US20140016583A1 - Distributed antenna system with managed connectivity - Google Patents
Distributed antenna system with managed connectivity Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20140016583A1 US20140016583A1 US13/939,392 US201313939392A US2014016583A1 US 20140016583 A1 US20140016583 A1 US 20140016583A1 US 201313939392 A US201313939392 A US 201313939392A US 2014016583 A1 US2014016583 A1 US 2014016583A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- remote antenna
- unit
- antenna unit
- host
- das
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
Links
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 152
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 105
- 230000005855 radiation Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 238000011144 upstream manufacturing Methods 0.000 claims description 99
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 claims description 82
- 230000002776 aggregation Effects 0.000 claims description 47
- 238000004220 aggregation Methods 0.000 claims description 47
- 239000000835 fiber Substances 0.000 claims description 27
- 239000013307 optical fiber Substances 0.000 claims description 24
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 claims description 14
- 238000001914 filtration Methods 0.000 claims description 10
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 description 40
- 230000006854 communication Effects 0.000 description 40
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 19
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 10
- 238000003860 storage Methods 0.000 description 9
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 7
- 238000012544 monitoring process Methods 0.000 description 6
- 230000006870 function Effects 0.000 description 5
- 230000001413 cellular effect Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000006855 networking Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000001228 spectrum Methods 0.000 description 3
- 230000007175 bidirectional communication Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000001143 conditioned effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000004020 conductor Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000002609 medium Substances 0.000 description 2
- RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N Copper Chemical compound [Cu] RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 241000880493 Leptailurus serval Species 0.000 description 1
- ILVGMCVCQBJPSH-WDSKDSINSA-N Ser-Val Chemical compound CC(C)[C@@H](C(O)=O)NC(=O)[C@@H](N)CO ILVGMCVCQBJPSH-WDSKDSINSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000002238 attenuated effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000002457 bidirectional effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000010267 cellular communication Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000010949 copper Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052802 copper Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000002950 deficient Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000009826 distribution Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000003780 insertion Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000037431 insertion Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000010295 mobile communication Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000007935 neutral effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000011664 signaling Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000001360 synchronised effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000006163 transport media Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000010624 twisted pair cabling Methods 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04B—TRANSMISSION
- H04B10/00—Transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio-waves, e.g. infrared, visible or ultraviolet light, or employing corpuscular radiation, e.g. quantum communication
- H04B10/25—Arrangements specific to fibre transmission
- H04B10/2575—Radio-over-fibre, e.g. radio frequency signal modulated onto an optical carrier
- H04B10/25752—Optical arrangements for wireless networks
- H04B10/25753—Distribution optical network, e.g. between a base station and a plurality of remote units
- H04B10/25754—Star network topology
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04J—MULTIPLEX COMMUNICATION
- H04J14/00—Optical multiplex systems
- H04J14/02—Wavelength-division multiplex systems
- H04J14/0227—Operation, administration, maintenance or provisioning [OAMP] of WDM networks, e.g. media access, routing or wavelength allocation
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04J—MULTIPLEX COMMUNICATION
- H04J14/00—Optical multiplex systems
- H04J14/02—Wavelength-division multiplex systems
- H04J14/0227—Operation, administration, maintenance or provisioning [OAMP] of WDM networks, e.g. media access, routing or wavelength allocation
- H04J14/0254—Optical medium access
- H04J14/0256—Optical medium access at the optical channel layer
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04J—MULTIPLEX COMMUNICATION
- H04J14/00—Optical multiplex systems
- H04J14/02—Wavelength-division multiplex systems
- H04J14/0278—WDM optical network architectures
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W12/00—Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
- H04W12/06—Authentication
- H04W12/069—Authentication using certificates or pre-shared keys
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W12/00—Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
- H04W12/12—Detection or prevention of fraud
- H04W12/121—Wireless intrusion detection systems [WIDS]; Wireless intrusion prevention systems [WIPS]
- H04W12/122—Counter-measures against attacks; Protection against rogue devices
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W72/00—Local resource management
- H04W72/04—Wireless resource allocation
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
- H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
- H04W88/08—Access point devices
- H04W88/085—Access point devices with remote components
Definitions
- DAS distributed antenna system
- RF radio frequency
- RAUs remote antenna units
- the host unit can be communicatively coupled to one or more base stations directly by connecting the host unit to the base station using, for example, coaxial cabling.
- the host unit can also be communicatively coupled to one or more base stations wirelessly, for example, using a donor antenna and a bi-directional amplifier (BDA).
- BDA bi-directional amplifier
- RF signals transmitted from the base station are received at the host unit.
- the host unit uses the downlink RF signals to generate a downlink transport signal that is distributed to one or more of the RAUs.
- Each such RAU receives the downlink transport signal and reconstructs the downlink RF signals based on the downlink transport signal and causes the reconstructed downlink RF signals to be radiated from at least one antenna coupled to or included in that RAU.
- a similar process is performed in the uplink direction.
- RF signals transmitted from mobile units also referred to here as “uplink RF signals” are received at each RAU.
- Each RAU uses the uplink RF signals to generate an uplink transport signal that is transmitted from the RAU to the host unit.
- the host unit receives and combines the uplink transport signals transmitted from the RAUs.
- the host unit reconstructs the uplink RF signals received at the RAUs and communicates the reconstructed uplink RF signals to the base station. In this way, the coverage of the base station can be expanded using the DAS.
- One or more intermediate devices can be placed between the host unit and the remote antenna units in order to increase the number of RAUs that a single host unit can feed and/or to increase the host-unit-to-RAU distance.
- the host unit, the RAUs, and any intermediary devices are designed to use proprietary protocols for communications that occur within the DAS.
- the host unit, the RAUs, and the intermediary devices are typically sold by the same original equipment manufacture.
- a conventional DAS network typically does not include any mechanism to ensure that only authorized RAUs are used in a given DAS network.
- DAS digital DAS
- a host unit digitizes analog downlink RF signals received from one or more base stations (either directly or via a donor antenna and BDA).
- the digital data that results from digitizing each of the base station inputs is framed together and communicated over one or more fibers to multiple RAUs, where each RAU converts the digital data back to downstream analog RF signals for radiation from antennas associated with each RAU. Similar processing is performed in the upstream direction.
- Upstream analog RF signals received on the antenna coupled to each RAU are digitized, and the resulting digital data is framed together and communicated over a fiber to the host unit.
- the host unit receives the upstream digital data and converts the digital data back to upstream analog RF signals that can be provided to a base station for processing thereby.
- such a digital DAS is implemented in a point-to-multipoint topology, where the host unit is coupled to each RAU over a respective pair of optical fibers.
- One embodiment is directed to a digital antenna system (DAS) comprising a host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit.
- the host unit is configured to communicate a downstream transport signal from the host unit to the remote antenna unit.
- the remote antenna unit is configured to use the downstream transport signal to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit.
- the DAS is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Another embodiment is directed to a remote antenna unit for use in a distributed antenna (DAS) comprising the remote antenna unit and a host unit.
- the remote antenna unit comprises a port to attach at least one cable that is used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- the remote antenna unit is configured to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit from a downstream transport signal received at the remote antenna unit from the host unit.
- the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate information used in an authentication process that is used to determine whether to enable operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS.
- Another embodiment is directed to a host unit for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) comprising the host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit and that is communicatively coupled to the host unit.
- the host unit comprises an interface to communicatively couple the host unit the remote antenna unit.
- the host unit is configured to generate a downstream transport signal, wherein the downstream transport signal is communicated from the host unit to the remote antenna unit for use by the remote antenna unit in generating a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit.
- the host unit is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Another embodiment is directed to a method for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) that comprises a host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit.
- the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit.
- the method comprises performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit and enabling full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit. Full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- DAS digital antenna system
- Another embodiment is directed to a host-to-host network comprising a plurality of first host units located at a first end, each of the plurality of first host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals.
- the network further comprises a plurality of second host units located at a second end, each of the plurality of second host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals.
- the network further comprises a first optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the first host units and output a corresponding first combined optical output over a first optical fiber.
- the network further comprises a second optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to receive the first combined optical output from the first fiber and demultiplex the optical output signals and provide them as the optical input signals for the second host units.
- the second optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the second host units and output a corresponding second combined optical output over a second optical fiber.
- the first optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to receive the second combined optical output form the second fiber and demultiplex the optical output signals and provide them as the optical input signals for the first host units.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a distributed antenna system (DAS) that is configured to use managed connectivity to communicatively couple the various nodes of the DAS.
- DAS distributed antenna system
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another exemplary embodiment of a distributed antenna system (DAS) that is configured to use managed connectivity to communicatively couple the various nodes of the DAS.
- DAS distributed antenna system
- FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of one example of a method of authenticating a remote antenna unit for use in a DAS.
- FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of one example of a method of authenticating a remote antenna unit for use in a DAS using PLM information.
- FIGS. 5A-5B are block diagrams of one exemplary embodiment of a digital RF transport network that implements a “host-to-host” topology.
- FIGS. 6A-6B are block diagrams of another exemplary embodiment of a digital RF transport network that implements a “host-to-host” topology.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a distributed antenna system (DAS) 100 that is configured to use managed connectivity to communicatively couple the various nodes of the DAS 100 .
