JP7204644B2 - Systems and methods for distributing radio heads - Google Patents

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims the benefit of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/413,944, entitled "System and Methods For Distributing Radiohead," filed Oct. 27, 2016. do.

This application also claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/380,126, entitled "Systems and Methods for Mitigating Interference within Actively Used Spectrum," filed Aug. 26, 2016. , a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. Patent Application No. 15/682,076, filed Aug. 21, 2017, entitled "Systems And Methods For Mitigating Interference Within Actively Used Spectrum," , co-pending U.S. Patent Application No. 15/682,076, filed Aug. 21, 2017; , 479, U.S. patent application Ser. This is a continuation-in-part application entitled "Systems and Methods for Concurrent Spectrum Usage Within Actively Used Spectrum."

This application may be related to the following co-pending U.S. patent applications and U.S. provisional patent applications:

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/380,126, entitled "Systems and Methods for Mitigating Interference within Actively Used Spectrum"

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/611,565, entitled "Systems and Methods for Mapping Virtual Radio Instances into Physical Areas of Coherence in Distributed Antenna Wireless Systems";

US patent application Ser. No. 14/086,700, entitled "Systems and Methods for Exploiting Inter-cell Multiplexing Gain in Wireless Cellular Systems Via Distributed Input Distributed Output Technology";

U.S. patent application Ser.

US patent application Ser. No. 13/797,984, entitled "Systems and Methods for Exploiting Inter-cell Multiplexing Gain in Wireless Cellular Systems Via Distributed Input Distributed Output Technology";

No. 13/797,971, entitled "Systems and Methods for Exploiting Inter-cell Multiplexing Gain in Wireless Cellular Systems Via Distributed Input Distributed Output Technology";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/797,950, entitled "Systems and Methods for Exploiting Inter-cell Multiplexing Gain in Wireless Cellular Systems Via Distributed Input Distributed Output Technology"

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/233,006, entitled "System and Methods for planned evolution and obsolescence of multiuser spectrum";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/232,996, entitled "Systems and Methods to Exploit Areas of Coherence in Wireless Systems";

No. 12/802,989, entitled "System And Method For Managing Handoff Of A Client Between Different Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output (DIDO) Networks Based On Detected Technology";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/802,988, entitled "Interference Management, Handoff, Power Control And Link Adaptation In Distributed-Input Distributed-Output (DIDO) Communication Systems";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/802,975, entitled "System And Method For Link adaptation In DIDO Multicarrier Systems";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/802,974, entitled "System And Method For Managing Inter-Cluster Handoff Of Clients Which Traverse Multiple DIDO Clusters";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/802,958, entitled "System And Method For Power Control And Antenna Grouping In A Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output (DIDO) Network";

U.S. Pat. No. 9685,997, entitled "Systems and Methods to enhance spatial diversity in distributed-input distributed-output wireless systems"

U.S. Patent No. 9,386,465, issued July 5, 2016, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Antenna Wireless Communications";

U.S. Patent No. 9,369,888, issued Jun. 14, 2016, entitled "Systems and Methods To Coordinate Transmissions In Distributed Wireless Systems Via User Clustering";

U.S. Patent No. 9,312,929, issued Apr. 12, 2016, entitled "System and Methods to Compensate for Doppler Effects in Distributed-Input Distributed Output Systems."

U.S. Pat. No. 8,989,155, issued March 24, 2015, entitled "Systems and Methods for Wireless Backhaul in Distributed-Input Distributed-Output Wireless Systems."

U.S. Pat. No. 8,971,380, issued March 3, 2015, entitled "System And Method For Adjusting DIDO Interference Cancellation Based On Signal Strength Measurements."

U.S. Patent No. 8,654,815, issued Feb. 18, 2014, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communications";

U.S. Patent No. 8,571,086, issued Oct. 29, 2013, entitled "System and Method for DIDO Precoding Interpolation in Multicarrier Systems."

U.S. Patent No. 8,542,763, issued September 24, 2013, entitled "Systems and Methods To Coordinate Transmissions In Distributed Wireless Systems Via User Clustering";

U.S. Patent No. 8,428,162, issued Apr. 23, 2013, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communications";

U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,081, issued May 1, 2012, entitled "System And Method For Adjusting DIDO Interference Cancellation Based On Signal Strength Measurements."

U.S. Pat. No. 8,160,121, issued Apr. 17, 2012, entitled "System and Method For Distributed Input-Distributed Output Wireless Communications";

U.S. Patent No. 7,885,354, issued Feb. 8, 2011, entitled "System and Method For Enhancing Near Vertical Incidence Skywave ("NVIS") Communication Using Space-Time Coding."

U.S. Pat. No. 7,711,030, issued May 4, 2010, entitled "System and Method For Spatial-Multiplexed Tropospheric Scatter Communications."

U.S. Pat. No. 7,636,381, issued Dec. 22, 2009, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communication";

U.S. Patent No. 7,633,994, issued Dec. 15, 2009, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communication";

U.S. Pat. No. 7,599,420, issued Oct. 6, 2009, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communication";

U.S. Pat. No. 7,418,053, issued Aug. 26, 2008, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communication."

As the density of wireless communication systems steadily increases, radio placement becomes increasingly difficult. There are challenges in finding a physical location to hold the radios, challenges in providing the backhaul and/or fronthaul (as used herein "fronthaul" is the refers to the communication infrastructure that conveys radio signals in some form to radio heads, as opposed to "backhaul" as used herein, which conveys user data to base stations that generate radio waveforms for . In conventional cellular systems (e.g., LTE, UMTS) or conventional interference avoidance systems (e.g., Wi-Fi), to optimize performance and frequency reuse, base station or antenna planning is It requires placing radios in specific locations and avoiding other locations to mitigate interference. Then, even assuming technical problems can be overcome, there are local and central government restrictions on radio and antenna placement, for example, due to concerns about the visual appearance of radios and antennas. Even if a radio or antenna meets government approval criteria, the approval process can be very slow and it can take years before an antenna deployment is approved.

Throughout the history of wireless communications, the type of radio technology (e.g., satellite, mobile, television, etc.), the frequency of transmission (e.g., HF, VHF, UHF, microwave, mmWave, etc.), and the directivity of transmission (e.g., global There have been a huge number of different approaches to deploying radios and antennas depending on directionality, high gain or narrow beams, etc.). Aesthetic considerations are also often taken, from simple efforts such as painting radios and antennas to match their surroundings, to clever efforts such as making a cellular tower look like a palm tree. It's been broken

To achieve optimal performance in traditional cellular and interference avoidance networks, radios and antennas must be placed according to a specific plan (e.g., not too far apart to lose coverage and to avoid inter-cell interference). not too close to each other), these requirements often conflict with other constraints such as field mounting solutions and backhaul and/or fronthaul availability. Also, in many situations (e.g. historic buildings) governments will not allow anything mounted on or near a building that alters the appearance of the building, so a radio or antenna solution is I do not accept.

Radios and antennas are placed on towers, rooftops, utility poles, power lines, and are tied between utility poles. Radios and antennas are placed in indoor locations such as ceilings, walls, shelves, and tabletops. Radios are also located on structural elements within the stadium, under seats, etc. Specialized antennas such as "leaky feeders" (described below) are placed inside the tunnel. In short, radios and antennas have been placed everywhere imaginable.

Examples of prior art efforts to attach radios and antennas to power lines include those disclosed in US Pat. No. 7,862,837, US Pat. Prior art efforts for mounting radios and antennas on utility poles include, for example, the Metricom Ricochet packet communications network, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,068,630. Including efforts.

A utility pole 400 or 401 as shown in prior art FIG. Sometimes referred to as a conveyed "feed space". The typically low zone where it is safe for workers to install communication cables and equipment is sometimes referred to as the "communication space", and communication cables and equipment are placed in this zone of prior art FIG. is indicated by

Some prior art systems place radios and/or antennas within feed zones on utility poles and/or radios, as shown in FIG. radios and/or antennas are placed on those power lines shown with radios and/or antennas 420 and 421 .

Some prior art systems place radios and/or antennas within a communication zone on a utility pole, as shown in FIG. 5 with radios and/or antennas 550 and 551, Or, place the antennas on a cable (often a telecommunications cable) tied between the radios and/or utility poles shown with antennas 540 and 541 . The backhaul or fronthaul, which may be carried by communication cables 531, which are typically electrical (e.g. copper) or fibre, are often protected by insulation or external ducts 530 and are made of braided steel. Structural support is derived from cables 532, which are often mechanically strong. The radios are mounted on poles and/or cabling, after which they are coupled to antennas either on the poles or cabling, or embedded in the radios, as shown in FIG. . In some prior art systems, the radio often draws power from the power line through a step-down power supply 561 and is measured by a power meter 560 so that the utility supplying the power can assess the cost of use. Radios such as 550 and 551 can also be used for backhaul or fronthaul.

