Patent Description:
A distributed antenna system includes a headend unit connected to a base station of a mobile communication system, a remote unit connected to the headend unit through a transmission medium such as an optical cable, etc. and is installed in a region where radio waves are not received or weakly received, such as the inside of buildings, subways, and tunnels, to extend the coverage of base station signals.

In general, a distributed antenna system focuses on the purpose of covering a shadow area which it is difficult for base station signals to reach. Also, a distributed antenna system does not consider duplication due to problems such as facility cost and operation cost, and the need for such consideration is also not great.

Recently, in preparation for disasters, central governments have established an emergency service network as a wireless communication network to quickly and efficiently manage the disasters. In addition, a method of exclusively building a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network for such an emergency service network, a method of utilizing the existing commercial networks, and the like are being considered. In particular, in the case of the UK, the existing Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA)-based emergency service network is being replaced with an LTE-based public safety communication network.

As an emergency service network is built on the basis of an LTE network, the emergency service network, like the existing commercial network, requires a distributed antenna system to extend the coverage of base station signals. Since an emergency service network requires stronger system stability compared to the existing commercial network, high availability is also required for a distributed antenna system used for the emergency service network. <CIT> relates to a redundancy system for data transport in a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) that includes a plurality of Digital Access Units (DAUs). Each of the plurality of DAUs is fed by a plurality of data streams and is operable to transport digital signals between others of the plurality of DAUs. The redundancy system also includes a plurality of Digital Distribution Units (DDUs). Each of the plurality of DDUs is in communication with each of the plurality of DAUs using cross connection communication paths. The redundancy system further includes a plurality of Digital Remote Units (DRUs). Each of the plurality of DRUs is in communication with each of the plurality of DDUs using cross connection communications paths. <CIT> relates to a method and apparatus for controlling uplink signal power in a distributed antenna system having a master unit and a plurality of remote units and coupled with a base station. The method and apparatus hereby include monitoring a noise condition of the distributed antenna system. The invention dynamically adjusts an uplink gain within the distributed antenna system that is applied to uplink signals to a base station, based on the monitored noise condition. Monitoring the noise condition in the distributed antenna system includes monitoring one or more remote units of the plurality of remote units and determining if the remote unit is in active status or in mute status. The uplink gain is increased in response to a decrease in the number of remote units that are in active status and decreased in response to an increase in the number of remote units that are in active status.

The proposed invention is directed to duplication of a headend unit to achieve high availability of a distributed antenna system connected to a duplicated base station that provides the same technology service.

Also, the proposed invention is directed to supporting high availability in a distributed antenna system by providing a link duplication method in which, when a link error occurs on a frame transmission path between a hub unit or a remote unit and a headend unit, the frame transmission path is changed to a frame transmission path that uses a redundancy link to enable frame transmission.

Further embodiments are described by the dependent claims.

According to the proposed invention, it is possible to increase the availability of a distributed antenna system by duplicating a head unit of the distributed antenna system connected to a duplicated base station.

Also, according to the proposed invention, it is possible to increase the availability of a distributed antenna system because by connecting a redundancy link in case of a link error on a frame transmission path between a hub unit or a remote unit and a headend unit, the frame transmission path is changed to a frame transmission path that uses the redundancy link to enable frame transmission when an error occurs.

The above or other aspects will be implemented through embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that elements in each embodiment can be variously combined with other elements in the corresponding embodiment or elements in the other embodiments unless otherwise stated or as long as there is no contradiction therebetween. In some cases, each block of a block diagram may represent a physical component. In other cases, each block may logically represent a partial function of a single physical component or a common function of a plurality of physical components. Sometimes, actually, a block or a part thereof may be a set of program instructions. Some or all of the blocks may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

A transmission frame transmitted or received by each device in a distributed antennal system may include three kinds of information. Signal data, control and management (C&M) data, and a control field are included in the transmission frame. The signal data includes various types of data transmitted between a headend and a hub or a remote. The C&M data is Ethernet frame format data for a control message transmitted or received between distributed antenna system devices. The control field is used only for communication between directly connected devices and is used to control other devices or deliver information using specific fields in the frame. The control field may be mainly used to control a link of a directly connected device, to deliver time synchronization information of a directly connected device, to request a restart from a directly connected device, to deliver link reception quality to a directly connected device, and to deliver a duplication state of a directly connected device. In particular, when the control field is used for link control, transmission may be made to a connected device regardless of a port state. The C&M data may be used to control devices that are not directly connected unlike the control field.

In a distributed antenna system, a transmission frame transmitted or received by each device may be classified as a forward signal frame or a reverse signal frame depending on a frame delivery direction. The forward signal frame is a signal frame delivered from a mobile communication system-related base station to a remote unit, and the reverse signal frame is a signal frame delivered from a remote unit to a mobile communication system-related base station.

Devices included in the distributed antenna system, i.e., a headend unit, a hub unit, and a remote unit have two categories of connection ports. That is, each device has a physical port that exists physically in the corresponding device and a logical port that is classified according to a function upon service implementation.

The physical port of the headend unit includes a downlink port and an extension port.

The downlink port of the headend unit is a physical port connected to an uplink port of the hub unit or an uplink port of the remote unit. In this case, an optical cable may be used to connect the ports, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The physical port of the hub unit includes an uplink port, an extension port, and a downlink port.

The uplink port of the hub unit is a physical port connected to the downlink port of the headend unit or the extension port of another hub unit of the same branch group. In this case, an optical cable may be used to connect the ports, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The extension port of the hub unit is a physical port connected to the uplink port of the extension hub unit of the same branch group for the purpose of service extension or connected to the extension port of the hub unit of another branch group for the purpose of link duplication. In this case, an optical cable may be used to connect the ports, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The downlink port of the hub unit is a physical port connected to the uplink port of the remote unit, which is a sub-node. In this case, a CAT-<NUM> cable may be used to connect the ports, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The remote unit may be branched from and connected to the hub unit or may be branched from and directly connected to the headend unit. When the remote unit is branched from and directly connected to the headend unit, another remote unit of the same branch group may be connected to a remote unit directly connected to the headend unit in cascade.

When the remote unit is connected in cascade, the physical port of the remote unit includes an uplink port and a cascade port.

The uplink port of the remote unit is a physical port connected to the downlink port of the headend unit or connected to the cascade port of the upper remote unit. In this case, an optical cable may be used to connect the ports, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The cascade port of the remote unit is a physical port connected to the uplink port of another remote unit of the same branch group for the purpose of service extension or connected to the cascade port of the remote unit of another branch group for the purpose of link duplication. In this case, an optical cable may be used to connect the ports, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The headend unit may include a logical downlink port (DPORT) as a logical port. The hub unit may include a logical uplink port (UPORT), a logical extension port (EPORT), a logical redundancy port (RPORT), and DPORT as logical ports. The remote unit may include UPORT, RPORT, and DPORT as logical ports.

The DPORT of the headend unit is connected to the UPORT of the hub unit or the UPORT of the remote unit.

The UPORT of the hub unit is connected to the DPORT of the headend unit or the EPORT of another hub unit of the same branch group. The EPORT is connected to the UPORT of the extension hub unit of the same branch group for the purpose of service extension. The RPORT is connected to the RPORT of the hub unit of another branch group for the purpose of redundancy connection, i.e., link duplication. The DPORT of the hub unit is connected to the UPORT of the remote unit, which is a sub-node.