- DAS distributed antenna system
- DAS 100 is used to distribute bi-directional wireless communications between one or more base station-related nodes 102 and one or more wireless devices 104 (for example, mobile telephones, mobile computers, and/or combinations thereof such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones).
- the DAS 100 is used to distribute a plurality of bi-directional radio frequency bands. Also, each such radio frequency band is typically used to communicate multiple logical bi-directional RF channels.
- DAS 100 can be configured to distribute wireless communications that use licensed radio frequency spectrum, such as cellular radio frequency communications.
- cellular RF communications include cellular communications that support one or more of the second generation (2G), third generation (3G), and fourth generation (4G) Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) family of telephony and data specifications and standards, one or more of the second generation (2G), third generation (3G), and fourth generation (4G) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) family of telephony and data specifications and standards, and/or the WIMAX family of specification and standards.
- DAS 100 can also be configured to distribute wireless communications that make use of unlicensed radio frequency spectrum such as wireless local area networking communications that support one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards.
- the DAS technology described here can be used to distribute combinations of licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum in the using the same DAS.
- each bi-directional radio frequency band distributed by the DAS 100 includes a separate radio frequency band for each of two directions of communications.
- One direction of communication is from the base station-related node 102 to a wireless device 104 and is referred to here as the “downstream” or “downlink” direction.
- the other direction of communication is from the wireless device 104 to the base station-related node 102 and is referred to here as the “upstream” or “uplink” direction.
- Each of the distributed bi-directional radio frequency bands includes a respective “downstream” band in which downstream RF channels are communicated for that bi-directional radio frequency band and an “upstream” band in which upstream RF channels are communicated for that bi-directional radio frequency band.
- the downstream and upstream bands for a given bi-directional radio frequency band need not be, and typically are not, contiguous.
- the DAS 100 is configured to process and distribute the upstream and downstream signals separately.
- the DAS 100 is configured to communicate at least some wireless communications that use other duplexing techniques (such as time division duplexing, which is used, for example, in some WIMAX implementations).
- the DAS is configured to distribute wireless communications that use time division duplexing in to order to support bi-directional communications.
- each bi-directional radio frequency band distributed by the DAS 100 uses the same frequency band for both downstream and upstream communications.
- the various nodes in the DAS 100 include switching functionality to switch between communicating in the downstream direction and the communicating in the upstream direction as well as functionality for synchronizing such switching with the time division duplexing scheme used by the RF communications that are being distributed.
- the DAS 100 includes a host unit 106 and one or more remote antenna units 108 that are located remotely from the host unit 106 .
- the DAS 100 shown in FIG. 1 uses one host unit 106 and three remote antenna units 108 , though it is to be understood that other numbers of host units 106 and/or remote antenna units 108 can be used.
- the host unit 106 is communicatively coupled to one or more base station-related nodes 102 either directly (for example, via one or more coaxial cable connections) or indirectly (for example, via one or more donor antennas and one or more bidirectional amplifiers).
- the host unit 106 is communicatively coupled to one or more base stations that transmit and receive radio frequency wireless communications (that is, the base station-related node 102 comprises one or more base stations).
- the output of the one or more base stations may need to attenuated or otherwise conditioned before being input to the host unit 106 .
- the host unit 106 includes functionality that implements one or more functions that historically have been performed by a traditional base station (for example, base band processing) and, in such an implementation, the host unit 106 is communicatively coupled to one or more radio network controllers, base station controllers, or similar nodes (for example, using an Internet Protocol (IP) network and/or one or more traditional TDM links (for example, one or more T1 or E1 connections)).
- IP Internet Protocol
- the host unit 106 is communicatively coupled to each remote antenna units 108 over transport communication media 110 .
- the transport communication media 110 can be implemented in various ways.
- the transport communication media can be implemented using respective separate point-to-point communication links, for example, where respective optical fiber or copper cabling is used to directly connect the host unit 106 to each remote antenna unit 108 .
- respective optical fiber or copper cabling is used to directly connect the host unit 106 to each remote antenna unit 108 .
- FIG. 1 where the host unit 106 is directly connected to each remote antenna unit 108 using a respective optical fiber 112 .
- a single optical fiber 112 is used to connect the host unit 106 to each remote antenna unit 108 , where wave division multiplexing (WDM) is used to communicate both downstream and upstream signals over the single optical fiber 112 .
- WDM wave division multiplexing
- the host unit 106 is directly connected to each remote antenna unit 108 using more than one optical fiber (for example, using two optical fibers, where one optical fiber is used for communicating downstream signals and the other optical fiber is used for communicating upstream signals).
- the host unit 106 is directly connected to one or more of the remote antenna units 108 using other types of communication media such a coaxial cabling (for example, RG6, RG11, or RG59 coaxial cabling), twisted-pair cabling (for example, CAT-5 or CAT-6 cabling), or wireless communications (for example, microwave or free-space optical communications).
- coaxial cabling for example, RG6, RG11, or RG59 coaxial cabling
- twisted-pair cabling for example, CAT-5 or CAT-6 cabling
- wireless communications for example, microwave or free-space optical communications
- the transport communication media 110 can also be implemented using shared point-to-multipoint communication media in addition to or instead of using point-to-point communication media.
- One example of such an implementation is where the host unit 106 is directly coupled to an intermediary unit (also sometimes referred to as an “expansion” unit), which in turn is directly coupled to multiple remote antenna units 108 .
- An intermediary unit also sometimes referred to as an “expansion” unit
- FIG. 2 One example of such a DAS 200 is shown in FIG. 2 , where the host unit 106 is directly connected to an expansion unit 116 using a pair of optical fibers 118 (one fiber being used for downstream communications and the other fiber being used for upstream communications) and where the expansion hub 116 , in turn, is directly connected to the multiple remote antenna units 108 using respective coaxial cables 120 (over which both downstream and upstream signals are communicated).
- Another example of a shared transport implementation is where the host unit 106 is coupled to the remote antenna units using an Internet Protocol (IP) network.
- IP Internet Protocol
- Each remote antenna unit 108 includes or is coupled to at least one antenna 114 via which the remote antenna unit 108 receives and radiates radio frequency signals (as described in more detail below).
- Various antenna configurations can be used. For example, a single antenna 114 can be used for transmitting and receiving all of the frequency bands handled by given remote antenna unit 108 . Also, different antennas 114 can be used for transmitting and receiving and/or different antennas 114 can be used for the various frequency bands handled by a given remote antenna unit 108 .
- Other antenna configurations can be used (for example diversity transmit and receive configurations or Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) configurations).
- MIMO Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output
- the host unit 106 receives one or more downstream signals from the base station-related nodes 102 and generates one or more downstream transport signals from the received downstream signals (or from signals or data derived therefrom). The host unit 106 then transmits the downstream transport signals to the remote antenna units 108 via the transport media 110 (and any intermediary devices that are located between the host unit 106 and each remote antenna unit 108 ). Each remote antenna unit 108 receives at least one downstream transport signal. Each remote antenna unit 108 generates one or more downstream radio frequency signals using, at least in part, the received at least one downstream transport signal (or from signals or data derived therefrom) and causes the one or more downstream radio frequency signals to be radiated from the one or more remote antennas 114 coupled to or included in that remote antenna unit 108 .
- Upstream radio frequency signals are received at one or more remote antenna units 108 via the antennas 114 .
- the remote antenna unit 108 uses the received upstream radio frequency signals to generate respective upstream transport signals that are transmitted from the respective remote antenna units 108 to the host unit 106 .
- the host unit 106 receives the upstream transport signals transmitted from the remote antenna units 108 .
- the host unit 106 generates one or more upstream signals for communicating to one or more of the base station-related nodes 102 from one or more of the received upstream transport signals (or from signals or data derived therefrom).
- the host unit 106 may combine signals or data received from multiple remote antenna units 108 .
- the downstream signals received at the host unit 106 comprise downstream radio frequency signals and the upstream signals generated by the host unit 106 for communicating to the base stations comprise upstream radio frequency signals.
- the DAS 100 can be implemented as a digital DAS 100 in which the downstream radio frequency signals received at the host unit 106 are digitized by the host unit 106 (for example, by down converting the received downstream radio frequency signals to an intermediate frequency and then digitizing the resulting intermediate frequency signals).
- the digitized downstream radio frequency data is included in the downstream transport signals that are communicated to the remote antenna units 108 .
- the remote antenna units 108 then use the digitized downstream radio frequency data to generate the downstream radio frequency signals (for example, by performing a digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion on the digitized downstream radio frequency data, up converting the resulting analog signal to an appropriate radio frequency band, and filtering and amplifying the resulting downstream radio frequency signals).
- D/A digital-to-analog
- upstream radio frequency signals received at the remote antenna units 108 are digitized by the remote antenna units 108 (for example, by down converting the received upstream radio frequency signals to an intermediate frequency and then digitizing the resulting intermediate frequency signals).
- the digitized upstream radio frequency data is included in the upstream transport signals that are communicated from the remote antenna units 108 to the host unit 106 .
