WO2017030353A1 - Reconfigurable mobile device using unified radio application interface, and operation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An unified radio application interface and a reconfigurable mobile device utilizing the same are disclosed. The unified radio application interface, which is one of interfaces mounted on the reconfigurable mobile device, comprises: a first module for a radio application management service; a second module for a user data flow service; and a third module for a multi-radio control service, wherein the unified radio application interface provides at least one of a radio application management service, a user data flow service, and a multi-radio control service to a radio control framework (RCF) operating on a radio computer of a mobile device and to an unified radio application (URA) operating on a radio computer, and supports the RCF so as to reconfigure a radio application according to a wireless communication environment or a wireless connection environment of the mobile device.

Description

Reconfigurable Mobile Device Using Integrated Radio Application Interface and Its Operation Method

The present invention relates to a reconfigurable mobile device using a unified radio application interface for a radio application for generating a transmit radio signal or to decode a received radio frequency (RF) signal at a radio terminal and a method of operating the same.

As communication technology develops, many new kinds of radio communication technologies are used according to user's preference and purpose. Most wireless communication technologies, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), Long Term Advanced (LTE-advanced), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Mobile WiMAX, and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), The base station runs on the terminal while interacting.

The modem inside the terminal has unique commands for each manufacturer and implements each radio communication technology. In order for radio applications to control a modem, it is necessary to understand the unique commands of the modem and to develop and apply a module according to the manufacturer or model. This results in some radio applications running only on specific manufacturers' terminals or specific modems. To solve this problem, different control commands for different types of modems must be included in all radio applications, or different executable files must be created and distributed for each modem.

However, the above-described conventional method is required to separately perform optimization work for the hardware of various modems currently on the market, so it is virtually impossible to produce a radio application that can operate in all terminals. In addition, there is a problem in the existing technology that requires a huge manpower and cost to produce a multi-radio application.

In order to solve such a problem, there are attempts to create a hardware independent multi-radio application, but to control this, each user must use a unified command rather than a manufacturer-specific command.

In other words, there is a need for a technology that changes the method of supporting high frequency (HF, High Frequency) to hardware in a wireless base station and a terminal in software form. Software Defined Radio (SDR) is a radio for economically providing services regardless of location or time to one terminal in a multi mode, multi band, and multi environment wireless communication environment. Communication technology, which is a technology proposed to provide a wireless device and a service by operation of software.

Incorporating software-defined radio modules into portable devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and notebook computers, it is possible to simultaneously support two different frequency bands and two or more systems in one device. The SDR technology may provide a new communication method for various wireless networks, various wireless communication methods, different frequency bands, and high speed data communication in the 4th generation communication pursuing all-IP based wireless multimedia communication.

In relation to software defined radio technology, there is a de facto standard technology called Software Communication Architecture (SCA). It is a collection of conventions related to the framework, middleware, and real-time operating systems required for software-defined radios. It is intended to ensure interface compatibility between software-defined radio systems. do. At the core of the SCA is the framework framework, the core framework, which allows you to componentize the parts that make up a radio application and to reuse and combine these components to create a new radio application.

In the case of SCA, recombination is possible only with blocks pre-installed in the terminal, but user-defined blocks for use in a specific radio application cannot be installed in SCA compatible terminals having different hardware configurations. Therefore, it is not possible to use it on all SCA compatible terminals with a single executable file.

This means that optimized executables must be created and distributed individually according to the hardware specifications of all SCA-compatible terminals. This requires a lot of time and money, making commercial use of radio applications very difficult. In addition, SCA-compatible terminals do not provide a baseband application programming interface (API) for the implementation of radio applications, making it difficult to utilize selective hardware acceleration.

Meanwhile, Software Defined Radio (SDR) downloads object-oriented architecture application software on an open architecture single hardware platform to create a system that can be flexibly adapted to various wireless access environments. It's a technology that makes it possible. SDR technology reduces fixed hardware functionality on the user's mobile device from a signal processing perspective, expands the hardware portion programmable by radio applications, and increases the flexibility of the system by using expanded software programmability. Wireless technology.

However, the structure of such SDR terminal should be open, distributed, object oriented, and software controllable. In particular, there is a demand for multimode SDR capable of accommodating various wireless standards for global communication. In this atmosphere, research on multi-mode SDR that is practically commercialized is being actively conducted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a reconfigurable mobile device using an integrated radio application interface for an interface between a radio application for generating a transmit radio signal or decoding a received radio frequency (RF) signal in a mobile device and a radio control framework managing the same. It is.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of operating a reconfigurable mobile device that can control the operation of a plurality of radio applications using the integrated radio application interface or change the combination of radio applications in operation according to the surrounding environment such as a wireless environment. have.

A method of operating a mobile device using an unified radio application interface (URAI) according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, a radio control framework operating on a radio computer of the mobile device (radio control framework) Providing a service of at least one of URAI's radio application management services, user data flow services, and multi-radio control services to an unified radio application (URA) operating on an RCF) and a radio computer; and Communicating with the URA via the URAI and reconfiguring the radio application according to a wireless communication environment or a wireless connection environment of the mobile device.

Here, at least one module for at least one of a radio application management service, a user data flow service, and a multi-radio control service is stored in a memory of a mobile device and executed by a radio computer or a radio operating system to run a radio controller framework. Can be loaded onto.