The UPORT of the remote unit is connected to the DPORT of the headend unit or the DPORT of the upper remote unit of the same branch group. The RPORT is connected to the RPORT of the remote unit of another branch group for the purpose of redundancy connection, i.e., link duplication. The DPORT is connected to the UPORT of the lower remote unit of the same branch group.

The logical port of each device of the distributed antenna system may have states such as "Disabled," "Blocking," Forwarding A," and "Forwarding B.

The "Disabled" state is a state in which the system is first started. That is, the "Disabled" state is a state after each device is booted and before a link connection is made.

The "Blocking" state is a state when a physical link connection is made but a logical port has not yet been determined. Also, the "Blocking" state is a state used when a logical port is determined but data transmission is blocked through the corresponding port.

In the "Blocking" state, the C&M data and the signal data except for the control field are blocked from being transmitted. Each device may determine a logical port by acquiring port information of a physically directly connected neighbor device using the control field in the "Blocking" state. However, the invention is not limited thereto. The type of the logical port may be stored as setting information, and the logical port may be determined according to the setting information.

The "Forwarding A" state is a state in which a forward signal frame is input from an upper connection device to a port and in which a reverse signal frame is output from a port to an upper connection device.

The "Forwarding B" state is a state in which a forward signal frame is output from a port to a lower connection device and in which a reverse signal frame is input from a lower connection device to a port.

Between devices connected through a link, a forward signal frame is delivered from a port in the "Forwarding B" state to a port in the "Forwarding A" state, and a reverse signal frame is delivered from a port in the "Forwarding A" state to a port in the "Forwarding B" state.

When the state of the port is the "Forwarding A" state or the "Forwarding B" state, each device may transmit all of the control field, the C&M data, and analog signal data or digital signal data.

A normal frame transmission path is a path in which a frame is transmitted when there is no redundancy link connection in the distributed antenna system and in which, although there is a redundancy link connection, a frame is transmitted without using the redundancy link connection.

In each embodiment, a distributed antenna system may be applied to various networks such as a military communication network or an emergency service network (ESN), which requires high availability, in addition to general commercial mobile communication networks.

<FIG> is a diagram showing that a headend unit is duplicated through a duplication configuration of a distributed antenna system according to an embodiment. According to an embodiment of the invention, the duplication configuration of the distributed antenna system includes a first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>, a second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>, a first branch group <NUM>, and a second branch group <NUM>. The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is connected to a first base station <NUM>-<NUM>, and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is connected to a second base station <NUM>-<NUM>. When a service error occurs in one base station or one headend, the first base station <NUM>-<NUM> and the second base station <NUM>-<NUM> provide a service such that the service disruption to subscribers connected to the distributed antenna system can be prevented. In this case, the service duplicated between the two base stations need not have the same frequency and band. However, for service continuity for subscribers, the same technology and operator service should be provided by the two base stations. In the event of an error, a subscriber that was connected to the distributed antenna system and that has received the service may be guaranteed continuous service through reconnection.

The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is connected to the first base station <NUM>-<NUM> to receive a mobile communication signal from the first base station <NUM>-<NUM>. The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> generates a downlink frame for the received signal and transmits the downlink frame through the downlink port. Also, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> configures and manages topology information of the distributed antenna system.

The second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is connected to the second base station <NUM>-<NUM> to receive a mobile communication signal from the second base station <NUM>-<NUM>. The second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> generates a downlink frame for the received mobile communication signal and transmits the downlink frame through the downlink port. Also, the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> configures and manages topology information of the distributed antenna system.

The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may convert the power of a mobile communication signal transmitted from the base station into power suitable for processing at each node. The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may combine mobile communication signals and may serve to distribute the composite signal to a hub unit or a remote unit. That is, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may be devices that relay a mobile communication signal between the hub unit or the remote unit and a radio access network (RAN) of a mobile communication system.

<FIG> is a diagram showing a method in which a headend unit delivers a duplication state to a sub-node using a control field. As shown in <FIG>, in order to duplicate the distributed antenna system, one of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> or the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> operates in an active state, and the other headend unit operates in a standby state. Each of the headend units <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> adds a state bit indicating a duplication state (an active or standby state) of the headend unit to the control field of the downlink frame and then transmits the downlink frame.

Also, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> configure and manage topology information of the system using system setting information and exchanging a keepalive and a state message with sub-units. This topology information may be used when the active headend unit <NUM>-A determines a node for which a frame transmission path needs to be changed in a link error state, which will be described below.

The first branch group <NUM> includes a hub unit and a remote unit. The branch group is a set of sub-nodes branched from and connected to a downlink port of a headend unit. As an example, all sub-nodes connected to port #<NUM> of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> (which is used as the downlink port) constitute one branch group. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, a hub unit <NUM><NUM> and a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> constitute a first branch group <NUM>.

The hub unit may be branched from and connected to the downlink port of the headend unit. The headend unit and the remote unit may be directly connected to each other, but since the number of physical ports of the headend unit is limited, the headend unit may be connected to more remote devices using a hub unit, which is an extension device.

According to an aspect, the hub unit may be connected to the headend unit and may be connected to up to eight remote units. The invention is not limited thereto, and other connection methods may be used according to a required transmission capacity and method.

The hub unit distributes a downlink frame received from the headend unit into a remote unit, which is a sub-node connected to the downlink port.

The hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> or the second branch group <NUM>, which is directly connected to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and which is configured to receive the downlink frame, checks a state bit of the control field of the downlink frame, delivers only a downlink frame received from the active headend unit <NUM>-A to a sub-node connected to its downlink port, and discards a downlink frame received from a standby headend unit <NUM>-S.

The remote unit is connected to the hub unit as a sub-node and is configured to restore a mobile communication signal from the distributed downlink frame and wirelessly transmit the mobile communication signal through an antenna. A plurality of remote units is connected to the hub unit.

<FIG> is a block diagram showing an internal block structure for frame processing of a system unit of a distributed antenna system, and <FIG> is a block diagram showing frame processing when a port state of a system unit of a distributed antenna system is "Blocking. " A system unit <NUM> is one of a headend unit, a hub unit, or a remote unit.

The headend unit, the hub unit, or the remote unit may include a control unit <NUM>, an input/output unit <NUM>, a control field processing unit <NUM>, a C&M data processing unit <NUM>, and a signal data processing unit <NUM> for the purpose of frame processing.

The control unit <NUM> may be executed in a central processing unit (CPU) and implemented to control the input/output unit <NUM>, the control field processing unit <NUM>, the C&M data processing unit <NUM>, and the signal data processing unit <NUM>. That is, the control unit <NUM> may be configured as a set of instructions that are executed in the CPU.

The input/output unit <NUM> may deserialize inputs of the ports to restore a frame, deliver a control field, C&M data, and signal data included in the frame to corresponding processing units, combine pieces of data received from the control field processing unit <NUM>, the C&M data processing unit <NUM>, and the signal data processing unit <NUM> to generate a frame, serialize the frame, and output the frame to each port and may be implemented as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) <NUM>.

The control field processing unit <NUM> may deliver, to the control unit <NUM>, control information and the like originating from the control field received through the input/output unit <NUM> to allow the control unit <NUM> to exchange link control information or the like with a directly connected device. The control field processing unit <NUM> may transmit, receive, and process control information or the like of a directly connected device even when the port state is "Blocking. " The control field processing unit <NUM> may be implemented as an FPGA <NUM>.