- the host unit 106 uses the digitized upstream radio frequency data to generate the upstream radio frequency signals for communicating to the base stations (for example, by performing a digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion on the digitized upstream radio frequency data, up converting the resulting signals to an appropriate radio frequency band, and filtering and amplifying the resulting upstream radio frequency signals).
- the host unit 106 can combine data or signals received from multiple remote antenna units 108 .
- the DAS 100 can also be implemented as an analog DAS 100 in which the downstream and upstream transport signals comprise analog versions of the downstream radio frequency signals received at the host unit 106 and the upstream radio frequency signals received at the remote antenna units 108 , respectively.
- the downstream and upstream transport signals can include frequency shifted or non-frequency shifted versions of the downstream radio frequency signals and the upstream radio frequency signals, respectively.
- the downstream radio frequency signals received at the host unit 106 are frequency shifted by the host unit 106 (for example, by down converting the received downstream radio frequency signals to an intermediate frequency).
- the frequency shifted downstream signals are included in the downstream transport signals that are communicated to the remote antenna units 108 .
- the remote antenna units 108 use the frequency shifted downstream signals to generate the downstream radio frequency signals (for example, by up converting the frequency shifted signals to an appropriate radio frequency band, and filtering and amplifying the resulting downstream radio frequency signals).
- upstream radio frequency signals received at the remote antenna units 108 are frequency shifted by the remote antenna units 108 (for example, by down converting the received upstream radio frequency signals to an intermediate frequency).
- the frequency shifted upstream signals are included in the upstream transport signals that are communicated from the remote antenna units 108 to the host unit 106 .
- the host unit 106 uses the frequency shifted upstream signals to generate the upstream radio frequency signals for communicating to the base stations (for example, by up converting the frequency shifted signals to an appropriate radio frequency band, and filtering and amplifying the resulting upstream radio frequency signals).
- the host unit 106 can combine data or signals received from multiple remote antenna units 108 .
- the downstream signals received at the host unit 106 comprise downstream signals that include the payload, signaling, control, and/or other data needed by such functions.
- these downstream signals can be used by the functionality in the host unit 106 to generate digital downstream baseband data, which is included in the downstream transport signals that are communicated to the remote antenna units 108 .
- the remote antenna units 108 use the downstream baseband data to generate the downstream radio frequency signals (for example, by performing a digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion on the received baseband data, up converting the resulting signals to appropriate radio frequency bands, and filtering and amplifying the resulting downstream radio frequency signals).
- D/A digital-to-analog
- the remote antenna units 108 in the upstream direction, generate digital baseband data from the upstream radio frequency signals received via the antennas 114 (for example, by filtering, attenuating, and/or amplifying the received upstream radio frequency signals, down converting the conditioned upstream radio frequency signals, and performing an analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion on the resulting down converted signals).
- the upstream baseband data is included in the upstream transport signals that are communicated from the remote antenna units 108 to the host unit 106 .
- the functionality in the host unit 106 uses the received upstream baseband data for the baseband or other processing performed in the host unit 106 .
- the host unit 106 can combine data or signals received from multiple remote antenna units 108 .
- DAS 100 can be implemented using combinations of any of the aforementioned types of DAS architectures.
- the DAS 100 is configured as a “base station hotel” or “neutral host” in which multiple wireless service providers share a single DAS 100 .
- FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of one example of a method 300 of authenticating a remote antenna unit 108 for use in the DAS 100 .
- Method 300 is described in the context of DAS 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 but it is to be understood that embodiments of method 300 can be implemented in other distributed antenna systems.
- Method 300 comprises performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit 108 (block 302 ) and enabling full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 only if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit 108 (block 304 ). Full operation of each remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit 108 .
- Method 300 can be used to ensure that only authorized remote antenna units 108 are being used in the DAS 100 .
- the host unit 106 is configured to work with remote antenna units 108 from multiple vendors.
- the manufacturer of the host unit 106 may wish to ensure that only authorized remote antenna units 108 are used with the host unit 106 . This may be done in connection with a certification program run by the manufacture of the host unit 106 to ensure that the remote antenna units 108 that are used with the host unit 106 comply with the manufacture's specifications and/or to ensure that the remote antenna units 108 comply with regulations promulgated by other entities such as governmental agencies (such as the United States Federal Communications Commission) and cellular service providers.
- governmental agencies such as the United States Federal Communications Commission
- the nodes in the DAS 100 make use of physical layer management (PLM) technology that is used in authenticating the remote antenna units.
- PLM physical layer management
- the host unit 106 , each expansion hub 116 , and each remote antenna unit 108 includes a respective interface 122 to read physical layer management (PLM) information any cables that are used to communicatively couple that unit to the other units in the DAS 100 .
- Interface 122 is also referred to here as a “PLM” interface 122 .
- Each cable includes some type of PLM component 124 that is used to store PLM information, and the PLM interface 122 is configured to read at least some of the PLM information stored in the PLM component 124 .
- At least some of the PLM information read from the PLM component 124 is used in the authentication process.
- each remote antenna unit 108 is coupled directly to the host unit 106 over a respective optical fiber 112 .
- Each optical fiber 112 includes a PLM component 124 that is attached or included in a connector 126 that terminates that optical fiber 112 .
- each remote antenna unit 108 is coupled to the host unit 106 via the expansion hub 116 .
- the host unit 106 is directly coupled to the expansion hub 116 over a pair of optical fibers 118 .
- Each optical fiber 118 includes a PLM component 124 that is attached or included in a connector 126 that terminates that optical fiber 118 .
- the expansion hub 116 is directly coupled to each remote antenna unit 108 over a respective coaxial cable 120 .
- Each coaxial cable 120 includes a PLM component 124 that is attached or included in a connector 126 that terminates that coaxial cable 120 .
- the host unit 106 , each expansion hub 116 , and each remote antenna unit 108 include one or more ports 128 to which the respective connectors 126 for the respective optical fibers 112 , optical fibers 118 , or coaxial cables 120 are connected.
- the port 128 includes the PLM interface 122 .
- the PLM interface 122 is coupled to a respective programmable processor 130 , 132 , or 134 that is included in the host unit 106 , each expansion hub 116 , and each remote antenna unit 108 .
- Each programmable processor 130 , 132 , and 134 is configured to execute software 136 , 138 , and 140 , respectively, that carries out various functions performed by the host unit 106 , each expansion hub 116 , and each remote antenna unit 108 , respectively.
- the software 136 , 138 , and 140 comprises program instructions that are stored (or otherwise embodied) on or in an appropriate non-transitory storage medium or media (such as flash or other non-volatile memory, magnetic disc drives, and/or optical disc drives) from which at least a portion of the program instructions are read by each programmable processor 130 , 132 , and 134 , respectively, for execution thereby.
- the storage media can be included in, and local to, the host unit 106 , expansion unit 116 , or the remote antenna unit 108 , or remote storage media (for example, storage media that is accessible over the network) and/or removable media can also be used.
- the host unit 106 , each expansion unit 116 , and each remote antenna unit 108 also include memory for storing the program instructions (and any related data) during execution by the respective programmable processor 130 , 132 , and 134 , respectively.
- the memory comprises, in one implementation, any suitable form of random access memory (RAM) now known or later developed, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM). In other embodiments, other types of memory are used.
- each expansion unit 116 is connected to a respective port 128 and to read the PLM information from the respective PLM component 124 .
- the software 136 , 138 , and 140 is configured to communicate at least some of the PLM information read from the respective PLM component 124 to an aggregation point 142 .
- the aggregation point 142 is communicatively coupled to each node in the DAS 100 , either directly or indirectly, via an IP network 144 .
- An out-of-band management or control channel that is provided between the host unit 106 and each expansion hub 116 and each remote antenna unit 108 can be used for communicating the PLM information read by the expansion hub 116 and each remote antenna unit 108 to the aggregation point 132 via a connection to the IP network 144 made by the host unit 106 .
- the PLM information read by each expansion hub 116 and each remote antenna unit 108 from the various PLM components 124 can be communicated to the aggregation point 142 in other ways.
- the aggregation point 142 is implemented as middleware software executing on one or more servers (or other computers).
- the aggregation point 142 aggregates information from various entities within a network.
- the information that is aggregated by the aggregation point 142 includes information that is automatically captured by entities that include functionality for reading PLM components that are integrated into connectors.
- Such automatically captured information includes information about the identity, type, and length of cable used, information about the identity and type of connector used, and information that associates each such connector (and/or cable) with a respective jack, port, or other attachment point of the relevant entity.
- the information that is aggregated by the aggregation point 142 also includes information that is manually entered.
- Such manually entered information include information about the horizontal runs (including information about the identity, type, length, and location of cabling used), information about the wall plate devices that terminate the various horizontal runs (including information about the identity, type, location, and capabilities of the wall plate device), information about switches or other networking devices (including information about the identity, type, location, and capabilities of the switches or other networking devices), and information that associates each such connector (and/or cable) with a respective jack, port, or other attachment point of the relevant entity.
- Other types of information that can be aggregated by the aggregation point 142 are described in the patent applications listed here.
- the aggregation point 142 can implement an application programming interface (API) by which application-layer functionality can gain access to the physical layer information maintained by the aggregation point 142 using a software development kit (SDK) that describes and documents the API.
