Radio access network system, radio communication method, control server and data server

• US 7,317,923 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2003
• Issued: 01/08/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Nakamura, Takehiro, Yamada, Mayu, Koshino, Masayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Perez-Gutierrez; Rafael
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KHAI MINH
• Application Number:
  US10/724,088
• Publication Number:
  US 20040162079A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,499 Days
• Field of Search: 455/445, 455/422.1, 455/560, 455/403, 455/423, 370/216, 370/328, 370/338
• US Class Current: 455/455
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to provide a radio access network system for properly distributing loads and functions of the control plane function and a user plane function of a control apparatus, thus enabling the addition of only a necessary function when a radio access network is expanded. The radio access network system comprises a control server 1 configured to manage a configuration of a radio access network including a base station 3, and to set a transfer path for a packet in accordance with the configuration, and a data server 2 configured to manage a resource of a base station 3 located in the transfer path set by the control server 1.

Claims

1. A radio access network system comprising:

a control server, comprising

a manager configured to manage a configuration of a radio access network including a data server and a base station managed by the data server, wherein the base station and the data server are connected to the control server;

a transfer path setter configured to set a data transfer path for an IP packet containing user data in accordance with the configuration;

an inter-server communicator configured to notify an instruction to reserve a resource of the data server for the base station in accordance with the configuration, wherein a connection ID is assigned to the data transfer path and included in the instruction when the data transfer path is set; and

a radio access network-side communicator configured to transmit the resource to the base station,

the data server, comprising;

a manager configured to manage a resource of a base station located in the radio access network;

a resource assigner configured to assign the resource to the data transfer path for an IP packet containing user data in accordance with the resource reservation instruction notified by the control server; and

a resource notifier configured to notify the resource assigned by the resource assigner to the control server.

2. A radio communication method in a radio access network, the method comprising the steps of:

managing, in a control server, a configuration of the radio access network, said radio access network including a data server and a base station managed by the data server, wherein the base station and the data server are connected to the control server;

setting a data transfer path for an IP packet containing user data in accordance with the configuration, in the control server;

notifying an instruction to reserve a resource of the data server for the base station in accordance with the configuration, wherein a connection ID is assigned to the data transfer path and included in the instruction when the data transfer path is set, in the control server;

managing a resource of a base station located in the transfer path set by the control server, in the data server;

assigning the resource to the data transfer path for an IP packet containing user data in accordance with a resource reservation instruction notified by the control server, wherein the resource reservation instruction comprises a connection ID assigned to the data transfer path, in the data server;

notifying the resource assigned to the control server, in the data server; and

transmitting the resource to the base station, in the control server.

3. A control server comprising:

a manager configured to manage a configuration of a radio access network including a data server and a base station managed by the data server;

wherein the base station and the data server are connected to the control server;

a transfer path setter configured to set a data transfer path for an IP packet containing user data in accordance with the configuration;

an inter-server communicator configured to notify an instruction to reserve a resource of the data server for the base station in accordance with the configuration, wherein a connection ID is assigned to the data transfer path and included in the instruction when the data transfer path is set, and to receive the resource assigned by the control server, and

a radio access network-side communicator configured to transmit the resource to the base station.

4. The control server according to claim 3, wherein the control server is connected to a plurality of data servers.

5. A data server comprising:

a manager configured to manage a resource of a base station located in a radio access network;

a resource assigner configured to assign the resource to a data transfer path for an IP packet containing user data in accordance with a resource reservation instruction notified by a control server, wherein the resource reservation instruction includes a connection ID assigned to the data transfer path; and

a resource notifier configured to notify the resource assigned by the resource assigner to the control server.

6. The data server according to claim 5, wherein the data server transmits and receives the IP packet containing the user data via the data transfer path set by the control server.