The C&M data processing unit <NUM> may deliver, to the control unit <NUM>, the C&M data received through the input/output unit <NUM> to allow the control unit <NUM> to exchange Ethernet data with another device included in the distributed antenna system. The C&M data processing unit <NUM> may transmit, receive, and process the C&M data only when the port state is "Forwarding A" or "Forwarding B. " The C&M data processing unit <NUM> may be implemented as an internal function of the FPGA <NUM> or an Ethernet L2 switch.

The signal data processing unit <NUM> may perform a function of delivering an analog or digital mobile communication signal from a headend unit to a radio unit or delivering a signal of a radio unit to a headend unit. The signal data processing unit <NUM> may transmit, receive, and process the signal data only when the port state is "Forwarding A" or "Forwarding B. " The signal data processing unit <NUM> may be implemented as an FPGA <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, when the port state is "Blocking," the system unit <NUM> receives and processes only a control field in a frame received through an input port and blocks signal data and C&M data. Also, when the port state is "Blocking," the system unit <NUM> generates a frame including a control field and C&M data and signal data consisting of null data and outputs the frame through the output port.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> are configured through duplication, and the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> and the hub unit of the second branch group <NUM> are connected to each other through a redundancy link. The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> are each determined as the active headend unit <NUM>-A or the standby headend unit <NUM>-S. In an example shown in <FIG>, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is in the active state, and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is in the standby state.

When a downlink frame is received from each of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>, the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> or the second branch group <NUM> directly connected to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may store a state bit included in the downlink frame, add the state bit received from each headend unit to a control field of an uplink frame received from a sub-node connected to the downlink port, and transmit the uplink frame to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>.

Upon receiving the uplink frame, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may process the received uplink frame when their duplication states are active and may discard the received uplink frame when their duplication states are standby.

Also, each of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may compare the state bit of the control field included in the uplink frame to its duplication state and may transmit a C&M message notifying of its duplication state to the hub unit that has transmitted the corresponding uplink frame when the state bit is different from the duplication state. According to an aspect of the invention, the headend unit <NUM>-A may increase a count value when continuously receiving an uplink frame with a state bit value of a control field different from its duplication state from a specific hub unit and may transmit a control command that resets the hub unit that has transmitted the corresponding uplink frame when the count value is greater than a predetermined threshold value.

<FIG> is a diagram showing a method in which a sub-node directly connected to a headend unit adds a bit error rate (BER) value measured on a downlink to an uplink frame and delivers the uplink frame. According to another embodiment of the invention, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> are configured through duplication, and the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> and the hub unit of the second branch group <NUM> are connected to each other through a redundancy link. The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> are each determined as the active headend unit <NUM>-A or the standby headend unit <NUM>-S. In an example shown in <FIG>, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is in the active state, and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is in the standby state.

The hub unit <NUM> or <NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> or the second branch group <NUM> directly connected to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may perform quality measurement on the downlink frame. At this time, the hub unit <NUM> or <NUM> may add the measured BER value to the control field of the uplink frame and transmit the uplink frame to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>.

The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may acquire a BER value indicating the downlink quality included in the uplink frame and thus determine the downlink quality.

In this case, when the received BER value is greater than a predetermined BER threshold value, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may determine whether to perform switching and may perform the switching. After performing the switching, the duplication state of the headend unit is changed from the active state to the standby state or from the standby state to the active state.

<FIG> is a diagram conceptually showing link duplication of a hub unit through a duplication configuration of a distributed antenna system according to another embodiment. According to another embodiment of the invention, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> are configured through duplication, and the extension port of the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> and the extension port of the hub unit of the second branch group <NUM> are connected to each other through a redundancy link in the "Blocking" state. One of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> or the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> operates as an active headend unit <NUM>-A.

In this state, when an error occurs in a normal frame transmission path of one branch group, the redundancy link may be activated, and units for which an error has occurred in frame transmission paths may transmit a frame through a normal frame transmission path of another branch group using the activated redundancy link as a bypass.

A connection between physical ports of devices in the embodiment shown in <FIG> will be described below. A first downlink port of the active headend unit <NUM>-A is connected to the uplink port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM>, and a second downlink port is connected to the uplink port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM>.

Also, the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> is connected to the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM> for the purpose of link duplication, and the downlink port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> is connected to the uplink port of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM>.

A connection between logical ports of devices in the embodiment shown in <FIG> will be described below. The DPORT of the active headend unit <NUM>-A is connected to the UPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM>.

Also, the RPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> is connected to the RPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM> for the purpose of link duplication. Physically, the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM> are connected to each other. The DPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> is connected to the UPORT of the remote unit.

In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, a forward signal frame that is transmitted through a normal frame transmission path is output from the DPORT of the active headend unit <NUM>-A in the "Forwarding B" state and input to the UPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state and is output from the DPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding B" state and input to the UPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in the state "Forwarding A. " A reverse signal is output from the UPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state and input to the DPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding B" state and is output from the UPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state and input to the DPORT of the active headend unit <NUM>-A in the "Forwarding B" state. As described above, the frame transmission path is determined according to the state of the logical port of each device.

Also, the second branch group <NUM> includes a hub unit and a remote unit. In <FIG>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> constitute the second branch group <NUM>.

In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, connections between physical ports and logical ports of devices may be described in the same manner as the above description of the connection between the physical ports of the devices of the first branch group <NUM>.

The physical extension port of the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> and the physical extension port of the hub unit of the second branch group <NUM> are connected to each other through the redundancy link in the "Blocking" state. That is, the RPORT of the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> and the RPORT of the hub unit of the second branch group <NUM> are connected to each other, and each RPORT is managed in the "Blocking" state in order to use this connection as a redundancy link. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the RPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the RPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> are connected to each other, and each RPORT is in the "Blocking" state.

The redundant link may be managed as a spare link when the connection of each device of the distributed antenna system is in the normal state and may be activated to resume frame transmission when an error occurs during a connection between devices so that the frame transmission is not performed.

When an error occurs in a normal frame transmission path of one branch group, the distributed antenna system activates the redundancy link and transmits a frame through a normal frame transmission path of another branch group using the activated redundancy link as a bypass to support high availability. In the embodiment of <FIG>, when frame transmission is not performed due to an error having occurred in a link connection between the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> and the active headend unit <NUM>-A, the redundancy links of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> are activated. In this case, a reverse signal in the first branch group <NUM> is delivered to the second branch group <NUM> through the redundancy link and transmitted to the active headend unit <NUM>-A through the normal frame transmission path of the second branch group <NUM>, and a forward signal frame for the first branch group <NUM> is transmitted to the first branch group <NUM> via the second branch group <NUM> through the redundancy link. According to an aspect of the invention, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM> may combine a mobile communication signal of a remote unit of the second branch group <NUM> and a mobile communication signal of a remote unit of the first branch group <NUM> and transmit the composite signal.

In this case, the active headend unit <NUM>-A should control each device to change its logical port state so that the frame transmission is possible through the redundancy link.

<FIG> is a diagram showing that a hub unit of a first branch group and an extension hub unit of a second branch group are connected through a redundancy link in a duplication configuration of a distributed antenna system according to another embodiment. According to another embodiment, the distributed antenna system has the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> configured through duplication, and the extension port of the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> and the extension port of the extension hub unit of the second branch group <NUM> are connected to each other through the redundancy link in the "Blocking" state. One of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> or the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> operates as an active headend unit <NUM>-A.

The first branch group <NUM> or the second branch group <NUM> is connected to the extension port of the hub unit to expand the service area and may further include an extension hub unit and a plurality of remote units connected to the extension hub unit as sub-nodes.

