Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-01
2001-02-06
Vo, Nguyen (Department: 2745)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S424000, C455S561000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06185420
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to base station controllers in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile communication systems and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for testing the functionality of a base station controller in a CDMA mobile communication system.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
A CDMA mobile communication system includes Base station Transceiver Subsystems (BTSs), Base Station Controllers (BSCs), Base Station Managers (BSMs), Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs), and a Location Register system. The BSMs manage the BTSs, and the MSCs perform switching of the calls of mobile stations.
When a base station controller is to be implemented in a CDMA mobile communication system, the interaction between the base station controller and a mobile switching center should be tested to verify that the base station controller functions properly. Disadvantageously, the conventional method for testing the functionality of a base station controller requires that a mobile switching center be almost fully connected to the base station controller.
FIG. 1
is a block diagram illustrating the testing of a base station controller according to the prior art. The base station controller
120
is directly connected with a mobile switching center
150
using a call control processing program (call control S/W)
130
and a mobile switching center interface program (MSC interface S/W)
140
in the base station controller
120
. Specifically, the call control processing program activates the base station controller
120
, and the mobile switching center interface program allows the mobile switching center to communicate with the base station controller
120
. Thus, according to the prior art method, the base station controller
120
is connected with the mobile switching center
150
and communications are exchanged to ensure the base station controller
120
is performing normally.
In order for the conventional method to be used, the elements of the mobile communication system such as, for example, the mobile station
100
, the Base station Transceiver subsystems
110
, the base station controller
120
, and the mobile switching center interface program
140
, should be in a normal operating state. As such, when the mobile switching center
150
is operating abnormally or is not interacted with the base station controller
120
, the conventional method cannot be used to test the base station controller.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,627,834 discloses an automatic call simulator for simulating call processing capacity and performance between a base station and a mobile station of a CDMA mobile communication system. The automatic call simulator is an external unit connected via a communication port, which operates the mobile station and simulates the performance of the communication system. The automatic call simulator allows the functionality of a base station to be tested without a plurality of subscribers and mobile stations. However, such testing can only be performed if a mobile switching center is provided. Thus, it would be desirable and highly advantageous for a method and an apparatus to be provided for testing the functionality of a base station controller without a mobile switching center.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for testing the functionality of a base station controller in a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile communication system, where such testing is performed without a mobile switching center.
In one aspect of the invention, in a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Mobile Communication System, a method for testing the functionality of a call control processing program executed on a call control processor in a base station controller comprises the steps of: simulating a mobile switching center that exchanges communications with the base station controller; and testing the functionality of the call control processing program by using the simulated mobile switching center. The simulating step comprises the step of simulating a hardware portion and a software portion of the mobile switching center.
According to one embodiment of the invention, the simulating step is performed using an external processor, and the testing step comprises the steps of: connecting the external processor to the base station controller; and performing call control processing by the base station controller.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the simulating step is performed using a second processor in the base station controller, the second processor being a processor other than the call control processor, and the testing step comprises the step of performing call control processing by the base station controller.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, where the same reference numerals are used to represent the same functional elements.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5627834 (1997-05-01), Han et al.
patent: 5732213 (1998-03-01), Gessel et al.
Aoki Makoto
Dilworth & Barrese LLP
Samsung Electronics Co,. Ltd.
Vo Nguyen
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