Here, the radio application management service may request a report of peer devices discovered as URA in the RCF; Request creation or termination of a connection with a peer device; Request to start or stop communication with the peer equipment; Or a combination thereof.

Here, the radio application management service, from URA to RCF, confirms the creation of the connection with the peer equipment; Confirming termination of the connection with the peer equipment; Confirming the start of communication with the peer equipment; Confirming that the communication with the peer device has been stopped; Failure to create a connection with a peer device; Failure to terminate the connection with the peer device; Failure to start communication with peer equipment; Failure to stop communication with peer equipment; Transmitting or responding to information or status information or a message about the peer equipment; Or a combination thereof.

Here, the radio application management service may support the radio connection manager of the RCF to install and activate the radio application.

Here, the radio application management service may support the URA to report to the radio connection manager about accessible peer devices found during the discovery process procedure.

Here, the detection of the peer equipment may be performed using a predetermined integrated circuit mounted in the mobile device in the radio application management service.

Here, the user data flow service may support the RCF to request user data transmission to the URA.

Here, the user data flow service may include requesting a change in the data flow configuration by the URA to the RCF; Convey information related to the URA; Confirm the transmission of user data; Respond to the failure to transmit user data; Sending an acknowledgment message or response to user data transmission; Or a combination thereof.

Here, the user data flow service may support URA to request a configuration change of the data flow to the flow controller of the RCF.

Here, the multi-radio control service may support the RCF to request synchronization of radio time to URA.

Here, the multi-radio control service may support the URA to confirm the synchronization of the radio time to the RCF or to deliver a message about the failure of synchronization of the radio time.

A reconfigurable mobile device employing an integrated radio application interface according to another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises: a radio platform comprising a radio frequency (RF) transceiver as part of the hardware of the mobile device; Radio control framework (RCF), which is part of a radio operating system operating on a radio platform; An integrated radio application (URA) mounted on a radio operating system and managed by a radio control framework; And an unified radio application interface (URAI) that provides at least one or more of a radio application management service, a user data flow service, and a multi-radio control service between the RCF and the URA.

Where URAI is a radio application management service from RCF to URA, requesting reporting of discovered peer devices; Request creation or termination of a connection with a peer device; Request to start or stop communication with the peer equipment; Or a combination thereof.

Where URAI is a radio application management service from URA to RCF, comprising: confirming the creation of a connection with a peer device; Confirming termination of the connection with the peer equipment; Confirming the start of communication with the peer equipment; Confirming that the communication with the peer device has been stopped; Failure to create a connection with a peer device; Failure to terminate the connection with the peer device; Failure to start communication with peer equipment; Failure to stop communication with peer equipment; Sending or responding to information or status information or messages about peer devices; Or a combination thereof.

Here, URAI may support a radio connection manager of the RCF as a radio application management service to install and activate a radio application on the radio operating system.

Here, the URAI may support the URA as a radio application management service to report to the radio connection manager about accessible peer devices found during the discovery process procedure.

Here, URAI may support requesting user data transfer as a user data flow service from RCF to URA.

Where URAI is a user data flow service from URA to RCF, requesting a change in data flow configuration; Convey information related to the URA; Confirm the transmission of user data; Respond to the failure to transmit user data; Sending an acknowledgment message or response to user data transmission; Or a combination thereof.

Here, the URAI may support the URA as a user data flow service to request a configuration change of the data flow from the flow controller of the RCF.

Here, the URAI may support the RCF to request synchronization of radio time to the URA through a multi-radio control service, and to allow the RCF to confirm synchronization of radio time from the URA or to receive a message about failure of synchronization of radio time.

Using the integrated radio application interface and the reconfigurable mobile device using the same according to the present invention as described above, it is possible to install and reconfigure various radio applications independently of the hardware platform of the mobile device.

In addition, as a mobile communication service provider, it is possible to convert terminals with various radio platforms used by their network subscribers to a desired communication network standard as needed, which is useful for network maintenance with flexible network operation.

In addition, when the user needs to switch to a new communication network, the user can use the new communication network by simply downloading the radio application package and installing it on his or her mobile terminal without having to purchase a new mobile terminal. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the purchase cost of a new mobile terminal, and can increase user convenience since it can be used for various wireless access technologies with one mobile terminal.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a major part of a reconfigurable mobile device including an unified radio application interface (URAI) in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a UML class diagram for the four major interfaces of the mobile device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a structure for connecting between a radio control framework (RCF) and an integrated radio application (URA) using URAI in the mobile device of FIG. 1.

4 is a UML class diagram of a radio computer class associated with a URAI in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a UML diagram of three services applicable to the URAI of FIG. 4.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a reconfigurable mobile device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In describing the drawings, similar reference numerals are used for similar elements.

Terms such as first, second, A, and B may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component. The term “and / or” includes any combination of a plurality of related items or any of a plurality of related items.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in between. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, the same reference numerals are used for the same elements in the drawings and redundant descriptions of the same elements will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a major part of a reconfigurable mobile device including an unified radio application interface (URAI) in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a reconfigurable mobile device (reconfigurable MD) according to the present embodiment may simultaneously execute multiple / multiple radios and may be configured by a new radio application package (RAP). You can change the settings of the radios. A plurality of radio applications (RAs) may be referred to as an unified radio application (URA) when exhibiting common attributes or characteristics in terms of requirements related to radio reconfiguration of the mobile device.