The extension hub unit physically connects its uplink port to the extension port of a conventional hub unit. At this time, the EPORT of the conventional hub unit and the UPORT of the extension hub unit are connected to each other, the EPORT of the conventional hub unit has the "Forwarding B" state, and the UPORT of the extension hub unit has the "Forwarding A" state. Thus, a forward signal frame is transmitted from the conventional hub unit to the extension hub unit, and a reverse signal frame is transmitted from the extension hub unit to the conventional hub unit.

According to another embodiment of <FIG>, it is shown that the second branch group <NUM> includes the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the extension hub unit <NUM><NUM> and a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the extension hub unit <NUM><NUM> respectively.

According to an embodiment shown in <FIG>, physically, the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM> is connected to the uplink port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, and the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> is connected to the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> for the purpose of link duplication.

According to an embodiment shown in <FIG>, the EPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM> and the UPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> are connected to each other.

Also, the RPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> is connected to the RPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> for the purpose of link duplication. Physically, the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> are connected to each other.

According to an embodiment shown in <FIG>, a forward signal frame transmitted through a normal frame transmission path between remote units connected to the active headend unit <NUM>-A and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> is output from the DPORT of the active headend unit <NUM>-A in the Forwarding B state and input to the UPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state, is output from the EPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding B" state and input to the UPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state, and is output from the DPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding B" state and input to the UPORT of the remote unit in the "Forwarding A" state, and a reverse signal frame is output from the UPORT of the remote unit in the "Forwarding A" state and input to the DPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding B" state, is output from the UPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state and input to the EPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding B" state, and is output from the UPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state and input to the DPORT of the active headend unit <NUM>-A in the "Forwarding B" state.

The physical extension port of the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> and the physical extension port of the hub unit of the second branch group <NUM>, which are not connected to other devices, are connected to each other through the redundancy link in the "Blocking" state.

That is, the RPORT of the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> and the RPORT of the hub unit of the second branch group <NUM> are connected to each other, and each RPORT is managed in the "Blocking" state in order to use this connection as a redundancy link. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the RPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the RPORT of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> are connected to each other, and each RPORT is in the "Blocking" state.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, when frame transmission is not performed due to an error having occurred in a link connection between the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> and the active headend unit <NUM>-A, the redundancy links of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> are activated. In this case, a reverse signal frame in the first branch group <NUM> is delivered to the second branch group <NUM> through the redundancy link and transmitted to the headend unit through the normal frame transmission path of the second branch group <NUM>, and a forward signal frame for the first branch group <NUM> is transmitted to the first branch group <NUM> via the second branch group <NUM> through the redundancy link. According to an aspect of the invention, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM> may combine a mobile communication signal of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and a mobile communication signal of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> and transmit the composite signal.

<FIG> is a diagram showing that an extension hub unit of a first branch group and an extension hub unit of a second branch group are connected through a redundancy link in a duplication configuration of a distributed antenna system according to another embodiment. According to another embodiment, the distributed antenna system has the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> configured through duplication, and the extension port of the hub unit of the first branch group <NUM> and the extension port of the extension hub unit of the second branch group <NUM> are connected to each other through the redundancy link in the "Blocking" state. One of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> or the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> operates as an active headend unit <NUM>-A.

In an example shown in <FIG>, the first branch group <NUM> further includes an extension hub unit so that the first branch group <NUM> is extended in the same way as the second branch group in the embodiment shown in <FIG>.

The description of the link connection of the first branch group <NUM> is the same as the description of the link connection of the second branch group <NUM> of the second embodiment.

However, there is a difference in that the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the extension port of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> are connected through a redundancy link.

According to an aspect of the invention, when a redundancy link is connected, the hub unit to which the redundancy link is connected transmits redundancy link connection information to the active headend unit <NUM>-A and the standby headend unit <NUM>-S. According to another aspect of the invention, when a redundancy link is connected, the hub unit to which the redundancy link is connected may transmit redundancy link connection information to the active headend unit <NUM>-A and may deliver the redundancy link connection information through data synchronization between the active headend unit <NUM>-A and the standby headend unit <NUM>-S. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> transmit the redundancy link connection information. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> transmit the redundancy link connection information. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> transmit the redundancy link connection information.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A receives the redundancy link connection information from the hub unit and stores and manages the received redundancy link connection information so that the redundancy link is activated to change the frame transmission path when a link error occurs in the system.

According to another aspect of the invention, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may detect a link error that has occurred in the system. As an example, the active headend unit <NUM>-A periodically exchanges a keepalive message with sub-nodes and thus may determine a link error when the keepalive message is not received for a certain period of time. However, the invention is not limited thereto, and a method of detecting hardware abnormality or frame errors may be used.

When the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects an error having occurred in a normal frame transmission path of one branch group, the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the activation of the redundancy link from the hub unit at one end to which the redundancy link is connected on the basis of the redundancy link connection information. In this case, by using the C&M data, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may request the activation of the redundancy link from a hub unit of another branch group to which the redundancy link is connected from the branch group in which the error has occurred. The active headend unit <NUM>-A may discover, from the stored redundancy link connection information, the hub unit to which the redundancy link is connected.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A also determines hub units for which frame transmission paths need to be changed on the basis of the topology information. The active headend unit <NUM>-A uses the topology information to determine a device capable of transmitting a frame using a redundancy link from among devices that cannot transmit frames due to a link error and that are included in subordinate devices in the system.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A sends a frame transmission path change request to the determined hub unit. The active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits a port state change request message to a hub unit for which a port state needs to be changed.

Upon receiving a redundancy link activation request, the hub unit requests the activation of the redundancy link by transmitting a redundancy port state change control request to the hub unit at the other end to which the redundancy link is connected through the control field, which is transmitted even in the "Blocking" state, and activates the redundancy link by changing the redundancy port state.

A case in which an error occurs in a link connection between the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> and the active headend unit <NUM>-A in the distributed antenna system shown in <FIG> will be described below. Upon detecting an error in a corresponding link, the active headend unit <NUM>-A changes the state of the DPORT connected to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> from "Forwarding B" to "Blocking" so as to prevent a loop that may occur due to the redundancy link activation and requests the activation of the redundancy link from the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group using the C&M data with reference to the redundancy link connection information. The hub unit <NUM><NUM> requests the activation of the redundancy link from the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> to which the redundancy link is connected using the control field. The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Blocking" to "Forwarding A. " The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Blocking" to "Forwarding B" to activate the redundancy link. The active headend unit <NUM>-A recognizes that frames of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> can be transmitted through the redundancy link and determines the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> as nodes for which frame transmission paths need to be changed on the basis of the topology information. The active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits the C&M data to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> (through the redundancy link) to request the change of the port state. The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Blocking" and changes the state of the EPORT from "Forwarding B" to "Forwarding A. " The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Forwarding B.

<FIG> shows that a frame path is changed due to a link error between an active headend unit and a hub unit <NUM><NUM> in the embodiment shown in <FIG>. A reverse signal frame is transmitted from the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> to the active headend unit <NUM>-A through the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> in sequence, and a forward signal frame is transmitted from the active headend unit <NUM>-A to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> through the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, and the hub unit <NUM>.