FIG. 6 shows a prior art configuration with an antenna and/or radio on a lamppost. Light poles, as used herein, are utility poles that do not have aerial power or communication cables between them. Antennas 601 and 602 may be coupled to radios 611 and 612, or they may be in the same enclosure as the radios, so separate radios 611 or 612 are not required. The backhaul or fronthaul cabling (e.g., copper or fiber) is carried through an underground conduit 630 (shown in dashed lines to indicate that the conduit is underground and not visible); Or the backhaul or fronthaul could be carried through a radio link between the lampposts. If the backhaul or fronthaul is underground, it is typically routed from an underground conduit through the interior of the lamppost (e.g., if it is metal or hollow), or as shown at 621 and 622. It is conveyed through conduits or ducts from the ground to the sides of the lamppost, either through radios 611 and 612, or directly to the top of the lamppost. The approach of using underground conduits in the backhaul or fronthaul as shown in FIG. The cabling is carried either through the interior of the utility pole (eg, if it is metal and hollow) or through conduits or ducts from the ground to the side of the utility pole.

Backhaul and/or fronthaul (whether radios on poles or located elsewhere) can be used to connect radios over a wide range of media including coaxial, fiber, line-of-sight, non-line-of-sight, etc. can provide. A wide range of protocols including Ethernet, Common Public Radio Interface (“CPRI”), Multimedia Alliance over Coax (“MoCA”), Data Service Interface Standard over Cable (“DOCSIS”), Broadband over Powerline (“BPL”), etc. can be used in the medium.

A wide variety of switches, splitters, and hubs can be used to distribute wired (eg, copper, fiber, etc.) communications. Analog splitters are often used to split coax connections (eg, to split DOCSIS and/or MoCA data). Outlet coupling can be used to distribute the BPL. Ethernet switches and hubs are often used to distribute copper and fiber Ethernet connections. Many radios made for home and commercial applications have built-in switches for the convenience of passing Ethernet, so that when the radio is plugged into an Ethernet cable, it can be used by other devices. There is another ethernet jack on the radio that can be used to plug into.

Another prior art technique that has been used to distribute wireless connectivity over cables is the so-called "leaky feeder" or "leaky cable". A leaky feeder is a cable that carries radio signals, but intentionally leaks and absorbs radio emissions through the sides of the cable. An exemplary prior art leaky cable 700 is shown in FIG. It is very similar to a coaxial cable in that it has a conformal jacket 701, an outer conductor 702 (e.g. copper foil), a dielectric 704 (e.g. dielectric foam), and an inner conductor 705 (e.g. copper wire). are doing. However, unlike coaxial cables, there are openings 703 in the outer conductor 702 that allow radio radiation to propagate into and out of the leaky feeder 700 .

Leaky feeders are often used in tunnels or shafts (eg, mining tunnels, subway tunnels) where they are mounted on the sides of the tunnel or shaft so as to run along the length of the tunnel or shaft. In this way, regardless of where the user is within the tunnel or shaft, the user will have wireless connectivity to nearby parts of the leaky feeder. Since leaky feeders leak radio energy, they often have radio frequency amplifiers inserted periodically to boost the signal power. If two or more leaky feeders operate together, prior art MIMO techniques can be used to increase capacity.

Deploying a leaky feeder is convenient and quick in that it resembles a cabling deployment, with amplifiers periodically deployed across the length of the leaky feeder to repeatedly restore signal strength.

A fundamental limitation of leaky feeders is that the same channel is shared for the entire length of the leaky feeder cabling. Thus, users at one end of the leaky feeder share a channel with users at the center of the leaky feeder and users at the ends of the leaky feeder. This may be acceptable for applications where users are sparsely distributed along the length of the leaky feeder or where there are low data capacity requirements by the users (e.g. for voice communications in mining tunnels or shafts). No, but applications with a high density of users and/or high data capacity requirements by users, as they will share the same channel over the entire length of the leaky feeder despite the fact that they are very far from each other not suitable for Leaky feeders are therefore convenient to deploy, as they are like deploying cabling with periodic amplifiers, but their deployment does not lend itself to densification in order to provide coverage. function.

As noted above, regardless of what prior art is used to deploy the radios and/or antennas, and how the backhaul or fronthaul is provisioned, current wireless systems , facing the challenge of densification. Provides highly efficient and reliable coverage and service, is easy and quick to deploy, and is excellent for densification to avoid obtrusiveness and/or government restrictions. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. The following teachings address these issues.

A better understanding of the invention can be obtained from the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings.

The general framework of DIDO, the currently branded pCell™, radio access network (DRAN), and other multi-user multi-antenna system (MU-MAS) networks are shown. 1 shows a protocol stack for a Virtual Radio Instance (VRI) consistent with the OSI model and LTE standards. 1 shows a protocol stack for a Virtual Radio Instance (VRI) consistent with the OSI model and LTE standards. Shown are adjacent DRANs for extending coverage in DIDO, the now branded pCell™, wireless networks, and other MU-MAS networks. 1 is a prior art illustration of a utility pole with radios and/or antennas in a "feeding space"; 1 is a prior art illustration of a telephone pole with radios and/or antennas in a "communication space"; 1 is a prior art illustration of a lamppost with radio and/or antenna; 1 is a prior art illustration of a leaky feeder; 1 illustrates a coaxial cable embodiment of a wireless daisy chain; 1 illustrates a twisted pair embodiment of a wireless daisy chain; Fig. 3 shows a fiber embodiment of a wireless daisy chain; Fig. 3 shows a coaxial and twisted pair embodiment of a wireless daisy chain; Figure 10 illustrates one embodiment of a daisy chain radio architecture showing the basic architecture; 1 illustrates one embodiment of a daisy chain radio architecture showing timing distribution. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a daisy chain radio architecture showing power distribution. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a daisy chain radio architecture showing RF distribution. Figure 10 illustrates one embodiment of a daisy chain radio architecture showing a daisy chain network implemented through splitters. Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a daisy chain radio with sleeves or ducts; Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a daisy chain radio with a sleeve or duct with one or more passing cables; Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of a daisy chain radio with sleeves or ducts having one or more passing cables and supporting strands. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a daisy chain radio with a sleeve or duct with one or more passing cables and a support strand with data and/or power combiners. FIG. 2 is a diagram of a utility pole with daisy chain radios; Fig. 2 is a diagram of a lamppost with daisy chain radios; Fig. 2 is a drawing of a building with daisy chain radios; FIG. 4 is a diagram of daisy chain radios in a non-linear deployment pattern; FIG. 3 is a diagram of daisy chained radios in an array; Fig. 2 is a diagram of daisy chain radios deployed in a cloud radio access network;

One solution to overcome many of the above prior art limitations is the daisy chain network and power cables and small distributed radio heads utilized in multi-user multi-antenna systems (MU-MAS). By making radio heads extremely small, they can be physically as small as cabling, so installing daisy-chained radios is analogous to cable installation. Not only are cable installations often much easier than antenna and radio installations, cable deployments often do not require government permits and in most cases they are large antennas or large radio enclosures. Approving permissions is much easier than deploying Also, from an aesthetic point of view, cables can often be partially or completely hidden from view, whereas hiding conventional radios and/or antennas can be more difficult or impractical. .

Further, in the detailed embodiments below, spectral efficiency is measured while using Distributed Input Distributed Output (“DIDO”) technology and other MU-MAS techniques described in the following patents, patent applications, and provisional applications: Or it can be greatly increased by implementing both networks, all of which are assigned to the assignee of this patent and incorporated by reference. These patents, applications, and provisional applications may be collectively referred to herein as "related patents and applications."

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/380,126, entitled "Systems and Methods for Mitigating Interference within Actively Used Spectrum"

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/380,126, entitled "Systems and Methods for Mitigating Interference within Actively Used Spectrum"

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/672,014, entitled "Systems and Methods for Concurrent Spectrum Usage Within Actively Used Spectrum";

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/980,479, filed April 16, 2014, entitled "Systems and Methods for Concurrent Spectrum Usage Within Actively Used Spectrum";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/611,565, entitled "Systems and Methods for Mapping Virtual Radio Instances into Physical Areas of Coherence in Distributed Antenna Wireless Systems";

US patent application Ser. No. 14/086,700, entitled "Systems and Methods for Exploiting Inter-cell Multiplexing Gain in Wireless Cellular Systems Via Distributed Input Distributed Output Technology";

U.S. patent application Ser.

