PICO-RRU-BASED NETWORK IMPLEMENTATION FOR FACILITATING 6LOWPAN DATA ACCESS
First Claim
1. A method operating at a pico remote radio unit (PRRU) element disposed in an access system for providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the method comprising:
- obtaining source data;
determining if the source data is compliant with the 6LoWPAN format; and
if so, repackaging the 6LoWPAN-compliant source data to be transmitted as upstream 6LO data signals in one or more control/management (C/M) messages of Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol operating with an Ethernet cable link disposed between the PRRU element and a remote radio hub (RHUB) element coupled thereto and providing the upstream 6LO data signals to a cable front-end (FE) block interfacing with the Ethernet cable link.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A scheme for providing access to 6LoWPAN data in a Pico-Remote Radio Unit (PRRU)-based wireless access network. In one embodiment, the PRRU network comprises a Baseband Unit (BBU) coupled to one or more remote Radio Hub (RHUB) elements via a first set of CPRI links, each RHUB element in turn coupled to one or more PRRU elements via corresponding second sets of CPRI links. The BBU element comprises an interface for communicating 6LoWPAN data to and from a router coupled to an IPv6 network. The BBU element also includes a bridging functionality operative to determine endpoint PRRU elements'"'"' addresses and corresponding RHUB elements'"'"' addresses by querying an address mapping database.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method operating at a pico remote radio unit (PRRU) element disposed in an access system for providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the method comprising:
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obtaining source data; determining if the source data is compliant with the 6LoWPAN format; and if so, repackaging the 6LoWPAN-compliant source data to be transmitted as upstream 6LO data signals in one or more control/management (C/M) messages of Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol operating with an Ethernet cable link disposed between the PRRU element and a remote radio hub (RHUB) element coupled thereto and providing the upstream 6LO data signals to a cable front-end (FE) block interfacing with the Ethernet cable link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A pico remote radio unit (PRRU) element operable in an access system for providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the PRRU element comprising:
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a cable front-end (FE) block for interfacing with an Ethernet cable link connecting to a remote radio hub (RHUB) element disposed in the access system, the cable FE block operating to facilitate transfer of 6LoWPAN data (“
6LO data”
) signals and radio communications data signals in a format compliant with Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol operating with the Ethernet cable link;a radio FE block coupled to the cable FE block and an antenna operative to receive and transmit the radio communications data signals for effectuating radio communications with respect to one or more user equipment (UE) devices; a sensor component configured to generate sensor data with respect to a measurement variable; a processor coupled to the sensor component and configured to facilitate packaging of the sensor data as 6LoWPAN data (“
6LO data”
) packets; anda control channel repackager operative under control of the processor for repackaging the 6LO data packets to be transmitted as upstream 6LO data signals in one or more control/management (C/M) messages of the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol operating with the Ethernet cable link. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method operating at a baseband unit (BBU) element of an access system for providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the method comprising:
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receiving 6LoWPAN data (“
6LO data”
) packets from a router coupled to an external packet-switched network;examining a destination IP address of the 6LO data packets and determining an address of at least one pico remote radio unit (PRRU) element to which the 6LO data packets are to be delivered; determining an address of a remote radio hub (RHUB) element corresponding to the at least one PRRU element; repackaging the 6LO data packets in a format specified for a control/management (C/M) channel associated with a communication link disposed between the BBU and RHUB elements and operable with Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol; and transmitting the repackaged 6LO data packets to the RHUB element as one or more CPRI C/M messages via the communication link operable with CPRI protocol, the CPRI C/M messages including the address of the at least one PRRU element. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A apparatus for providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the apparatus comprising:
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a baseband unit (BBU) element having a baseband module that is configured to interface with a cellular telephony and data network, the BBU element including an interface for receiving 6LoWPAN data (“
6LO data”
) packets from a router coupled to an external packet-switched network;a bridging function module associated with the BBU element and configured to; examine a destination IP address of the 6LO data packets and determine an address of at least one pico remote radio unit (PRRU) element to which the 6LO data packets are to be delivered; determine an address of a remote radio hub (RHUB) element corresponding to the at least one PRRU element; and repackage the 6LO data packets in a format specified for a control/management (C/M) channel associated with a communication link disposed between the BBU element and the corresponding RHUB element and operable with Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol; and a transceiver module associated with the BBU element for transmitting the repackaged 6LO data packets to the corresponding RHUB element as a CPRI C/M message via the communication link operable with CPRI protocol, the CPRI C/M message including the address of the at least one PRRU element. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method operating at a remote radio hub (RHUB) element of an access system providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the method comprising:
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receiving 6LoWPAN data (“
6LO data”
) packets from a baseband unit (BBU) element coupled to an external packet-switched network, wherein the 6LO data packets are packaged in a first control/management (C/M) channel message associated with a communication link operable with Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol;unpacking the C/M message and obtaining a destination address of a pico remote radio unit (PRRU) element to which the 6LO data packets are to be delivered; repackaging the 6LO data packets in a second CPRI C/M message and transmitting the second CPRI C/M message to the at least one PRRU element via an Ethernet cable link operative with the CPRI protocol.
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24. A apparatus for facilitating access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the apparatus comprising:
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one or more processors; a bridging function module coupled to the one or more processors and including an interface for receiving 6LoWPAN data (“
6LO data”
) packets from a router coupled to an external packet-switched network, the bridging function module further configured to;examine a destination IP address of the 6LO data packets and determine an address of at least one pico remote radio unit (PRRU) element to which the 6LO data packets are to be delivered; and repackage the 6LO data packets in a format specified for a control/management (C/M) channel of Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol operating with an Ethernet communication link coupled to the at least one PRRU element; and a transceiver module coupled to the bridging module for transmitting the repackaged 6LO data packets to the at least one PRRU element as a CPRI C/M message via the Ethernet communication link operable with CPRI protocol. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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Specification