DESC:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 OF 1970)
&
THE PATENT RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING ENERGY CONSUMPTION AT A COMMUNICATION STATION

Jio Platforms Limited, an Indian company, having registered address at Office -101, Saffron, Nr. Centre Point, Panchwati 5 Rasta, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad - 380006, Gujarat, India

The following complete specification particularly describes the disclosure and the manner in which it is performed.
TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of communication networks and systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and a method for monitoring energy consumption at a communication station in a communication network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The subject matter disclosed in the background section should not be assumed or construed to be prior art merely due to its mention in the background section. Similarly, any problem statement mentioned in the background section or its association with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed or construed to have been previously recognized in the prior art.

[0003] In the realm of telecommunications sector, validation of energy consumption within a radio base station infrastructure has emerged as an area of concern for telecom operators. In particular, in existing methods pertaining to operation and management of radio base stations, network operation teams face several challenges when it comes to monitoring energy consumption and billing of the radio base stations. One of the major challenges is that the network operations teams do not have adequate resources to accurately monitor and manage the energy consumption of the radio base stations. This can lead to potential misuse of energy, resulting in higher-than-expected energy bills for telecom operators managing the radio base stations.

[0004] These challenges arise due to inherent difficulty in accurately tracking and verifying actual energy consumption of the radio base stations against corresponding billing units. Further, inefficiencies in energy management not only impose unnecessary financial burdens on telecom operators but also contribute to environmental concerns associated with energy wastage. Moreover, the existing methods have not been successful in implementing real time monitoring of the energy consumption of the radio base stations.

[0005] Therefore, to overcome aforementioned challenges and limitations associated with the existing methods of energy management, there is a need for an improved system and method for monitoring and validating the energy consumption of the radio base stations.

SUMMARY

[0006] The following embodiments present a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosed invention. This summary is not an extensive overview, and it is not intended to identify key/critical elements or to delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

[0007] According to an embodiment, a method for monitoring energy consumption of a communication station in a communication network is provided. The method includes receiving, by a data exchange engine, at least one Key Performance Indicator (KPI) from the communication station. The at least one KPI indicates a first energy consumption value associated with a Radio Remote Unit (RRU) of the communication station and a second energy consumption value associated with a Base Band Unit (BBU) of the communication station. The method further includes retrieving, by the energy consumption analysis engine, a third energy consumption value for one or more radio units of the communication station from a database. Furthermore, the method includes determining, by a data analysis engine, a cumulative value of the energy consumption for the communication station by summing the first energy consumption value, the second energy consumption value, and the third energy consumption value.

[0008] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes retrieving, by the data analysis engine, a reported value of the energy consumption for the communication station from an energy consumption entry stored in the database. Moreover, the method includes comparing, by the data analysis engine, the cumulative value of the energy consumption with the reported value of the energy consumption to determine an energy consumption difference value for the communication station. Furthermore, the method includes determining, by the data analysis engine, whether the energy consumption difference value is greater than a predefined difference threshold value. Furthermore, the method includes generating, by a notification engine, a notification trigger in response to the determination that the energy consumption difference value is greater than the predefined difference threshold value. The notification trigger enables rendering an unusual energy consumption condition for the communication station.

[0009] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the energy consumption difference value is a difference between the cumulative value of the energy consumption with the reported value of energy consumption.

[0010] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the one or more radio units comprise at least one of an outdoor cabinet, a Microwave (MW) link, a Cluster Switch System (CSS), and a Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS).

[0011] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the communication station (110) is a wireless base station configured to communicate wireless communication signals with the communication network.

[0012] According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a system to monitor energy consumption of a communication station in a communication network is provided. The system includes a data exchange engine, an energy consumption analysis engine, and a data analysis engine. The data exchange engine is configured to receive at least one Key Performance Indicator (KPI) from the communication station. The at least one KPI indicates a first energy consumption value associated with a Radio Remote Unit (RRU) of the communication station and a second energy consumption value associated with a Base Band Unit (BBU) of the communication station. The energy consumption analysis engine is configured to retrieve a third energy consumption value for one or more radio units of the communication station from a database. The data analysis engine is configured to determine a cumulative value of the energy consumption for the communication station by summing the first energy consumption value, the second energy consumption value, and the third energy consumption value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0013] Various embodiments disclosed herein will become better understood from the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings constitute a part of the present disclosure and illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of inventive concepts. Further, components and elements shown in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. For the purpose of consistency and ease of understanding, similar components and elements are annotated by reference numerals in the exemplary drawings.