US patent application Ser. No. 13/797,984, entitled "Systems and Methods for Exploiting Inter-cell Multiplexing Gain in Wireless Cellular Systems Via Distributed Input Distributed Output Technology";

No. 13/797,971, entitled "Systems and Methods for Exploiting Inter-cell Multiplexing Gain in Wireless Cellular Systems Via Distributed Input Distributed Output Technology";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/797,950, entitled "Systems and Methods for Exploiting Inter-cell Multiplexing Gain in Wireless Cellular Systems Via Distributed Input Distributed Output Technology"

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/233,006, entitled "System and Methods for planned evolution and obsolescence of multiuser spectrum";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/232,996, entitled "Systems and Methods to Exploit Areas of Coherence in Wireless Systems";

No. 12/802,989, entitled "System And Method For Managing Handoff Of A Client Between Different Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output (DIDO) Networks Based On Detected Technology";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/802,988, entitled "Interference Management, Handoff, Power Control And Link Adaptation In Distributed-Input Distributed-Output (DIDO) Communication Systems";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/802,975, entitled "System And Method For Link adaptation In DIDO Multicarrier Systems";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/802,974, entitled "System And Method For Managing Inter-Cluster Handoff Of Clients Which Traverse Multiple DIDO Clusters";

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/802,958, entitled "System And Method For Power Control And Antenna Grouping In A Distributed-Input-Distributed-Output (DIDO) Network";

U.S. Patent No. 9,685,997, entitled "Systems and Methods to enhance spatial diversity in distributed-input distributed-output wireless systems"

U.S. Patent No. 9,386,465, issued July 5, 2016, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Antenna Wireless Communications";

U.S. Patent No. 9,369,888, issued Jun. 14, 2016, entitled "Systems and Methods To Coordinate Transmissions In Distributed Wireless Systems Via User Clustering";

U.S. Patent No. 9,312,929, issued Apr. 12, 2016, entitled "System and Methods to Compensate for Doppler Effects in Distributed-Input Distributed Output Systems."

U.S. Pat. No. 8,989,155, issued March 24, 2015, entitled "Systems and Methods for Wireless Backhaul in Distributed-Input Distributed-Output Wireless Systems."

U.S. Pat. No. 8,971,380, issued March 3, 2015, entitled "System And Method For Adjusting DIDO Interference Cancellation Based On Signal Strength Measurements."

U.S. Patent No. 8,654,815, issued Feb. 18, 2014, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communications";

U.S. Patent No. 8,571,086, issued Oct. 29, 2013, entitled "System and Method for DIDO Precoding Interpolation in Multicarrier Systems."

U.S. Patent No. 8,542,763, issued September 24, 2013, entitled "Systems and Methods To Coordinate Transmissions In Distributed Wireless Systems Via User Clustering";

U.S. Patent No. 8,428,162, issued Apr. 23, 2013, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communications";

U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,081, issued May 1, 2012, entitled "System And Method For Adjusting DIDO Interference Cancellation Based On Signal Strength Measurements."

U.S. Pat. No. 8,160,121, issued Apr. 17, 2012, entitled "System and Method For Distributed Input-Distributed Output Wireless Communications";

U.S. Pat. No. 7,885,354, issued Feb. 8, 2011, entitled "System and Method for Enhancing Near Vertical Incidence Skywave ("NVIS") Communication Using Space-Time Coding. ”

U.S. Pat. No. 7,711,030, issued May 4, 2010, entitled "System and Method For Spatial-Multiplexed Tropospheric Scatter Communications."

U.S. Pat. No. 7,636,381, issued Dec. 22, 2009, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communication";

U.S. Patent No. 7,633,994, issued Dec. 15, 2009, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communication";

U.S. Pat. No. 7,599,420, issued Oct. 6, 2009, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communication";

U.S. Pat. No. 7,418,053, issued Aug. 26, 2008, entitled "System and Method for Distributed Input Distributed Output Wireless Communication."
1. 1. Systems and Methods for Distributing Radio Heads 1.1 MU-MAS Systems Improved by Embodiments of the Present Invention

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are disclosed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/611,565, entitled "Systems and Methods for Mapping Virtual Radio Instances into Physical Areas of Coherence in Distributed Antennas is a continuation-in-part application), and other related patents and applications, as well as their counterparts filed in other countries. Figures 1, 2, and 3 and the following six paragraphs describing them are referenced in US patent application Ser. and FIG. 3, and paragraph numbers [0074-0080].

A presently preferred embodiment provides a system and method for delivering multiple simultaneous non-interfering data streams within the same frequency band between a network and multiple regions of coherence in a wireless link through a virtual radio instance (VRI). A system and method for improving the In one embodiment, the system is a multi-user multiple antenna system (MU-MAS), as shown in FIG. The color-coded (using patterns instead of colors) units in FIG. 1 show a one-to-one mapping between data sources 101, VRIs 106, and regions of coherence 103, as described below.

In FIG. 1, data source 101 is a data file or stream carrying web content or files in a local or remote server, such as text, images, audio, video, or a combination thereof. One or more data files or streams are transmitted or received between network 102 and all coherence regions 103 over wireless link 110 . In one embodiment, the network is the Internet or any wired or wireless local area network.

A region of coherence is such that only one VRI's data output 112 is received within that region of coherence without any interference from other data outputs from other VRIs simultaneously transmitted over the same radio link. In the method, is the volume of space in which the waveforms from the different antennas of the MU-MAS coherently sum. In the present patent application, coherence volumes or private cells as described in an earlier patent application [U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 13/232,996, entitled "Systems and Methods to Exploit Areas of Coherence in Wireless Systems"]. (eg, "pCells™" 103) we use the term "region of coherence". In one embodiment, the regions of coherence correspond to user equipment (UE) 111 or wireless network subscriber locations such that every subscriber is associated with one or more data sources 101 . Regions of coherence can vary in size and shape depending on the propagation conditions and the type of MU-MAS precoding technique used to generate them. In one embodiment of the present invention, the MU-MAS precoder dynamically adjusts the size and shape of the regions of coherence to adapt to changing propagation conditions while delivering content to users with good link reliability. .

Data source 101 is first transmitted through network 102 to DIDO radio access network (DRAN) 104 . The DRAN then translates the data file or stream into a data format that can be received by the UE and transmits the data file or stream to multiple coherence regions simultaneously, so that all UEs can It receives its own data file or stream without interference from other data files or streams sent to the UE. The DRAN consists of gateway 105 as an interface between the network and VRI 106 . The VRI translates the packets forwarded by the gateway into a data stream 112, either as raw data or in a packet or frame structure supplied to the MU-MAS baseband unit. In one embodiment, the VRI is an open system interconnection consisting of several layers: application layer, presentation layer, session layer, transport layer, network layer, data link layer, and physical layer, as shown in Figure 2a. (OSI) protocol stack. In another embodiment, the VRI includes only a subset of the OSI layers.

In another embodiment, VRIs are defined from different wireless standards. By way of example and not limitation, the first VRI is the protocol stack from the GSM standard, the second VRI from the 3G standard, the third VRI from the HSPA+ standard, the fourth VRI from the LTE standard, LTE-A. It consists of the 5th VRI from the standard and the 6th VRI from the Wi-Fi standard. In an exemplary embodiment, the VRI includes a control plane or user plane protocol stack defined by the LTE standard. The user plane protocol stack is shown in Figure 2b. Every UE 202 communicates with its own VRI 204 through the PHY, MAC, RLC, and PDCP layers, with the gateway 203 through the IP layer, and with the network 205 through the application layer. Regarding the control plane protocol stack, the UE also communicates directly with the Mobility Management Entity (MME) through the NAS (defined in the LTE standard stack) layer.

The Virtual Connection Manager (VCM) 107 is responsible for the allocation of PHY layer identities of UEs (eg, cell-specific Radio Network Temporary Identifiers, RNTIs), authentication, and VRI and UE mobility. A data stream 112 at the output of the VRI is provided to a virtual radio manager (VRM) 108 . The VRM consists of a scheduler unit (which schedules DL (downlink) and UL (uplink) packets to different UEs), a baseband unit (e.g. FEC encoder/decoder, modulator/demodulator, resource grid builder). ), as well as a MU-MAS baseband processor (consisting of precoding methods). In one embodiment, data stream 112 is the I/Q samples at the output of the PHY layer of FIG. 2b processed by the MU-MAS baseband processor. In different embodiments, data stream 112 is MAC, RLC, or PDCP packets, which are sent to the scheduler unit, which forwards them to the baseband unit. The baseband unit converts the packets to I/Q that are fed to the MU-MAS baseband processor.

