Radio base station and a method of operating a radio base station
First Claim
1. A radio base station for transmitting and receiving radio signals in a mobile radio network, the radio base station having an interface with a remote operation and maintenance node, the radio base station comprising:
- a radio interface that provides mobile communications to end user mobile electronic devices;
a non-volatile memory comprising a file system in which files relating to operation of the radio base station are stored;
whereinthe file system comprises at least two versions of an operational file, out of which one version is an active version used in the operation of the radio base station and received from the remote operation and maintenance node as an upgrade version of the operational file and out of which one version is a previous version;
the radio base station comprises an indication as to which of said at least two versions is the active version;
the radio base station operates using the upgrade version of the operational file as the active version of the operational file;
the radio base station (i) determines that its operation using the upgrade version of the operational file is running smoothly and (ii) detects that the radio base station is not able to contact the remote operation and maintenance node;
the radio base station reverts to using the previous version of the operational file in the operation of the radio base station instead of the upgrade version of the operational file after (i) determining that the operation of the radio base station using a new version of the file-to-be-upgraded is running smoothly and (ii) detecting that the radio base station is not able to contact the remote operation and maintenance node;
the radio base station further comprises a content indicator for a file stored in the file system, the content indicator indicating whether or not the file associated with the content indicator is faulty;
a boot application is arranged to check said content indicator upon start up of the radio base station; and
the boot application is further arranged to load contents of a backup area into the file system if the content indicator indicates that the file is faulty.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to the operation and maintenance of radio base stations in mobile communication systems. An inventive radio base station, which can be upgraded remotely in a safe way. In one embodiment of the invention, the radio base station comprises a file system comprising different versions of files, so that an old version of a file can be reverted to should problems in the operation of the radio base station occur. In another embodiment of the invention, the radio base station comprises a back-up area in which a copy of the files of the file system are stored. The back-up area is independent of the file system, so that if problems with the files in the file system are detected, the contents of the back-up area can be stored in the file system.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A radio base station for transmitting and receiving radio signals in a mobile radio network, the radio base station having an interface with a remote operation and maintenance node, the radio base station comprising:
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a radio interface that provides mobile communications to end user mobile electronic devices; a non-volatile memory comprising a file system in which files relating to operation of the radio base station are stored;
whereinthe file system comprises at least two versions of an operational file, out of which one version is an active version used in the operation of the radio base station and received from the remote operation and maintenance node as an upgrade version of the operational file and out of which one version is a previous version; the radio base station comprises an indication as to which of said at least two versions is the active version; the radio base station operates using the upgrade version of the operational file as the active version of the operational file; the radio base station (i) determines that its operation using the upgrade version of the operational file is running smoothly and (ii) detects that the radio base station is not able to contact the remote operation and maintenance node; the radio base station reverts to using the previous version of the operational file in the operation of the radio base station instead of the upgrade version of the operational file after (i) determining that the operation of the radio base station using a new version of the file-to-be-upgraded is running smoothly and (ii) detecting that the radio base station is not able to contact the remote operation and maintenance node; the radio base station further comprises a content indicator for a file stored in the file system, the content indicator indicating whether or not the file associated with the content indicator is faulty; a boot application is arranged to check said content indicator upon start up of the radio base station; and the boot application is further arranged to load contents of a backup area into the file system if the content indicator indicates that the file is faulty. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A radio base station for transmitting and receiving radio signals in a mobile radio network, the radio base station having an interface with a remote operation and maintenance node, the radio base station comprising:
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a radio interface that provides mobile communications to end user mobile electronic devices; a hardware-based platform part, a software-based application part, and plural versions of an internal interface, the platform part and the application part interacting via one of the versions of the internal interface; the platform part comprises a first data file comprising first information identifying versions of said internal interface that are supported by the platform part; the application part comprises a second data file comprising second information identifying versions of said internal interface that are supported by the application part; the radio base station is arranged to compare, upon upgrading of one of the platform part or the application part with a new version of the platform part or the application part, a data file for the part of the radio base station that is not upgraded with an updated version of the data file for the new version of the part of the radio base station which is upgraded; the radio base station is further arranged to select, based on the comparison and for use in operation of the radio base station, a version of the internal interface which is supported by both the new version of the part of the radio base station that is upgraded and the part of the radio base station that is not upgraded; the radio base station further comprises a content indicator for a file stored in the file system, the content indicator indicating whether or not the file associated with the content indicator is faulty; a boot application is arranged to check said content indicator upon start up of the radio base station; and the boot application is further arranged to load contents of a backup area into the file system if the content indicator indicates that the file is faulty.