FIG. 1 presents a block diagram depicting a system to monitor energy consumption of a communication station, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram depicting a data processing server, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart that depicts a method for monitoring the energy consumption of the communication station, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

110 – Communication Station
110-1 – Remote Radio Unit(s)
110-2 – Base Band Unit(s)
110-3 – Radio Unit(s)
120 – Bill Provisioning Unit
130 – Network
140 – Data Processing Server
142 – Data Processing Circuitry
144 – Server Memory
146 – Communication Interface
150 – External Server(s)
150-1 – Host Server
150-2 – Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) Database
160 – End User Device
201 – Distributed File System
202 – Console Host
203 – First Communication Bus
204 – Data Exchange Engine
206 – Energy Consumption Analysis Engine
208 – Data Analysis Engine
210 – Notification Engine
212 – Second Communication Bus
216 - Instructions Repository
218 – Radio Unit Data Repository
220 - Error Data Repository

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Inventive concepts of the present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of one or more embodiments of inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Further, the one or more embodiments disclosed herein are provided to describe the inventive concept thoroughly and completely, and to fully convey the scope of each of the present inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, it should be noted that the embodiments disclosed herein are not mutually exclusive concepts. Accordingly, one or more components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present or used in any other embodiment.

[0015] The following description presents various embodiments of the present disclosure. The embodiments disclosed herein are presented as teaching examples and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, including the exemplary design and implementation illustrated and described herein, but may be modified, omitted, or expanded upon without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0016] The following description contains specific information pertaining to embodiments in the present disclosure. The detailed description uses the phrases “in some embodiments” which may each refer to one or more or all of the same or different embodiments. The term “some” as used herein is defined as “one, or more than one, or all.” Accordingly, the terms “one,” “more than one,” “more than one, but not all” or “all” would all fall under the definition of “some.” In view of the same, the terms, for example, “in an embodiment” refers to one embodiment and the term, for example, “in one or more embodiments” refers to “at least one embodiment, or more than one embodiment, or all embodiments.”

[0017] The term “comprising,” when utilized, means “including, but not necessarily limited to;” it specifically indicates open-ended inclusion in the so-described one or more listed features, elements in a combination, unless otherwise stated with limiting language. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “have,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising.”

[0018] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features.

[0019] The description provided herein discloses exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the present disclosure. Rather, the foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing any of the exemplary embodiments. Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it may be understood by one of the ordinary skilled in the art that the embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced without these specific details.

[0020] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein the description, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural forms unless the context of the invention indicates otherwise.

[0021] The terminology and structure employed herein are for describing, teaching, and illuminating some embodiments and their specific features and elements and do not limit, restrict, or reduce the scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, unless otherwise defined, all terms, and especially any technical and/or scientific terms, used herein may be taken to have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art.

[0022] In the present disclosure, various embodiments are described using terms such as extensible radio access network (xRAN), and open-radio access network (O-RAN)) that are commonly used in communication standards (e.g., 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), but these are merely examples for description. Various embodiments of the disclosure may also be easily modified and applied to other communication systems.

[0023] Various aspects of the present disclosure relate to management and monitoring of energy consumption at communication station(s) in communication network(s). According to a perspective, the present disclosure relates to a system and a method for validating estimated energy consumption of a radio base station with actual billed units.

[0024] The method comprises fetching Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) associated with power consumption of a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) and a Base Band Unit (BBU) of the radio base station and calculating power consumption for each of the RRU and the BBU based on the fetched KPIs. Furthermore, the method comprises determining energy consumption for each of the RRU and the BBU based on the calculated power consumption and calculating estimated energy consumption of the radio base station based on an addition of the determined energy consumption with pre-determined energy consumption associated with a group of radio units of the radio base station different from the RRU and the BBU. Moreover, the method comprises comparing the estimated energy consumption with the actual billed units and validating the estimated energy consumption of the radio base station based on a result of the comparison.