- API application programming interface
- SDK software development kit
- One function that can be performed by the aggregation point 142 is associating various entities within the network with other entities within the network.
- the lower-level associations provided to the aggregation point 142 are used to construct a set of associations that identifies a physical communication path through the devices for which the aggregation point 142 has information.
- the aggregation point 142 can be used to construct a set of associations that identifies a physical communication path between the host unit 106 and each remote antenna unit 108 .
- the other units in the DAS 100 can also incorporate PLM technology to read PLM information from the cabling attached to those units and to communicate such information to the aggregation point 142 .
- PLM information can be used, for example, in connection with the authentication processing described here and/or for other purposes (for example, general physical layer management and network management).
- PLM information captured from other devices in the network can be captured and communicated to aggregation point 142 for use in connection with the authentication processing described here and/or for other purposes (for example, general physical layer management and network management).
- devices in the network for example, patch panels, inter-networking devices (such switches, routers, hubs, gateways), optical distribution frames, etc.
- aggregation point 142 for use in connection with the authentication processing described here and/or for other purposes (for example, general physical layer management and network management).
- PLM technology makes use of an EEPROM or other storage device that is attached to or integrated with a connector on a cable, fiber, or other segment of communication media.
- the PLM component 124 would be implemented using the EEPROM or storage device.
- the storage device is used to store information about the connector or segment of communication media along with other information.
- the EEPROM or other storage device can be read after the associated connected is inserted into a corresponding jack or other port of a device in the network. In this way, information about wired communication media, devices, systems, and/or networks can be captured in an automated manner.
- PLM technology is the QUAREOTM PLM technology that is used in products commercially available form TE Connectivity.
- RFID radio frequency identification
- An RFID tag is attached to or integrated with a connector on a cable, fiber, or other segment of communication media. That is, with this type of PLM technology, the PLM component 124 would be implemented using the RFID tag.
- the RFID tag is used to store information about the connector or segment of communication media along with other information.
- the RFID tag can be read after the associated connector is inserted into a corresponding jack or other port of a device in the network. In this way, information about wired communication media, devices, systems, and/or networks can be captured in an automated manner.
- Ninth wire technology makes use of special cables that include an extra conductor or signal path (also referred to here as the “ninth wire” conductor or signal path) that is used for determining which port each end of the cables is inserted into.
- the PLM component 124 would be implemented using the ninth wire.
- ninth wire technology is the AMPTRAC family of connectivity management products that are commercially available from TE Connectivity Ltd. Also, examples of ninth wire technology are described in the following United States patent applications, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. No.
- PLM technology for example, bar codes.
- the authentication processing is described here as being performed by an “authentication entity”.
- the authentication entity can be implemented in the host unit 106 or in an entity that is external to the DAS 100 (for example, in the aggregation point 142 or in another entity 146 that interacts with the aggregation point 142 in order to obtain information about the DAS 100 including at least some of the PLM information read by the remote antenna unit 108 ).
- FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of one example of a method 400 of authenticating a remote antenna unit 108 for use in the DAS 100 using PLM information.
- Method 400 is described in the context of DAS 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 but it is to be understood that embodiments of method 400 can be implemented in other distributed antenna systems.
- Method 400 comprising reading PLM information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit 108 to the host unit 106 (block 402 ) and communicating, to the aggregation point 142 , at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit 108 to the host unit 106 (block 404 ).
- the software 140 executing on the programmable processor 134 in the remote antenna unit 108 uses the PLM interface 122 to read the PLM information from the PLM component 124 and then communicates at least some of the PLM information to the aggregation point 142 .
- Method 400 further comprises using at least some of the PLM information read from the PLM component 124 to authenticate the remote antenna unit 108 (block 406 ).
- the authentication entity interacts with the aggregation point 142 to check that the remote antenna unit 108 includes operable PLM technology and has successfully read PLM information from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit 108 to the host unit 106 and communicated it to the aggregation point 142 . That is, the authentication entity, in this example, is checking if remote antenna unit 108 includes a PLM interface 122 , has read PLM information from a cable that includes a PLM component 124 , and has communicated such PLM information the aggregation point 142 .
- the authentication entity considers the remote antenna unit 108 to be authenticated and to have successfully completed the authentication process and enables full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 . If that is not the case (for example, the remote antenna unit 108 does not include a PLM interface 122 or a cable that includes a PLM component 124 is not used to couple the remote antenna unit 108 to the host unit 106 ), then the authentication entity considers the remote antenna unit 108 to not have been authenticated and to have not successfully completed the authentication process and does not enable full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 .
- the authentication entity can disable or enable full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 by sending a command or other message to the host unit 106 , which then either starts distributing downstream and upstream signals with the remote antenna unit 108 (if enabled) or does not distribute downstream and upstream signals with the remote antenna unit 108 (if not enabled).
- the authentication entity interacts with the aggregation point 142 to check if the PLM information read by the remote antenna unit 108 and communicated to the aggregation point 142 includes predetermined information (for example, a serial number failing within a particular range or predetermined code). If the PLM information includes the predetermined information, the authentication entity considers the remote antenna unit 108 to be authenticated and to have successfully completed the authentication process and enables full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 . If the PLM information does not include the predetermined information, then the authentication entity considers the remote antenna unit 108 to not have been authenticated and to have not successfully completed the authentication process and does not enable full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 .
- predetermined information for example, a serial number failing within a particular range or predetermined code.
- encryption is used in the authentication process.
- the remote antenna unit 108 in addition to reading the PLM information and communicating it to the aggregation point 142 , uses at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to couple the remote antenna unit 108 to the host unit 106 to generate an authentication code.
- the authentication code is generated, in this example, by encrypting the PLM information with an encryption key that is shared with the authentication entity.
- the authentication code generated by the remote antenna unit 108 is then communicated to the authentication entity.
- the authentication entity can then check the generated authentication code.
- One way the authentication entity can check the authentication code generated by the remote antenna unit 108 can be done by having the authentication entity itself generate its own version of the authentication code by using the shared encryption key to encrypt the PLM information read by the remote antenna unit 108 and communicated to the aggregation point 142 . Then, the authentication entity then checks if the authentication code generated by the remote antenna unit 108 matches the authentication code generated by the authentication entity. If they match, the authentication entity considers the remote antenna unit 108 to be authenticated and to have successfully completed the authentication process and enables full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 . If the authentication codes do not match, then the authentication entity considers the remote antenna unit 108 to not have been authenticated and to have not successfully completed the authentication process and does not enable full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 .
- Another way the authentication entity can check the authentication code generated by the remote antenna unit 108 is to use the shared encryption key to decrypt the authentication code generated by the remote antenna unit 108 in order to obtain a plain text version of the PLM information that was encrypted by the remote antenna unit 108 . Then, the authentication entity can then obtain the corresponding PLM information that was communicated by the remote antenna unit 108 to the aggregation point 142 and compare it to the plain text resulting from decrypting the authentication code. If they match, the authentication entity considers the remote antenna unit 108 to be authenticated and to have successfully completed the authentication process and enables full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 . If the authentication codes do not match, then the authentication entity considers the remote antenna unit 108 to not have been authenticated and to have not successfully completed the authentication process and does not enable full operation of the remote antenna unit 108 in the DAS 100 .
- DAS and distributed base station configurations such as distributed base stations that implement one or more of the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) and Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI) specifications and standards).
- CPRI Common Public Radio Interface
- OBSAI Open Base Station Architecture Initiative
- FIGS. 5A-5B are block diagrams of one exemplary embodiment of a digital RF transport network 500 that implements a “host-to-host” topology.
- the network 500 includes first and second ends 502 and 504 .
- twelve host units 506 are deployed at each of the ends 502 and 504 (though it is to be understood that other number of host units 506 can be used).
- each of the host units 506 is implemented in generally the same way. As shown in FIG. 5B , each of the host units 506 includes eight analog-to-digital (A/D) units 510 , three multiplexer/serializer units 512 , and three optical transmitters 514 . Also, each of the host units 506 includes three optical receivers 516 , three demultiplexer/deserializer units 518 , and eight digital-to-analog (D/A) units 520 .
- A/D analog-to-digital
- D/A digital-to-analog
- Each host unit 506 has eight analog RF inputs 522 and three optical outputs 524 . Also, each host unit 506 has three optical inputs 526 and eight analog RF outputs 528 . In FIG. 5A , for the ease of illustration, the eight lines shown as being connected to each host unit 506 represent both the eight analog RF inputs 522 and the eight analog RF outputs 528 for that host unit 506 .
- Each analog RF input 522 is provided to a respective A/D unit 510 , which down converts and digitizes the analog RF input.
- Each A/D unit 510 outputs digital data to each of the three multiplexer/serializer units 512 .
- Each of the multiplexer/serializer units 512 combines the digital data from one or more of the A/D units 510 into a serial digital data stream, which is provided to a respective optical transmitter 514 .
- the optical transmitter 514 transmits the serial digital data stream as an optical signal, which is output on one of the optical outputs 524 .
- Each optical input 526 is received by a respective optical receiver 516 , which outputs a serial digital data stream based on the optical input.
- the serial digital data stream includes digital data for up to eight RF signals.