A radio application (RA) may refer to software for generating a transmit RF signal and decoding a received RF signal. Such software may run on a radio virtual machine (RVM) that is part of a particular radio platform or radio platform. And radio applications can be represented in other forms. That is, radio applications can be represented in the form of source codes, intermediate representations (IRs), and executable codes, each of which is a radio library native implementation. ) And a radio library that calls a radio hardware abstraction layer (radio HAL) call, and the executable code may be for a particular radio platform.

The radio application uploads a RAP generated by a radio application provider through a radio programming interface (RPI) to a radioapp store and the like, and according to a request of a reconfigurable mobile device. It may be downloaded to a mobile device through a predetermined link.

Link refers to connecting a location to another location through certain Radio Access Technologies (RATs) for the purpose of transmitting and receiving digital information. Here, each link is carried through a predetermined channel. A channel is a designated part of the ability to transmit information with certain characteristics provided by the user network interface. Here, an over-the-air wireless propagation channel is used to carry the information signal from the transmitter to the receiver.

Logical communication links to radio access networks or peer equipment may be referred to as associations. In general, some control signaling is required to maintain the connection. User data transfer does not occur only in the connected state, but data flow can be established in the connection to this purpose. And, the peer equipment can be any communication computer component of the reconfigurable mobile device, and a logical communication link (ie, connection) can be established between the reconfigurable mobile device and the peer device.

In order to run a multi-type / multiple integrated radio application on the above-mentioned reconfigurable mobile device, the reconfigurable mobile device (hereinafter referred to simply as mobile device) is a communication services layer (CSL), a radio control framework (Radio Control). Framework, RCF), Radio Platform, and four sets of interfaces for their interconnection.

In the Mobile Device Architecture, four sets of interfaces include a MultiRadio Interface (MURI), a Reconfigurable Radio Frequency Interface (RRFI), a Unified Radio Application Interface (URAI), and a Radio Programming Interface (RPI). can do.

MURI is the interface between the communication service layer and the radio control framework. RRFI is the interface between an integrated radio application and an RF transceiver. URAI is the interface between the integrated radio application and the radio control framework. RPI is an interface for independent and uniform production of radio applications.

The aforementioned mobile device is a mobile device with radio communication capability that supports radio reconfiguration. Here, reconfigurable mobile devices include, but are not limited to, smartphones, feature phones, tablets, and laptops.

The communication services layer (CSL) is a layer related to generic applications that support communication services. Here, the communication service layer supports general applications such as Internet access. In the present specification, the communication service layer may include an administrator, a mobility policy manager (MPM), a networking stack, and a monitor.

The radio control framework (RCF) is a control framework that is part of the operating system that extends operating system capabilities in terms of radio resource management. Here, the radio control framework includes a configuration manager (CM), a radio connection manager (RCM), a flow controller (FC), a multiradio controller (MRC), and a resource manager (resource). Manager, RM) may be included. The resource manager may be part of the operating system.

In other words, the radio control framework is a component that provides an operating environment for radio applications. The radio control framework can essentially manage each radio application using at least some of the five components of a configuration manager, radio connection manager, flow controller, multiradio controller, and resource manager.

The configuration manager (CM) may be in charge of installing / uninstalling a radio application, creating / deleting an instance of a radio application, and managing access to radio parameters of radio applications.

Radio Connection Manager (RCM) may be responsible for activating / deactivating radio applications according to user requirements and for overall management of user data flows that can be switched from one radio application to another.

A flow controller (FC) may be responsible for transmitting and receiving user data packets and controlling flow.

A multiradio controller (MRC) may schedule requests for radio resources raised from concurrently running radio applications in order to detect interoperability problems between radio applications in advance.

A resource manager (RM) may be responsible for managing multi-radio resources for sharing multi-radio resources between active radio applications while meeting real-time requirements. The resource manager may be part of the operating system.

Meanwhile, the radio control framework may include only some of the five components described above, or may further include components other than the five components, depending on the implementation. In addition, the radio control framework may include one or more components incorporating the functionality of at least two or more components. The function and role of the radio control framework are defined by the functions performed by the aforementioned components, but the configuration of the radio control framework is not limited by the exemplary components described above. That is, the radio control framework may have various configurations for performing at least some of the functions of the above-described components.

A radio platform is part of the hardware of a mobile device capable of generating a signal or receiving a high frequency signal and may include hardware for the implementation of a functional block. The hardware may be heterogeneous hardware that includes different signal processing components, such as fixed or dedicated accelerators and reconfigurable accelerators. Dedicated accelerators may include application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and the like, and reconfigurable accelerators may include field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), digital A digital signal processing device and the like.

That is, the radio platform may include programmable hardware, dedicated hardware, RF transceivers, and antennas as part of the hardware of the mobile device associated with the radio signal processing capability. Programmable hardware and dedicated hardware may be included in the modem, the modem corresponding to baseband and other components, and the dedicated hardware may include a hardware accelerator or a baseband accelerator. Programmable hardware enables support of the extensibility of standard functional blocks in reconfigurable mobile devices.