According to another aspect of the invention, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may detect the recovery of the error that has occurred. When the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects that the link connection in which the error has occurred is restored, the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the blocking of the redundancy path from the hub unit at one end to which the redundancy link is connected on the basis of the redundancy link connection information. In this case, by using the C&M data, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may request the blocking of the redundancy link from a hub unit of another branch group to which the redundancy link is connected from the branch group in which the error has occurred. The active headend unit <NUM>-A may discover, from the stored redundancy link connection information, the hub unit to which the redundancy link is connected.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A also determines hub units for which frame transmission paths need to be changed to switch to a normal frame transmission path on the basis of the topology information. The active headend unit <NUM>-A uses the topology information to determine a device for which a frame transmission path is to be changed due to a link error and which requires switching to the normal frame transmission path from among subordinate devices in the system.

Upon receiving a redundancy link blocking request, the hub unit requests the blocking of the redundancy link by transmitting a redundancy port state change control request to the hub unit at the other end to which the redundancy link is connected through the control field and blocks the redundancy link by changing the redundancy port state.

A case in which the link error having occurred between the active headend unit <NUM>-A and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> as shown in <FIG> is recovered will be described below. When the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects the recovery of the error in the corresponding link, the active headend unit <NUM>-A determines the restoration of the normal frame transmission path. The active headend unit <NUM>-A determines a sub-node for which a frame transmission path needs to be changed due to the restoration of the normal frame transmission path on the basis of the topology information. In this example, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> are determined as nodes for which frame transmission paths need to be changed. The active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits the C&M data to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> (through the redundancy link) to request the change of the port state. The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Blocking" to "Forwarding A" and changes the state of the EPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Forwarding B. " The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Forwarding B" to "Forwarding A.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the blocking of the redundancy link from the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM> using the C&M data with reference to the redundancy link connection information. The hub unit <NUM><NUM> requests the blocking of the redundancy link from the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM> to which the redundancy link is connected using the control field. The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Blocking. " The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Forwarding B" to "Blocking" to block the redundancy link.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A changes the state of the DPORT connected to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> from "Blocking" to "Forwarding B" to complete switching to the normal frame transmission path. When the switching is completed, the state of the block diagram shown in <FIG> is obtained.

<FIG> is a diagram showing that a headend unit is duplicated through a duplication configuration of a distributed antenna system according to an embodiment. According to another embodiment of the invention, the duplication configuration of the distributed antenna system includes a first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>, a second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>, a third branch group <NUM>, and a fourth branch group <NUM>. The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is connected to a first base station <NUM>-<NUM>, and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is connected to a second base station <NUM>-<NUM>. When a service error occurs in one base station or one headend, the first base station <NUM>-<NUM> and the second base station <NUM>-<NUM> provide a service such that the service disruption to subscribers connected to the distributed antenna system can be prevented.

The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is connected to the first base station <NUM>-<NUM> to receive a mobile communication signal from the first base station <NUM>-<NUM>. The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> generates a downlink frame for the received mobile communication signal and transmits the downlink frame through the downlink port. Also, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> configures and manages topology information of the distributed antenna system.

In order to duplicate the distributed antenna system, one of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> or the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> operates in the active state, and the other headend unit operates in the standby state. Each of the headend units <NUM>-<NUM> and <NUM>-<NUM> adds a state bit indicating a duplication state (an active or standby state) of the headend unit to the control field of the downlink frame and then transmits the downlink frame.

The third branch group <NUM> may include a plurality of remote units which are branched from and connected to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and which are connected in cascade to restore a mobile communication signal from a downlink frame received from the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> or the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and transmit the mobile communication signal through an antenna in a wireless manner. In <FIG>, a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the active headend unit <NUM>-A, a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in cascade, and a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in cascade constitute the third branch group <NUM>.

According to an aspect, the remote unit is connected to the headend unit and is connected in cascade to a sub-remote unit connected to a cascade port.

The fourth branch group <NUM> may include a plurality of remote units which are branched from and connected to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and which are connected in cascade to restore a mobile communication signal from downlink frames received from the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and transmit the mobile communication signal through an antenna in a wireless manner. In <FIG>, a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the active headend unit <NUM>-A, a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in cascade, and a remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in cascade constitute the fourth branch group <NUM>.

The remote unit of the third branch group <NUM> or the fourth branch group <NUM> which is directly connected to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and which is configured to receive the downlink frame checks a state bit of the control field of the downlink frame, delivers only a downlink frame received from the active headend unit <NUM>-A to a sub-node connected to its downlink port, and discards a downlink frame received from a standby headend unit <NUM>-S.

The remote unit directly connected to the headend unit and the sub-remote unit connected to the cascade port of another remote unit restores mobile communication signals from the distributed downlink frame and transmits the mobile communication signals through an antenna in a wireless manner. A plurality of remote units may be connected in cascade.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> are connected to the remote unit of the third branch group <NUM> and the remote unit of the fourth branch group <NUM> through duplication. The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> are each determined as the active headend unit <NUM>-A or the standby headend unit <NUM>-S. In an example shown in <FIG>, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is in the active state, and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> is in the standby state.

When a downlink frame is received from each of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>, the remote unit of the third branch group <NUM> or the fourth branch group <NUM> directly connected to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may store a state bit included in the downlink frame, add the state bit received from each headend unit to a control field of the uplink frame generated by the remote unit or a control field of an uplink frame received from a sub-node connected to the cascade port, and transmit the uplink frame to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>.

Also, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may compare the state bit of the control field included in the uplink frame to its duplication state and may transmit a C&M message notifying of its duplication state to the remote unit that has transmitted the corresponding uplink frame when the state bit does not match the duplication state. According to an aspect of the invention, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may increase a count value when continuously receiving an uplink frame with a state bit value of a control field different from its duplication state from a specific remote unit and may deliver a control command that resets the remote unit that has transmitted the corresponding uplink frame when the count value is greater than a predetermined threshold value.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the remote unit of the third branch group <NUM> or the fourth branch group <NUM> directly connected to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> may perform quality measurement on the downlink frame. At this time, the remote unit may add the measured BER value to the control field of the uplink frame and transmit the uplink frame to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>.

<FIG> is a diagram conceptually showing link duplication of a radio unit through a duplication configuration of a distributed antenna system according to another embodiment. According to another embodiment of the invention, the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> are configured through duplication, and the cascade port of the terminating remote unit of the third branch group <NUM> and the cascade port of the terminating remote unit of the fourth branch group <NUM> are connected through the redundancy link in the "Blocking" state. One of the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> or the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> operates as an active headend unit <NUM>-A.

In this state, when an error occurs in a normal frame transmission path of one branch group, the redundancy link may be activated, and a frame may be transmitted through a normal frame transmission path of another branch group using the activated redundancy link as a bypass.

In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, a connection between physical ports of a device of the third branch group <NUM> and the active headend unit <NUM>-A will be described below. The downlink port of the active headend unit <NUM>-A is connected to the uplink port of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the third branch group <NUM>.

Also, the cascade port of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> is connected to the uplink port of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> for the purpose of service expansion, and the cascade port of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> is connected to the cascade port of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the fourth branch group <NUM> for the purpose of link duplication.

A connection between logical ports of a device of the third branch group <NUM> and the active headend unit <NUM>-A in the embodiment shown in <FIG> will be described below. The DPORT of the active headend unit <NUM>-A is connected to the UPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the third branch group <NUM>, and the DPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> is connected to the UPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> for the purpose of service expansion.

Also, the RPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> is connected to the RPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the fourth branch group <NUM> for the purpose of link duplication. Physically, the cascade port of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> is connected to the cascade port of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the fourth branch group <NUM>.