- the serial digital data stream is provided to a respective demultiplexer/deserializer unit 518 , which deserializes and demultiplexes the digital data included on that optical input 526 and provides the digital data for each of the eight RF signals to an appropriate one of the D/A units 520 .
- Each D/A unit 520 digitally sums the digital data provided from the three demultiplexer/deserializer units 518 , converts the resulting summed digital data to an analog signal, and upconverts the resulting analog signal to an analog RF signal, which is output as a respective one of the eight analog RF outputs 528 .
- the optical outputs 524 from all of the twelve host units 506 at each end 502 and 504 are multiplexed together using a respective wavelength division multiplexer/demultiplexer 532 and communicated over a respective fiber 534 and 536 , where one fiber 534 is used for communicating from the first end 502 to the second end 504 and the other fiber 536 is used for communicating from the second end 504 to the first end 502 .
- 36 optical signals are communicated over each fiber 534 and 536 .
- the wavelength multiplexer/demultiplexer 532 demultiplexes the received optical signal and outputs the 36 optical signals communicated over the respective fiber 534 and 536 .
- Each of the 36 optical signals is provided to a respective one of the optical inputs 526 of one of the host units 506 .
- each host unit 506 has three optical inputs 524 and three optical outputs 526
- up to 12 host units can be used at each end.
- a SLIC is used to multiplex the three optical outputs for each host unit into a single optical output and to demultiplex a single optical input into the three optical inputs for each host unit
- a pair of 8 channel course wavelength division multiplexer/demultiplexers can be used with up to 12 host units at each end.
- this network 500 can be used to locate serval base stations units or interfaces (providing, for example, up to 96 base station interfaces) at one end 502 of the network 500 and the host units for multiples analog DASs located at the other end 504 of the network 500 .
- This network 500 can also be used in multi-operator or multi-service applications.
- each host unit 506 has eight analog RF inputs 522 and eight analog RF outputs 528 .
- each host unit 606 includes eight digital RF inputs 622 and eight digital RF outputs 628 .
- these digital RF inputs and outputs 622 and 628 can be the digital baseband data output and received by a baseband unit (BBU) from a distributed base station architecture system. Examples of such digital data formats are described in specifications and protocols published by the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) consortium and the Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI) consortium.
- CPRI Common Public Radio Interface
- OBSAI Open Base Station Architecture Initiative
- the network 600 and host units 606 are the same as the network 500 and host units 506 described above in connection with FIGS. 5A-5B , except as described here in connection with FIGS. 6A-6B .
- the elements of the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 6A-6B that are similar to corresponding elements of the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 5A-5B are referenced in FIGS. 6A-6B using the same reference numerals used in FIGS. 5A-5B but with the leading numeral changed from a “5” to a “6”. Except as described here, the description of the elements set forth above in connection with the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 5A-5B applies to the corresponding elements of the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS. 6A-6B but generally will not be repeated in connection with FIGS. 6A-6B for the sake of brevity.
- each digital RF input 622 is converted to a digital format that is suitable for use in the rest of the host unit 606 by a converter unit 610 .
- Each converter unit 610 outputs reformatted digital data to each of the three multiplexer/serializer units 612 , which processes the reformatted digital data as described above in connection with FIGS. 5A-5B .
- Each demultiplexer/deserializer unit 618 deserializes and demultiplexes digital data received on a respective optical input 626 and provides the digital data for each of the eight digital RF outputs 628 to an appropriate one of the converter units 620 .
- Each converter unit 620 converts the received digital data to a digital format that is suitable for use by the baseband unit to which the base unit 506 is coupled. The reformatted digital is output as a respective one of the eight digital RF outputs 628 .
- the managed connectivity techniques described above in connection with FIGS. 1-4 can be used with the networks 500 and 600 of FIGS. 5A-5B and 6 A- 6 B.
- Example 1 includes a digital antenna system (DAS) comprising: a host unit; and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit; wherein the host unit is configured to communicate a downstream transport signal from the host unit to the remote antenna unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to use the downstream transport signal to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the DAS is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- DAS digital antenna system
- Example 2 includes the DAS of Example 1, wherein the host unit is configured to work with remote antenna units from multiple vendors.
- Example 3 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-2, wherein the remote antenna unit comprises an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.
- PLM physical layer management
- Example 4 includes the DAS of Example 3, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- Example 5 includes the DAS of Example 4, wherein an out-of-band channel is provided between the host unit and the remote antenna unit over which the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate with the PLM aggregation point.
- Example 6 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-5, wherein the authentication process is performed by at least one of: the host unit and an entity external to the DAS.
- Example 7 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-6, wherein the authentication process comprises determining if the remote antenna unit read predetermined information from the at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- Example 8 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-7, wherein the authentication process comprises: receiving a first authentication code from the remote antenna unit; generating a second authentication code; and comparing the first authentication code to the second authentication code.
- Example 9 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-8, wherein the authentication process comprises: receiving an authentication code from the remote antenna unit; decrypting the authentication using a key to generate plain text; and determining if the plain text includes predetermined information.
- Example 10 includes the DAS of Example 9, wherein the predetermined information comprises at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- Example 11 includes the DAS of Example 10, wherein the authentication process further comprises: receiving at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit by at least one of the remote antenna unit and a device other than the remote antenna unit.
- Example 12 includes the DAS of Example 11, wherein the device other than the remote antenna unit comprises at least one of: the host unit, an expansion hub, and a patch panel.
- Example 13 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-12, wherein the host unit is communicatively coupled to the remote antenna unit using at least one intermediary device.
- Example 14 includes the DAS of Example 13, wherein the intermediary device comprises an expansion hub.
- Example 15 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-14, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate an upstream transport signal from an upstream radio frequency signal received via at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate the upstream transport signal from the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein the host unit is configured to use the upstream transport signal to generate a upstream signal that is provided by the host unit to at least one base-station related node.
- Example 16 includes the DAS of Example 15, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate the upstream transport signal by doing at least one of: down-converting a signal derived from the upstream radio frequency signal; and performing an analog-to-digital conversion (A/D) process on a signal derived from the upstream radio frequency signal.
- Example 17 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 15-16, wherein the host unit is configured to do at least one of the following in connection with generating the upstream signal from the upstream transport signal: performing a digital-to-analog conversion on a signal derived from the upstream transport signal; and upconverting a signal derived from the upstream transport signal.
- Example 18 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-17, wherein the host unit is coupled to a base-station related node.
- Example 19 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-18, wherein the base-station related node comprises at least one of a base station, a radio access controller, and a base station controller.
- Example 20 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-19, wherein the host unit is configured to receive downstream radio frequency signal from a base station and to generate the downstream transport signal from the downstream radio frequency signal.
- Example 21 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-20, wherein the host unit is configured to receive digital downstream baseband data from a base station related node and to generate the downstream transport signal from the digital downstream baseband data.
- Example 22 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-21, wherein DAS comprises at least one of an analog DAS and a digital DAS.
- Example 23 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-22, wherein the host unit is configured to generate the downstream transport signal by doing at least one of: generating digital downstream baseband data using a base band module or a base station module included in the host unit; performing an analog-to-digital conversion on a signal derived from the downstream signal; and frequency shifting a signal derived from the downstream signal.
- Example 24 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-23, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to do at least one of the following in connection with generating the downstream radio frequency signal from the downstream transport signal: performing a digital-to-analog conversion on a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; up-converting a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; a filtering a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; and amplifying a signal derived from the downstream transport signal.
- Example 25 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-24, further comprising an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit is used in the authentication process.
- PLM physical layer management
- Example 26 includes the DAS of Example 25, wherein the host unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit.
- Example 27 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-26, wherein the DAS is configured to enable full operation of an expansion unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein full operation of the expansion unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is coupled to the host unit via the expansion unit.
- Example 28 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-27, wherein the DAS is configured to enable full operation of the host unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein full operation of the host unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the host unit.
- Example 29 includes a remote antenna unit for use in a distributed antenna (DAS) comprising the remote antenna unit and a host unit, the remote antenna unit comprising: a port to attach at least one cable that is used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit from a downstream transport signal received at the remote antenna unit from the host unit; and wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate information used in an authentication process that is used to determine whether to enable operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS.
- DAS distributed antenna
- Example 30 includes the remote antenna unit of Example 29, further comprising at least one programmable processor configured to execute software.
- Example 31 includes the remote antenna unit of any of the Examples 29-30, further comprising an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.
- PLM physical layer management
- Example 32 includes the remote antenna unit of Example 31, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- Example 33 includes the remote antenna unit of Example 32, wherein an out-of-band channel is provided between the host unit and the remote antenna unit over which the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate with the PLM aggregation point.
- Example 34 includes the remote antenna unit of any of the Examples 29-34, wherein the remote antenna unit generates the downstream radio frequency signal from the downstream transport signal by doing at least one of: performing a digital-to-analog process on a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; upconverting a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; filtering a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; and amplifying a signal derived from the downstream transport signal.
- Example 35 includes the remote antenna unit of any of the Examples 29-34, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate an upstream transport signal from an upstream radio frequency signal received via at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate the upstream transport signal from the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein the host unit is configured to use the upstream transport signal to generate a upstream signal that is provided by the host unit to at least one base-station related node.
