KR100993948B1 - Dual antenna usable relay system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a relay system capable of using dual antennas and a method thereof.

According to the present invention, it is located inside the main body of the relay system receives a forward signal input through the internal antenna for transmitting and receiving a radio signal with the base station. And when the reception strength of the forward signal received through the internal antenna does not satisfy a limit signal, where the limit signal means a reference strength of an input signal satisfied for normal signal output of the repeater, the external antenna is coupled to the Disconnect from the internal antenna and relay the wireless signal through the external antenna.

Thus, the relay system according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used to flexibly install the internal antenna or an external antenna in response to the input conditions according to the surrounding environment.

Repeater, Internal Antenna, External Antenna, Base Station

Description

Dual antenna-enabled relay system and its method {DUAL ANTENNA USABLE RELAY SYSTEM AND METHOD}

The present invention relates to a relay system capable of using dual antennas and a method thereof. In particular, the present invention relates to a relay system and a method for using an internal or external antenna according to the input conditions of the surrounding environment.

In wireless communication system, repeater plays a role of enabling subscriber service by delivering base station signal to remote location economically in order to eliminate shadow area and increase cell size (coverage).

In addition, recently, as communication technology develops, not only the existing coverage expansion role but also the role of improving the quality of subscriber call service is provided.

For example, in the past, the voice call-based call service had a slight drop in reception rate, and even though noise was detected, there was no great inconvenience or difficulty in communication. However, in recent years, since the reduction of data reception rate occurs by providing a video call-based call service, not only the voice but also the video are interrupted, so that the subscriber feels the quality of service intuitively, thus increasing the dissatisfaction with the service of the subscriber.

Therefore, in order to provide high quality service to the subscriber terminal located in the shadow area of the building such as in-building, the repeater is installed in each floor of the building, which has the advantage of providing high quality service satisfying the subscriber's needs in a short time. .

On the other hand, in residential environments such as high-rise apartments and dense residential areas, built-in antennas have been considered in consideration of the appearance and design of buildings due to negative image due to damage to the exterior of the building and electromagnetic waves.

However, the repeater is installed in a shaded region where the signal reception strength is weak, and in the case of the built-in antenna, the weak reception signal may be weakened by shielding radio waves by the main body. Therefore, even if a repeater is installed, the input condition according to the reception strength of the signal is the minimum limit signal, where the minimum limit signal refers to the reference strength of the input signal that is satisfied for the normal signal output of the repeater. There is a problem.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a relay system and a method capable of using an internal or external dual antenna according to an input condition of a surrounding environment.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above technical problem, a relay system capable of using a dual antenna,

An internal antenna positioned inside the main body to transmit and receive a radio signal with the base station; An external antenna connection unit coupled to an external antenna for opening and receiving a portion of the main body to transmit and receive a radio signal with the base station; An antenna switch unit for connecting the internal antenna or the external antenna according to the reception strength of the forward signal inputted through the internal antenna; And a relay unit which amplifies the forward signal input through the antenna switch unit to a predetermined size and transmits the reverse signal to the base station by amplifying a reverse signal input from the subscriber terminal to a predetermined size.

On the other hand, the relay method of the relay system capable of using dual antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention,

a) receiving a forward signal input through an internal antenna which is located inside the main body and transmits and receives a radio signal with a base station; b) input drop generation information if the reception strength of the forward signal received through the internal antenna does not satisfy a limit signal, where the limit signal means a reference strength of an input signal that is satisfied for the normal signal output of the repeater; Expressing; And c) disconnecting the internal antenna and connecting the external antenna when receiving the forward signal from the base station when the external antenna is coupled by the expressed input degradation occurrence information.

The relay system according to an embodiment of the present invention can be used to flexibly install an internal antenna or an external antenna in response to an input condition according to the surrounding environment.

In particular, when the input condition according to the surrounding environment is higher than the minimum limit signal, the internal antenna is used to effect the facility without physically changing the residential environment. When the input condition according to the surrounding environment is less than the minimum limit signal, the external antenna is connected. It is effective to solve the problem of degradation.

