Auto-detection of AxC mapping within a CPRI link

1. A method for providing an observed mapping of antenna data into antenna containers within a common public radio interface (CPRI) signal exchanged between a radio equipment controller (REC) and at least one radio equipment (RE), said CPRI signal being acquired and provided as multiple CPRI basic frames by a capture engine, the method comprising:

finding a location of activity within said multiple CPRI basic frames;

extracting a candidate antenna signal from said multiple CPRI basic frames starting from said location using a set of mapping parameters used in a standard antenna signal;

comparing a candidate frequency content of said candidate antenna signal to a standard frequency content of said standard antenna signal to derive a validity score;

associating said set of mapping parameters of said standard antenna signal to said observed mapping if said validity score meets predetermined conditions; and

causing a report of said observed mapping.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said steps of extracting and comparing are repeated for a plurality of different sets of mapping parameters and corresponding ones of said standard antenna signal to derive a plurality of validity scores, and wherein said associating comprises choosing a highest validity score among said plurality of validity scores and determining a chosen set of mapping parameters corresponding to said highest validity score for said observed mapping.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said predetermined conditions include a minimum threshold for said validity score.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said finding said location of activity comprises calculating bit state statistics on said multiple CPRI basic frames to identify said location.

5. The method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said predetermined conditions include a minimum threshold for said validity score and further comprising calculating bit state statistics on said multiple CPRI basic frames when said highest validity score is below said minimum threshold for said validity score to identify a next starting location for said finding said location.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said parameters are a sample width, an offset, an encoding and an oversample wherein said sample width is a number of bits per sample, said offset is a location of data within said basic CPRI frames, said encoding is a transformation of numeric values into bits and said oversample is a number of samples per CPRI basic frame.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6 , wherein said encoding is one of 2's complement encoding and mantissa/exponent encoding.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said comparing comprises calculating multiple FFTs on said candidate frequency content, calculating an average FFT from said multiple FFTs, calculating an input vector by preprocessing said average FFT and derive said validity score by inputting said input vector into a machine learning model trained to recognize proper frequency content.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8 , wherein said input vector is a slope vector.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said associating said set of mapping parameters further comprises determining a bandwidth for said candidate antenna signal, wherein said bandwidth is related to said standard frequency content of said standard antenna signal.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 , wherein, said associating said set of mapping parameters comprises assessing a similarity to a first bandwidth signal and determining a first bandwidth score, assessing a similarity to a second bandwidth signal and determining a second bandwidth score, selecting a highest scoring similarity assessment between said first bandwidth score and said second bandwidth score to determine said bandwidth.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable code stored thereon for programming a test system to perform the steps of:

finding a location of activity within multiple CPRI basic frames;

extracting a candidate antenna signal from said multiple CPRI basic frames starting from said location using a set of mapping parameters used in a standard antenna signal;

comparing a candidate frequency content of said candidate antenna signal to a standard frequency content of said standard antenna signal to derive a validity score;

associating said set of mapping parameters of said standard antenna signal to an observed mapping if said validity score meets predetermined conditions; and

causing a report of said observed mapping.

13. A mapping detection device configured to provide an observed mapping of antenna data into antenna containers within a common public radio interface (CPRI) signal exchanged between a radio equipment controller (REC) and at least one radio equipment (RE), said CPRI signal being acquired and provided as multiple CPRI basic frames, the device comprising:

an auto-detection module for

finding a location of activity within said multiple CPRI basic frames;

extracting a candidate antenna signal from said multiple CPRI basic frames starting from said location using a set of mapping parameters used in a standard antenna signal;

comparing a candidate frequency content of said candidate antenna signal to a standard frequency content of said standard antenna signal to derive a validity score;

associating said set of mapping parameters of said standard antenna signal to said observed mapping if said validity score meets predetermined conditions;

a mapping memory for storing said observed mapping of said antenna data into said antenna containers; and

a user interface to report said observed mapping.

14. A mapping detection test system configured to provide an observed mapping of antenna data into antenna containers within a common public radio interface (CPRI) signal exchanged between a radio equipment controller (REC) and at least one radio equipment (RE) said CPRI signal being acquired and provided as multiple CPRI basic frames, the test system comprising:

a user interface;

a processor; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to find a location of activity within said multiple CPRI basic frames;

extract a candidate antenna signal from said multiple CPRI basic frames starting from said location using a set of mapping parameters used in a standard antenna signal;

compare a candidate frequency content of said candidate antenna signal to a standard frequency content of said standard antenna signal to derive a validity score;

associate said set of mapping parameters of said standard antenna signal to said observed mapping if said validity score meets predetermined conditions; and

cause a report of said observed mapping on said user interface.