JP2014022797A - Mobile terminal and network system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile terminal and a network system which can rapidly detect occurrence of network failure (in real time).SOLUTION: A mobile terminal 150 which performs communication with an application server 110 via a base station 120 and a core network 100 by using a predetermined protocol, comprises: a log collection unit 156 which collects communication protocol logs; an error detection unit 158 which detects network failure by analyzing the protocol logs to detect abnormality; and an alarm notification unit 160 which transmits alarm information and the protocol logs to the base station when network failure is detected.

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal and a network system that can quickly detect a network failure.

  As one means for ensuring the soundness of the mobile communication system, it is considered that the operator side obtains a log in the mobile terminal. 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), a standardization project for mobile communication systems, formulates specifications for MDT (Minimization of Drive Test), a technology that automates measurement and collection of wireless environments using wireless terminals owned by users. (See Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2). MDT is a function of measuring radio quality with a base station in a mobile terminal, storing the measurement contents in the mobile terminal, and reporting the stored log to the base station.

  Patent Document 1 describes a terminal device that saves data related to connection control executed immediately before in a memory by pressing a service or more switch when a communication service in a mobile communication system is abnormal. The data saved in the memory is transmitted to the base station according to the control signal coming from the base station.

  Patent Document 2 describes a configuration in which a mobile station receives a test signal in the downlink direction, and transmits information related to an error detected in the test signal in the uplink direction as compared with a known type of test signal. ing.

JP 07-177081 Special Table 2002-540747 3GPP TR 36.805 V9.0.0 “Study on Minimization of drive-tests in Next Generation Networks”, 2009-12 3GPP TS 37.320 v0.7.0, “Radio measurement collection for Minimization of Drive Tests (MDT)”, 2010-07

  When an error occurs in the network system, the error is basically detected by the monitoring terminal. However, in practice, a failure that cannot be detected as an error may occur, which is called a silent failure. Silent failures may occur anywhere in the application path, DNS server, gateway, router, etc. on the network path, and it is difficult to identify the location where the silent failure occurs. As one means for knowing such a network failure, it is conceivable that the operator side obtains a log in a mobile terminal that is actually communicating.

  However, although MDT attempts to save a log regarding the radio quality between the mobile station and the base station in the mobile terminal, logs other than the radio quality are not considered. Therefore, although the radio quality of the base station can be measured, it is not possible to detect a network failure (data communication failure) such as a base station, a core network higher than the base station, and a higher-level application server.

  In addition, although there is a log transfer function from the mobile terminal to the base station in MDT, it is necessary to analyze the log in order for the communication carrier to know that a failure has occurred, so there is a problem that the immediacy is poor. is there.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1, when a “service abnormality switch” is pressed on a mobile terminal, error information or call processing log information is transmitted to the base station. Since the “service anomaly switch” is pressed by the person operating the mobile terminal, there is a possibility that even if there is a failure, there is a possibility that it will not be reported, or that it may be reported due to an erroneous determination, and there is a problem that the reliability of information is low.

  The technique described in Patent Document 2 aims at measurement and optimization of radio quality between a mobile terminal and a base station. For this reason, similarly to MDT, there is a problem that a network failure in a core network or an application server higher than the base station is not considered. Moreover, although the error content is stored in the base station, it is necessary to analyze the error content in order for the communication carrier to know that a failure has occurred. Furthermore, since a special test signal is used to measure the radio quality, it can be implemented only in a specific environment.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile terminal and a network system that can quickly (in real time) know that a failure has occurred in any of a base station, a core network, and an application server.

  In order to solve the above problems, a typical configuration of a mobile terminal according to the present invention is a mobile terminal that performs communication with an application server using a predetermined protocol via a base station and a core network. A log collection unit for collecting logs, an error detection unit for analyzing a failure from a protocol log to detect a network failure, an alarm notification unit for transmitting alarm information and a protocol log to a base station when a network failure is detected, and It is characterized by providing.

  Preferably, the mobile terminal further includes a log recording unit that records a protocol log, and records the protocol log in the log recording unit only when a network failure is detected.

  A typical configuration of a network system according to the present invention is a network system in which a mobile terminal and an application server communicate via a base station and a core network, and the mobile terminal includes a log collection unit that collects protocol logs, The network system has an error detection unit that detects a network failure by analyzing an abnormality from the protocol log, and an alarm notification unit that transmits alarm information to the base station when a network failure is detected. A maintenance network including a terminal, a core network monitoring terminal, and an application server monitoring terminal, the base station transmits alarm information transmitted from the mobile terminal to the maintenance network, and the base station monitoring terminal, the core network monitoring terminal in the maintenance network, Application server supervisor Terminal, if that contained network failure in equipment to its jurisdiction alarm information, wherein the notifying the operator.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the mobile terminal and network system which can know rapidly (in real time) that the failure has generate | occur | produced in any of a base station, a core network, and an application server can be provided.

