JP2000324043A - Download method and software defined radio system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To update the software of the whole system without disabling one radio station to communicate having its old software left as it is by transmitting and receiving control information on downloading and downloading software only in a download plane and changing the procedure of only a plane which can be constituted by the downloaded software. SOLUTION: A terminal station 22 requests a control part 85 through UI 86 to download software of mode (i). The control part 85 sets a download-only channel for RF 82, IF 81, D/A 80, and A/D 79 by using software in a ROM 72. An analog signal received by an antenna part 32 is processed by amplification, filtration, etc., at the radio frequency of the download-only channel, converted down by the IF81 to an intermediate frequency, and converted by the A/D 79 into a digital signal to perform a base band process. The terminal station 22 receives a predetermined information indicating the head of a frame.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a software download method for a software defined radio system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A system in which an analog signal is digitized by software to perform wireless communication processing, and a function of wireless communication processing can be added or changed by changing software is called a software defined radio, and research and development have been advanced. I have. Such a system is described in the literature, Haruyama, Software Defined Radio: Reconfigurable Wireless System, IPSJ M
agazine, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 333-336 (Mar. 1999) and J.
Mitola III, Technical Challenges in the Globalizat
ion of Software Radio, IEEE Communications Magazin
e, pp. 84-89, (Feb. 1999). In software defined radio, GSM, PH
A plurality of wireless standard methods such as S, PDC, VICS, ETC, etc. can be realized by one wireless station, and different services can be received by a user selecting using one wireless station. A wireless standard method such as GSM, PHS, PDC, VICS or ETC that a user can select at a wireless station is called a communication mode. As a software update method, a method of wirelessly downloading and updating software has been considered.

[0003]

In a software defined radio system, software changes must be handled by transmission and reception when the encoding method and decoding method or the modulation method and demodulation method are changed. Otherwise, communication may not be possible. If the download is performed using the software of the current communication process that can be updated, when a certain wireless station is out of the communication range of the system or when the software is updated while the power is not turned on, each of the wireless stations will be updated. Even if it returns to the communication range or is turned on, and returns to the state in which communication can be performed again, a situation occurs in which communication cannot be performed due to a difference in protocol between the updated software and the old software. In software radio which updates software by download via radio, an issue is to update the software of the entire system without leaving a certain radio station with old software being left uncommunicable.

[0004]

Generally, a communication procedure (protocol) has a vertical hierarchical structure (protocol stack).
And is modeled by a horizontal plane. The relationship in the vertical direction indicates the relationship before and after the information processing time, and the relationship in the horizontal direction indicates an independent relationship as a processing procedure. A standard communication protocol has been adopted as an international standard by ISO (International O
rganization for Standardization). An ideal software defined radio defines all layer protocols by software. According to the download method of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, download planes 1 and 2 and configurable planes 3 and 4 are provided in a protocol stack, and download control information and download software are transmitted and received only by the download plane. Therefore, the procedure is changed only for the configurable plane. With this method, software can be downloaded even if the protocol of the updated software differs from that of the old software, and the configurable plane can be updated.

[0005] The software defined radio system of the present invention includes:
Communication channels 5 and 6 dedicated to downloading wireless software are provided independently of the communication channels of the configurable plane. Software that performs wireless communication processing of the wireless channel dedicated to download of the download plane and software that performs wireless communication processing of the configurable plane, and software that performs wireless communication processing of the configurable plane by updating the software by downloading via wireless To update. Do not change the software that performs download plane wireless communication processing.

[0006] Further, when downloading is performed on a wireless channel other than the communication channels 5 and 6 that exclusively perform download of a certain communication mode, software of the mode is updated while a certain user is using the communication mode other than the communication mode. In such a case, when the user subsequently switches to the mode, communication may be disabled due to a difference in protocol between the new and old software. Therefore, all communication modes that can be selected by the user through the communication channels 5 and 6 dedicated to downloading are downloaded.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Base station 21 and terminal station 2 shown in FIG.
2. In the software defined radio system including the terminal station 23, an example in which the terminal station 22 downloads and updates software from the base station 21 via radio will be described. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the base station 21. The software is stored in the ROM 52 and the RAM 53, and the software in the RAM 53 is updated by downloading. Using the software of the ROM 52, the download protocol processing and the hardware setting of the download-only channel are performed. Dat
a The wireless transmission / reception data is stored in the RAM 54, and operations such as assembling and disassembly of wireless packets and PDUs are performed. Note that, in the present invention, if the parts not related to download are separated so that they can be updated, there is no need to separate software into ROM and RAM as in this example.