[0025] The system facilitates precise monitoring, analyzing, and validating of the estimated energy consumption of radio base stations. Moreover, the system enables identifying a misuse of energy at the radio base stations based on a comparison of the estimated energy consumption and the actual billed units, and therefore enables appropriate actions to be rendered for preventing the misuse of the energy supplied to the radio base stations.

[0026] The following description provides specific details of certain aspects of the disclosure illustrated in the drawings to provide a thorough understanding of those aspects. It should be recognized, however, that the present disclosure can be reflected in additional aspects and the disclosure may be practiced without some of the details in the following description.

[0027] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 through FIG. 3, discussed below, and the embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged system or device.

[0028] Various aspects including the example aspects are now described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the various aspects of the disclosure are shown. The disclosure may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the aspects set forth herein. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure is thorough and complete, and fully conveys the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the sizes of components may be exaggerated for clarity.

[0029] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the system and the method provide ways for analyzing, and validating the energy consumption at the communication station (e.g., radio base station) to identify any misuse of energy at the communication station and thereby enabling a network operations team to take appropriate actions for preventing the misuse of the energy supplied to the communication station.

[0030] FIG. 1 presents a block diagram depicting a system 100 to monitor energy consumption of a communication station 110 in a communication network 130, in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure. The embodiment of the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is for illustration only. Other embodiments of the system 100 may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 may include the communication station, a bill provisioning unit 120, a data processing server 140, and external server(s) 150 coupled to each other using the communication network 130 (hereinafter interchangeably referred to and designated as ‘the network 130’). The data processing server 140 may further be communicatively coupled with an end user device 160 to provide input(s) to the data processing server 140 and received output(s) from the data processing server 140 (hereinafter interchangeably referred to and designated as ‘the server 140’).

[0032] The communication station 110 may include circuitry, logic, and/or codes to enable communication of data and/or voice signals among various communication devices (not shown) connected through the network 130. The communication station 110 may include structural and functional components, that when operated in cumulation may be configured to collectively provide wireless communication service(s). For example, the communication station 110 may be equipped with transmitters, receivers, antennas, and data processors for transmitting and receiving data and/or signals. The communication station 110 may operate within specified frequency bands to provide wireless communication for various communication devices such as portable user devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablet PCs, smart watches, automobile communication systems etc.) and/or fixed electronic devices (e.g., smart television, fixed routers, data centers, etc.).

[0033] Particularly, the communication station 110 may be configured as wireless base station that communicates wireless communication signals with the network 130. The communication station 110 may include multiple radio units including a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) 110-1, a Base Band Unit (BBU) 110-2, and other radio unit(s) 110-3. The RRU 110-1 may be configured as a remote radio transceiver that connects to an operator radio control panel via electrical or wireless interface to provide wireless communication through radio frequency waves. The BBU 110-2 may include device(s) that interpret baseband frequencies for transmission of wireless signal(s) by the communication station 110.

[0034] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the radio units 110-3 may include at least one of an outdoor cabinet, a Microwave (MW) link, a Cluster Switch System (CSS), and a Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS). Aspects of the present disclosure are intended to include or otherwise cover any operational components configured to facilitate wired and/or wireless communication between communication devices as radio units 110-3 without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.
[0035] The bill provisioning unit 120 may be configured to generate and/or provide copies of bills (or invoices) for energy consumption unit(s) that are charged for the communication station 110. The bill provisioning unit 120 is crucial for accurately billing customers or subscribers based on their usage of network services, such as voice calls, data usage, and other services provided through the radio base station 110. The bill provisioning unit 120 may further be configured to collect energy usage data from various sources within the network 130 (e.g., radio base stations, switches, routers, and other network elements). The collected data may include duration of energy usage, associated billing rates, and the like. The collected usage data may be processed and aggregated by the bill provisioning unit 120 to calculate the charges applicable to each customer or subscriber of the system 100.