The MU-MAS baseband processor is the core of the VRM that converts M I/Q samples from M VRIs into N data streams 113 that are transmitted to N access points (APs) 109 . In one embodiment, data stream 113 is N waveforms of I/Q samples transmitted over wireless link 110 from AP 109 . In this embodiment, the AP consists of an analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog (“ADC/DAC”), radio frequency (“RF”) chain, and an antenna. In a different embodiment, data stream 113 is bits of information and MU-MAS precoding information that are combined at the AP to produce N waveforms that are transmitted over radio link 110 . In this embodiment, every AP uses a central processing unit (“CPU”), a digital signal processor (“DSP”), and/or a system processor to perform additional baseband processing before the ADC/DAC units. It is equipped on-chip (“SoC”).
1.2 Radios Daisy Chained with Coaxial Cables

Figures 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d show some preferred embodiments of the invention. FIG. 8a shows an embodiment in which radio 801 is a radio transceiver. Each end of radio 801 connects to a coaxial cable (eg, but not limited to RG-6, RG-59, triaxial, biaxial, semi-rigid, fixed, 50 ohm, 75 ohms) 841 and on the right side through connector 846 a connector (eg, but not limited to F-type, BNC, SMA, etc.) that can be coupled to coaxial cable 842 . A smaller illustration of radio 801 is shown below the larger illustration. As can be seen in this smaller illustration (most of the details have been removed), radio 801 can be daisy-chained with radio 800 through coaxial cable 841 on the left and through coaxial cable 842 on the right. It can be daisy chained with radio 802 . Radio 802 is similarly daisy chained with radio 803 on the right. In this figure, radio 803 is shown at the end of the daisy chain. Radio 800 can be used to connect to, without limitation, more radios, power, data connections, networks, computing resources, and/or RF signals and/or other digital or analog signals. shown at the beginning of the daisy chain with a coaxial cable 840. Radios 800, 801, 802, 803 and/or additional radios coupled in this daisy chain may be radios of largely the same or similar construction and/or configuration, or they may be The structure and/or configuration may be very different.

The coaxial cable daisy chain can use any standard or proprietary network protocol, including but not limited to MoCA, Ethernet, and/or DOCSIS.

Returning again to the larger illustration (with details) of radio 801 on a daisy chain, in one embodiment, radio 801 includes one or more radios that can be inside or outside of radio 801's enclosure. It has an antenna 890 . The antenna(s) may be any type of antenna including, but not limited to, patch antennas, dipoles, monopoles, printed circuit board (“PCB”) antennas, Yagi, and the like. In one embodiment there is a single antenna 890 . In another embodiment, there are two or more antennas 890, and in another embodiment at least two antennas 890 are cross-polarized with respect to each other. In another embodiment, antenna(s) 890 are external to radio 801 and may be coaxial connectors or other conductive connectors or include RF or inductive connections, although these Coupled to one or more connectors 891 that may pass through a non-limiting non-conductive connector. An external antenna may also be coupled to radio 801 without coupling through a connector, including but not limited to via a fixed wired connection.

In one embodiment, radio 801 receives power from an external power source coupled through one or both of coaxial cables 841 or 842 in either DC or AC power form. In another embodiment, radio 801 includes, but is not limited to, DC or AC power connectors (eg, EIAJ-01, EIAJ-02, EIAJ-03, EIAJ-04, EIAJ-05, Molex connectors, etc.). It receives power from an external power source coupled to connector 892, which can be any type of connector that is not connected. In another embodiment, radio 801 receives power conductively without a connector, including but not limited to through a wired connection. In another embodiment, the radio 801 wirelessly transmits through a rectifying antenna, through inductive coupling, through an antenna 890, through an external antenna, through a photovoltaic cell, or through other wireless transmission means. Receiving power wirelessly, including but not limited to receiving power.

In one embodiment, radio 801 transmits and receives timing, calibration, and/or analog or digital signals (collectively “additional signals”) coupled through one or more connectors 893 . Timing signals may include, but are not limited to, clocks, pulse-per-second "TPS", synchronization, and/or global positioning satellite ("GPS") signals. The calibration signal may include, but is not limited to, one or more of power level information, channel state information, power information, RF channel information, and/or predistortion information in analog and/or digital form. In one embodiment, these additional signals are received and/or transmitted wirelessly. In one embodiment, these additional signals are received and/or transmitted over coaxial cables 841 and/or 842 . In one embodiment, these additional signals are transmitted and/or received from radio 801 . In one embodiment, additional signals are transmitted and/or received from one or more external devices. In one embodiment, the one or more external devices are one or more additional radios within the MU-MAS. In one embodiment, the one or more external devices are one or more user devices within the MU-MAS. In one embodiment, the one or more external devices are one or more devices that are not radios within the MU-MAS.
1.3 Radios Daisy Chained with Twisted Pair Cables

FIG. 8b illustrates that a radio 811 may be coupled to a twisted pair cable (e.g., but not limited to Category 3, Category 4, Category 5, Category 5e, Category 6, Category 6a, telephone wire, etc.) and then , network connectors 855 and 856 (e.g., but not limited to RJ-45, An embodiment is shown which is a radio transceiver similar to the radio 801 disclosed above, except that each end of the radio 811 has an RJ-11 connector).

A daisy chain of twisted pair cables can use any standard or proprietary network protocol, including but not limited to Ethernet.

A smaller illustration of radio 811 is shown below the larger illustration. As can be seen in this smaller illustration (with most details removed), radio 811 can be daisy-chained with radio 810 through twisted pair cable 851 on the left and through twisted pair cable 852 on the right. It can be daisy chained with radio 812 . Radio 812 is similarly daisy chained with radio 813 on the right. In this figure, radio 813 is shown at the end of the daisy chain. Radio 810 can be used to connect to, without limitation, more radios, power, data connections, networks, computing resources, and/or RF signals and/or other digital or analog signals. shown at the beginning of the daisy chain with a twisted pair cable 850. Radios 810, 811, 812, 813 and/or additional radios coupled in this daisy chain may be radios of largely the same or similar construction and/or configuration, or they may be The structure and/or configuration may be very different.

Returning again to the larger illustration (with details) of radio 811 on a daisy chain, it has connectors and features similar to those described for radio 801 above. In other embodiments, radio 811 includes one or more antennas 890 that may be inside or outside the enclosure of radio 811 and one or more antennas detailed for radio 801 above. and an antenna connector 891 .

In one embodiment, radio 811 receives power from an external power source coupled through one or both of twisted pair cables 851 or 852 in either DC or AC power form. In other embodiments, radio 811 receives power from an external power source coupled to connector 892 and/or wirelessly as detailed for radio 801 .

In one embodiment, radio 811 receives and/or transmits additional signals coupled through one or more connectors 812 . In one embodiment, these additional signals are received and/or transmitted wirelessly. In one embodiment, these additional signals are received and/or transmitted over twisted pairs 851 and/or 852 . In one embodiment, these additional signals are transmitted and/or received from radio 811 . In other embodiments, additional signals are transmitted and/or received from one or more external devices, as detailed for radio 801 above.
1.4 Radios Daisy Chained with Fiber Cables

Figure 8c shows that the radio 821 can be coupled to a fiber cable (e.g., but not limited to multimode, single mode, etc.) and then connect to the fiber cable 861 through a connector 865 on the left side, and has network connectors 865 and 866 (eg, but not limited to ST, DC, SC, LC, MU, MT-RJ, MPO connectors) that can be coupled to fiber cable 862 through connector 866 on the right side. An embodiment is shown that is a radio transceiver similar to radios 801 and 811 disclosed above, except for radio 821 at each end.

The fiber cable daisy chain can use any standard or proprietary network protocol, including but not limited to Ethernet and/or Common Public Radio Interface (“CPRI”).

A smaller illustration of radio 821 is shown below the larger illustration. As can be seen in this smaller illustration (with most details removed), radio 821 can be daisy-chained with radio 820 through fiber cable 861 on the left and through fiber cable 863 on the right. It can be daisy chained with radio 822 . Similarly, radio 822 is daisy-chained with radio 823 on the right side. In this figure, radio 823 is shown at the end of the daisy chain. Radio 820 can be used to connect to, without limitation, more radios, power, data connections, networks, computing resources, and/or RF signals and/or other digital or analog signals. is shown at the beginning of the daisy chain with a similar fiber cable 860 . Radios 820, 821, 822, 823 and/or additional radios coupled in this daisy chain may be radios of largely the same or similar construction and/or configuration, or they may be The structure and/or configuration may be very different.