[0008] The user sets a communication mode in the control unit 65 through the UI 66. The control unit 65 sets the antenna unit 31, RF62, IF61, D / A60, and A / D59 by software stored in the RAM 53 according to the communication mode. The analog signal received by the antenna unit 32 is
Radio Frequency: Processes amplification and filtering at radio frequency, and IF61: Intermediate Frequency:
Processing is performed by down-converting to an intermediate frequency. IF6
1 is converted into a digital signal by an analog / digital converter and A / D 59, and baseband signal processing is performed. A baseband digital signal transmitted by radio from a base station is converted into an analog signal by a digital / analog converter D / A 60, processed at an intermediate frequency in IF 61, up-converted to a radio frequency in RF 62, and processed. Transmitted from the unit 31. The DSP 51 performs communication processing using software held in the RAM 53 according to the communication mode. The control unit 65 uses the software of the ROM 52 to set the download-only channel to the antenna unit 31, RF62, IF61, D / A60, and A / D59. The DSP 51 performs download communication processing using software stored in the ROM 52.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the terminal station 22. Base station 2
The software is stored in the ROM 72 and the RAM 73, and the software in the RAM 73 is updated by downloading, as in the case of 1. Using the software of the ROM 72, download protocol processing and hardware setting of a download-only channel are performed. Data RAM74
The wireless transmission / reception data is stored in the device, and operations such as assembling and disassembling wireless packets and PDUs are performed.

The user sets a communication mode in the control unit 85 through the UI 86. The control unit 85 sets the antenna unit 82, RF 82, IF 81, D / A 80, and A / D 89 by software stored in the RAM 83 according to the communication mode. The analog signal received by the antenna unit 82 is
Processing at the radio frequency, such as amplification and filtering,
Performs down-conversion to an intermediate frequency. Analogue / digital converter, A / D8
In step 9, the signal is converted into a digital signal and baseband signal processing is performed. The baseband digital signal transmitted by radio from the base station 21 is converted into an analog signal by a digital / analog converter D / A 80, processed at an intermediate frequency by an IF 81, and up-converted to a radio frequency by an RF 62, and processed. It is transmitted from the antenna unit 32. DSP51
Performs communication processing using software stored in the RAM 53 according to the communication mode. The control unit 65 is a ROM 5
Setting the download-only channel by using the software of the antenna 2, the RF 62, the IF 61, and the D / A 6
0, A / D59. The DSP 51 performs download communication processing using software stored in the ROM 52.

In this example, it is assumed that the download-only channel communicates at a frequency other than the frequency used in the selectable communication mode, independently of the selectable communication mode. The communication modes that can be selected are mode 1, mode 2,. . . , Mode n. FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the download-only channel. In this process, the software stored in the ROM 52 or the ROM 72 in the base band is stored in the control unit 65 and the DSP 51 or the control unit 85 and the DSP 71, respectively.
This is done by running The software 100 to be downloaded is transmitted from the wired system 20 via the input / output interface of the base station 21 and the I / O IF 55 to the Data R.
Stored in AM54.

The software 100 is mode 1 software. If the mode 1 software is being executed, the base station 21 stops executing the software.
Then, the software software 100 stored in the Data RAM 54 is moved to the RAM 53 and executed. When the software of mode 1 is not executed, the software of mode 1 in the RAM 53 is deleted, and the software 100 is moved to the RAM 53. Further, the software 100 is transferred to the terminal station 2 by the following procedure.
Download to 2 and update.