[0019] The data processing server 140 may may be a network of computers, a software framework, or a combination thereof, that may provide a generalized approach to create a server implementation. Examples of the data processing server 140 may include, but are not limited to, personal computers, laptops, mini-computers, mainframe computers, any non-transient and tangible machine that can execute a machine-readable code, cloud-based servers, distributed server networks, or a network of computer systems. The data processing server 140 may be realized through various web-based technologies such as, but not limited to, a Java web-framework, a .NET framework, a personal home page (PHP) framework, or any web-application framework.

[0020] The data processing server 140 may include data processing circuitry 142, a server memory 144, and a communication interface 146. The data processing circuitry 14 may include data processing engine(s) configured with suitable logic, instructions, circuitry, interfaces, and/or codes for executing operation(s) performed by the data processing server 140. Examples of the data processing circuitry 142 may include, but are not limited to, an Application Specific integrated circuit (ASIC) processor, a Reduced Instruction Set Architecture (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Architecture (CISC) processor, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and the like.

[0021] The server memory 144 may be configured to store logic, instructions, circuitry, interfaces, and/or codes of the data processing circuitry 142 for executing various operations. The server memory 144 may further be configured to store data associated with the communication station 110, that may be utilized by various data processing engines (or processor(s)) of the data processing circuitry 142 to analyze and manage energy consumption at the communication station 110. Aspects of the present disclosure are intended to include and/or otherwise cover any type of the data associated with the communication station 110, without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Examples of the server memory 144 may include but are not limited to, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random-Access Memory (RAM), a flash memory, a removable storage drive, a Hard Disc Drive (HDD), a solid-state memory, a magnetic storage drive, a Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), an Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), and/or an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory EEPROM.

[0022] The communication interface 146 may be configured to enable the data processing server 140 to communicate with various entities (or operational components) of the system 100 via the network 130. Examples of the communication interface 146 may include, but are not limited to, a modem, a network interface such as an Ethernet card, a communication port, and/or a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, an antenna, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, amplifier(s), a tuner, oscillator(s), a digital signal processor, a coder-decoder (CODEC) chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, and a local buffer circuit. It will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the communication interface 146 may include any device and/or apparatus capable of providing wireless or wired communications between the data processing server 140 and various other entities of the system 100.

[0023] The network 130 may include suitable logic, circuitry, and interfaces that may be configured to provide several network ports and several communication channels for transmission and reception of data related to operations of various entities of the system 100. Each network port may correspond to a virtual address (or a physical machine address) for transmission and reception of the communication data. For example, the virtual address may be an Internet Protocol Version 4 (IPV4) (or an IPV6 address) and the physical address may be a Media Access Control (MAC) address. The network 130 may be associated with an application layer for implementation of communication protocols based on one or more communication requests from the various entities of the system 100. The communication data may be transmitted or received via the communication protocols. Examples of the communication protocols may include, but are not limited to, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Domain Network System (DNS) protocol, Common Management Interface Protocol (CMIP), Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Long Term Evolution (LTE) communication protocols, or any combination thereof. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the communication data may be transmitted or received via at least one communication channel of several communication channels in the network 130. Examples of the communication channels may include, but are not limited to, a wireless channel, a wired channel, a combination of wireless and wired channel thereof. The wireless or wired channel may be associated with a data standard which may be defined by one of a Local Area Network (LAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN), Wireless Area Network (WAN), Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a satellite network, the Internet, an optical fiber network, a coaxial cable network, an infrared (IR) network, a radio frequency (RF) network, and a combination thereof. Aspects of the present disclosure are intended to include or otherwise cover any type of communication channel, including known, related art, and/or later developed technologies.

[0024] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the system 100 may be supported by external server(s) 150. In one embodiment, the external server(s) 150 may include a host server 150-1 and an Industrial Entrepreneur Memorandum (IEM) database 150-2. The host server 150-1 hosts an IEM application for managing and monitoring the energy consumption of the communication station 110, specifically focusing on radio base stations infrastructure. The IEM database 150-2 corresponds to a central repository that stores data related to energy consumption metrics i.e., collected from various radio base stations within the network. This IEM database 150-2 may contain information such as real-time power consumption readings, historical data, and configuration settings, etc.