In addition, by providing the minimum limit signal information based on the strength of the input signal according to the surrounding environment to provide the convenience of the facility, it is possible to expect the effect that the subscriber can directly install the desired location with good input conditions without the help of experts.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it can further include other components, without excluding other components unless specifically stated otherwise. In addition, the terms “… unit”, “… unit”, “module”, etc. described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software. have.

Now, a relay system capable of using dual antennas and a method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the relay system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is connected to the base station 200 through a radio frequency (RF) antenna and wirelessly connected to the subscriber station 10 in its service area. It serves to support a communication service, and includes an antenna unit 110, an input signal detector 120, a display unit 121, and a relay unit 130.

For convenience of explanation, the signal received from the base station 200 to the antenna unit 110 is referred to as a forward signal or an input signal, and the signal transmitted from the antenna unit 110 to the base station 200 is referred to as a reverse signal. The forward signal and the reverse signal are combined to be referred to as a wireless signal.

The antenna unit 110 includes an internal antenna 111, an external antenna connection unit 112, an external antenna 113, and an antenna switch unit 114, which will be described below with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a perspective view showing an internal structure by opening a part of a relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the internal antenna 111 according to an embodiment of the present invention is located inside the relay system 100 to transmit a forward signal received from the base station 200 to the duplexer 131, and the duplexer. The reverse signal received from the 131 transmits to the base station 200. The internal antenna 111 may be a patch antenna as shown in FIG. 2, and may further include a reflector 115 in consideration of directivity.

3 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an external antenna is coupled to a relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the external antenna connection unit 112 according to an embodiment of the present invention is exposed to one surface of a case of the relay system 100 so as to be connected to an external antenna 113 or a cable connected to the external antenna 113. It is coupled to the terminal through the RF connector. In this case, the RF connector may be an MCX connector or an MHC connector, but is not limited thereto.

The external antenna 113 is connected through the external antenna connection unit 112 when the input condition received using the internal antenna 111 is less than the minimum limit signal, and the connection function is an internal antenna ( Same as 111). The external antenna 113 may be a small antenna used inside a building, or an antenna installed outside the building and a cable connected thereto when the strength of an input signal is weak inside the building.

The antenna switch 114 serves to switch the connection between the internal antenna 111 or the external antenna 113 of the relay system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention. The antenna switch 114 initially performs a connection with the internal antenna 111 by default, and when the external antenna 113 is coupled to the external antenna connection unit 112, disconnects the connection with the internal antenna 111 and the external antenna ( Switch). Therefore, since the relay system 100 is connected through the external antenna 113, it is possible to solve the problem of input degradation in an environment in which the input condition is bad.

The input signal detector 120 checks the strength of the forward signal, that is, received by the antenna unit 110 and transmitted to the duplexer, and determines whether the received input condition satisfies the minimum limit signal. Here, the minimum limit signal may be set to a predetermined value by a design or a manager, and will be described with reference to the following example.

For example, assuming that the common pilot channel (CPICH) value of the pilot signal of the base station 200 is 33 dBm and the value of the input signal received from the base station 200 is −90 dBm, the pathloss is 123 dBm. At this time, when the reception sensitivity of the base station 200 is -108 dBm, the output of the relay system 100 preferably has an output of 15 dBm or more, and p1 dB (1 dB Gain Compression Piont) of the amplifier AMP of the relay system 100; 1dB gain compression point value is more than 15dBm, the normal output of the equipment relay system 100 is possible at the receiving input of about -90dBm. However, when the input signal value received from the base station 200 is less than or equal to −95 dBm, the relay system 100 should output more than p1 dB, which may cause overoperation or damage of the amplifier.

Under the above conditions, when the input signal value received from the base station 200 is less than or equal to −95 dBm, the input reception signal is very low. When the signal is between 90 dBm and −70 dBm, the input reception signal shadow region is about −69 dBm to −35 dBm. The input reception signal may be divided into a good region. Therefore, in this case, the lowest limit signal for the input signal received from the base station 200 may be set to −90 dBm.