The padding PAD101 and length information LEN102 of the PAD101 are added. 100, 102, 1
03 is calculated and added to the cyclic redundancy code CRC 104 to form the PDU 101, and the PDU 101 is fixed-length information 105, 106,. . . , 107. Information 1
A header 108 and a trailer 110 are added to 05, a header 111 and a trailer 113 are added to the information 106, and a header 114 and a trailer 116 are added to the information 107. The headers 108, 111, and 114 include the synchronization word PRE1.
15 and MOD11 indicating the communication mode of software
7 and VER 118 and 100 indicating software version
Is composed of an SEQ 119 indicating the order of the fixed length information obtained by dividing the fixed length information, an LOC 120 indicating whether the position of the fixed length information in the software 100 continues at the beginning, the tail, or back and forth, and the identifier 121 of the base station 21. Trailers 110, 113, 1
16 are MOD117 and VER1 of the header 108, respectively.
18, SEQ 119, LOC 120, and fixed length information 10
5. MOD117, VER118 and SE of the header 111
Q119, LOC120, and fixed length information 106, and MOD117, VER118, SEQ119, LOC120, and error correction code 122 for fixed length information 107 in the header 114. The configured wireless packet is
The data is stored in the RAM 54 and repeatedly input from the mode 1 to the mode n into the digital / analog converter D / A 80 and converted into an analog signal. IF 81 processes at intermediate frequency and R
In F62, processing is performed by up-converting to the radio frequency of the download-only channel, and the antenna unit 32
Send more. Base station 2 on download-only channel
The latest version of the software in the communication mode that can be selected from 1 is transmitted.

The analog signal received by the antenna unit 82 is amplified or filtered by the RF 82 at the radio frequency of the download-only channel, down-converted to the intermediate frequency by the IF 81, converted to a digital signal by the A / D 89, and processed by baseband signal processing. I do. The wireless packets are synchronized using the synchronization word 115, error correction is performed using the FEC 122, and wireless packets whose errors cannot be corrected are discarded. The mode of the MOD 117 and the software version of the VER 118 are compared with the software version of the corresponding mode stored in the RAM 73, and if the same or older than the software version of the corresponding mode stored in the RAM 73, the wireless packet is discarded. I do. SEQ119, LOC
PDU 101 is assembled with reference to
4 is checked, and if there is an error, the PDU 101 is discarded. Software 100 is obtained except for the PAD 102 having the length shown in LEN 103. The software 100 is mode 1 software in FIG. If the software of mode 1 is being executed, the execution is terminated and RA
The software of mode 1 of M73 is deleted, and the software 100 is moved to the RAM 73 and executed. If the software of mode 1 is not executed, the software of mode 1 in the RAM 73 is deleted, and the software 100 is deleted.
Is moved to the RAM 73.

Another example in which the terminal station 22 downloads and updates software from the base station 21 via radio in the software defined radio system including the base station 21, the terminal station 22, and the terminal station 23 shown in FIG. 2 will be described. In this example, it is assumed that the download-only channel communicates at a frequency other than the frequency used in the selectable communication mode, independently of the selectable communication mode. The communication modes that can be selected are mode 1, mode 2,. . . , Mode n.
FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the download-only channel. This processing is performed by executing the software stored in the ROM 52 or the ROM 72 in the baseband by the control unit 65 and the DSP 51 or the control unit 85 and the DSP 71, respectively. The software 100 to be downloaded is input / output interface, I / O of the base station 21 from the wired system 20.
The data is stored in the Data RAM 54 via the IF 55.

The software 200 operates in a mode i (i = 1, 2,...,
Software of n). The base station 21 stops the execution when the software of the mode i is executed,
Erase mode 3 software in Data RAM
54 to the software 200 stored in
Move to AM53 and execute. If the software of the mode i is not executed, the software of the mode i in the RAM 53 is erased, and the software 200 is stored in the RAM 53.
Move to. Further, the software 200 is downloaded to the terminal station 22 and updated according to the following procedure.

The padding PAD 201 and length information LEN 202 of the PAD 201 are added. 200, 202, 2
The PDU 201 is configured by calculating and adding a cyclic redundancy code CRC 204 to the PDU 201, and the PDU 201 is divided into fixed-length information 205, 206,. here,
By adjusting the length of PAD201, the PDU
Keep the length constant. Header 105 in information 105
8. Add trailer 210 and add header 2 to information 206
11. A trailer 213 is added, and a header 214 and a trailer 216 are added to the information 207. Header 208,
211 and 214 are SEQ 219 indicating the order of fixed-length information obtained by dividing the synchronization word PRE 215, the MOD 217 indicating the communication mode of the software, the VER 218 indicating the software version, and 200, and whether the position of the fixed-length information in the software 200 is the head. It is composed of a LOC 220 indicating whether to continue at the tail or before and after and an identifier 221 of the base station 21. Trailers 210, 213, and 216 are MOD 217, VER 218, and SEQ 219 of header 208, respectively.
LOC220, fixed length information 205, MOD217, VER218, SEQ219, and LOC2 of the header 211.
20 and MOD21 of fixed length information 206 and header 214
7, VER 218, SEQ 219, LOC 220, and error correction code 222 for fixed length information 207.
The configured wireless packet is stored in the Data RAM 54. The control unit 66 uses the software stored in the ROM 52 to control the antenna unit 31, the RF 62, the IF 61, and the D / A 6
0, the download-only channel of the A / D 59 is set, and the specific information 230 indicating the top of the frame at a constant period f is set.
233,... 238 are transmitted. Terminal station 22 is 22
9, 232,..., 237, a mode is specified and a download is requested, and the base station 21
4. Send the software to 239. In FIG. 6, a request is received from the terminal station 22 at 237, and the base station transmits software of mode i to 239. The base station 22 inputs the requested software wireless packet to the digital / analog converter D / A 60 and converts it into an analog signal. Further, the signal is processed at the intermediate frequency in the IF 61, the signal is up-converted to the radio frequency of the download-only channel in the RF 62, the signal is processed, and transmitted from the antenna unit 31.