[0025] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the system 100 may further include the end user device 160 that may enable a user to provide input(s) to the data processing server 140. The end user device 160 may further enable the user to view and/or display output(s) generated by the data processing server 140. More specifically, the output(s) generated by the data processing server 140 may be associated with operation(s) performed by the system 100 for analyzing, monitoring, and/or managing energy consumption at the communication station 110. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the end user device 160 may further include an application console (not shown) to run a computer-executable software application that may be stored in an internal memory (not shown) of the end user device 160. The application console may enable the user to provide instruction(s) and retrieve result(s) from the data processing server 140.

[0026] In some aspects of the present disclosure, the end user device 160 may correspond to a remote device used by a network operations team for receiving notification sent by the data processing server 140 indicating misuse of the energy at the radio base station 110 and take corrective actions. Examples of the end user device 160 may include, but are not limited to, smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and smartwatches. Additionally, the end user device 160 may include circuitry, programing, applications, or a combination thereof.

[0027] Although FIG. 1 illustrates one example of the system for validating the estimated energy consumption of the radio base station with actual billed units, various changes may be made to FIG. 1. For example, the system may include any number of radio base stations and servers in any suitable arrangement. Further, in another example, the system may include any number of components in addition to the components shown in FIG. 1. Further, various components in FIG. 1 may be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components may be added according to particular needs.

[0036] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram depicting the data processing server 140, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The embodiments of the data processing server 140 shown in FIG. 2 are for illustration only. Other embodiments of the data processing server 140 may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0037] According to the exemplary embodiment presented through FIG. 2, the data processing server 140 may include the processing circuitry 142, the server memory 144, the communication interface 146, a console host 202, and a distributed file system 201 communicatively coupled to each other by way of a first communication bus 203.

[0038] The distributed file system 201 may be integrated within the data processing server 140 to store the bills or the invoices generated by the bill provisioning unit 120 for the individual customers and other operational data. The distributed file system 201 may be configured to provide a scalable and fault-tolerant storage, capable of handling entire operation specific data across distributed clusters of files associated with the data processing server 140. In one or more embodiments, the distributed file system 201 may be one of a Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS) and a Network Attach Storage (NAS) drive, or a combination thereof.

[0039] The console host 202 may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or codes that may be configured to enable the communication interface 146 to receive input(s) and/or present output(s) from a user of the end user device 160. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the console host 202 may include suitable logic, instructions, and/or codes for executing various operations of computer executable applications to host an application running via an application console (not shown) on the end user device 160 by way of which the user can trigger the data processing server 140 to monitor and/or manage energy consumption by the communication station 110. In some other aspects of the present disclosure, the console host 202 may provide a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for the data processing server 140 for user interaction.

[0040] The data processing circuitry 142 may include data processor(s) or data processing engine(s) configured with suitable logic, instructions, circuitry, interfaces, and/or codes for executing operations of various operations performed by the data processing server 140 for computations and data processing related to monitoring and management of energy consumption at the communication station 110. Particularly, the data processing circuitry 142 may include a data exchange engine 204, an energy consumption analysis engine 206, a data analysis engine 208, and a notification engine 210 coupled to each other by a second communication bus 212.

[0041] The data exchange engine 204 may be configured to enable transfer of data from the server memory 144 to various engines of the data processing circuitry 142. The data exchange engine 204 may further be configured to enable a transfer of data and/or instructions (by way of signal(s)) between various other engines of the data processing circuitry 142. Furthermore, the data exchange engine 204 may be configured to enable the data processing server 140 to receive input(s) from the end user device 160 and provide output(s) to the end user device 170. Particularly, the data exchange engine 204 may be configured to receive Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from the communication station 110. The KPI(s) include a first power consumption value associated with the RRU 110-1 and a second power consumption value associated with the BBU 110-2. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the first power consumption value and the second power consumption value are determined at the communication station 110 iteratively, continuously, periodically, or as initiated by a user of the end user device 160. In some other aspects of the present disclosure, the KPI(s) may indicate a first energy consumption value associated with the RRU 110-1 and a second energy consumption value associated with the BBU 110-2.