- Example 36 includes a host unit for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) comprising the host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit and that is communicatively coupled to the host unit, the host unit comprising: an interface to communicatively couple the host unit the remote antenna unit; and wherein the host unit is configured to generate a downstream transport signal, wherein the downstream transport signal is communicated from the host unit to the remote antenna unit for use by the remote antenna unit in generating a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the host unit is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- DAS digital antenna system
- Example 37 includes the host unit of Example 36, wherein the host unit is configured to work with remote antenna units from multiple vendors.
- Example 38 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-37, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.
- Example 39 includes the host unit of Example 38, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- PLM physical layer management
- Example 40 includes the host unit of Example 39, wherein an out-of-band channel is provided between the host unit and the remote antenna unit over which the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate with the PLM aggregation point.
- Example 41 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-40, further comprising at least one programmable processor configured to execute software.
- Example 42 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-41, further comprising an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit is used in the authentication process.
- Example 43 includes the host unit of Example 42, wherein the host unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit.
- PLM physical layer management
- Example 44 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-43, wherein the host unit is configured to generate the downstream transport signal by doing at least one of: generating digital downstream baseband data using a base band module or a base station module included in the host unit; performing an analog-to-digital conversion on a signal derived from the downstream signal; and frequency shifting a signal derived from the downstream signal.
- Example 45 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-44, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate an upstream transport signal from an upstream radio frequency signal received via at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate the upstream transport signal from the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein the host unit is configured to use the upstream transport signal to generate a upstream signal that is provided by the host unit to at least one base-station related node.
- Example 46 includes a method for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) that comprises a host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit, the method comprising: performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit; and enabling full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- DAS digital antenna system
- Example 47 includes the method of Example 46, further comprising using reading physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.
- PLM physical layer management
- Example 48 includes the method of Example 47, further comprising communicating, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- Example 49 includes the method of any of Examples 46-48, wherein the authentication process is performed by at least one of: the host unit and an entity external to the DAS.
- Example 50 includes the method of any of Examples 46-49, wherein the authentication process comprises determining if the remote antenna unit read predetermined information from the at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- Example 51 includes the method of any of Examples 46-50, wherein the authentication process comprises: receiving a first authentication code from the remote antenna unit; generating a second authentication code; and comparing the first authentication code to the second authentication code.
- Example 52 includes the method of any of Examples 46-51, wherein the authentication process comprises: receiving an authentication code from the remote antenna unit; decrypting the authentication using a key to generate plain text; and determining if the plain text includes predetermined information.
- Example 53 includes the method of Example 52, wherein the predetermined information comprises at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- Example 54 includes the method of Example 53, wherein the authentication process further comprises: receiving at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit by at least one of the remote antenna unit and a device other than the remote antenna unit; performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit; and enabling full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Example 55 includes the method of any of Examples 46-54, further comprising: performing an authentication process related to an expansion unit; and enabling full operation of the expansion unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein full operation of the expansion unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is coupled to the host unit via the expansion unit.
- Example 56 includes the method of any of Examples 46-55, further comprising: performing an authentication process related to the host unit; and enabling full operation of the host unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the host unit, wherein full operation of the host unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the host unit.
- Example 57 includes a host-to-host network comprising: a plurality of first host units located at a first end, each of the plurality of first host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals; a plurality of second host units located at a second end, each of the plurality of second host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals; a first optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the first host units and output a corresponding first combined optical output over a first optical fiber; a second optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to receive the first combined optical output from the first fiber and demultiplex the optical output signals and provide them as the optical input signals for the second host units; wherein the second optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the second host units and output a corresponding second combined optical output over a second optical fiber; and wherein the first optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to receive the second combined optical output form the
- Example 58 includes the network of Example 57, wherein each of the first host units and second host unit includes a respective plurality of multiplexer/serializer units and a plurality of demultiplexer/deserializer units.
- Example 59 includes the network of any of Examples 57-58, wherein each of the first host units and second host units includes a respective plurality of analog-to-digital converters and a respective plurality of digital-to-analog converters.
- Example 60 includes the network of any of Examples 57-59, wherein each of the first host units and second host units includes a respective plurality of converters for converting digital baseband unit data to a different digital data format.
- Example 61 includes the network of any of Examples 57-60, wherein the digital baseband unit data comprises one of CPRI baseband data and OBSAI baseband data.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Electromagnetism (AREA)
- Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/670,482, filed on Jul. 11, 2012, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
- One way that a wireless cellular service provider can improve the coverage provided by a given base station or group of base stations is by using a distributed antenna system (DAS). In a DAS, radio frequency (RF) signals are communicated between a host unit and one or more remote antenna units (RAUs). The host unit can be communicatively coupled to one or more base stations directly by connecting the host unit to the base station using, for example, coaxial cabling. The host unit can also be communicatively coupled to one or more base stations wirelessly, for example, using a donor antenna and a bi-directional amplifier (BDA).
- RF signals transmitted from the base station (also referred to here as “downlink RF signals”) are received at the host unit. The host unit uses the downlink RF signals to generate a downlink transport signal that is distributed to one or more of the RAUs. Each such RAU receives the downlink transport signal and reconstructs the downlink RF signals based on the downlink transport signal and causes the reconstructed downlink RF signals to be radiated from at least one antenna coupled to or included in that RAU. A similar process is performed in the uplink direction. RF signals transmitted from mobile units (also referred to here as “uplink RF signals”) are received at each RAU. Each RAU uses the uplink RF signals to generate an uplink transport signal that is transmitted from the RAU to the host unit. The host unit receives and combines the uplink transport signals transmitted from the RAUs. The host unit reconstructs the uplink RF signals received at the RAUs and communicates the reconstructed uplink RF signals to the base station. In this way, the coverage of the base station can be expanded using the DAS.
- One or more intermediate devices (also referred to here as “expansion hubs” or “expansion units”) can be placed between the host unit and the remote antenna units in order to increase the number of RAUs that a single host unit can feed and/or to increase the host-unit-to-RAU distance.
- Typically, the host unit, the RAUs, and any intermediary devices are designed to use proprietary protocols for communications that occur within the DAS. As a result, the host unit, the RAUs, and the intermediary devices are typically sold by the same original equipment manufacture. However, a conventional DAS network typically does not include any mechanism to ensure that only authorized RAUs are used in a given DAS network.
- One type of DAS is a so-called digital DAS. In one common digital DAS configuration, a host unit digitizes analog downlink RF signals received from one or more base stations (either directly or via a donor antenna and BDA). The digital data that results from digitizing each of the base station inputs is framed together and communicated over one or more fibers to multiple RAUs, where each RAU converts the digital data back to downstream analog RF signals for radiation from antennas associated with each RAU. Similar processing is performed in the upstream direction. Upstream analog RF signals received on the antenna coupled to each RAU are digitized, and the resulting digital data is framed together and communicated over a fiber to the host unit. The host unit receives the upstream digital data and converts the digital data back to upstream analog RF signals that can be provided to a base station for processing thereby.
- Typically, such a digital DAS is implemented in a point-to-multipoint topology, where the host unit is coupled to each RAU over a respective pair of optical fibers.
- One embodiment is directed to a digital antenna system (DAS) comprising a host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit. The host unit is configured to communicate a downstream transport signal from the host unit to the remote antenna unit. The remote antenna unit is configured to use the downstream transport signal to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit. The DAS is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Another embodiment is directed to a remote antenna unit for use in a distributed antenna (DAS) comprising the remote antenna unit and a host unit. The remote antenna unit comprises a port to attach at least one cable that is used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. The remote antenna unit is configured to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit from a downstream transport signal received at the remote antenna unit from the host unit. The remote antenna unit is configured to communicate information used in an authentication process that is used to determine whether to enable operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS.
- Another embodiment is directed to a host unit for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) comprising the host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit and that is communicatively coupled to the host unit. The host unit comprises an interface to communicatively couple the host unit the remote antenna unit. The host unit is configured to generate a downstream transport signal, wherein the downstream transport signal is communicated from the host unit to the remote antenna unit for use by the remote antenna unit in generating a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit. The host unit is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Another embodiment is directed to a method for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) that comprises a host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit. The remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit. The method comprises performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit and enabling full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit. Full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Another embodiment is directed to a host-to-host network comprising a plurality of first host units located at a first end, each of the plurality of first host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals. The network further comprises a plurality of second host units located at a second end, each of the plurality of second host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals. The network further comprises a first optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the first host units and output a corresponding first combined optical output over a first optical fiber. The network further comprises a second optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to receive the first combined optical output from the first fiber and demultiplex the optical output signals and provide them as the optical input signals for the second host units. The second optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the second host units and output a corresponding second combined optical output over a second optical fiber. The first optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to receive the second combined optical output form the second fiber and demultiplex the optical output signals and provide them as the optical input signals for the first host units.