Baseband accelerators prepared for the execution of a function block can often be provided in the form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Such a radio platform may be connected to a Unified Radio Application (URA) through a Reconfigurable Radio Frequency Interface (RRFI). RRFI is the interface between the radio platform and integrated radio applications.

The above-described radio platform may correspond to radio platform hardware and may be connected to a radio operating system (OS) through a radio platform driver. Here, the radio control framework may operate on a radio OS and communication service layer.

FIG. 2 is a UML class diagram for the four major interfaces of the mobile device of FIG. 1.

2, a mobile device according to the present embodiment may be viewed as a Radio Computer when an individual integrated radio application is designed as a predetermined software entity.

In the case described above, the radio computer is a UML class (IMURI) of a radio computer interface connected to MURI, a UML class (IRRFI) of a radio computer interface connected to RRFI, a UML class (IURAI) and an RPI of a radio computer interface connected to URAI. It may include a UML class (IRPI) of a radio computer interface related to.

Unified Modeling Language (UML) may be used to define information models and protocols related to RRFI, MURI, etc., but is not limited thereto. Other modeling languages may also be used.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a structure for connecting between a radio control framework (RCF) and an integrated radio application (URA) using URAI in the mobile device of FIG. 1.

3, the integrated radio application interface (URAI) 30 according to the present embodiment is a radio control framework (RCF) 10 operating on a radio computer and an integrated radio application operating on a radio computer. Radio applications (URA, 20) are supported to communicate with each other.

The URAI 30 may support three services: radio application management services, user data flow services, and multiradio control services.

In addition, the URAI may further support one or more services selected from resource management services, radio connection management services, parameter management services, and the like, depending on the implementation.

A radio computer is a hardware part of a mobile device operating in a radio operating system (ROS), and may include, for example, a radio platform. A radio operating system (OS) may be loaded on the radio platform, and a radio platform driver may be mounted between the radio platform and the radio operating system. And more specifically on a radio computer, radio applications can run on a radio operating system.

A radio operating system is any suitable real-time operating system that is authorized by the Radio Control Framework to reconfigure the software architecture, or to install or execute functional blocks. Radio OS provides basic management and radio control framework capabilities related to the management of the radio platform such as resource management, file system support, and unified access to hardware resources. can do. To this end, the radio computer may be equipped with a radio platform driver. The radio platform driver is a hardware driver of the radio OS and can interact with the radio platform hardware.

In this embodiment, the unified radio application interface may correspond to a method of configuring or reconfiguring a radio application between the RCF and the URA, and each service supported by the unified radio application interface configures or reconfigures a radio application between the RCF and the URA. Corresponding to the steps of the method, these steps may correspond to an instruction, procedure, program, module, or combination thereof stored in memory or loaded into a process for performing each step.

URAI System Requirement Mapping

The components of the radio computer described above may support the URAI system requirements as shown in Tables 1 to 4 below.

That is, as shown in Table 1, if the flow controller as an entity, component or unit supports the system requirements R-FUNC-RAT-05, such flow A reconfigurable mobile device with a controller allows parallel connection to radio access technologies (RATs) under coordination with the R-FUNC-RAT-01, thereby maintaining several independent data flows simultaneously.

If the flow controller as an entity, component or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-RAT-04, a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with such a flow controller can receive (Rx) data or transmit to or from the networking stack. (Tx) can support the ability to pass data.

If a multiradio controller as an entity, component or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-RAT-01, a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with such a multiradio controller can support parallel connections to one or more radio access technologies. .

If a multi-radio controller as an entity, component or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-RAT-02, then a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with such a multi-radio controller will allow parallel access to wireless access technologies. In-device coexistence functions can be implemented in coordination with the R-FUNC-RAT-01.

If a multi-radio controller as an entity, component or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-RAT-03, a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with this multi-radio controller will have a wireless connection under coordination with the R-FUNC-RAT-01. When parallel connection to the technologies is allowed, it is possible to implement an uninterrupted handover of the data stream from one RAT to another.

If a multi-radio controller as an entity, component or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-RAT-06, a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with this multi-radio controller can be connected wirelessly in coordination with the R-FUNC-RAT-01. When parallel connection to the technologies is allowed, it is possible to implement link adaptation techniques across multiple / multiple RATs.

If a multi-radio controller as an entity, component or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-MDR-03, then a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with such a multi-radio controller can be used for radio application (RA) in radio configuration. It is possible to implement activation and change the parameters of the activated RAs if necessary.

If the radio connection manager as an entity, component, or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-RAT-04, a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with such a radio connection manager may apply link selection functionality through policy application. The relevant conditions can be met.

If the radio connection manager as an entity, component, or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-RAT-05, a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with such a radio connection manager is connected to the radio under coordination with the R-FUNC-RAT-01. When parallel connections to the technologies are allowed, several independent data flows can be maintained at the same time.

If the radio connection manager as an entity, component, or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-RAT-06, a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with such a radio connection manager is connected to the radio under coordination with the R-FUNC-RAT-01. When parallel connection to the technologies is allowed, it is possible to implement link adaptation techniques across multiple / multiple RATs.

If the radio connection manager as an entity, component or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-RA-03, a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with such a radio connection manager can support simultaneous execution of radio applications.

