Cellular radio system and a base station

Details Cellular radio system and a base station Cellular radio system and a base station

1997-05-06

2001-07-24

Ton, Dang (Department: 2661)

Multiplex communications

Communication over free space

Having a plurality of contiguous regions served by...

Reexamination Certificate

active

06266332

ABSTRACT:

This application is the national phase of international application PCT/F195/00606 filed Nov. 6, 1995 which designated the U.S.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cellular radio system comprising a base station controller and base stations connected to it. The invention further relates to a base station of a cellular radio system, comprising transmission units for transmitting communication signals to the base station controller and for receiving communication signals from the base station controller on a communication link, whereby the transmission units are arranged to feed a base station specific identification message to the base station controller by utilizing a predetermined communication channel in response to the base station initialization.
The term initialization in this context refers to a procedure carried out, for example, when the supply power is for the first time connected to the base station, after which the base station carries out initial functions programmed for it.
2. Description of Related Art
The invention relates to a communication network of a cellular radio system, such as the GSM (Groupe Spécial Mobile) or DCS (Digital Cellular System), and particularly to the communication link between base stations and the base station controller. The prior art technology recognizes cellular radio systems in which all base stations connected to the same communication link (a chain or a ring network), such as a 2 Mbit/s PCM connection, are assigned a dedicated, base station specific communication channel, i.e. a PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) time slot, which is utilized by the base stations as they for the first time establish a connection to the base station controller. This means that the base stations, in connection with the initialization following the installation, for example, from the very beginning establish contact to the base station controller on a base station specific O&M channel (Operation & Maintenance) assigned to them. In order for this to be possible, the person who installs the base station must, at the installation stage, feed data concerning the channel configuration of the system to the base station. In practice, this takes place so that the base station installer, during the installing, connects a portable microcomputer or a service terminal specifically intended for the initialization of transmission units to the base station, by means of which service terminal he feeds transmission branching tables of the system to the base station, indicating, among other things, which PCM time slots are allocated for use by the base station in question, and which PCM time slots the base station should repeat forward in the network.
The most serious weakness of the above-mentioned prior art solution is the difficulty concerning its application. In order for the installer to be able to feed the base station with correct data, he must have a considerable amount of information on the channel allocation of the network. In addition, it is difficult to correct any errors that may occur in the feeding process, because that would require another visit by the installer to the base station site (errors, if any, are usually detected only afterwards). If the configuring of a base station fails, for example, in connection with a reconfiguration of the network during, e.g., channel re-allocation, the installer must visit the base station site to feed the base station with the new data by means of the service terminal.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to solve the aforementioned problems and to provide a cellular radio system in which the configuring of base stations is considerably simpler than in the prior art solutions. This object is achieved by a cellular radio system according to the invention, characterized in that the system comprises at least two base stations which are arranged to transmit a base station specific identification message to the base station controller by utilizing the same predetermined communication channel during their initialization, and that the base station controller comprises means for assigning a predetermined base station specific communication channel to a base station by utilizing said predetermined communication channel in response to receiving the identification message.
The invention further relates to a base station which can be utilized in the system according to the invention. The base station according to the invention is characterized in that the base station is arranged to is receive a message from the base station controller on said predetermined communication channel, and to adjust the transmission units onto a communication channel assigned by said message (S
1
).
The invention is based on the idea that when a common communication channel is reserved for the base stations in the system, and the base stations are arranged to utilize said common channel when they for the first time contact the base station controller, it is possible to carry out the configuring of the transmission units of the base stations so that the base station controller feeds data concerning the network configuration to the base stations by using said common channel, i.e. assigns each base station a dedicated communication channel. Therefore, it is unnecessary to carry out the configuring of the transmission units of the base stations at the installation site during the installing of the base station, but it can be performed by remote control from the network management center. Thus, the most significant advantages of the system and base station according to the invention are the facts that it is considerably faster and easier to carry out the configuring of the transmission units of the base stations during the installing; that the configuring of the base stations can be carried out in a centralized manner whereby the error possibility decreases; that the correcting of errors which may have occurred during the configuring or reconfiguring of the base station no longer requires a visit by the installer to the base station; and that the channel configuration of the network does not have to be finally determined when the base station or stations are being installed, because its/their transmission units can be configured afterwards.
The preferred embodiments of the system and base station according to the invention are disclosed in the attached dependent claims
2
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3
and
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6
. In the following, the invention will be described in closer detail by means of a preferred embodiment according to the invention with reference to the attached drawings, in which


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