The input signal detector 120 displays the intensity information of the checked input signal through the display unit 121 or displays the input signal degradation through the display unit 121 when it is determined that the input signal is less than the minimum limit signal.

The display unit 121 serves to express intensity information of the input signal received from the input signal detector 120. In this case, the display unit 121 may include any one or more of a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED) lighting, and a sound, but is not limited thereto.

The relay unit 130 amplifies the forward signal received through the antenna unit 110 by a predetermined magnitude and transmits the signal to the subscriber station 10, and amplifies the reverse signal received from the subscriber terminal 10 by the specified size to the antenna unit. It transmits to 110, and includes a duplexer 131, a first signal amplifier 132, a second signal amplifier 133, a transmitter 134 and a receiver 135.

The duplexer 131 is connected to the antenna unit 110 to separate transmission / reception frequencies of the relay system 100. For example, the duplexer 131 transmits a forward signal input through the antenna unit 110 to the first signal amplifier 132. And a reverse signal received from the second signal amplifier 133 to the antenna unit 110.

The first signal amplifying unit 132 amplifies the signal by a predetermined gain while minimizing a decrease in the signal-to-noise ratio (S / N) of the forward signal and transmits the signal to the transmitter 134, and the second signal amplifying unit ( Like the first signal amplifying unit 132, 133 amplifies the reverse signal transmitted from the receiver 135 by a predetermined gain and transmits the reverse signal to the duplexer 131.

The transmitter 134 amplifies the power of the forward signal amplified by the first signal amplifier 132 to the maximum level and transmits the subscriber station 10. The receiver 135 receives the reverse signal from the subscriber station 10. The signal is transferred to the second signal amplifier 133.

Meanwhile, a method of using dual antennas of the relay system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of using a dual antenna of a relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, when power is applied to the relay system 100 for providing a wireless communication service in a building according to an embodiment of the present invention, a forward signal through an internal antenna is received from the main transmitting base station 200. (S401). In this case, the received forward signal is referred to as an input signal, and the input signal detector 120 of the relay system 100 checks the strength of the input signal (S402) to determine whether the received input condition satisfies the minimum limit signal. (S403).

As a result of the determination in step S403, if the input condition satisfies the minimum limit signal (S403, Yes), the position of the relay system 100 is fixed and the facility is terminated to support the subscriber's wireless communication service. On the other hand, if the input condition does not satisfy the minimum limit signal as a result of the determination in step S403 (S403, NO), the input degradation occurrence information is displayed on the display unit 121 (S404). In this case, the display unit 121 may display the input reduction occurrence information by displaying the lighting of a lamp such as an LED and a predetermined voice message or the sound of a melody. In addition, the display unit 121 may display not only the input drop occurrence information, but also input condition information inspected by the input signal detector 120 step by step through a predetermined LCD display window.

Next, when the cable connected to the external antenna 113 or the external antenna 113 to the external antenna connector 112 of the relay system 100 is connected (S405), the antenna switch 114 is the internal antenna that is connected by default The switch is switched from 111 to the external antenna 113 (S406). Then, the relay system 100 receives the forward signal, that is, the input signal through the external antenna 113 (S407), the input signal detector 120 checks the strength of the input signal (S408), the received input It is determined whether the condition satisfies the minimum limit signal (S409).

As a result of the determination in step S409, if the input condition satisfies the minimum limit signal (S409, Yes), the position of the relay system 100 is fixed and the facility is terminated to support the subscriber's wireless communication service. On the other hand, if the input condition does not satisfy the minimum limit signal as a result of the determination in step S409 (S409, NO), the input degradation occurrence information is displayed on the display unit 121 (S410). In such a case, it is determined that the position to which the relay system 100 is to be installed is a blind spot to change the position of the relay system 100 (S411), or when the external antenna 113 is installed outside the building, The position can be changed so that the input condition satisfies the minimum limit signal.