If the radio connection manager as an entity, component or unit supports the system requirement R-FUNC-MDR-03, a reconfigurable mobile device equipped with such a radio connection manager can be implemented with activation of radio applications in the radio settings, If necessary, the parameters of the activated RAs can be changed.

For definition of the above system requirements, reference may be made to the document ETSI EN 303 905.

In Table 1, R-FUNC-RAT stands for functional requirement on radio access technology. Configuration of the radio application may be performed by a configuration manager. And the management of parameters can also be performed by the configuration manager.

In addition, among the radio application requirements, the R-FUNC-RA-05 can support the function of conveying status information. This may be associated with a given interface (eg, interface CII).

According to this embodiment, appropriate requirements of the URAI may be link adaptation.

4 is a UML class diagram of a radio computer class associated with a URAI in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 4, the information model of the radio computer related to the URAI in the mobile device according to the present embodiment may be defined by the following radio computer classes.

The RCUser class describes information related to the user of the radio computer. Each instance of the RCUser class depends on one instance of the RadioComputer class.

The RadioComputer class contains all the integrated radio application related information regarding the interactions with resources related to the hardware and software of the reconfigurable mobile device. All integrated radio application related information includes, for example, calculation or spectrum resource usage, collection of contextual information, channel measurement results, and the like.

The RadioOS class describes the installed RadioOS. Each instance of the radio computer class is associated with zero or one instance of the RadioOS class. Each instance of the RadioOS class is associated with (or associated with) zero or several instances of the RadioApp class.

The RadioApp class describes one radio application that is currently active. Each instance of the radio computer class may be associated with zero or several instances of the RadioApp class. Each instance of the RadioApp class is associated with one instance of the RadioOS class. In addition, each instance of the RadioApp class is associated with one instance of the Link class.

The RadioAppProfile class contains general information about the radio application, for example the radio application ID, the current version of the radio application, the downlink or uplink direction, the link used to transmit the current radio application, and the like. Each instance of the RadioApp class can have only one instance of the RadioAppProfile class as a member.

The RadioAppCapabilities class contains information about the measurements supported by the radio application, for example delay, loss, and bandwidth measurements. Each instance of the RadioApp class can have only one instance of the RadioAppCapabilities class as a member.

The RadioAppMeasurements class contains the measurements performed by current radio applications, such as delay, loss, and bandwidth measurements. Each instance of the RadioApp class can have only one instance of the RadioAppMeasurements class as a member. Instances of this class may contain multiple measurements.

The RCProfile class contains general information about the radio computer. General information may include, for example, terminal identification. Each instance of the RadioComputer class can contain only one instance of the RCProfile class as a member.

The RCMeasurements class may include current measurements (instantaneous measurement data and related metadata) related to the reconfigurable mobile device. These measurements may include, for example, battery capacity, user mobility, mobile device positioning, connection history information, and the like. Each instance of the RadioComputer class can have only one instance of the RCMeasurements class as a member.

The RCCapabilities class may contain information about the capabilities of the radio computer, including hardware, software, transmission and measurement capabilities, such as supported radio access technologies (RATs) and maximum trasmission power. Each instance of the RadioComputer class can contain only one instance of the RCCapabilities class as a member.

The Channel class may contain one radio channel, which may or may not be used for an active radio link. Each instance of the RadioComputer class can have control, one or several instances as members of the Channel class. At least one Channel class may be used in an active radio link.

The ChannelProfile class may contain general information about the radio channel, such as channel ID, center frequency, bandwidth, and wireless access technology. Each instance of the Channel class may have only one instance of the channel profile class as a member.

The ChannelMeasurements class may include current measurements (instantaneous measurement data and related metadata) and applied measurement configurations such as interference and load measurements associated with this radio channel. Each instance of the channel class may have only one instance of the ChannelMeasurements class as a member.

The antenna class may include information about antenna selection. Each instance of the Channel class may have at least one instance of the Antenna class as a member.

The AntennaProfile class contains general information about the antenna. General information of the antenna may include antenna port, available frequency range, antenna gain, and the like. Each instance of the Antenna class may have only one instance of the AntennaProfile class as a member.

The RCConfiguration class may contain information about the current configuration of the radio computer. Each instance of the RadioComputer class may have one instance of the RCConfiguration class as a member.

The Link class may include information regarding an active integrated radio application and a corresponding connection between a reconfigurable mobile device and a radio access network (RAN). Each instance of the RCConfiguration class can have zero, one or several instances of the Link class as members. Each instance of the Link class may be associated with one instance of the RadioApp class.

The LinkProfile class contains general information about the active link. General information regarding the active connection may include, for example, a link identifier, a serving cell ID, a channel used, and the like. Each instance of the Link class can contain one instance of the LinkProfile class as a member.

The LinkMeasurements class may contain current measurements (instantaneous measurement data and associated metadata) associated with an active connection. Current measurements may include Block Error Rate (BLER), power, and Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) measurements. Each instance of the Link class can have one instance of the LinkMeasurements class as a member.

The RFConfiguration class contains information about the configuration of an RF transceiver. Each instance of the Link class can contain one instance of the RFConfiguration class as a member.

The TxPath class may include information about one transmission path. Each instance of the RFConfiguration class can have zero or one instance of the TxPath class as a member.

The RxPath class may include information about one reception path. Each instance of the RFConfiguration class can have one instance of the RxPath class as a member.