Returning again to the larger illustration (with details) of radio 821 on a daisy chain, it has connectors and features similar to those described for radios 801 and 811 above. In other embodiments, radio 811 includes one or more antennas 890 that may be internal or external to the enclosure of radio 811 and one or more antennas detailed for radio 801 above. and an antenna connector 891 of .

In one embodiment, the radio 821 is coupled as transmitted light through one or both fiber cables 861 or 862 and (for example, without limitation, a photovoltaic cell or a rectifying antenna responsive to light wavelengths). Receives power from an external power source that is converted to power (via In other embodiments, radio 821 receives power from an external power source coupled to connector 892 and/or wirelessly as detailed for radio 801 .

In one embodiment, radio 821 receives and/or transmits additional signals coupled through one or more connectors 893 . In one embodiment, these additional signals are received and/or transmitted wirelessly. In one embodiment, these additional signals are received and/or transmitted over fiber cables 861 and/or 862 . In one embodiment, these additional signals are transmitted and/or received from radio 821 . In other embodiments, additional signals are transmitted and/or received from one or more external devices, as detailed for radio 801 above.
1.5 Radios daisy-chained using more than one type of cable

Comparing radios 801, 811 and 821, except for the difference that the daisy chain cable is coaxial cable for radio 801, twisted pair for radio 811, and fiber for radio 821. , it can be seen that they are structurally very similar. Comparing coaxial cable and twisted pair cable, they have many similarities with respect to their electrical properties, including, but not limited to, their ability to carry DC or AC power and their ability to carry RF signals. Depending on the particular type of coaxial or twisted pair cables, they may be, but are not limited to, their efficiency in carrying different DC or AC voltages or currents, their efficiency in carrying different RF radiation wavelengths. , their cable leakage at different RF emission wavelengths, their impedance at different frequencies, their resistance to DC, the number of conductors in the cable, and the signal power they can carry. obtain.

Comparing fiber to twisted pair or coaxial cable, the main difference is that fiber cable carries optical radiation wavelengths (e.g., at wavelengths less than the optical radiation wavelengths that the fiber is designed to carry) and power or RF radiation wavelengths. is not conductive to carry. Different types of fiber carry different wavelengths of optical radiation with different properties, but as a data transmission medium, fiber cable typically has better signal quality (e.g., limited However, it has low loss in signal-to-noise ratio (“SNR”) and allows high signal quality to be maintained over long distances, which is impractical for coaxial or twisted pair cables. In addition, fiber generally can actually carry higher bandwidth and higher data rate signals than coaxial or twisted pair cable. Fiber cables may be manufactured within the same cable sleeve along with conductive cables (such as, but not limited to, coaxial, twisted pair, or other conductive cables), resulting in conductively coupled power and/or RF emissions. The wavelength can be carried simultaneously with the optical radiation on the fiber. Alternatively, the fiber cable can be tied or wrapped together with the conductive cable during deployment to achieve a similar result.

Also, different specific cables have different physical characteristics that may be relevant in different deployment situations. They differ in thickness, weight, flexibility, durability, ability to retard fire, and cost. Selection of the type of cabling used (coaxial, twisted pair, or fiber) and cabling within each cable type (e.g., but not limited to RG-6, RG-89, Category 5e, Category 6, multimode single mode, etc.) and connectors used in daisy chain radios 801, 811 and/or 821 (including but not limited to F type, BNC, RJ-45, RJ-11, ST, DC), what cabling is already in place at the installation site, the cost of cabling, the length of this cabling, radios 801, 811, It may be determined by a number of factors including, but not limited to, 821 or 831 size, cost, power consumption, heat dissipation, performance characteristics, aesthetic considerations, environmental considerations, regulatory requirements, and the like.

In some situations, the characteristics of more than one type of cable for daisy chaining may be desirable for a given radio. In one embodiment shown in FIG. 8d, radio 831 uses two or more types of cables for daisy chaining. Radio 831 has two different types of connectors on each side to accommodate two different types of cables: connectors 875 and 876 are coaxial cable connectors and connectors 885 and 886 are twisted pair connectors. . The coaxial cable 871 and twisted pair cable 881 are connected on the left side, and the coaxial cable 872 and twisted pair cable 882 are connected on the right side. In another embodiment, one or the other connector is a fiber connector to which a fiber cable is attached. In another embodiment, one, some, or all of the daisy chain connectors on radios 801, 811, 821, or 831 are for different types of cables. In another embodiment, one, some, or all of the daisy chain connectors on radios 801, 811, 821, or 831 may be, but are not limited to, twisted pair, coaxial, or other forms of cable. connectors for modules with their own physical layer transceivers and connectors, such as small form factor pluggable ("SFP") modules that can connect to a

A smaller illustration of radio 831 is shown below the larger illustration. As can be seen in this smaller illustration (most of the details have been removed), radio 831 can be daisy-chained with radio 830 through cables 871 and 881 on the left and cables 872 and 882 on the right. can be daisy chained with the radio 832 through. Similarly, radio 832 is daisy-chained with radio 833 on the right side. In this figure, radio 833 is shown at the end of the daisy chain. Radio 830 can be used to connect to, without limitation, more radios, power, data connections, networks, computing resources, and/or RF signals and/or other digital or analog signals. shown at the beginning of the daisy chain with cables 870 and 880. Radios 830, 831, 832, 833 and/or additional radios coupled in this daisy chain may be radios of largely the same or similar construction and/or configuration, or they may be The structure and/or configuration may be very different. Similarly, radios 801, 811, 821 or 831 with daisy chain connector embodiments such as those described in the previous paragraph can be daisy chained together. antenna coupling (as described above using antenna 890, connector 891 or through other means), power coupling (as described using connector 892 or through other means), and/or Additional signal coupling (as described above using connector 893, or through other means) may be provided by radios 801, 811, 821 with daisy chain connector embodiments such as those described in the previous paragraph. or 831.
2. Daisy Chain Radio Architecture Embodiment

Figures 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d and 9e show some embodiments of the radios 801, 811, 821 and 831 of Figures 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d. Each of the embodiments illustrated in each of Figures 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, and 9e are radios 801, 811, 821, and 831 having the elements shown in a given figure. is applicable to either

FIG. 9a illustrates a radio that can be inserted into a network daisy chain coupled to a data center or other computing and/or data resources through a network link (further below with reference to FIG. 16). detail). Two network physical interfaces (PHYs) are shown in FIG. 9a, PHY 901 is coupled to upstream network 900 (by "upstream" meaning close to the data center in the daisy chain) and PHY 901 (data connected to the downstream network 906 (by "downstream" which means farther to the center). PHY 901 is coupled to network switch 903 through physical interconnect 902 (eg, without limitation, a bus, serial interconnect, etc.), and PHY 906 is coupled to network switch 903 through physical interconnect 904. . Network switch 903 may be configured to route data either upstream or downstream between PHYs 905 and 901 (thus allowing network "passing through") and/or physical interconnections. through to the baseband processing and control unit 910 . In one embodiment, the switch is configured for specific routing of some or all data. In another embodiment, the switch is configured to route data based on a source or destination address (eg, without limitation, IP address) associated with the data of the data.

Network switch 903 allows data packets between network switches 903 to be streamed (eg, but not limited to, transferred as sequential samples) data (eg, data samples of, but not limited to, 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit or any length, fixed-length numbers, floating-point numbers, compressed numbers, bit-coded numbers); It is either used as control data and is coupled to the baseband processing and control unit 910 .

Data streamed between units 910 is either streamed directly without further processing between units 910 or additional processing is applied to the data stream. Additional processing may include, but is not limited to, buffering the data, holding this data for release upon certain triggers or timing events, and compressing and/or decompressing this data. , filtering this data through a finite impulse response (FIR) or other filter; scaling the amplitude of this data; limiting this data to a maximum value; removing data samples from this stream; and inserting sequences of data samples within this stream. and scrambling or descrambling the data, or encrypting or decrypting the data, and the like. Unit 910 may also include, but is not limited to, dedicated hardware or computing means for implementing some or all of the operations referred to in this paragraph and/or some or all of the functionality of the wireless protocol. while waiting for data (either between network switches 903 or between units 912 and after AD, DA conversion in unit 911), during transmission, or can be implemented during reception.

Data between units 903 may be, for example, but not limited to, between units 910 and within units 910, as shown by interconnect 913 connecting RF processing units 912, and even between other units. can be used as control data for sending and receiving messages between, but not limited to, any subsystem of the radio. Messages can include, but are not limited to, configuring any of the subsystems of the radio, reading the status of any subsystem of the radio, sending or receiving timing information, data streams controlling power levels changing sample rates changing transmit/receive frequencies changing bandwidths changing duplexing between transmit and receive modes controlling filtering; configuring network mode; loading images into or reading images from the memory subsystem; or loading images into field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). or read out an image from a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or for any other purpose.

