Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
1997-05-20
2001-11-27
Chang, Vivian (Department: 2682)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S419000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06324411
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to software loading in cellular telecommunication systems, and it pertains in particular to a method of loading software in the background while maintaining voice or data traffic.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Software loading plays a significant role in the operation of complex electronic equipment such as cellular telecommunication systems. Within cellular systems, software loading is necessary in several instances. For example, the functionality of modern cellular systems is, to a large extent, controlled by software. One common motivation for software loading is to provide system upgrades in the form of migratory releases of predetermined software packages. Furthermore, functional changes and enhancements may be added and activated by newly installed software. By way of example, an analog network operating on the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) can be upgraded to a Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS) with relatively minor hardware modifications which are activated by new software.
FIG. 1
illustrates a current method for loading software in a typical cellular network. A computer terminal
10
used for loading software is coupled to a mobile switching center (MSC)
12
. Terminal
10
, generally located at the same site as MSC
12
, permits loading from a centralized location. MSC
12
is linked to a plurality of base stations by way of a high speed digital connection, such as a pulse code modulation (PCM) link. The PCM link is an optical or wired link capable of efficiently delivering digital data over vast distances in accordance with a specified standard. One widely used standard link is a T1 link
14
which specifies transmission of data at 1.544 Mb/s. Furthermore, the T1 standard specifies the transmission of twenty four timeslots, where one timeslot corresponds to one analog conversation (AMPS) or three conversations in digital mode (D-AMPS). Of the twenty four timeslots, twenty three are used for carrying voice data and one, timeslot
9
, is reserved for the transmission of control information. It is desirable to utilize the same transmission link for transporting both voice and software data to maximize efficiency, therefore, timeslot
9
is used to carry software data during loading.
T1 link
14
couples MSC
12
to base station one (BS
1
) for efficient high speed communication between the components. Base stations typically contain anywhere from eight to seventy two devices wherein each can include, for example, a transmitter and receiver (i.e. transceiver), Location Verification Module (LVM), Radio Frequency Test Loop (RFTL), Combiner Tuner Controller (CTC), or other microprocessor equipped units. The procedure for software loading requires that each of the devices be taken off-line or set in an idle state during loading. This is commonly referred to in the industry as “blocking” the device and must be done sequentially for each device prior to loading. Since it may take anywhere from seconds to several tens of seconds to load each device, it is readily apparent that the software loading may take a significant amount of time. It should be noted that the speed of loading depends greatly on the speed and capacity of the transmission line used. Furthermore, since a typical cellular network contains multiple base stations, each base station will have software loaded in its devices in a similar sequential fashion. In the forgoing example, MSC
12
is coupled to BS
2
via T1 link
17
and BS
3
is coupled to MSC
12
via T1 link
19
. A complete software load for the entire network can take anywhere from several minutes to hours or even days. Thus a major limitation of this methodology is that each device is “forced” out of service for a specific period of time. While out of service, the devices cannot serve traffic thereby depriving cellular operators of potential revenue. Moreover, the current method is cumbersome, inefficient and time consuming thereby prompting the need for a better solution.
In view of the foregoing, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a technique for software loading in cellular telecommunication networks that is efficient and economical by permitting software loading while permitting devices to concurrently serve traffic.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly described, and in accordance with multiple embodiments thereof, the invention provides a technique for transparently loading software in the background for cellular telecommunication networks. The method comprises the steps of transmitting software data over a digital transmission link to designated devices in a base station. Each device includes a run-time memory, a backup memory, and a device processor. Data is written to the backup memory in the background while the associated device may be in service. In a first embodiment of the present invention, the newly loaded data is copied from the backup memory to run-time memory when the device is idle.
In a second embodiment, after software data has been written to backup memory in the background, the processor switches device operations to run from backup memory when the device is idle. The switch enables the device to operate from the new software. A change in memory designation is also performed i.e. the backup memory becomes the current run-time memory and the previous run-time memory now becomes the current backup memory. A subsequent software load writes to the newly designated backup memory and an appropriate switch is again performed. Additional software loading will continue to cycle in this fashion.
In a third embodiment, a single memory bank comprising both run-time memory and backup memory is used in place of separate memory banks. The starting location for the backup memory is indicated by a pointer located sufficiently after the run-time memory. Similarly, the software is written to the backup memory in the background to avoid interfering with possible device traffic. When the device is idle, the processor switches code execution to the starting location for the backup memory. The device then operates from the new software and a switch in memory designation is performed. In a subsequent software load, the data is written to the former run-time memory area in the background. An appropriate pointer switch is again made by the device processor. Additional loads repeat the load-and-pointer switch cycle as needed.
The embodiments disclosed in the present invention provide a method of loading software that is efficient, economical, and transparent to the user. The method virtually eliminates down-time and revenue losses due to software loading for cellular operators. These and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed descriptions and studying the various figures of the drawings.
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European Standard Search Report re RS 99559 Date of completion of search: Jan. 20, 1998.
Hagstrom, U. et al., “RBS 884: A New Generation Radio Base Stations for the
Appiah Charles N.
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Chang Vivian
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (publ)
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