[0042] The energy consumption analysis engine 206 may be configured to determine the first energy consumption value for the RRU 110-1 based on the first power consumption value and the second energy consumption value for the BBU 110-2 based on the second power consumption value. The energy analysis engine 206 may further be configured to retrieve a third energy consumption value for the radio units 110-3 of the communication station 110 from the server memory 144. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the third energy consumption value of other radio units (i.e., other than the RRU 110-1 and the BBU 110-2 in the communication station 110) may be received for storage by the server memory 144, either periodically or on instance bases. The energy consumption analysis engine 206 may retrieve the third energy consumption value in response to the reception of the KPI(s) from the communication station 110.

[0043] The data analysis engine 208 may be configured to determine a cumulative value of energy consumption for the communication station 110 by summing the first energy consumption value, the second energy consumption value, and the third energy consumption value. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the first power consumption value and the second power consumption value are determined in Watt-hour units and the first energy consumption value and the second energy consumption value are determined in Kilo Watt (KW) units. The data analysis engine 208 may divide the first power consumption value and the second power consumption value by 1000 to determine the values in Kilo Watt-hour (KW-h) and may determine a total unit reading (in KW-h) for one hour to determine the first energy consumption value and the second energy consumption value.

[0044] The data analysis engine 208 may further be configured to retrieving a reported value of energy consumption for the communication station 110 from an energy consumption entry stored in the server memory 144. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the communication station 110 may be associated with an energy consumption meter (not shown) that monitors the energy consumption of the communication station 110 through a count of energy units. The energy consumption meter may further derive the reported value of the energy consumption for the communication station based on the count of energy consumption units. In some other aspects of the present disclosure, the reported value of energy consumption may be identified by a user based on the count of the energy consumption units (i.e., displayed in the energy consumption meter). The reported value may further be fed into the server memory 144 by the user. The data analysis engine 208 may further be configured to compare the cumulative value of energy consumption with the reported value of energy consumption to determine an energy consumption difference value for the communication station. Furthermore, the data analysis engine 208 may be configured compare the energy consumption difference value with a predefined difference threshold value to determine whether the energy consumption difference value is greater than the predefined difference threshold value. Moreover, in response to the determination that the energy consumption difference value is greater than a predefined difference threshold value, the data analysis engine 208 is configured to generate a notification trigger for the notification engine 210. In some other aspects of the present disclosure, the data analytics engine 208 may be configured to determine whether the energy consumption difference value lies within a predefined threshold difference range. The data analytics engine 208 may further be configured to generate the notification trigger based on the determination that the energy consumption difference value is out of predefined threshold difference range. Typically, both the scenarios of generating the notification trigger are related to an unusual energy consumption condition. Upon reception of the notification trigger, the notification engine 210 may be configured to generate notification(s) for the end user device 160 to render information about the unusual energy consumption condition for the communication station 110, such as, but not limited to, misuse of energy and/or error in energy consumption determination by the communication station 110.

[0045] Various engines of the data processing circuitry 142 are presented to illustrate the functionality driven by the data processing server 140. It will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art that various engines in the processing circuitry 142 are for illustrative purposes and not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and/or software.

[0046] The server memory 144 may be configured to store data corresponding to system 100. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the server memory 144 may be segregated into multiple repositories that may be configured to store a specific type of data. In the exemplary embodiment as presented through FIG. 2, the server memory 144 includes an instructions repository 216, a radio units data repository 218, and an error data repository 220.

[0047] The instructions repository 216 may be configured to store instructions and/or codes for operation(s) to be performed by various components of data processing server 140. The radio unit data repository 218 may be configured to store a backup of data stored in the database 150, corresponding to all the radio units of the communication station 110 (e.g., RRU 110-1, BBU 110-2, and the radio units 110-3). The error data repository 220 may be configured to store data corresponding to various energy consumption error events determined by the system 100.