It is a figure explaining the whole network system composition. It is a figure explaining the structure of a mobile terminal. It is a sequence diagram explaining operation | movement of a mobile terminal and a network system.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the overall configuration of a network system. In the network system shown in FIG. 1, the core network 100 is a wide area network, and includes a large number of nodes 102 and wired links (communication cables) in principle. Examples of the node 102 include a gateway, a router, a bridge, and a repeater.

  The application server 110 is a server that is connected to the core network 100 and provides various services to the mobile terminal 150. Examples of the application server 110 include a DNS server, a proxy server, a mail server, a web server, and an FTP server.

  The base station 120 performs radio communication with the mobile terminal 150. The base station 120 is one of the nodes on the network path, and will be described separately from the core network 100 here. A plurality of (many) base stations 120 are connected to the core network 100 to provide a wireless communication environment in a wide area. The base station 120 registers the location of the mobile terminal 150 with the management terminal of the communication carrier, and performs outgoing and incoming calls for voice communication and routing for packet communication.

  A maintenance network 180 is connected to the core network 100. The maintenance network 180 includes a base station monitoring terminal 182 that controls the operation of the base station 120 and detects a fault, a core network monitoring terminal 184 that controls the operation of the node 102 and detects a fault, and a control of the operation of the application server 110. And an application server monitoring terminal 186 for detecting a failure. A failure detected in each monitoring terminal is notified to the operators P1, P2, and P3. The operators P1, P2, and P3 can be repaired if a failure is notified.

  Each of the base station monitoring terminal 182, the core network monitoring terminal 184, and the application server monitoring terminal 186 detects a failure by a method suitable for the target facility. Therefore, for example, an error notification transmitted from the target equipment may be received by the monitoring terminal, or a certain signal may be transmitted from the monitoring terminal to see the response. The present invention targets a silent failure in which such a failure cannot be detected by the monitoring terminal.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of the mobile terminal 150. The mobile terminal 150 communicates with the application server 110 via the base station 120 and the core network 100 using a predetermined protocol. Examples of the predetermined protocol include PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and X2-interface for the base station, and NAS, S1-U-interface, and S1-MME for the core network. -interface etc. can be exemplified, and for the application server, http, ftp, udp, dns, VoIP, etc. can be exemplified. If it demonstrates by an OSI reference model, various protocols will be used in each layer from a data link layer to an application layer except a physical layer (a radio | wireless is contained here).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 150 includes a main control unit 152 that controls the overall operation of the terminal, a wireless communication unit 154, and a log recording unit 162. Further, as a characteristic configuration of the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 150 includes a log collection unit 156, an error detection unit 158, and an alarm notification unit 160.

  The log collection unit 156 collects various protocol logs (hereinafter referred to as protocol logs) used for communication from the wireless communication unit 154 or the main control unit 152. The protocol log need not be collected indefinitely, but should be collected to the extent sufficient to detect errors. Therefore, the log buffer can be deleted sequentially from the oldest one, for example, 10 Kbytes or several tens of lines of commands.

  The error detection unit 158 analyzes the abnormality from the protocol log collected by the log collection unit 156 and detects a network failure. The abnormality includes an abnormality that is generated by the mobile terminal 150 and an abnormality that is notified from the application server 110. Abnormalities generated by the mobile terminal 150 include spontaneous disconnection due to a timeout (response delay or no response) and a decrease in communication quality (BER, PER, etc.). The abnormality notified from the application server 110 includes notification of a disconnection signal.

  Further, the error detection unit 158 may further perform processing for confirming an error when an abnormality is found by analyzing the protocol log. For example, when a timeout occurs, a traceroute command addressed to the application server 110 is issued to check the required time to each node 102 on the network path. Thereby, it is possible to know whether there is an abnormality in the application server 110 or any node 102 on the route.

  The error detection unit 158 generates alarm information when detecting a network failure. By setting a specific format as alarm information, the maintenance network 180 can recognize a message of this specific format as alarm information.

  The alarm information includes information that identifies the device in which an abnormality has occurred, that is, the base station 120, the core network 100 (node 102), or the application server 110. The error detection unit 158 can identify a device in which an abnormality has occurred by analyzing the protocol log. As information for specifying a device, a MAC address (data link layer), an IP address (network layer), a URL (application layer), or the like can be used.

  The alarm notification unit 160 transmits alarm information and a protocol log to the base station 120 when a network failure is detected by the error detection unit 158. The protocol log to be transmitted at this time may basically include only the line having an abnormality, but may include the line having the abnormality and several lines before and after the line. In principle, the alarm notification unit 160 transmits immediately when a network failure is detected. However, if the base station 120 is abnormal, transmission is not possible. In this case, transmission is performed after the connection with the base station 120 is restored.

  The log recording unit 162 records a protocol log when a network failure is detected by the error detection unit 158. The protocol log to be recorded is basically only an abnormal line as in the case of transmission, but may include an abnormal line and several lines before and after the abnormal line. The protocol log recorded in the log recording unit 162 is not immediately transmitted due to a network failure, but is transmitted to the base station 120 periodically or under predetermined conditions (such as when the bandwidth of the line is sufficient).

  FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating operations of the mobile terminal and the network system. First, the log collection unit 156 of the mobile terminal 150 starts collecting protocol logs when the communication starts (202). Protocol logs are collected for the base station 120, the core network 100, or the application server 110, respectively.

  The error detection unit 158 of the mobile terminal 150 analyzes the collected protocol log and detects that a network failure has occurred (202). Then, the alarm notification unit 160 transmits alarm information and a protocol log to the base station 120 (204).

  When the error detection unit 158 detects the occurrence of a network failure, the log recording unit 162 records a protocol log (206).

  The log collection unit 156 terminates the collection of the protocol log when the communication is terminated (208). Communication is terminated when communication is disconnected due to a network failure (abnormal termination), when the user disconnects by operating the mobile terminal (manual termination), or when the application that was communicating is disconnected after completing processing (Normal end) is included.

  The base station 120 transmits the alarm information and protocol log transmitted from the mobile terminal 150 to the maintenance network 180 (210). In the maintenance network 180, the alarm information and the protocol log are received by each monitoring terminal to determine whether or not it is a failure of the device under its jurisdiction. Transfer to the next monitoring terminal.

  In this embodiment, the base station monitoring terminal 182 first receives alarm information and a protocol log. The base station monitoring terminal 182 refers to the alarm information and the protocol log, and notifies the operator P1 when it is determined that the fault is in the base station 120 (212). If it is determined that there is no failure in the base station 120, the alarm information and protocol log are transmitted to the core network monitoring terminal 184 (214).

  The core network monitoring terminal 184 refers to the alarm information and the protocol log, and when determining that the failure is in the core network 100, notifies the operator P2 (216). If it is determined that there is no failure in the core network 100, the alarm information and protocol log are transmitted to the application server monitoring terminal 186 (218).

  When the application server monitoring terminal 186 refers to the alarm information and the protocol log and determines that the failure is in the application server 110, it notifies the operator P3 (220).

  As described above, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 150 analyzes the protocol log and generates alarm information. The mobile terminal 150 immediately transmits (uploads) alarm information and a protocol log when a network failure occurs. Therefore, it is possible to quickly (in real time) know that a failure has occurred in any of the base station 120, the core network 100, and the application server 110. Since the failure can be quickly known, the operator can recognize the failure and deal with it in advance (repair) before an inquiry is received from the user.

  In addition, since the communication protocol log is analyzed instead of the wireless quality with the latest base station 120, a network failure is detected for all devices (nodes and servers) on the communication path including the upper network. Can do.

  In addition, since the mobile terminal 150 analyzes the network failure, the base station 120 is not subjected to a data processing load. Therefore, it can be easily introduced into existing infrastructure.

  In addition, since the protocol log is recorded in the log recording unit 162 only when a network failure is detected, the memory capacity of the mobile terminal can be effectively used without consuming the capacity of the log recording unit during normal times. Can do.

  The protocol log recorded in the log recording unit 162 is transmitted to the base station 120 at a predetermined timing (224). The base station 120 transfers the received protocol log to the database owned by the operator (226). Operators can refer to this protocol log for further detailed problem analysis.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to the example which concerns. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  The present invention can be used as a mobile terminal and a network system that can quickly detect a network failure.

P1 ... operator, P2 ... operator, P3 ... operator, 100 ... core network, 102 ... node, 110 ... application server, 120 ... base station, 150 ... mobile terminal, 152 ... main control unit, 154 ... radio communication unit, 156 ... Log collection unit, 158 ... error detection unit, 160 ... alarm notification unit, 162 ... log recording unit, 180 ... maintenance network, 182 ... base station monitoring terminal, 184 ... core network monitoring terminal, 186 ... application server monitoring terminal

Claims (3)

A mobile terminal that communicates with an application server using a predetermined protocol via a base station and a core network,
A log collector for collecting communication protocol logs;
An error detection unit that analyzes network errors by analyzing anomalies from protocol logs;
A mobile terminal comprising: an alarm notification unit that transmits alarm information and a protocol log to the base station when a network failure is detected.   The mobile terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a log recording unit that records a protocol log, and records a protocol log in the log recording unit only when a network failure is detected. A network system in which a mobile terminal and an application server communicate via a base station and a core network,
The mobile terminal
A log collector that collects protocol logs;
An error detection unit that analyzes network errors by analyzing anomalies from protocol logs;
An alarm notification unit for transmitting alarm information to the base station when a network failure is detected;
The network system includes:
A maintenance network including a base station monitoring terminal, a core network monitoring terminal, an application server monitoring terminal,
The base station transmits the alarm information transmitted from the mobile terminal to the maintenance network,
In the maintenance network, the base station monitoring terminal, the core network monitoring terminal, and the application server monitoring terminal notify an operator when the alarm information includes a network failure in a facility under their control. system.

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