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a distributed antenna system (DAS) that is configured to use managed connectivity to communicatively couple the various nodes of the DAS. -
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another exemplary embodiment of a distributed antenna system (DAS) that is configured to use managed connectivity to communicatively couple the various nodes of the DAS. -
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of one example of a method of authenticating a remote antenna unit for use in a DAS. -
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of one example of a method of authenticating a remote antenna unit for use in a DAS using PLM information. -
FIGS. 5A-5B are block diagrams of one exemplary embodiment of a digital RF transport network that implements a “host-to-host” topology. -
FIGS. 6A-6B are block diagrams of another exemplary embodiment of a digital RF transport network that implements a “host-to-host” topology. -
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of a distributed antenna system (DAS) 100 that is configured to use managed connectivity to communicatively couple the various nodes of theDAS 100. - In the example shown in
FIG. 1 ,DAS 100 is used to distribute bi-directional wireless communications between one or more base station-related nodes 102 and one or more wireless devices 104 (for example, mobile telephones, mobile computers, and/or combinations thereof such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones). In the exemplary embodiment shown inFIG. 1 , theDAS 100 is used to distribute a plurality of bi-directional radio frequency bands. Also, each such radio frequency band is typically used to communicate multiple logical bi-directional RF channels. -
DAS 100 can be configured to distribute wireless communications that use licensed radio frequency spectrum, such as cellular radio frequency communications. Examples of such cellular RF communications include cellular communications that support one or more of the second generation (2G), third generation (3G), and fourth generation (4G) Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) family of telephony and data specifications and standards, one or more of the second generation (2G), third generation (3G), and fourth generation (4G) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) family of telephony and data specifications and standards, and/or the WIMAX family of specification and standards.DAS 100 can also be configured to distribute wireless communications that make use of unlicensed radio frequency spectrum such as wireless local area networking communications that support one or more of the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. The DAS technology described here can be used to distribute combinations of licensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum in the using the same DAS. - In one exemplary implementation of the
example DAS 100 shown inFIG. 1 , the DAS is configured to distribute wireless communications that use frequency division duplexing in to order to support bi-directional communications. In such an implementation, each bi-directional radio frequency band distributed by theDAS 100 includes a separate radio frequency band for each of two directions of communications. One direction of communication is from the base station-relatednode 102 to awireless device 104 and is referred to here as the “downstream” or “downlink” direction. The other direction of communication is from thewireless device 104 to the base station-relatednode 102 and is referred to here as the “upstream” or “uplink” direction. Each of the distributed bi-directional radio frequency bands includes a respective “downstream” band in which downstream RF channels are communicated for that bi-directional radio frequency band and an “upstream” band in which upstream RF channels are communicated for that bi-directional radio frequency band. The downstream and upstream bands for a given bi-directional radio frequency band need not be, and typically are not, contiguous. To support frequency division duplexing, theDAS 100 is configured to process and distribute the upstream and downstream signals separately. - In other embodiments, the
DAS 100 is configured to communicate at least some wireless communications that use other duplexing techniques (such as time division duplexing, which is used, for example, in some WIMAX implementations). For example, in one exemplary implementation, the DAS is configured to distribute wireless communications that use time division duplexing in to order to support bi-directional communications. In such an implementation, each bi-directional radio frequency band distributed by theDAS 100 uses the same frequency band for both downstream and upstream communications. In such an implementation, the various nodes in theDAS 100 include switching functionality to switch between communicating in the downstream direction and the communicating in the upstream direction as well as functionality for synchronizing such switching with the time division duplexing scheme used by the RF communications that are being distributed. Examples of schemes for implementing such time division duplexing are described in the following United States patent applications, all of which are incorporated herein by reference: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/771,320, filed Jan. 26, 2001, and titled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DISTRIBUTED MULTIBAND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SIGNALS”, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,801,767; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/144,961, filed Jun. 24, 2008, and titled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FRAME DETECTION IN A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/144,939, filed Jun. 24, 2008, and titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SYNCHRONIZED TIME-DIVISION DUPLEX SIGNAL SWITCHING”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/144,913, filed Jun. 24, 2008, titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURABLE TIME-DIVISION DUPLEX INTERFACE”, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,208,414. - In the exemplary embodiment shown in
FIG. 1 , theDAS 100 includes ahost unit 106 and one or moreremote antenna units 108 that are located remotely from thehost unit 106. TheDAS 100 shown inFIG. 1 uses onehost unit 106 and threeremote antenna units 108, though it is to be understood that other numbers ofhost units 106 and/orremote antenna units 108 can be used. - In the example shown in
FIG. 1 , thehost unit 106 is communicatively coupled to one or more base station-relatednodes 102 either directly (for example, via one or more coaxial cable connections) or indirectly (for example, via one or more donor antennas and one or more bidirectional amplifiers). In one implementation of the embodiment shown inFIG. 1 , thehost unit 106 is communicatively coupled to one or more base stations that transmit and receive radio frequency wireless communications (that is, the base station-relatednode 102 comprises one or more base stations). In such an implementation, the output of the one or more base stations may need to attenuated or otherwise conditioned before being input to thehost unit 106. - In another implementation of such an embodiment, the
host unit 106 includes functionality that implements one or more functions that historically have been performed by a traditional base station (for example, base band processing) and, in such an implementation, thehost unit 106 is communicatively coupled to one or more radio network controllers, base station controllers, or similar nodes (for example, using an Internet Protocol (IP) network and/or one or more traditional TDM links (for example, one or more T1 or E1 connections)). - In the exemplary embodiment shown in
FIG. 1 , thehost unit 106 is communicatively coupled to eachremote antenna units 108 overtransport communication media 110. Thetransport communication media 110 can be implemented in various ways. For example, the transport communication media can be implemented using respective separate point-to-point communication links, for example, where respective optical fiber or copper cabling is used to directly connect thehost unit 106 to eachremote antenna unit 108. One such example is shown inFIG. 1 , where thehost unit 106 is directly connected to eachremote antenna unit 108 using a respectiveoptical fiber 112. Also, in the embodiment shown inFIG. 1 , a singleoptical fiber 112 is used to connect thehost unit 106 to eachremote antenna unit 108, where wave division multiplexing (WDM) is used to communicate both downstream and upstream signals over the singleoptical fiber 112. In other embodiments, thehost unit 106 is directly connected to eachremote antenna unit 108 using more than one optical fiber (for example, using two optical fibers, where one optical fiber is used for communicating downstream signals and the other optical fiber is used for communicating upstream signals). Also, in other embodiments, thehost unit 106 is directly connected to one or more of theremote antenna units 108 using other types of communication media such a coaxial cabling (for example, RG6, RG11, or RG59 coaxial cabling), twisted-pair cabling (for example, CAT-5 or CAT-6 cabling), or wireless communications (for example, microwave or free-space optical communications). - The
transport communication media 110 can also be implemented using shared point-to-multipoint communication media in addition to or instead of using point-to-point communication media. One example of such an implementation is where thehost unit 106 is directly coupled to an intermediary unit (also sometimes referred to as an “expansion” unit), which in turn is directly coupled to multipleremote antenna units 108. One example of such aDAS 200 is shown inFIG. 2 , where thehost unit 106 is directly connected to anexpansion unit 116 using a pair of optical fibers 118 (one fiber being used for downstream communications and the other fiber being used for upstream communications) and where theexpansion hub 116, in turn, is directly connected to the multipleremote antenna units 108 using respective coaxial cables 120 (over which both downstream and upstream signals are communicated). Another example of a shared transport implementation is where thehost unit 106 is coupled to the remote antenna units using an Internet Protocol (IP) network. - Each
remote antenna unit 108 includes or is coupled to at least oneantenna 114 via which theremote antenna unit 108 receives and radiates radio frequency signals (as described in more detail below). Various antenna configurations can be used. For example, asingle antenna 114 can be used for transmitting and receiving all of the frequency bands handled by givenremote antenna unit 108. Also,different antennas 114 can be used for transmitting and receiving and/ordifferent antennas 114 can be used for the various frequency bands handled by a givenremote antenna unit 108. Other antenna configurations can be used (for example diversity transmit and receive configurations or Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) configurations). - In general, the
host unit 106 receives one or more downstream signals from the base station-relatednodes 102 and generates one or more downstream transport signals from the received downstream signals (or from signals or data derived therefrom). Thehost unit 106 then transmits the downstream transport signals to theremote antenna units 108 via the transport media 110 (and any intermediary devices that are located between thehost unit 106 and each remote antenna unit 108). Eachremote antenna unit 108 receives at least one downstream transport signal. Eachremote antenna unit 108 generates one or more downstream radio frequency signals using, at least in part, the received at least one downstream transport signal (or from signals or data derived therefrom) and causes the one or more downstream radio frequency signals to be radiated from the one or moreremote antennas 114 coupled to or included in thatremote antenna unit 108. - A similar process is performed in the upstream direction. Upstream radio frequency signals are received at one or more