The above-described Channel class may be separated from the Link class. However, channel measurement may be performed based on the configuration of a predetermined mobile device used or not used in the final link configuration.

The class definition for the information model of the radio computer related to the aforementioned URAI is summarized in Tables 2 to 22 below.

Interface Definition

Hereinafter, the interface definition of the URAI described above with reference to FIG. 5 is as follows. FIG. 5 is a UML diagram of three services applicable to the URAI of FIG. 4.

Referring to FIG. 5, the URAI according to the present embodiment supports three basic services. Basic services may include radio application management services, user data flow services, and multiradio control services.

The basic services of the aforementioned URAI are described in detail as follows.

radio application Management  Service (Radio Application Management Services)

The radio application management service may be associated with the operation of the radio connection manager of the radio control framework. That is, the class definition and related operations of the radio application management service may be in accordance with a predetermined operating procedure between the components of the radio control framework and the integrated radio application in the reconfigurable mobile device. One or more procedures for the identified reference points in the operating procedure may be associated.

More specifically, the radio application management service (hereinafter referred to as RAMS) may install and activate a radio application through a configuration manager (CM) and a radio connection manager (RCM). RAMS can also operate a radio application to detect peer equipment at the mobile device. The detection of peer equipment may be performed independently of software reconfiguration technology, such as through the use of integrated circuits. The RAMS can then inform the radio connection manager about the status of the peer device.

In addition, the RAMS can report the peer equipment found. For such services, the integrated radio application URA may report to the radio connection manager about accessible peer equipment found during the discovery process procedure. If the reconfigurable mobile device is requested by the other mobile device to the peer device, the requesting mobile device may be included in the accessible peer device.

The RAMS may also create or terminate a connection with a peer device. In this service, the radio connection manager may request that the unified radio application create or terminate a connection with an accessible peer device.

The RAMS may also start or stop transmitting or receiving user data. In the present service, between active and associated integrated radio applications, the radio connection manager may request some selected integrated radio applications to perform the actual transmission or reception of user data.

An example message of a radio application management service (RAMS) is as follows. RAMS interfaces in URAI can be used to send the following messages.

That is, the interfaces for RAMS, from the Radio Control Framework (RCF) to the Integrated Radio Application (URA), request discovery or stop discovery of peer devices, request reporting of discovered peer devices, or peer Request creation or termination of an association with a device, or request to start or stop communication with a peer device.

In addition, the interfaces for RAMS, from the integrated radio application (URA) to the radio control framework (RCF), confirm the association creation, confirm the end of the connection, and confirm the start of communication with the peer device. Confirmation of communication stop with peer device, failure to create connection, failure of association termination, failure to start communication with peer device, failure to stop communication with peer device, information about discovered peer device, etc. You can send or reply to

User Data Flow Services

The user data flow service may be associated with the operation of the flow controller of the radio control framework. That is, the class definition and associated operations of the user data flow service may follow certain operational procedures between the components of the radio control framework and the integrated radio application in the reconfigurable mobile device. One or more procedures for the identified reference points in the operating procedure may be associated.

More specifically, the user data flow service may include a data flow control service. The data flow control service may be implemented to accommodate some conflicts in the data flow between the sender and the receiver in transmitting or receiving user data. In this service, the integrated radio application may request the flow controller to change the configuration of the data flow.

Examples of messages of the user data flow service are as follows. That is, the interfaces of the user data flow service can be used to send the following messages.

The interfaces of the user data flow service may request user data transmission from the radio control framework (RCF) to the integrated radio application URA.

In addition, the interfaces of the user data flow service, from the integrated radio application (URA) to the radio control framework (RCF), request a change in the data flow configuration, convey information related to the integrated radio application, or transmit the user data. Acknowledge, respond to the failure to transmit the user data, or transmit an acknowledgment message or response for the user data transmission.

Multiradio Control Services

The multiradio control service may be associated with the operation of the multiradio controller of the radio control framework. That is, the class definition and associated operation of the multi-radio control service may follow a predetermined operation procedure between the components of the radio control framework and the integrated radio application in the reconfigurable mobile device. One or more procedures for the identified reference points in the operating procedure may be associated.

More specifically, the multi-radio control service can synchronize radio time. In this service, the multiradio controller may request an integrated synchronization operation from all active integrated radio applications.

Examples of messages of the multi-radio control service are as follows. That is, the interfaces for the multi-radio control service may request synchronization of radio time from the radio control framework (RCF) to the integrated radio application (URA). In addition, the interfaces for the multi-radio control service can confirm the synchronization of the radio time from the integrated radio application to the radio control framework, or communicate or respond to the failure of the radio time synchronization.

A class definition for the above three services of URAI is shown in Tables 23 to 25 below.

The following is an example of abstract data definitions used for data property definition of a mobile device. All necessary abstract data definitions may be included in any module of the mobile device. For example, the definition of the abstract data is shown in Tables 26 to 29 below.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a reconfigurable mobile device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, the reconfigurable mobile device according to the present embodiment may be configured as an application software layer and a radio computer layer operating on an application processor (AP) as a radio software architecture included in the device. The radio computer may include a radio operating system (OS), a radio platform driver, and a radio platform.

That is, the Radio Control Framework (RCF) may be divided into an application processor execution part and a radio computer execution part to have a software architecture environment operating on two processors. Of course, the radio control framework may be implemented to run on a radio operating system (OS).

