;
a Distributed Unit (DU) comprising a DU NETCONF Server, a DU NETCONF Client module, and a DU Operation Administration and Maintenance (OAM) module; and
one or more Remote Radio Units (RRU), each comprising a NETCONF Server and associated as a child node to the Distributed Unit as a parent node,
wherein the NMS NETCONF Client of the NMS Server is configured to network with the DU NETCONF Server and each of the one or more RRU NETCONF Servers, and
wherein the NMS OAM module is configured to interface the DU NETCONF Server and the DU NETCONF Client of the DU to manage a NETCONF interface between the RRU and the NMS.
2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
wherein the RRU comprises an RRU OAM Module, and wherein the DU OAM module is configured to interface with the RRU OAM module to provide a data connection between the DU and the RRU.
3. The system of claim 2 , further comprising:
a CPRI Adapter comprising a CPRI OAM module;
wherein the CPRI OAM module is configured to interface the DU OAM module with the RRU OAM module.
4. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a Central Unit (CU) connected to the DU; and
a DHCP Server connected to the DU.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the NETCONF interface comprises at least one of:
a fault management interface;
a software management interface;
a configuration management interface; and
a performance management interface.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the RRU NETCONF Server is configured to interface with the NMS NETCONF Client.
7. The system of claim 5 , wherein:
the NECONF interface between the NMS NETCONF Client and the DU NETCONF Server is the configuration management interface between the NMS Server and the DU; and
the NETCONF interface between the DU NETCONF Client and the RRU NETCONF Server is the configuration management interface between the DU and the RRU.
8. The system of claim 7 , further comprising at least one of:
a software management interface between the NMS NETCONF Client and the RRU NETCONF Server;
a fault management interface between the NMS NETCONF Client and the RRU NETCONF Server; and
a performance management interface between the NMS NETCONF Client and the RRU NETCONF Server.
9. The system of claim 7 , further comprising:
a fault management interface between the DU NETCONF Client and the RRU NETCONF Server.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the NMS Server comprising a Central Element Management (CEM) and a Smart Deployment Manager (SDM), and wherein the SDM includes the NMS NETCONF Client.
11. A method comprising:
establishing a Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF) interface between a Network Management System (NMS) Server, the NMS Server comprising an NMS Network NETCONF Client and a Distributed Unit (DU) comprising a DU NETCONF Server, a DU NETCONF Client, and a DU Operation Administration and Maintenance OAM module;
establishing a NETCONF interface between one or more Remote Radio Units (RRU) and the DU, each RRU comprising an RRU NETCONF Server associated as a child node to the Distributed Unit as a parent node,
wherein the NMS NETCONF Client of the NMS Server is configured to network with the DU NETCONF Server of the DU and each of the DU NETCONF Server RRU components; and
wherein the NMS OAM module is configured to interface the DU NETCONF Server and the DU NETCONF Client of the DU to manage NETCONF interfaces between the RRU and the Network Management System.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the establishing of the NETCONF interface between the NMS and the RRU comprises:
establishing a transport layer between the one or more Remote Radio Unit (RRU) components and the NMS via the DU; and
establishing the NETCONF interface between the NMS NETCONF Client and the RRU NETCONF Server.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
downloading software to the RRU from the NMS via the NETCONF interface.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising a method for performing the software upgrade for the RRU that comprises:
downloading the software from the NMS to the RRU;
installing the software on the RRU; and
activating the software on the RRU.
15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
activating the RRU and unlocking one or more cells associated with the with the NMS.
16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
performing a software upgrade for the RRU from the NMS via the NETCONF interface between the NMS.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the method for performing the software upgrade for the RRU comprises:
downloading the software upgrade from the NMS to the RRU;
installing the software on the RRU; and
activating the upgraded software on the RRU.
18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
locking or unlocking the RRU, wherein the NMS is configured to lock or unlock the RRU via the DU.
19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising at least one of:
performing software management via the interface between the NMS NETCONF Client and the RRU NETCONF Server; and
performing fault management via interface between the NMS NETCONF Client and the RRU NETCONF Server.
20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
establishing a first NECONF configuration management interface between the NMS NETCONF Client and the DU NETCONF Server; and
establishing a second NETCONF configuration management interface between the DU NETCONF Client and the RRU NETCONF Server.