[0048] According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the instructions repository 216 may be configured to store computer program instructions corresponding to the operation(s) performed by various engines in the data processing circuitry 142. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the instructions repository 216 may be configured as a non-transitory storage medium. Examples of the instructions repository 216 configured as the non-transitory storage medium includes hard drives, solid-state drives, flash drives, Compact Disk (CD), Digital Video Disk (DVD), and the like. Aspects of the present disclosure are intended to include or otherwise cover any type of non-transitory storage medium as the instructions repository 216, without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. As will be appreciated, any such computer program instructions stored in the instructions repository 216 may be executed by one or more computer processors, including without limitation a general-purpose computer or special purpose computer, or other programmable processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the computer program instructions which execute on the computer processor(s) or other programmable processing apparatus create means for implementing the function(s) specified.

[0049] In some other embodiments, the data processing server 140 may further include a column-oriented database (not shown). The column-oriented database may be configured to retrieve energy consumption data associated with communication station 110 from the server memory 144. The column-oriented database may correspond to a data repository that may store real-time and historical power consumption metrics collected from distributed base station-level energy monitoring devices. The column-oriented database may also help in enabling the host server 150 to compute expected power consumption based on operational units of power consumption by the communication station 110.

[0050] It will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the repositories in the server memory 144 are presented based on the functionality of the data processing server 140 and are not limited to those disclosed. The server memory 144 may have any configuration, combination and/or count of repositories without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0051] Although FIG. 2 illustrates one example of the data processing server 140, various changes may be made to FIG. 2. Further, the data processing server 140 may include any number of components in addition to those shown in FIG. 2, without deviating from the scope of the present disclosure. Further, various components in FIG. 2 may be combined, further subdivided, or omitted and additional components may be added according to particular needs.

[0052] FIG. 3 illustrates a flow chart for a method 300 for monitoring the energy consumption of the communication station 110 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0053] At block 302, the data processing server 140 may receive the KPI(s) from the communication station 110. In some aspects of the present disclosure, the KPI(s) include the first power consumption value associated with the RRU 110-1 and the second power consumption value associated with the BBU 110-2. In some other aspects of the present disclosure, the KPI(s) indicate the first energy consumption value associated with the RRU 110-1 and the second energy consumption value associated with the BBU 110-2.

[0054] At block 304, the data processing server 140 may determine the first energy consumption value for the RRU 110-1 based on the first power consumption value and the second energy consumption value for the BBU 110-2 based on the second power consumption value.

[0055] At block 306, the data processing server 140 may retrieve the third energy consumption value for the other radio units 110-3 from the server memory 144.

[0056] At block 308, the data processing server 140 may determine the cumulative value of energy consumption for the communication station by summing the first energy consumption value, the second energy consumption value, and the third energy consumption value.

[0057] At block 310, the data processing server 140 may retrieve the reported value of energy consumption for the communication station from the energy consumption entry stored in the server memory 144.

[0058] At block 312, the data processing server 140 may compare the cumulative value of energy consumption with the reported value of energy consumption to determine the energy consumption difference value for the communication station 110.

[0059] At block 314, when the data processing server 140 determines that the energy consumption difference value is greater than the difference threshold value, the method 300 proceeds to block 316. Else, the method 300 falls back to block 302.

[0060] At block 316, the data processing server 140 may generate the notification trigger to generate a notification on the end user device 160 to notify the user about a misuse of energy and/or error in energy consumption determination.

[0061] Now, referring to the technical abilities and advantageous effect of the present disclosure, operational advantages that may be provided by one or more embodiments may include providing the system and the method that is capable of precisely monitoring, analyzing, and validating the energy consumption of the radio base stations. A further potential advantage of the one or more embodiments disclosed herein may include identifying the misuse of energy at the radio base stations and thereby enabling the network operations team to take appropriate actions for preventing the misuse of the energy supplied to the radio base stations. Accurate monitoring of energy consumption further enables accurate billing of energy units consumed by the radio base stations, and thereby results in reducing unnecessary financial burdens on telecom operators. Moreover, accurate monitoring of energy consumption also reduces environmental concerns associated with energy wastage during operation of the radio base stations.