A to D, D to A unit 911 converts the digital data samples received from unit 910 into one or more analog voltages and/or currents coupled to RF processing unit 912, and one or more from unit 912. analog voltage and/or current into digital data samples for transmission to unit 910 . Unit 911 may be implemented to receive data in parallel or serial form at any data sample size and any data rate, either fixed or configurable.

In the transmit path, one or more analog voltages and/or currents received by the RF processing unit 912 may be coupled directly to one or more antenna outputs 914 as RF signals, or the signals may be converted to RF signals by the RF processing unit. It can be used as one or more baseband signals modulated onto one or more carrier frequencies that are synthesized into waveforms, which are then coupled to one or more antennas 914 . Signals from unit 910 may be in the form of, but are not limited to, baseband waveforms or baseband I/Q waveforms.

In the receive path, received RF signals from one or more antennas 914 are either coupled directly into unit 911 as voltages and/or currents, or signals are coupled from one or more carrier frequencies into data streams. Demodulated to either baseband or baseband I/Q waveforms coupled to unit 911 as converted voltages and/or currents.

RF unit 912 may include other RF processing functions including, but not limited to, power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers, filters, attenuators, circulators, switches, baluns, and the like.

Antenna 914 may be any type of antenna including, but not limited to, patch antennas, dipoles, monopoles, or PCB antennas, Yagi, and the like. In one embodiment there is a single antenna 890 . In another embodiment, there are two or more antennas 890, and in another embodiment at least two antennas 890 are cross-polarized with respect to each other.

FIG. 9b shows an additional embodiment of the radio illustrated in FIG. 9a showing a different embodiment of the clock subsystem. Unit 920 is a clock and/or synchronization distribution and synthesis unit, which may be implemented, without limitation, in a single device or in multiple devices. It distributes timing signals, including but not limited to clock and synchronization signals, to other subsystems within the radio. As shown in FIG. 9b, these subsystems include, but are not limited to, Baseband and Control Unit 910, A to D, D to A Unit 911, RF Processing Unit 912, Network PHY 901, Network Switch 903, and/or network PHY 902 may be included. Timing signals distributed to different subsystems may include, but are not limited to, the same timing signal, different timing signals that are synchronous with each other, different timing signals that are not synchronous with each other, timing signals that are synchronous with an external reference, and/or are limited to: However, the timing signals may have changes, synchronously or asynchronously, based on configuration or other factors.

The timing signal may be at any frequency, including but not limited to 10 MHz, and the timing signal may be at the same frequency, different frequency, varying frequency, and/or variable frequency. There may be. The timing signal can use any timing reference including, but not limited to, an external reference, an internal reference, or a combination of external and internal references.

External timing references include, but are not limited to, timing references 922 derived from timing references carried through the daisy chain from upstream 921 to downstream 923 or downstream 923 to upstream 921; received from global positioning satellites; Global Positioning Satellite Controlled Oscillator (“GPSDO”) 924, which derives a timing reference (e.g., 10 MHz clock and PPS) from transmitted radio signals; external clock reference; external PPS 940; and/or network PHY 901, network switch 903, and/or network timing signals derived from either upstream network 900 or downstream network 906 by network PHY 905; The network timing reference includes, but is not limited to, timing references derived from Ethernet SyncE (e.g., ITU G.8261, ITU G.8262, ITU G.8264, etc.); IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol; and/or Includes clocks and synchronization signals derived from network signals, protocols, or traffic.

Internal timing references include, but are not limited to, oscillator 928 and/or controlled oscillator 929 . Oscillators 928 and 929 may be any type of oscillator, including but not limited to crystal oscillators, rubidium clocks, cesium clocks, and/or resistor-capacitor network oscillators, inductor-capacitor resonant circuits. Oscillators 928 and 929 may be of any level of stabilization including, but not limited to, non-stabilized oscillators; temperature compensated oscillators; and/or oven controlled oscillators. Oscillators 928 and 929 may be of any level of precision, including, but not limited to, low precision, parts per million (“ppm”); parts per billion (“ppb”); It has arbitrary accuracy in each frequency range, arbitrary Allan deviation, and short-term or long-term stability. Oscillator 929 may be an analog value such as, but not limited to, voltage, current, resistance; digital values coupled in series, parallel, etc.; can have inputs. If oscillator 929 is controlled by an analog value, it may be by, but not limited to, a potentiometer in a voltage divider network, unit 910 or a digital-to-analog converter 930 receiving digital value 931 from another source. can be controlled. If oscillator 929 is controlled by a digital value, it may be controlled by, but not limited to, digital value 931 from unit 910 or another source. The frequency of the controlled oscillator 929 may be free-running or include, but is not limited to, timing from the network, timing from a daisy chain separate from the network, timing from the data center, wireless It may be synchronized to any type of internal or external timing source, including timing from protocols and the like.

Timing on the daisy chain network may be free-running or synchronous using any number of network synchronization methods, including but not limited to SyncE and/or IEEE 1588. may A synchronization protocol may have its own self-synchronization mechanism, or timing signals 927 may be passed from one network PHY 901 or 905 to the other and/or between network switches 903 .

Figure 9c shows an additional embodiment of the radio illustrated in Figures 9a and 9b showing a power conversion and distribution system. The power conversion/distribution unit of unit 950 and it includes, but is not limited to, a single device or multiple devices (e.g., without limitation, a line) to perform power conversion and distribution through combination , printed circuit board traces, and/or components, wireless transmission, etc.) into the various subsystems. Unit 950 can route power into the radio, including, but not limited to, different voltages; different independent power buses (whether same or different voltage); different current levels; AC or DC power; disperse. As shown in FIG. 9c, the subsystems receiving power from unit 950 include, but are not limited to, baseband and control unit 910, A to D, D to A unit 911, RF processing unit 912, network PHY 901, A network switch 903 and/or a network PHY 902 may be included. The power couplings distributed to different subsystems may be, but are not limited to, the same power couplings, the same or different voltages and/or currents, different power couplings, and/or variable voltages, and the like.

Power can be at any voltage or current, including but not limited to AC, DC, 1 Volt (“V”), 2.2V, 3.3V, 5V, −5V, 6V, 12V, variable voltage. possible. Power may be from any source including, but not limited to, an external source, an internal source, or a combination of external and internal sources.

The external power source may be, but is not limited to, a pass-through power source derived from a power source carried through the daisy chain from the upstream power connection 951 to the downstream power connection 953 or from the downstream power connection 953 to the upstream power connection 951. 952; including but not limited to radio transmission (e.g., without limitation received by a rectifying antenna), inductive power (e.g., without limitation coupled through a transformer), light wireless power 954, which may come from energy (such as, but not limited to, rectifying antennas coupled through photovoltaic cells); through direct coupling 957 from upstream network 900 to downstream network 906; network power carried through the daisy chain network, either through switching and/or power insertion into network PHY 900 or 905 or network switch 903; through network power coupling 956 from network PHY 901, 903, or 905; /or include, but are not limited to, external power connections 955 via cables, jacks, conductive contacts, and the like.

Power transmissions through the daisy chain via upstream power coupling 951 between downstream power couplings 953 or via upstream network coupling 900 between downstream networks 906 can always pass through, or as the radios do. or whether passage is allowed only if an external condition (e.g. detection of a suitable device connected to either end of the daisy chain) is the trigger power to allow passage. Either. Optional to control whether power is passed through, including but not limited to mechanical relays and/or transistors, including but not limited to metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) and the like. type of device can be used.

The internal power source includes any type of battery 958 including, but not limited to, lithium ion, lithium polymer, fuel cells, and generators.

FIG. 9d shows an additional embodiment of the radio illustrated in FIGS. RF links 961 and 963 may be, for example, by conductive coupling such as, but not limited to, coaxial cable, twisted pair cable, or RF frequencies may be fiber (such as, but not limited to, infrared, visible, and and/or through a carrier wavelength propagating through ultraviolet light, etc.), including but not limited to through a fiber or by any type of antenna and/or through an inductive coupling. They may be daisy-chained by wireless coupling.

RF links 961 and 963 can be coupled together at RF link 962 and then coupled to unit 912 as shown in FIG. 9d, or they can each be individually coupled to unit 912, or they are coupled to each other but not to unit 912 . Each of these couplings may be either between each other or between units 912 through RF (including optical wavelength) coupling as detailed in the previous paragraph. This coupling may include, but is not limited to, one or more (or any type) of: a direct connection; an RF splitter; an RF attenuator; an RF balun; an RF filter; a power amplifier; may be via The RF coupling may not be connected to anything or connected to one or more of antennas 914 . An RF combination may carry signals at one or more RF center frequencies and one or more bandwidths. RF signals may be transmitted, received, or both between any of unit 912, link 961, and/or link 963 at one time. RF signals include, but are not limited to, data, control signals, RF protocols, beacons, RF timing signals, RF channels, RF power references, RF predistortion information, RF interference information, RF calibration information, clocks, and/or Any kind of information and/or signal reference information can be carried, including PPS.