On the application processor, non-real time operating systems (OS) such as Google's Android OS and Apple's iOS can run. On a radio computer, a real time OS, hereinafter referred to as radio OS, may operate. For the sake of clarity, a non real-time operating system operating in the application processor layer will be referred to as an 'OS' and a real-time operating system operating in the radio computer layer will be referred to as a 'real-time OS'.

The components constituting the application processor layer, radio computer layer, and radio control framework will be described in more detail as follows.

application  Processor

The application processor may include components such as a driver, an operating system (OS), and a communication service layer, as shown in FIG. 2.

The driver runs hardware devices on a given operating system. Hardware devices may include cameras, speakers, and the like.

The operating system may include a non-real time OS operating on a typical mobile device such as Android, iOS. When the radio control framework is configured to run on an application processor and a radio computer, there may be an application processor layer execution portion of the radio control framework on the operating system.

The communication service layer may provide at least some of the three services described below to the radio control framework.

The first service is an administrative related service, which is related to installing / uninstalling a radio application, creating / deleting an instance, and obtaining a list of radio applications regarding status of installation, instance, and activity. .

The second service is a service related to access control, which is related to launching / deactivating a radio application, creating a data flow, creating a network assignment, and obtaining a list of radio applications for each installation, instance, activity, and the like.

Finally, the third service is a service related to data flow, which is related to sending and receiving user data.

As an example of a communication service layer configuration for providing at least some of the three services described above, the communication service layer may include an administrator application, a mobility policy manager, a networking stack, and a monitor. It may be implemented as at least one or more applications including at least some of the monitor. The networking stack may include a protocol stack that operates at the communication service layer.

Meanwhile, the communication service layer may include only some of the above-described components or may include additional components other than the above-described components. In addition, the communication service layer may include components in which the functions of at least two components described above are integrated. In addition, the above-described components are merely examples of the components that the communication service layer should have in order to support the services that the communication service layer should perform. That is, the communication service layer is defined by the role that the communication service layer plays, and the configuration of the communication service layer is not limited by the above-described examples.

In a configuration in which the radio control framework runs on an application processor and a radio computer, the radio applications that are the targets of how to deploy, install, and run the mobile terminal may be composed of an application processor layer execution portion and a radio computer layer execution portion, respectively. have. The Radio Controller (RC), which is the execution part of the application processor layer of a radio application, sends context information to the monitor of the communication service layer or exchanges data with the networking stack of the communication service layer. Can be performed.

Radio computer

Radio computers include radio operating systems, radio platform drivers, and radio platforms.

The radio operating system (OS) is a real time operating system. When the radio control framework is configured to run on an application processor and radio computer, there may be a radio computer running portion of the radio control framework on the radio OS.

The radio platform driver is a component required by the radio OS to recognize a hardware radio platform like a general hardware driver.

Reconfigurable radio applications targeted for distribution, installation and execution in a reconfigurable mobile device according to the present embodiment may operate in a radio computer layer.

The radio controller (RC) of each radio application plays a role of sending context information to a monitor of a communication service layer or exchanging data with a networking stack of the communication service layer.

The aforementioned radio platform may include various radio platform hardware. Radio Platform Hardware may generally include the programmable hardware and baseband accelerator of a radio computer. Baseband accelerators prepared for standard functional block (s) can often be provided in the form of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The radio platform may also include an RF transceiver and an antenna.

The radio application is an application that enables communication of a mobile terminal and may be distributed in the form of a radio application package (RAP). The radio application package may include components of a function block (FB), pipeline configuration metadata (data metadata), radio controller code (RC code), and a radio library.

The radio library may be distributed together with the executable code in the radio application package when the standard functional block is distributed in the form of executable code. The radio application package may be downloaded to the OS of the application processor, and the configuration codes and the radio may be distributed. The library may be loaded on the radio computer by loading pipeline data from the application processor into the radio computer or the radio OS by referring to the pipeline configuration metadata.

Meanwhile, in the present embodiment, the components of the URAI may be functional blocks or modules mounted in a mobile terminal or a computer device, but are not limited thereto. The above-described components may be stored in a computer-readable medium (recording medium) in the form of software for implementing a series of functions that they perform or transmitted to a remote place in the form of a carrier to be implemented to operate on various computer devices. The computer readable medium may be disposed in a plurality of computer devices or cloud systems connected through a network, and at least one of the plurality of computer devices or cloud systems may be a program or a source for implementing the URAI of the present embodiment in a memory system. Code and so on.

That is, the computer readable medium may be embodied in the form of a single or combination of program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The programs recorded on the computer readable medium may be those specially designed and configured for the present invention, or may include those known and available to those skilled in computer software.

In addition, the computer readable medium may include a hardware device specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as a ROM, a RAM, a flash memory, and the like. Program instructions may include high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter, as well as machine code such as produced by a compiler. The hardware device may be configured to operate with at least one software module to implement the interface of the present embodiment, and vice versa.