In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, a forward signal frame that is transmitted through a normal frame transmission path between the active headend unit <NUM>-A and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> is output from the DPORT of the active headend unit <NUM>-A in the "Forwarding B" state and input to the UPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state and is output from the DPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding B" state and input to the UPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state, and a reverse signal frame is output from the UPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state and input to the DPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding B" state and is output from the UPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in the "Forwarding A" state and input to the DPORT of the headend unit <NUM>-A in the "Forwarding B" state. As described above, the frame transmission path is determined according to the state of the logical port of each device.

In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> connected to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in cascade constitute the fourth branch group <NUM>. Connections between physical ports and logical ports of devices of the fourth branch group <NUM> and the active headend unit <NUM>-A may be described in the same manner as the above description of the connection between the physical ports of the devices of the third branch group <NUM>.

The physical cascade port of the remote unit located at the end of the cascade structure of the third branch group <NUM> and the physical cascade port of the remote unit located at the end of the cascade structure of the fourth branch group <NUM> are connected through the redundancy link in the "Blocking" state.

That is, the RPORT of the remote unit located at the end of the cascade connection of the third branch group <NUM> and the RPORT of the remote unit located at the end of the cascade connection of the fourth branch group <NUM> are connected to each other, and each RPORT is managed in the "Blocking" state in order to use this connection as a redundancy link. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the RPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the RPORT of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> are connected to each other, and each RPORT is in the "Blocking" state.

When an error occurs in a normal frame transmission path of one branch group, the distributed antenna system activates the redundancy link and transmits a frame through a normal frame transmission path of another branch group using the activated redundancy link as a bypass to support high availability. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, when frame transmission is not performed due to an error having occurred in a link connection between the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the third branch group <NUM> and the active headend unit <NUM>-A, the redundancy links of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> are activated. In this case, a reverse signal frame in the third branch group <NUM> is delivered to the fourth branch group <NUM> through the redundancy link and transmitted to the active headend unit <NUM>-A through the normal frame transmission path of the fourth branch group <NUM>, and a forward signal frame for the third branch group <NUM> is transmitted to the third branch group <NUM> via the fourth branch group <NUM> through the redundancy link. According to an aspect of the invention, the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the fourth branch group <NUM> may combine a mobile communication signal of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> with mobile communication signals of the remote units of the third branch group <NUM> and transmit the composite signal.

According to another aspect of the invention, when the redundancy link is connected to a remote unit, the remote unit to which the redundancy link is connected transmits redundancy link connection information to all upper nodes connected to the uplink port. In the embodiment shown in <FIG>, the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> transmit the redundancy link connection information.

The first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> receive the redundancy link connection information from the remote unit and store and manage the received redundancy link connection information so that the redundancy link is activated to change the frame transmission path when a link error occurs in the system.

When the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects an error having occurred in a normal frame transmission path of one branch group, the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the activation of the redundancy link from the remote unit at one end to which the redundancy link is connected on the basis of the redundancy link connection information. In this case, by using C&M data, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may request the activation of the redundancy link from a remote unit of another branch group to which the redundancy link is connected from the branch group in which the error has occurred. The active headend unit <NUM>-A may discover the remote unit to which the redundancy link is connected from the stored redundancy link connection information.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A also determines remote units for which frame transmission paths need to be changed on the basis of the topology information. The active headend unit <NUM>-A uses the topology information to determine a device capable of transmitting a frame using a redundancy link from among devices that cannot transmit frames due to a link error and that are included in subordinate devices in the system.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A sends a frame transmission path change request to the determined remote unit. That is, the active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits a port state change request message to a remote unit for which a port state needs to be changed.

Upon receiving a redundancy link activation request, the remote unit requests the activation of the redundancy link by transmitting a redundancy port state change control request to the remote unit at the other end to which the redundancy link is connected through the control field, which is transmitted even in the "Blocking" state, and activates the redundancy link by changing the redundancy port state.

It is assumed that an error occurs in a link connection between the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the third branch group <NUM> and the active headend unit <NUM>-A in the distributed antenna system shown in <FIG>. Upon detecting an error in a corresponding link, the active headend unit <NUM>-A changes the state of the DPORT connected to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> from "Forwarding B" to "Blocking" so as to prevent a loop that may occur due to the redundancy link activation and requests the activation of the redundancy link from the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the fourth branch group <NUM> using the C&M data with reference to the redundancy link connection information. The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> requests the activation of the redundancy link from the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the third branch group <NUM> to which the redundancy link is connected using the control field. The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Blocking" to "Forwarding A. " The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Blocking" to "Forwarding B" to activate the redundancy link. The active headend unit <NUM>-A recognizes, from the topology information, that frames of the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> can be transmitted through the redundancy link and determines the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> as nodes for which frame transmission paths need to be changed. The active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits the C&M data to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> (through the redundancy link) to request the change of the port state. The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Blocking" and changes the state of the DPORT from "Forwarding B" to "Forwarding A. " The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Forwarding B.

<FIG> shows a change of a frame path due to a link error between an active headend unit and a remote unit in the embodiment shown in <FIG>. As shown in <FIG>, a reverse signal frame is transmitted from the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> to the active headend unit <NUM>-A through the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM>, the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM>, and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in sequence, and a forward signal frame is transmitted from the active headend unit <NUM>-A to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> through the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM>, the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM>, and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> in sequence.

According to another aspect of the invention, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may detect the recovery of the error that has occurred. When the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects that the link connection in which the error has occurred is restored, the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the blocking of the redundancy path from the remote unit at one end to which the redundancy link is connected on the basis of the redundancy link connection information. In this case, by using the C&M data, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may request the blocking of the redundancy link from a remote unit of another branch group to which the redundancy link is connected from the branch group in which the error has occurred. The active headend unit <NUM>-A may discover the remote unit to which the redundancy link is connected from the stored redundancy link connection information.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A also determines remote units for which frame transmission paths need to be changed to switch to the normal frame transmission path on the basis of the topology information. The active headend unit <NUM>-A uses the topology information to determine a device for which a frame transmission path is to be changed due to a link error and which requires switching to the normal frame transmission path from among subordinate devices in the system.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits a frame transmission path change request to the determined remote unit. That is, the active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits a port state change request message to a remote unit for which a port state needs to be changed.

Upon receiving a redundancy link blocking request, the hub unit requests the blocking of the redundancy link by transmitting a redundancy port state change control request to the remote unit at the other end to which the redundancy link is connected through the control field and blocks the redundancy link by changing the redundancy port state.

A case in which the link error having occurred between the active headend unit <NUM>-A and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> as shown in <FIG> is recovered will be described below. When the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects the recovery of the error in the corresponding link, the active headend unit <NUM>-A determines the restoration of the normal frame transmission path. The active headend unit <NUM>-A determines a sub-node for which a frame transmission path needs to be changed due to the restoration of the normal frame transmission path on the basis of the topology information. In this example, the active headend unit <NUM>-A determines the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> as nodes for which frame transmission paths need to be changed. The active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits the C&M data to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> and the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> (through the redundancy link) to request the change of the port state. The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Blocking" to "Forwarding A" and changes the state of the DPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Forwarding B. " The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Forwarding B" to "Forwarding A.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the blocking of the redundancy link from the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the fourth branch group <NUM> using the C&M data with reference to the redundancy link connection information. The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> requests the blocking of the redundancy link from the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> of the third branch group <NUM> to which the redundancy link is connected using the control field. The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Blocking. " The remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Forwarding B" to "Blocking" to block the redundancy link.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A changes the state of the DPORT connected to the remote unit <NUM>-<NUM><NUM> from "Blocking" to "Forwarding B" to complete switching to the normal frame transmission path. When the switching is completed, the state of the diagram shown in <FIG> is obtained.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the distributed antenna system in which the headend unit is duplicated may switch an abnormal active headend unit into the standby state and may switch a standby headend unit into the active state.