At the terminal station 22, the user enters the UI 86
Requests the control unit 86 to download the software in mode i. The control unit 86 uses the software of the ROM 72 to control the antenna unit 32, RF 82, IF 81, D /
The download-only channel of A80 and A / D79 is set, and the analog signal received by the antenna unit 82 is converted to RF8.
In 2, processing such as amplification and filtering is performed at the radio frequency of the download-only channel, down-converted to an intermediate frequency in IF 81, converted to a digital signal by A / D 89, and subjected to baseband signal processing. The terminal station 22 specifies the specific information 230, 233,...
And synchronizes with the base station 21 to transmit a download request 237 for mode i.

The terminal station 22 synchronizes the wireless packet using the synchronization word 215, performs error correction using the FEC 222, and discards the wireless packet whose error cannot be corrected.
The mode of the MOD 217 and the software version of the VER 218 are compared with the version of the software of the corresponding mode stored in the RAM 73, and if the same or older than the version of the software of the corresponding mode stored in the RAM 73, the wireless packet is discarded. I do. The PDU 201 is assembled with reference to the SEQ 219 and the LOC 220, the CRC 204 is checked, and if there is an error, the PDU 201 is discarded. LE
Software 200 is obtained except for the PAD 202 having the length shown in N203. If the mode i software is being executed in the terminal station 22, the execution is terminated and the RA
The software of the mode i of M73 is deleted, and the software 200 is moved to the RAM 73 and executed. If the software of the mode i has not been executed, the software of the mode i in the RAM 73 is deleted and the software 100
Is moved to the RAM 73.

When updating the software at the base station 21 or the terminal station 22, it is necessary to terminate the execution of the software, and the service is temporarily interrupted. The system operator will notify the user of the update time,
Operational measures such as selecting an update time when there are few users can be considered.

[0021]

As described above, even when a certain radio station is out of the communication range of the system or when software is updated while the power is not turned on, the radio station returns to the communication range or the power is turned on. When the communication is resumed, the software can be downloaded via a communication channel dedicated to downloading the wireless software of the present invention. In addition, software for performing wireless communication processing for a download-only wireless channel and software for performing wireless communication processing for other than the download-only wireless channel are separated, and only the wireless communication protocol other than the download-only wireless channel is changed. A situation in which a communication channel dedicated to downloading wireless software is unable to communicate due to a difference in protocol between new and old software does not occur.

Further, since the present invention downloads all software in a communication mode that can be selected by a user through a communication channel dedicated to download, the software of the mode can be downloaded while a user is using the communication mode other than the communication mode. Even if the update is performed, when the user switches to the mode thereafter, the situation in which communication becomes impossible due to a difference in the protocol of the old and new software does not occur, and the software of the entire system can be updated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a download method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a software defined radio system.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a base station.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a terminal station.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a download-only channel.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of a download-only channel.