[0062] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the methodology described herein in the present disclosure may be carried out in other specific ways than those set forth herein in the above disclosed embodiments without departing from essential characteristics and features of the present invention. The above-described embodiments are therefore to be construed in all aspects as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0063] The drawings and the forgoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment. For example, orders of processes described herein may be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein. Any combination of the above features and functionalities may be used in accordance with one or more embodiments.

[0064] In the present disclosure, each of the embodiments has been described with reference to numerous specific details which may vary from embodiment to embodiment. The foregoing description of the specific embodiments disclosed herein may reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others may, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be comprehended within the meaning of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and is not limited in scope.
,CLAIMS:We claim:
1. A method (300) for monitoring energy consumption of a communication station (110) in a communication network, the method comprising:
receiving, by a data exchange engine (204), at least one Key Performance Indicator (KPI) from the communication station (110), wherein the at least one KPI indicates a first energy consumption value associated with a Radio Remote Unit (RRU) (110-1) of the communication station (110) and a second energy consumption value associated with a Base Band Unit (BBU) (110-2) of the communication station (110);
retrieving, by the energy consumption analysis engine (206), a third energy consumption value for one or more radio units (110-3) of the communication station (110) from a database (150); and
determining, by a data analysis engine (208), a cumulative value of the energy consumption for the communication station (110) by summing the first energy consumption value, the second energy consumption value, and the third energy consumption value.

2. The method (300) as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
retrieving, by the data analysis engine (208), a reported value of the energy consumption for the communication station (110) from an energy consumption entry stored in the database (150);
comparing, by the data analysis engine (208), the cumulative value of the energy consumption with the reported value of the energy consumption to determine an energy consumption difference value for the communication station (110);
determining, by the data analysis engine (208), whether the energy consumption difference value is greater than a predefined difference threshold value; and
generating, by a notification engine (210), a notification trigger in response to the determination that the energy consumption difference value is greater than the predefined difference threshold value, wherein the notification trigger enables rendering an unusual energy consumption condition for the communication station (110).

3. The method (300) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the energy consumption difference value is a difference between the cumulative value of the energy consumption and the reported value of energy consumption.

4. The method (300) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more radio units (110-3) comprise at least one of an outdoor cabinet, a Microwave (MW) link, a Cluster Switch System (CSS), and a Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS).

5. The method (300) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication station (110) is a wireless base station configured to communicate wireless communication signals with the communication network.

6. A system (100) to monitor energy consumption of a communication station (110) in a communication network, the system comprising:
a data exchange engine (204) configured to receive at least one Key Performance Indicator (KPI) from the communication station (110), wherein the at least one KPI indicates a first energy consumption value associated with a Radio Remote Unit (RRU) (110-1) of the communication station (110) and a second energy consumption value associated with a Base Band Unit (BBU) (110-2) of the communication station (110);
an energy consumption analysis engine (206) configured to retrieve a third energy consumption value for one or more radio units (110-3) of the communication station (110) from a database (150); and
a data analysis engine (208) configured to determine a cumulative value of the energy consumption for the communication station (110) by summing the first energy consumption value, the second energy consumption value, and the third energy consumption value.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the data analysis engine (208) is further configured to:
retrieve a reported value of the energy consumption for the communication station (110) from an energy consumption entry stored in the database (150);
compare the cumulative value of the energy consumption with the reported value of the energy consumption to determine an energy consumption difference value for the communication station (110); and
determine whether the energy consumption difference value is greater than a predefined difference threshold value, wherein
the system (100) further comprises a notification engine (210) configured to generate a notification trigger in response to the determination that the energy consumption difference value is greater than the predefined difference threshold value, and wherein the notification trigger enables rendering an unusual energy consumption condition for the communication station (110).

8. The system (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the energy consumption difference value is a difference between the cumulative value of the energy consumption and the reported value of energy consumption.

9. The system (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the one or more radio units (110-3) comprise at least one of an outdoor cabinet, a Microwave (MW) link, a Cluster Switch System (CSS), and a Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS).

10. The system (110) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the communication station (110) is a wireless base station configured to communicate wireless communication signals with the communication network.