The switching method for duplication may include an operation in which a hub unit or a remote unit directly connected to a first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and a second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> performs quality measurement on a downlink frame, an operation in which the hub unit or the remote unit directly connected to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> adds a measured BER value to a control field of an uplink frame and transmits the uplink frame to the first headend unit <NUM>-<NUM> and the second headend unit <NUM>-<NUM>, an operation in which an active headend unit <NUM>-A compares the BER value to a predetermined BER threshold value and determines whether to perform switching, and an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A determines to perform the switching and then performs the switching according to the determination when the received BER value is greater than the predetermined BER threshold value.

According to another aspect of the invention, the duplication method for the distributed antenna system includes an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects an error, an operation of determining a sub-node to be controlled, an operation of blocking the downlink port, and an operation of requesting the activation of the redundancy link.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A should be aware of redundancy link connection information and topology information of the distributed antenna system in order to duplicate a frame transmission path. The active headend unit <NUM>-A may acquire the topology information and the redundancy link connection information in the initial setup operation for the distributed antenna system.

<FIG> is a sequence diagram showing an initial setup procedure of a distributed antenna system according to the embodiment shown in <FIG>. As shown in <FIG>, when a link between devices is connected, the active headend unit <NUM>-A and sub-nodes (in this example, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, and the hub unit <NUM><NUM>) exchange a keepalive with each other to check a link connection state and an opponent's state. In this case, the active headend unit <NUM>-A may configure a topology including sub-nodes that transmit a keepalive (S <NUM>).

A redundancy link may also be connected in the "Blocking" state. When the connection is made, devices to which the redundancy link is connected, that is, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, transmit redundancy link connection information to the active headend unit <NUM>-A (S1020 and S1060). The active headend unit <NUM>-A stores received redundancy link connection information (S <NUM>) to complete an initial setup procedure.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects an error is an operation of detecting an error that has occurred in a frame transmission path. As an example, the active headend unit <NUM>-A periodically exchanges a keepalive message with sub-nodes and thus may determine a link error when the keepalive message is not received for a certain period of time. However, the invention is not limited thereto, and a method of detecting hardware abnormality or frame errors may be used.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A determines sub-nodes to be controlled is an operation in which, upon detecting an error having occurred in the frame transmission path, the active headend unit <NUM>-A determines whether to switch the frame transmission path using the redundancy link on the basis of the stored topology information and redundancy link connection information and determines a sub-node for which a redundancy path is to be activated and a frame transmission path is to be changed.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A blocks the downlink port is an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A blocks the downlink port for the frame transmission path in which the error has occurred. The active headend unit <NUM>-A can prevent a frame from being lost because the frame is transmitted in the frame transmission path in which the error has occurred and can prevent a loop that may be generated due to redundancy link activation by blocking its downlink port.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the activation of the redundancy link is an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the activation of the redundancy link from the sub-node at one end to which the redundancy link is connected from the branch group in which the error has occurred. In this case, the request is transmitted using C&M data.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the duplication method for the distributed antenna system may include an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects an error, an operation of determining a sub-node to be controlled, an operation of blocking a downlink port, and an operation of requesting the activation of a redundancy link and may further include an operation in which the sub-node that has received the redundancy link activation request transmits a redundancy port state change request control field, and an operation of activating the redundancy link.

The operation in which the sub-node that has received the redundancy link activation request transmits a redundancy port state change request control field is an operation in which the sub-node that has received the redundancy link activation request transmits the redundancy port state change request to the sub-node at the other end to which the redundancy link is connected through the control field, which is transmitted even in the "Blocking" state. The sub-node that has received the redundancy link activation request may be a hub unit or a remote unit to which the redundancy link is connected. The sub-node at the other end to which the redundancy link is connected may be a hub unit or a remote unit, which is an opponent device to which the redundancy link is connected. However, the redundancy link is connected from one hub unit to another hub unit and is connected from one remote unit to another remote unit.

The operation in which the sub-node that has received the redundancy link activation request activates the redundancy link is an operation in which the sub-node that has received the redundancy link activation request changes its redundancy port state to activate the redundancy link.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the duplication method for the distributed antenna system may include an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects an error, an operation of determining a sub-node to be controlled, an operation of blocking a downlink port, an operation of requesting the activation of a redundancy link, an operation in which the sub-node that has received a redundancy link activation request transmits a redundancy port state change request control field, and an operation of activating the redundancy link and may further include an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests a path setting change.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests a path setting change is an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits a path setting change request to a sub-node determined as a node for which a frame transmission path is to be changed. Upon receiving this request, sub-nodes change the state of logical ports according to the request from the active headend unit <NUM>-A to change the frame transmission path to use the redundancy path.

<FIG> is a sequence diagram showing a frame transmission path switching procedure due to an error that has occurred in a distributed antenna system according to the embodiment shown in <FIG>. The frame transmission path switching will be described below with reference to <FIG>. The active headend unit <NUM>-A detects an error occurring in a normal frame transmission path of one branch group (S2000). The active headend unit <NUM>-A determines whether to switch the frame transmission path using the redundancy link on the basis of the stored topology information and redundancy link connection information and determines a redundancy path to be activated and a sub-node for which a frame transmission path is to be changed (S2020).

The active headend unit <NUM>-A changes the state of the DPORT connected to the branch group in which the error has occurred from "Forwarding B" to "Blocking" (S2040) and transmits a redundancy link activation request to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> to which the redundancy link is connected using C&M data on the basis of the redundancy link connection information (S2060).

The hub unit <NUM><NUM> requests the change of the port state from the hub unit <NUM><NUM> through the control field, which can be transmitted even in the "Blocking" state, (S2100), and upon receiving the request, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Blocking" to "Forwarding A" (S2120). The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Blocking" to "Forwarding B" to activate the redundancy link (S2140).

The active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the change of the frame transmission path by transmitting a port state change request to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> for which port states need to be changed so as to change the frame transmission path (S2160 and S2220). The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Blocking" and changes the state of the EPORT from "Forwarding B" to "Forwarding A" (S2240). The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Forwarding B" (S2180).

The distributed antenna system measures and adjusts the delay of a frame to be transmitted after the frame transmission path is changed (S2280).

According to another aspect of the invention, the duplication method for the distributed antenna system includes an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects the recovery of the error, an operation of determining a sub-node for which a path needs to be changed, an operation of requesting a path setting change, and an operation of requesting the blocking of the redundancy link.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects the recovery of the error is an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects that an error that occurs on the frame transmission path and causes the change of the frame transmission path is recovered.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A determines a sub-node for which a path needs to be changed is an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A determines a sub-node for which a frame transmission path needs to be changed to switch to the normal frame transmission path on the basis of the stored topology information and redundancy link connection information.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests a path setting change is an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests a path setting change from a sub-node determined as a node for which a frame transmission path is to be changed. In this operation, the active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits a port state change request to sub-nodes for which port states should be changed to switch to the normal frame transmission path.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the blocking of the redundancy link is an operation in which, by using C&M data, the active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the blocking of the redundancy link from the sub-node at one end to which the redundancy link is connected from the branch group in which the error is recovered.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the duplication method for the distributed antenna system may include an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects the recovery of the error, an operation of determining a sub-node for which a path needs to be changed, an operation of requesting a path setting change, and an operation of requesting the blocking of the redundancy link and may further include an operation in which a sub-node that has received the redundancy link blocking request transmits a redundancy port state change request control field and an operation of blocking the redundancy link.