[Explanation of symbols]

20: wired system, 21: base station, 22, 23: terminal station, 3
1, 32, 33: antenna section, 105, 106, 10
7: a portion obtained by dividing the PDU 101 into fixed lengths, 130: a wireless packet storing software of mode n, 13
1: wireless packet storing software of mode 1
132: a wireless packet storing mode 2 software, 133: a wireless packet storing mode 1 software, and 134: a wireless packet storing mode 1 software. 205, 206, 207: parts obtained by dividing the PDU 201 into fixed lengths, 229, 232, 237: download requests from terminal stations, 230, 233, 238:
Specific information indicating the top of the frame, 231, 234, 23
9: Wireless packet storing software.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued from the front page (72) Inventor Tomoaki Ishifuji 1-280 Higashi Koigakubo, Kokubunji-shi, Tokyo F-term in Central Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. 5K067 AA13 BB02 EE02 EE10 EE16 FF17 GG01 HH23 JJ11 KK13 KK15

Claims (7)

[Claims] In the wireless communication processing of a wireless station, an analog signal is digitized and performed by software, and the function of the wireless communication processing is added or changed by updating software executed on the wireless station, and the wireless communication processing is performed by wireless. A download method for updating the software by the downloaded software, providing the download-only wireless channel, and separating the wireless communication processing software of the download-only wireless channel from the wireless communication processing software other than the download-only wireless channel And a software for wireless communication processing other than the wireless channel dedicated to the download is updated by the download. 2. The radio communication processing of a radio station is performed by digitizing an analog signal by software and adding or changing the function of the radio communication processing by updating software executed on the radio station. A download method for updating the software by the downloaded software, providing the download-only wireless channel, and separating the wireless communication processing software of the download-only wireless channel from the wireless communication processing software other than the download-only wireless channel A download method of updating wireless communication processing software other than the download-only wireless channel by the download, and downloading software of all communication modes that can be selected through the download-only wireless channel. . 3. A system comprising a wireless station holding software to be downloaded and a wireless station for downloading and updating the software wirelessly from the wireless station, wherein the wireless station for downloading and updating the software from the wireless station comprises: An analog-to-digital converter for converting an analog signal into a digital signal, a digital-to-analog converter for converting a digital signal into an analog signal, a DSP for processing a digital signal output from the digital-to-analog converter, and software for defining processing performed by the DSP A storage device that holds the software, a control unit that sets the hardware of the wireless station, software that defines the hardware settings of the wireless station, and a storage device that holds the software.
In the software that defines the processing performed in P and the software that defines the hardware settings of the radio station, a part that defines the download processing procedure and a part that defines the hardware settings that perform the download are separated,
Software other than the part that defines the download processing procedure and the part that defines the setting of the hardware that performs the download is software that is the part that defines the processing procedure of the download and the part that defines the setting of the hardware that performs the download. A means for downloading and updating by a defined download-only wireless channel is provided, and a portion defining the download processing procedure and download are performed by the download-only wireless channel to a wireless station holding the software to be downloaded. A software defined radio system comprising means for transmitting software other than a part for defining hardware settings. 4. A system comprising a wireless station holding software to be downloaded and a wireless station for downloading and updating the software wirelessly from the wireless station, wherein the wireless station for downloading and updating the software from the wireless station comprises: An analog-to-digital converter for converting an analog signal into a digital signal, a digital-to-analog converter for converting a digital signal into an analog signal, a DSP for processing a digital signal output from the digital-to-analog converter, and software for defining processing performed by the DSP A storage device that holds the software, a control unit that sets the hardware of the wireless station, software that defines the hardware settings of the wireless station, and a storage device that holds the software.
In the software that defines the processing performed in P and the software that defines the hardware settings of the radio station, a part that defines the download processing procedure and a part that defines the hardware settings that perform the download are separated,
The software of all selectable communication modes other than the part that defines the download processing procedure and the part that defines the settings of the hardware that performs the download, is used for the part that defines the download processing procedure and the hardware that performs the download. Means for receiving and updating by a download-only wireless channel defined by software of a part defining a setting; and a wireless station holding the software to be downloaded is provided to the wireless station holding the download software by the download-only wireless channel. And a means for transmitting software of all selectable communication modes other than a part defining the setting of the hardware to be downloaded and a part defining the setting of the hardware to be downloaded. 5. When updating software that executes addition or change of a function of a wireless communication process of a wireless station on the wireless station, the software is updated via a wireless channel different from a wireless channel related to the wireless communication process. Download method characterized by downloading. 6. When transmitting software for adding or changing the function of a wireless communication process of a wireless station to the wireless station via a wireless channel, the wireless channel related to the wireless communication process performed by executing the software is A software defined radio system, wherein different radio channels are allocated for the transmission. 7. A software defined radio system according to claim 6, further comprising a dedicated channel for software transmission related to wireless communication processing.