FIG. 9e is an additional version of the radio illustrated in FIGS. 9e, 9b, 9c, and 9d showing upstream 900 and downstream 906 network links where the network is a common RF channel rather than a switched link. Fig. 4 shows an embodiment; For example, this is a common configuration used with coaxial networks using network protocols such as, but not limited to, MoCA and DOCSIS. The upstream 900 and downstream 906 network links are coupled to RF splitter 972 coupled to network PHY 971 which is coupled to baseband processing and control unit 910 . RF splitter 972 may include more than three branches and may also include power amplifiers to amplify some or all of the RF signal in one or more directions. It may also include attenuators and/or filters to limit which RF bands pass through it in different paths. RF splitter 972 may also pass power over one or more branches and may insert power into one or more of its branches.

The embodiments of radios 801, 811, 821, and 831 illustrated in FIGS. 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d sometimes as independent elements, and sometimes as combined elements, are shown in FIGS. It can have internal elements corresponding to one or more of the embodiments illustrated in Figures 9b, 9c, 9d and 9e. For example, without limitation, each of radios 801, 811, 821, and 831 may be coaxial (e.g., 841/842 and 871/872), twisted pair (e.g., 851/852 and 881/882), or It has upstream and downstream daisy chain cable connections that are either fiber (eg 861/862). These daisy chain connections are 900/906, 911/923, 951/953, and 961/963. 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, and 9e, which are upstream and downstream daisy chain connections such as. Daisy-chain cables within radios 801, 811, 821, or 831 are physically possible in one embodiment described in connection with FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, and 9e. , then that daisy chain cable can be used for that embodiment. For example, using a daisy chain of coaxial and twisted pair cables, upstream 951 and downstream (using, for example, but not limited to, any of the many well-known power over coax or power over Ethernet technologies) 953 power can be conductively carried, which cannot be done with fiber cables, but fiber cables are transmitted in the form of light, and using, but not limited to, photovoltaic cells, Power converted to electricity can be transported. Each of the daisy chain cables can also carry upstream 900 and downstream 906 standard and proprietary network protocols, including, but not limited to, Ethernet as described above. All of the daisy chain cables can also carry timing information 921 and 923 along with the network protocols and signals that carry the timing information and they can provide network timing 926 . A daisy chain cable can carry RF upstream 961 and downstream 963 at a particular frequency/wavelength (e.g., without limitation, many coaxial cables efficiently propagate frequencies of 1 GHz). many twisted pair cables efficiently propagate frequencies of 100 MHz, and many fiber cables efficiently propagate wavelengths of 1300 nm).

In the case of radio 831, multiple daisy-chain cable pairs are each connected to one of the daisy-chain connections illustrated in FIGS. Each can correspond to a daisy chain connection.

Antenna 890 and/or antenna connector 891 of radio 801, 811, 821, or 831 may be connected to antenna 914 and/or antenna 914 and/or on units 924 and/or 954 of FIGS. 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, and 9e. Antenna can be accommodated.

Power connector 892 of radio 801, 811, 821, or 831 may correspond to external power source 955 of Figures 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, and 9e. Antenna 890 and/or antenna connector 891 of radio 801 , 811 , 821 , or 831 may also correspond to an antenna of wireless power receiver 954 .

Connector 893 of radio 801 , 811 , 821 , or 831 may carry additional signals corresponding to external clock 925 , PPS 940 , or RF link 962 coupled to unit 912 .
3. Wireless daisy chain in sleeve or duct

Figures 10a, 10b, 10c and 10d are illustrated in Figures 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d and illustrated in Figures 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d and 9e, and the embodiment of the wireless daisy chain radio described above together with the embodiment of the daisy chain radio architecture described above are housed within a sleeve or duct; there is For illustrative purposes, the daisy-chain radios shown in FIGS. 10a, 10b, 10c, and 10d lack many of the details of the daisy-chain radios discussed above, although FIGS. and any of the above daisy chain embodiments applicable to the sleeve or duct embodiment illustrated in any of Figures 10d can be used in that embodiment. It is noted that the sleeve or duct may take many forms including, but not limited to, a flexible plastic tube that completely encases the wireless daisy chain, or a rigid plastic duct that partially encases the wireless chain. sea bream.

FIG. 10a shows a sleeve or duct 1010 enclosing a daisy chain of radios 1000, 1001, 1002, 1003. FIG. The daisy chain shows network cables 1020 and 1021 running from both sides, which can be connected to, but are not limited to, additional daisy chains or radios, upstream or downstream network connections, power supply, RF supply to a timing source or the like. In practice, the daisy chain connections can be connected as described in any of the numerous embodiments described above.

Figure 10b shows a sleeve or duct enclosing a daisy chain of radios. Daisy chain refers to the wireless daisy chain described in the previous paragraph, but in this embodiment the sleeve or duct 1011 also encloses the transit cable 1030 . Through cable 1030 can be any purpose-used cable including, but not limited to, coaxial, twisted pair, or coaxial cables that carry high data rate data and/or power cables. There may be one or more pass-through cables 1030 .

FIG. 10c illustrates sleeves or ducts 1012 enclosing the radio daisy chain and transit cables as described in the previous paragraph, but in this embodiment the sleeves or ducts are connected to support strands 1040. and may be made of any of a wide range of materials, including hot-dip galvanized steel. An example of such a sleeve or duct 1012 with support strands of hot-dip galvanized steel can be found at http://www. duraline. Duct branded "Figure 8" from Duraline with specifications currently available at com/conduit/figure-8. Support strands 1040 may help support the duct in aerial deployments of the duct, for example, between utility poles.

FIG. 10d shows (in reduced size view) a sleeve or duct 1012 enclosing a radio daisy chain and transit cable with support strands 1040 as described in the previous paragraph, but in this embodiment the sleeve Or the duct daisy chain 1012 is connected to other sleeves or ducts in a continuous daisy chain. In this embodiment, between each sleeve or duct day chain 1012 can be used to couple power to, but is not limited to, daisy chain ends 1020 or 1021 and/or daisy chain ends. There is a data power combiner 1050 that can be used to combine data between sections 1020 . Data and/or power combiner 1050 may be suspended from support strands 1040 or may be physically supported by another means. The power may come from any power source including, but not limited to, power feed-through cables 1030 and/or photovoltaic cells. The data connection can come from any power source including through high bandwidth fiber twisted pair or coaxial cable 1030 . Data and/or power combiner 1050 ensures that daisy-chain cabling is typically limited to power and/or data throughput, and each radio 1000, 1001, 1002, and 1003 on the daisy-chain has a fixed amount of It can be useful because it draws power and consumes a certain amount of data throughput. When the power and/or data capacity of the daisy chain cable is exhausted, then the radios attached to the daisy chain may no longer be present. Pass-through cable 1030 can be designated to carry sufficient power for several daisy chains, and pass-through cable 1030 supports high enough data throughput to support several daisy chains. can be specified to For example, without limitation, if a daisy chain cable supports 1 Gigabit Ethernet with a Power over Ethernet+ (“PoE+”) power limit (limited to about 25 Watts (“W”)): Each radio consumes 225 Mbps in data rate and 6 W in power, then if there are 4 radios in a daisy chain, you get a data rate of 900 Mbps and 24 W of power, giving the other radio does not have sufficient data rate or power. If there is one or more pass-through cables 1030 capable of carrying (a) 250 W of power and (b) 10 Gbps data rate, that is enough to support 10 daisy chains of 4 radios. (24W x 10 = 240W, 900Mbps x 10 = 9Gbps). Data and/or power combiner 1050 combines power to daisy chain cables in any of a number of ways, including using a commercially available PoE+ switch with 10 Gbps fiber ports and one or more 1 Gbps PoE+ ports. be able to. The PoE+ standard (eg, IEEE 802.3at-2009) may not support daisy-chaining power, but PoE+ provides power to the first daisy-chained radio attached to the PoE+ switch. Note that it can be used to supply and then use its own power insertion into the daisy chain. Proprietary power insertion techniques include, but are not limited to, coupling power to network signal lines in daisy chain network cables.
3. Practical deployment of wireless daisy chains

FIG. 11 shows a utility pole with radios daisy-chained with sleeves and ducts, such as those described in FIGS. 10a and 10d. A sleeve or duct 1012 suspended between two utility poles has four daisy chained radios 1000, 1001, 1002 and 1003 and couples to high speed data from data and/or pass-through cables 1030. and receive power from the power converter 1100, i.e., with the daisy chain end coupled to a power combiner 1050 that reduces the voltage of the unit 1050, which is coupled to a high power line within the supply zone of the utility pole. Same as illustrated in 10d. Power meter 1101 monitors power usage for billing or other purposes. Since it can be expensive to connect to high voltage power lines, power converters 1100 are used to supply enough power to many units 1050 and to carry power between units 1050 in transit strand 1030. can do.