The operation in which the sub-node that has received the redundancy link blocking request transmits a redundancy port state change request control field is an operation of transmitting, through the control field, a redundancy port state change request to the sub-node at the other end to which the redundancy link is connected. The sub-node that has received the redundancy link blocking request may be a hub unit or a remote unit to which the redundancy link is connected. The sub-node at the other end to which the redundancy link is connected may be a hub unit or a remote unit, which is an opponent device to which the redundancy link is connected. However, the redundancy link is connected from one hub unit to another hub unit and is connected from one remote unit to another remote unit.

The operation in which the sub-node that has received the redundancy link blocking request blocks the redundancy link is an operation in which the sub-node that has received the redundancy link blocking request changes its redundancy port state to block the redundancy link.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the duplication method for the distributed antenna system may include an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A detects the recovery of the error, an operation of determining a sub-node for which a path needs to be changed, an operation of requesting a path setting change, an operation of requesting the blocking of the redundancy link, an operation in which a sub-node that has received the redundancy link blocking request transmits a redundancy port state change request control field, and an operation of blocking the redundancy link and may further include an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A activates the downlink port.

The operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A activates the downlink port is an operation in which the active headend unit <NUM>-A activates the downlink port for the frame transmission path in which an error has occurred. When the active headend unit <NUM>-A activates the downlink port before the frame transmission path is completely restored to the normal frame transmission path, frames may be lost, and a loop may occur on the frame transmission path. Accordingly, after blocking the redundancy link and changing the port state of sub-nodes to a state that allows the restoration to the normal frame transmission path, the active headend unit <NUM>-A activates the downlink port of the active headend unit <NUM>-A last.

<FIG> is a sequence diagram showing a procedure of recovering an error and restoring a normal frame transmission path in a distributed antenna system according to the embodiment shown in <FIG>. A procedure in which a frame transmission path is restored into a normal frame transmission path will be described with reference to <FIG>. The active headend unit <NUM>-A detects that a link connection error of a branch group in which the error has occurred is recovered (S3000). The active headend unit <NUM>-A notifies an element management system (EMS) <NUM> that the link error is recovered (S3020). In this case, the EMS <NUM> may send a link error recovery approval request (an approval request for restoration to a normal frame transmission path) to an administrator (ADMIN) <NUM> (S3040) and may receive the approval from the administrator <NUM> and proceed with the recovery procedure (S3060). However, this is optional and is not a necessary procedure.

The active headend unit <NUM>-A determines to restore the normal frame transmission path and determines a redundancy path to be blocked and a sub-node for which a frame transmission path is to be changed on the basis of the stored topology information and redundancy link connection information (S3100).

The active headend unit <NUM>-A requests the change of the frame transmission path by transmitting a port state change request to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> for which port states need to be changed so as to restore the normal frame transmission path (S3120 and S3180). The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Blocking" to "Forwarding A" and changes the state of the EPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Forwarding B" (S3140). The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the UPORT from "Forwarding B" to "Forwarding A" (S3200).

The active headend unit <NUM>-A transmits a redundancy link blocking request to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> to which the redundancy link is connected using C&M data on the basis of the redundancy link connection information (S3240).

The hub unit <NUM><NUM> requests the change of the port state from the hub unit <NUM><NUM> through the control field (S3280), and the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, which has received the request, changes the state of RPORT from "Forwarding A" to "Blocking" (S3300). The hub unit <NUM><NUM> changes the state of the RPORT from "Forwarding B" to "Blocking" to block the redundancy link (S3320).

The active headend unit <NUM>-A changes the state of the DPORT connected to the branch group in which the error is recovered from "Blocking" to "Forwarding B" to complete restoration of the normal frame transmission path.

The distributed antenna system measures and adjusts the delay of a frame to be transmitted after the frame transmission path is changed (S3360).

<FIG> shows a connection between system units of a distributed antenna system in a data plane side and a control plane side, and <FIG> shows changes in a data plane when a link error occurs in a connection between system units of a distributed antenna system.

<FIG> shows that signal data and C&M data are delivered in a data plane and a control field is delivered in a control plane. In this case, the active headend unit <NUM>-A is connected to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the first branch group <NUM>, the hub unit <NUM><NUM> is connected to the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the active headend unit <NUM>-A is connected to the hub unit <NUM><NUM> of the second branch group <NUM>, and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> is connected to the hub unit <NUM><NUM>.

In a connection between system units <NUM> shown in <FIG>, the data plane for processing the signal data and the C&M data is divided into two networks. The data plane is divided into a network including the active headend unit <NUM>-A, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and a network including the active headend unit <NUM>-A, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, and the hub unit <NUM><NUM>. The signal data and the C&M data are transmitted in the same network.

Since the control field is transmitted between directly connected units and is transmitted even in the "Blocking" state, there are five networks as shown in <FIG>.

As described in <FIG>, when an error occurs in a link connected between the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the network division of the data plane is changed. The data plane is divided into a network including the active headend unit <NUM>-A and the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and a network including the active headend unit <NUM>-A, the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the hub unit <NUM>, and hub unit <NUM>. The control plane does not allow the network division to be changed. However, a network state between the hub unit <NUM><NUM> and the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, the state of the hub unit <NUM><NUM>, and the state of the hub unit <NUM><NUM> are changed.

The present invention has been described above with reference to embodiments referring to the accompanying drawings, but is not limited thereto. Rather, the present invention should be construed as encompassing various modifications that may be apparent to those skilled in the art but without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claim 1:
A distributed antenna system connected to a first base station (<NUM>-<NUM>) and a second base station (<NUM>-<NUM>), which provide a duplication-based service, and configured to support high availability, the distributed antenna system comprising:
a first headend unit (<NUM>-<NUM>) configured to receive a mobile communication signal from the first base station (<NUM>-<NUM>), generate and transmit a downlink frame, and configure and manage topology information of the distributed antenna system;
a second headend unit (<NUM>-<NUM>) configured to receive a mobile communication signal from the second base station (<NUM>-<NUM>), generate and transmit a downlink frame, and configure and manage topology information of the distributed antenna system; and
a first branch group (<NUM>) and a second branch group (<NUM>) each comprising a hub unit (<NUM>, <NUM>) branched from and connected to the first headend unit (<NUM>-<NUM>) and the second headend unit (<NUM>-<NUM>) and configured to distribute a downlink received from the first headend unit (<NUM>-<NUM>) or the second headend unit (<NUM>-<NUM>) to a plurality of remote units (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) connected to the hub unit (<NUM>, <NUM>) as a sub-node and configured to restore a mobile communication signal from the distributed downlink frame and transmit the mobile communication signal in a wireless manner,
wherein
one of the first headend unit (<NUM>-<NUM>) or the second headend unit (<NUM>-<NUM>) is in an active state (<NUM>-A), the other headend unit is in a standby state (<NUM>-S), and each headend unit (<NUM>-<NUM>, <NUM>-<NUM>) adds a state bit indicating a duplication state to a control field of the downlink frame and then transmits the downlink frame, and
the hub unit (<NUM>, <NUM>) of the first branch group (<NUM>) or the second branch group (<NUM>) that has received the downlink frame delivers only a frame received from an active headend unit (<NUM>-A) to the plurality of remote units (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) connected to the hub unit (<NUM>, <NUM>) as a sub-node.