In addition, the program command may be performed by a processor mounted in the mobile terminal. The processor may include one or more cores and cache memory. When a processor has a multi-core structure, multi-core may refer to the integration of two or more independent cores into one package of a single integrated circuit. When the processor has a single core structure, the processor may be referred to as a central processing unit. The CPU may be implemented as a system on chip (SOC) in which a micro control unit (MCU) and a peripheral device (an integrated circuit for an external expansion device) are arranged together, but is not limited thereto. The core is a register that stores instructions to be processed, an arithmetic logical unit (ALU) that is responsible for comparison, judgment, and operation, and an internal control unit that internally controls the CPU for interpretation and execution of instructions. control unit), internal bus, and the like.

The aforementioned processor may include, but is not limited to, one or more data processors, an image processor, or a codec. The data processor, image processor or codec may be configured separately. In addition, the processor may further include a peripheral interface and a memory interface. The peripheral interface may connect the processor and the input / output device and / or other peripheral devices, and the memory interface may connect the processor and the memory. The above-described processor may execute a specific software module (instruction set) stored in a memory to perform various specific functions corresponding to the corresponding module.

Although described above with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified and changed within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below I can understand that you can.

Claims (19)

A method of operation in a reconfigurable mobile device using an unified radio application interface (URAI), Radio application management services and user data flow services of the URAI to a radio control framework (RCF) operating on a radio computer of the mobile device and an unified radio application (URA) running on the radio computer. Providing at least one or more of a multi-radio control service; And The RCF communicating with the URA via the URAI and reconfiguring a radio application in accordance with a wireless communication environment or a wireless connection environment of the mobile device. The method according to claim 1, The radio application management service includes: requesting reporting of peer devices discovered by the RCF to the URA; Request creation or termination of a connection with the peer equipment; Request to start or stop communication with the peer equipment; Or a combination thereof. The method according to claim 2, The radio application management service may include: verifying, from the URA to the RCF, a connection creation with the peer equipment; Confirming termination of the connection with the peer equipment; Confirming the start of communication with the peer equipment; Confirming that the communication stops with the peer equipment; Failure to create a connection with the peer equipment; Failure to terminate the connection with the peer equipment; Failure to start communication with the peer equipment; Failure to stop communication with the peer equipment; Transmitting or responding to information or status information or a message about the peer equipment; Or a combination thereof. The method according to claim 3, Wherein said radio application management service supports a radio connection manager of said RCF to install and activate a radio application. The method according to claim 4, The radio application management service supports the URA to report to the radio connection manager about accessible peer equipment found during a discovery process procedure. The method according to claim 1, The user data flow service supports the RCF to request user data transmission to the URA. The method according to claim 6, The user data flow service may include requesting a change in a data flow configuration by the URA to the RCF; Convey information related to the URA; Confirm the transmission of user data; Respond to the failure to transmit user data; Sending an acknowledgment message or response to user data transmission; Or a combination thereof. The method according to claim 1, The user data flow service supports the URA to request a flow controller of the RCF to change configuration of the data flow. The method according to claim 1, And wherein said multi-radio control service supports said RCF to request synchronization of radio time to said URA. The method according to claim 9, Wherein the multi-radio control service supports the URA to confirm the synchronization of the radio time or to convey a message about the failure of synchronization of the radio time to the RCF. A radio platform comprising a radio frequency (RF) transceiver as part of the hardware of the mobile device; A radio control framework (RCF), which is part of a radio operating system operating on the radio platform; An integrated radio application (URA) mounted on the radio operating system and managed by the radio control framework; and An unified radio application interface (URAI) is provided between the RCF and the URA to provide at least one of a radio application management service, a user data flow service, and a multi-radio control service to the RCF and the URA. Included, Reconfigurable mobile device. The method according to claim 11, The URAI may, via the radio application management service, request reporting of peer devices discovered by the RCF to the URA; Request creation or termination of a connection with the peer equipment; Request to start or stop communication with the peer equipment; Or a combination of these services. The method according to claim 12, The URAI may, via the radio application management service, confirm the creation of a connection with the peer equipment from the URA to the RCF; Confirming termination of the connection with the peer equipment; Confirming the start of communication with the peer equipment; Confirming that the communication stops with the peer equipment; Failure to create a connection with the peer equipment; Failure to terminate the connection with the peer equipment; Failure to start communication with the peer equipment; Failure to stop communication with the peer equipment; Transmitting or responding to information or status information or a message about the peer equipment; Or reconfigurable mobile device supporting a service for a combination thereof. The method according to claim 11, And the URAI supports, via the radio application management service, a radio connection manager of the RCF to install and activate a radio application on the radio operating system. The method according to claim 14, And the URAI supports the URA via the radio application management service to report to the radio connection manager about accessible peer equipment found during a discovery process procedure. The method according to claim 11, And the URAI supports requesting user data transfer from the RCF to the URA via the user data flow service. The method according to claim 16, The URAI requests a change in data flow configuration from the URA to the RCF via the user data flow service; Convey information related to the URA; Confirm the transmission of user data; Respond to the failure to transmit user data; Sending an acknowledgment message or response to user data transmission; Or a combination thereof. The method according to claim 11, And the URAI supports the URA to request a flow controller of the RCF to change configuration of the data flow through the user data flow service. The method according to claim 11, The URAI requests that the RCF requests synchronization of radio time to the URA via the multi-radio control service, and the RCF confirms synchronization of the radio time from the URA or delivers a message about the failure of synchronization of the radio time. Reconfigurable mobile device to assist you.

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