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10. A method of upgrading a file to be upgraded in a radio base station having a radio interface that provides mobile communications to end user mobile electronic devices, the file-to-be-upgraded being a data file or an executable file, the radio base station having an interface with a remote operation and maintenance node, the radio base station comprising a non-volatile, writable memory comprising a file system in which the file to be upgraded is stored, the method comprising:
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receiving, in the radio base station over the interface, a new version of the file to be upgraded; storing the new version of the file to be upgraded in the file system while keeping a previous version of the file to be upgraded stored in the non-volatile, writable memory; keeping an indication in the radio base station as to which version of the file to be upgraded is an active version of the file to be upgraded that is to be used in operation of the radio base station; arranging the indication so that said indication indicates that the new version of the file to be upgraded is the active version; operating the radio base station using the new version of the file-to-be-upgraded as the active version of the file-to-be-upgraded; (i) determining that the operation of the radio base station using the new version of the file-to-be-upgraded is running smoothly and (ii) detecting that the radio base station is not able to contact the remote operation and maintenance node; and reverting to using the previous version of the file-to-be-upgraded in the operation of the radio base station instead of the new version of the file-to-be-upgraded after (i) determining that the operation of the radio base station using the new version of the file-to-be-upgraded is running smoothly and (ii) detecting that the radio base station is not able to contact the remote operation and maintenance node, wherein; the radio base station further comprises a content indicator for a file stored in the file system, the content indicator indicating whether or not the file associated with the content indicator is faulty; a boot application is arranged to check said content indicator upon start up of the radio base station; and the boot application is further arranged to load contents of a backup area into the file system if the content indicator indicates that the file is faulty. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of operating a radio base station having a radio interface that provides mobile communications to end user mobile electronic devices, the radio base station having a hardware-based platform part, a software-based application part and plural versions of an internal interface, the platform part and the application part communicating via one of the versions of the internal interface, the radio base station further having an interface with a remote operation and maintenance node, the method comprising:
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storing, in the radio base station, a first list of which versions of the internal interface are supported by the platform part; storing, in the radio base station, a second list of which versions of the internal interface are supported by the application part; comparing, upon upgrading of one of the platform part or the application part with a new version of the platform part or the application part, contents of the list of the part of the radio base station that is not upgraded with an updated version of the list for the new version of the part of the radio base station which is upgraded; and selecting, based on the comparison and for use in operation of the radio base station, a version of the internal interface that is supported by both the part of radio base station which is upgraded and the part of radio base station which is not upgraded, wherein; the radio base station further comprises a content indicator for a file stored in the file system, the content indicator indicating whether or not the file associated with the content indicator is faulty; a boot application is arranged to check said content indicator upon start up of the radio base station; and the boot application is further arranged to load contents of a backup area into the file system if the content indicator indicates that the file is faulty. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A non-transient computer readable medium comprising computer program code that, when executed on digital programmable circuitry of a radio base station having a radio interface that provides mobile communications to end user mobile electronic devices, a hardware-based platform part, a software-based application part and plural versions of an internal interface, the platform part and the application part communicating via one of the versions of the internal interface, the radio base station further having an interface with a remote operation and maintenance node:
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stores, in a non-volatile memory of the radio base station, a first list of which versions of the internal interface are supported by the platform part; stores, in a non-volatile memory of the radio base station, a second list of which versions of the internal interface are supported by the application part; and compares, upon upgrading of one of the platform part or the application part with a new version of the platform part or the application part, contents of the list of the part of the radio base station that is not upgraded with an updated version of the list for the new version of the part of the radio base station which is being upgraded; and selecting, based on the comparison and for use in operation of the radio base station, a version of the internal interface that is supported by both the part of the radio base station which is upgraded and the part of the radio base station which is not upgraded, wherein; the radio base station further comprises a content indicator for a file stored in the file system, the content indicator indicating whether or not the file associated with the content indicator is faulty; a boot application is arranged to check said content indicator upon start up of the radio base station; and the boot application is further arranged to load contents of a backup area into the file system if the content indicator indicates that the file is faulty.
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20. A non-transient computer readable medium comprising computer program code that, when executed on digital programmable circuitry of a radio base station, upgrades a file to be upgraded in the radio base station, the file-to-be-upgraded being a data file or an executable file, wherein the radio base station has an interface with an operation and maintenance node, the radio base station including a non-volatile, writable memory storing a file system in which the file to be upgraded is stored and a radio interface that provides mobile communications to end user mobile electronic devices, the code to carry out the upgrade includes code to:
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receive, in the radio base station over the interface, a new version of the file to be upgraded; store the new version of the file to be upgraded in the file system while keeping a previous version of the file to be upgraded stored in the non-volatile, writable memory; keep an indication in the radio base station as to which version of the file to be upgraded is an active version of the file to be upgraded that is to be used in operation of the radio base station; arrange the indication so that said indication indicates that the new version of the file to be upgraded is the active version; operate the radio base station using the new version of the file-to-be-upgraded as the active version of the file-to-be-upgraded; (i) determine that the operation of the radio base station using the new version of the file-to-be-upgraded is running smoothly and (ii) detect that the radio base station is not able to contact the remote operation and maintenance node; and revert to using the previous version of the file-to-be-upgraded in the operation of the radio base station instead of the new version of the file-to-be-upgraded after (i) determining that the operation of the radio base station using the new version of the file-to-be-upgraded is running smoothly and (ii) detecting that the radio base station is not able to contact the remote operation and maintenance node, wherein; the radio base station further comprises a content indicator for a file stored in the file system, the content indicator indicating whether or not the file associated with the content indicator is faulty; a boot application is arranged to check said content indicator upon start up of the radio base station; and the boot application is further arranged to load contents of a backup area into the file system if the content indicator indicates that the file is faulty.
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Specification