System and method for managing base stations in a wireless system

Abstract

A communications system includes a base station operable to communicate with a terminal unit over a wireless interface and a packet network coupled to the base station and operable to communicate with the base station. The communications system also includes a network management system coupled to the packet network. The network management system is operable to generate a management message to manage the base station. The network management system is also operable to transparently communicate the management message to the base station and to transparently receive a response to the management message from the base station.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A method for managing base stations in a wireless system, comprising: 
       generating a management message for the base station;  
       transparently communicating the management message from a network management system to the base station; and  
       transparently receiving a response to the management message at the network management system from the base station.  
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein communicating the message to the base station comprises communicating the message to a router coupled to a packet network. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein communicating the message to the base station further comprises communicating the message from the router to an access router coupled to the base station and the packet network. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein communicating the message to the base station comprises communicating the message to the base station using an Internet Protocol address of the base station. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein communicating the message to the base station comprises multicasting the message to a plurality of base stations. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , further comprising receiving an Internet Group Membership Protocol (IGMP) message from each base station, and wherein multicasting the message to the plurality of base stations comprises multicasting the messages to the plurality of base stations using the IGMP messages from the base stations. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 5 , wherein receiving a response to the management message from the base station comprises receiving a response to the management message from each of the plurality of base stations. 
     
     
       8. A communications system, comprising: 
       a base station operable to communicate with a terminal unit over a wireless interface;  
       a packet network coupled to the base station and operable to communicate with the base station; and  
       a network management system coupled to the packet network, the network management system operable to generate a management message to manage the base station, the network management system also operable to transparently communicate the management message to the base station and to transparently receive a response to the management message from the base station.  
     
     
       9. The communications system of  claim 8 , wherein the packet network comprises an Internet Protocol network. 
     
     
       10. The communications system of  claim 8 , wherein the network management system comprises: 
       a gateway management platform operable to manage a circuit-switched gateway coupled to the packet network;  
       a router management platform operable to manage a router coupled to the packet network; and  
       a wireless management platform operable to manage the base station.  
     
     
       11. The communications system of  claim 8 , further comprising a router coupled to the network management system and the packet network, the router operable to communicate the management message to the base station and to receive the response from the base station. 
     
     
       12. The communications system of  claim 11 , wherein the base station comprises a first base station; 
       further comprising a second base station coupled to the packet network; and  
       wherein the router comprises a multicast router operable to communicate the management message to the first and second base stations.  
     
     
       13. The communications system of  claim 12 , wherein the network management system is operable to transparently receive a response to the management message from the first and second base stations. 
     
     
       14. The communications system of  claim 8 , further comprising: 
       a circuit-switched gateway coupled to the packet network and operable to communicate with a circuit-switched network; and  
       a packet-switched gateway coupled to the packet network and operable to communicate with another packet network.  
     
     
       15. A network management system for managing base stations in a wireless system, comprising: 
       a router operable to communicate with the base station through a packet network; and  
       a wireless management platform coupled to the router, the wireless management platform operable to generate a management message to manage the base station, the wireless management platform also operable to transparently communicate the management message to the base station and to transparently receive a response to the management message from the base station.  
     
     
       16. The network management system of  claim 15 , further comprising a local area network coupled to the router and the wireless management platform, the local area network operable to transfer the management message and the response between the wireless management platform and the router. 
     
     
       17. The network management system of  claim 15 , wherein the router communicates the message to the base station using an Internet Protocol address of the base station. 
     
     
       18. The network management system of  claim 15 , wherein the router comprises a multicast router operable to multicast the management message to a plurality of base stations coupled to the packet network. 
     
     
       19. The network management system of  claim 18 , wherein the wireless management platform is operable to transparently receive a response to the management message from each of the plurality of base stations. 
     
     
       20. The network management system of  claim 15 , further comprising: 
       a router management platform coupled to the router and operable to manage the router; and  
       a gateway management platform coupled to the router and operable to manage a circuit-switched gateway coupled to the packet network.