Also illustrated in FIG. 11 is one embodiment of a vertical deployment of daisy chained radios in a sleeve or duct 1010 attached to the side of a utility pole. This corresponds to the sleeve or duct 1010 illustrated in Figure 10a. Meanwhile, daisy chain network connection 1020 is attached to unit 1050 for data and power. Since this daisy chain ends when it reaches the ground, it does not require continuous daisy chain network connections at the bottom end, nor transit cables. Also, utility poles provide structural stability and do not require support strands. The unit 1050 is also connected in three daisy chains, two of which are approximately horizontal aerial daisy chains between utility poles and one is a vertical daisy chain on the side of the utility pole. Please note. There is no restriction that all daisy chains must be polyline network topologies, they can be any of many topologies. For example, but not by way of limitation, this unit 1050 can connect three daisy chains by using a PoE+ network switch with three ports for three daisy chains and one port for a high bandwidth transit cable. Can support chains. (eg, three 1 Gbps PoE+ connections to three daisy chains and one 10 Gbps fiber connection for pass-through cables).

The daisy chain cable embodiment shown in FIG. 11 is merely exemplary. Any number of daisy chain wireless configurations in any topology may be used depending on, but not limited to, deployment requirements, municipal regulations, cost constraints, span distances, and the like. Importantly, wireless daisy chains look no different than cabling. In many municipalities, cabling does not require permits, or permits are easier to obtain than antenna permits. Also, from an aesthetic point of view, cables are less visible than large antennas.

FIG. 12 shows two lampposts attached to a wireless daisy chain 1010 . The illustrated embodiment is compatible with the wireless daisy chain 1010 of Figure 10a. In this embodiment, the data and power connections are underground with a data and/or power combiner 1250 below the utility pole that operates in the same manner as the data and power combiner 1050 illustrated in FIGS. Coupled through line 1251 . Importantly, as with FIG. 11, wireless daisy chains appear no different than cabling. In many municipalities, cabling does not require permits, or permits are easier to obtain than antenna permits. Also, from an aesthetic point of view, cables are less visible than large antennas.

FIG. 13 shows a building with multiple wireless daisy chains attached both outside and inside the building. All of these wireless data chains connect to data and power connections, which have been omitted for illustration purposes. A wireless daisy chain 1300 is on the edge of the roof. Rooftop edges are very beneficial locations for antennas due to their high angle visibility of unobstructed streets. A large number of antennas on the edge of a roof is usually not aesthetically pleasing, but sleeves or ducts, including but not limited to their small size, can be painted in a color that matches the background. ability, the fact that it can be placed in the crevices of a building, the fact that it is flexible and able to conform to the shape of architectural features of a building (e.g., without limitation, cornices); It can be obscured for a reason and because many buildings already have cables and there is no difference in appearance.

Figure 13 shows a wireless daisy chain 1301 on top of an architectural feature above a window that makes it invisible and along a wall near the street facing floor (perhaps more hidden). wireless daisy chains 1302 (tucked into wall crevices) and wireless daisy chains 1303 positioned vertically along wall corners, possibly along downpipes for better visibility. Other arrangements are shown. Wireless daisy chains 1304 are also shown indoors, perhaps on ceiling tiles or in walls. Note that in this embodiment the wireless daisy chain is not in a sleeve or duct because none is needed and there are situations where the daisy chain can be placed with the radio and cables exposed. want to be Clearly, wireless daisy chains can be placed in a wide range of indoor and outdoor locations. In all of these embodiments, wireless daisy chains are deployed where it is convenient to deploy them and where they are aesthetically acceptable.

FIG. 14 illustrates how the wireless daisy chain need not be deployed in a straight line, but can be deployed in any shape that meets the physical and/or aesthetic requirements of the location. Note that they do not have to be deployed in only two dimensions, wireless daisy chains can be deployed in x, y, and z dimensions. In fact, the more angular diversity used, the better the performance in the currently preferred MU-MAS embodiment generally.

FIG. 15 also shows how wireless daisy chains can be deployed in an array topology. In this embodiment, an 8x8 array with 64 radios is shown, with 16 daisy chains connected to a network switch (eg, but not limited to a PoE+ switch). Such arrays can be used in many applications, including beamforming and MIMO.

FIG. 16 illustrates how a cloud radio access network (C-RAN') architecture can be used with wireless daisy chains. In one embodiment, the baseband waveform is computed at the data center server. They connect to a switch that connects multiple wireless daisy chains to a data center (e.g., without limitation, if the data center is inside a stadium and the local network is distributed throughout the stadium). It can serve the purpose of local network 1601 .

The line-of-sight microwave 1602 can be used as a data link to travel greater distances than the local network, which can also be connected to a switch that connects multiple wireless daisy chains.

Fiber 1603 can travel very long distances without the need for line of sight and can be connected to a switch that connects to multiple wireless daisy chains. A switch can couple the repeated fiber 1604 to another switch, which in turn can connect another group of multiple wireless daisy chains.

As previously mentioned, the diagram of FIG. 16 shows straight daisy chains, but they can be bent into any shape that is convenient and aesthetically pleasing.

The C-RAN topology illustrated in FIG. 16 supports the pCell™ MU-MAS system illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and related patents and applications. Unlike other radio technologies, pCells support very high-density radio deployments and are not dependent on a particular arrangement of radios or antennas (e.g., in contrast, cellular technologies rely on specific radio spacing). Therefore, pCell technology is well suited for the daisy-chain radio embodiments described herein, allowing the radio to be placed in convenient and aesthetically pleasing locations.

Embodiments of the invention may include various steps described above. The steps may be embodied in machine-executable instructions that may be used to cause a general purpose or special purpose processor to perform the steps. Alternatively, these steps may be performed by specific hardware components containing hardwired logic to perform the steps, or by any combination of programmed computer components and custom hardware components. can be done.

As described herein, instructions are configured to perform a certain action or function or software instructions stored in memory embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium. may refer to a particular configuration of hardware, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). As such, the techniques illustrated in the figures may be implemented using code and data stored and executed on one or more electronic devices. Such electronic devices include non-transitory computer-machine-readable storage media (e.g., magnetic disks, optical disks, random-access memories, read-only memories, flash memory devices, phase-change memories), as well as transitory computer-machine-readable communication media (e.g., For example, electrical, optical, acoustic or other forms of propagating signals such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals) are used to store and (internally and/or or communicate with other electronic devices over a network).

Throughout this detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details were set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In certain instances, well-known structures and functions have not been described in detail to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope and spirit of the invention should be judged in terms of the following claims.

Claims (6)

first and second wireless transceivers enclosed within a tube;
first and second wired connections passed through the tube;
The first wired connection unit transmits and receives digital baseband data to and from the first wireless transceiver, and the second wired connection unit transmits and receives digital baseband data to the second wireless transceiver. send and receive,
the first and second radio transceivers convert the digital baseband data to radio frequency (“RF”) signals; and
said first wired connection is connected to said first wireless transceiver and said second wired connection is between said first wireless transceiver and said second wireless transceiver in a daisy chain configuration combined system. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said first and second wireless transceivers transmit different wireless waveforms based on data received from said first and second wired connections. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the second wireless transceiver is coupled to one or more additional wireless transceivers through one or more wired connections. A method for transmitting a radio signal, comprising:
enclosing the first and second wireless transceivers within a tube;
passing first and second wired connections through the tube;
Transmitting and receiving digital baseband data to and from the first wireless transceiver via the first wired connection, and to and from the second wireless transceiver via the second wired connection said first and second radio transceivers converting said digital baseband data to radio frequency (“RF”) signals; and
The first wired connection is coupled to the first wireless transceiver and the second wired connection is in a daisy chain configuration with the first wireless transceiver and the second wireless transceiver. A method that is coupled between 5. The method of claim 4, wherein said first and second wireless transceivers transmit different wireless waveforms based on data received from said first and second wired connections. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second wireless transceiver is coupled to one or more additional wireless transceivers through one or more wired connections.

Images