As such, the relay system 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention has an advantage in that it can be flexibly installed according to the surrounding environment because the internal antenna and the external antenna can be connected and used according to the input condition of the radio signal.

In particular, when the input condition according to the surrounding environment is higher than the minimum limit signal, the internal antenna is used to effect the facility without physically changing the residential environment. When the input condition according to the surrounding environment is less than the minimum limit signal, the external antenna is connected. It is effective to solve the problem of degradation.

In addition, by providing the minimum limit signal information based on the strength of the input signal according to the surrounding environment to provide the convenience of the facility, it is possible to expect the effect that the subscriber can directly install the desired location with good input conditions without the help of experts.

The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described apparatuses and / or methods, but may be implemented through a program for realizing functions corresponding to the configuration of the embodiment of the present invention, a recording medium on which the program is recorded And such an embodiment can be easily implemented by those skilled in the art from the description of the embodiments described above.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements of those skilled in the art using the basic concepts of the present invention defined in the following claims are also provided. It belongs to the scope of rights.

1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating a relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a perspective view showing an internal structure by opening a part of a relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which an external antenna is coupled to a relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of using a dual antenna of a relay system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (12)

An internal antenna positioned inside the main body to transmit and receive a radio signal with the base station; An external antenna connection unit coupled to an external antenna for opening and receiving a portion of the main body to transmit and receive a radio signal with the base station; An antenna switch unit for connecting the internal antenna or the external antenna according to the reception strength of the forward signal inputted through the internal antenna; A relay unit which amplifies the forward signal input through the antenna switch unit to a predetermined size and transmits the reverse signal to the base station by amplifying a reverse signal input from the subscriber terminal to a predetermined size; And Examining the reception strength of the forward signal received through the internal antenna to determine whether the predetermined limit signal, wherein the limit signal means the reference strength of the input signal that is satisfied for the normal signal output of the repeater Including an input signal detector, And the antenna switch unit connects the external antenna when the reception strength of the forward signal received through the internal antenna does not satisfy the limit signal. delete The method of claim 1, The relay unit, A duplexer for separating transmission and reception frequencies in the relay unit; A first signal amplifier for amplifying a forward signal input from the base station by a predetermined gain and transmitting the signal to the subscriber station; And A second signal amplifier for amplifying a reverse signal received from the subscriber station by a predetermined gain and transferring the reverse signal to the duplexer Relay system comprising a. The method of claim 3, wherein And the external antenna is connected to the external antenna connector through an MCX connector or an MHC connector. The method of claim 3, wherein The input signal detector, And generating input degradation occurrence information when the reception strength of the forward signal is less than the limit signal. The method of claim 5, And at least one display unit among a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED), and an audio device for displaying the input degradation occurrence information to the outside. The method of claim 3, wherein The antenna switch unit, When the external antenna is coupled to the antenna connection unit relay system for disconnecting from the internal antenna and connecting the external antenna. The method of claim 7, wherein The input signal detector, And determining whether the limit signal is satisfied by checking a reception strength of a forward signal received through the external antenna. a) receiving a forward signal input through an internal antenna positioned inside the main body and transmitting and receiving a wireless signal with a base station; b) an input drop occurs if the reception strength of the forward signal received through the internal antenna does not satisfy a limit signal, where the limit signal represents a reference strength of an input signal that is satisfied for normal signal output of the repeater; Expressing information; And c) disconnecting the internal antenna and connecting the external antenna when the external antenna is coupled by the displayed input drop occurrence information to receive the forward signal from the base station; Relay method of the relay system comprising a. The method of claim 9, B), And checking whether a predetermined threshold signal is satisfied by checking a reception strength of the forward signal. 11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, B), And generating input reduction occurrence information when the limit signal is not satisfied. The method of claim 9, After step c), And checking whether the limit signal of the forward signal received through the external antenna is satisfied, and expressing the test result.

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