remote antenna units 108 via theantennas 114. At eachremote antenna unit 108, theremote antenna unit 108 uses the received upstream radio frequency signals to generate respective upstream transport signals that are transmitted from the respectiveremote antenna units 108 to thehost unit 106. Thehost unit 106 receives the upstream transport signals transmitted from theremote antenna units 108. Thehost unit 106 generates one or more upstream signals for communicating to one or more of the base station-relatednodes 102 from one or more of the received upstream transport signals (or from signals or data derived therefrom). In connection with generating the upstream signals for the base station-relatednodes 102, thehost unit 106 may combine signals or data received from multipleremote antenna units 108. - In implementations where the base station-related
nodes 102 comprises base stations, the downstream signals received at thehost unit 106 comprise downstream radio frequency signals and the upstream signals generated by thehost unit 106 for communicating to the base stations comprise upstream radio frequency signals. - In such implementations, the
DAS 100 can be implemented as adigital DAS 100 in which the downstream radio frequency signals received at thehost unit 106 are digitized by the host unit 106 (for example, by down converting the received downstream radio frequency signals to an intermediate frequency and then digitizing the resulting intermediate frequency signals). The digitized downstream radio frequency data is included in the downstream transport signals that are communicated to theremote antenna units 108. Theremote antenna units 108 then use the digitized downstream radio frequency data to generate the downstream radio frequency signals (for example, by performing a digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion on the digitized downstream radio frequency data, up converting the resulting analog signal to an appropriate radio frequency band, and filtering and amplifying the resulting downstream radio frequency signals). - In such a digital DAS example, in the upstream direction, upstream radio frequency signals received at the
remote antenna units 108 are digitized by the remote antenna units 108 (for example, by down converting the received upstream radio frequency signals to an intermediate frequency and then digitizing the resulting intermediate frequency signals). The digitized upstream radio frequency data is included in the upstream transport signals that are communicated from theremote antenna units 108 to thehost unit 106. Thehost unit 106 then uses the digitized upstream radio frequency data to generate the upstream radio frequency signals for communicating to the base stations (for example, by performing a digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion on the digitized upstream radio frequency data, up converting the resulting signals to an appropriate radio frequency band, and filtering and amplifying the resulting upstream radio frequency signals). Thehost unit 106 can combine data or signals received from multipleremote antenna units 108. - The
DAS 100 can also be implemented as ananalog DAS 100 in which the downstream and upstream transport signals comprise analog versions of the downstream radio frequency signals received at thehost unit 106 and the upstream radio frequency signals received at theremote antenna units 108, respectively. The downstream and upstream transport signals can include frequency shifted or non-frequency shifted versions of the downstream radio frequency signals and the upstream radio frequency signals, respectively. - In one example of a frequency shifting
analog DAS 100, the downstream radio frequency signals received at thehost unit 106 are frequency shifted by the host unit 106 (for example, by down converting the received downstream radio frequency signals to an intermediate frequency). The frequency shifted downstream signals are included in the downstream transport signals that are communicated to theremote antenna units 108. Theremote antenna units 108 use the frequency shifted downstream signals to generate the downstream radio frequency signals (for example, by up converting the frequency shifted signals to an appropriate radio frequency band, and filtering and amplifying the resulting downstream radio frequency signals). - In such a frequency shifting analog DAS example, in the upstream direction, upstream radio frequency signals received at the
remote antenna units 108 are frequency shifted by the remote antenna units 108 (for example, by down converting the received upstream radio frequency signals to an intermediate frequency). The frequency shifted upstream signals are included in the upstream transport signals that are communicated from theremote antenna units 108 to thehost unit 106. Thehost unit 106 uses the frequency shifted upstream signals to generate the upstream radio frequency signals for communicating to the base stations (for example, by up converting the frequency shifted signals to an appropriate radio frequency band, and filtering and amplifying the resulting upstream radio frequency signals). Thehost unit 106 can combine data or signals received from multipleremote antenna units 108. - In implementations where the
host unit 106 comprises one or more functions that have traditionally been implemented by a base station (for example, where thehost unit 106 includes a small base station or base band module), the downstream signals received at thehost unit 106 comprise downstream signals that include the payload, signaling, control, and/or other data needed by such functions. For example, these downstream signals can be used by the functionality in thehost unit 106 to generate digital downstream baseband data, which is included in the downstream transport signals that are communicated to theremote antenna units 108. Theremote antenna units 108 use the downstream baseband data to generate the downstream radio frequency signals (for example, by performing a digital-to-analog (D/A) conversion on the received baseband data, up converting the resulting signals to appropriate radio frequency bands, and filtering and amplifying the resulting downstream radio frequency signals). - In such an example, in the upstream direction, the
remote antenna units 108 generate digital baseband data from the upstream radio frequency signals received via the antennas 114 (for example, by filtering, attenuating, and/or amplifying the received upstream radio frequency signals, down converting the conditioned upstream radio frequency signals, and performing an analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion on the resulting down converted signals). The upstream baseband data is included in the upstream transport signals that are communicated from theremote antenna units 108 to thehost unit 106. The functionality in thehost unit 106 uses the received upstream baseband data for the baseband or other processing performed in thehost unit 106. Thehost unit 106 can combine data or signals received from multipleremote antenna units 108. - Also,
DAS 100 can be implemented using combinations of any of the aforementioned types of DAS architectures. - In some implementations, the
DAS 100 is configured as a “base station hotel” or “neutral host” in which multiple wireless service providers share asingle DAS 100. -
FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of one example of amethod 300 of authenticating aremote antenna unit 108 for use in theDAS 100.Method 300 is described in the context ofDAS 100 shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 but it is to be understood that embodiments ofmethod 300 can be implemented in other distributed antenna systems. -
Method 300 comprises performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit 108 (block 302) and enabling full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100 only if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit 108 (block 304). Full operation of eachremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100 is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for theremote antenna unit 108. -
Method 300 can be used to ensure that only authorizedremote antenna units 108 are being used in theDAS 100. For example, in one usage scenario, thehost unit 106 is configured to work withremote antenna units 108 from multiple vendors. In such a scenario, the manufacturer of thehost unit 106 may wish to ensure that only authorizedremote antenna units 108 are used with thehost unit 106. This may be done in connection with a certification program run by the manufacture of thehost unit 106 to ensure that theremote antenna units 108 that are used with thehost unit 106 comply with the manufacture's specifications and/or to ensure that theremote antenna units 108 comply with regulations promulgated by other entities such as governmental agencies (such as the United States Federal Communications Commission) and cellular service providers. - In one example of
method 300, the nodes in theDAS 100 make use of physical layer management (PLM) technology that is used in authenticating the remote antenna units. As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 , thehost unit 106, eachexpansion hub 116, and eachremote antenna unit 108 includes arespective interface 122 to read physical layer management (PLM) information any cables that are used to communicatively couple that unit to the other units in theDAS 100.Interface 122 is also referred to here as a “PLM”interface 122. Each cable includes some type ofPLM component 124 that is used to store PLM information, and thePLM interface 122 is configured to read at least some of the PLM information stored in thePLM component 124. - At least some of the PLM information read from the
PLM component 124 is used in the authentication process. - In the example shown in
FIG. 1 , eachremote antenna unit 108 is coupled directly to thehost unit 106 over a respectiveoptical fiber 112. Eachoptical fiber 112 includes aPLM component 124 that is attached or included in a connector 126 that terminates thatoptical fiber 112. - In the example shown in
FIG. 2 , eachremote antenna unit 108 is coupled to thehost unit 106 via theexpansion hub 116. In that example, thehost unit 106 is directly coupled to theexpansion hub 116 over a pair ofoptical fibers 118. Eachoptical fiber 118 includes aPLM component 124 that is attached or included in a connector 126 that terminates thatoptical fiber 118. Also, theexpansion hub 116 is directly coupled to eachremote antenna unit 108 over a respectivecoaxial cable 120. Eachcoaxial cable 120 includes aPLM component 124 that is attached or included in a connector 126 that terminates thatcoaxial cable 120. - The
host unit 106, eachexpansion hub 116, and eachremote antenna unit 108 include one ormore ports 128 to which the respective connectors 126 for the respectiveoptical fibers 112,optical fibers 118, orcoaxial cables 120 are connected. Theport 128 includes thePLM interface 122. ThePLM interface 122 is coupled to a respectiveprogrammable processor host unit 106, eachexpansion hub 116, and eachremote antenna unit 108. Eachprogrammable processor software host unit 106, eachexpansion hub 116, and eachremote antenna unit 108, respectively. Thesoftware programmable processor host unit 106,expansion unit 116, or theremote antenna unit 108, or remote storage media (for example, storage media that is accessible over the network) and/or removable media can also be used. Thehost unit 106, eachexpansion unit 116, and eachremote antenna unit 108 also include memory for storing the program instructions (and any related data) during execution by the respectiveprogrammable processor - The
software host unit 106, eachexpansion unit 116, and eachremote antenna unit 108 is configured to use therespective PLM interface 122 to determine when a connector 126 is connected to arespective port 128 and to read the PLM information from therespective PLM component 124. - Also, in this example, the
software respective PLM component 124 to anaggregation point 142. - In this example, the
aggregation point 142 is communicatively coupled to each node in theDAS 100, either directly or indirectly, via anIP network 144. An out-of-band management or control channel that is provided between thehost unit 106 and eachexpansion hub 116 and eachremote antenna unit 108 can be used for communicating the PLM information read by theexpansion hub 116 and eachremote antenna unit 108 to theaggregation point 132 via a connection to theIP network 144 made by thehost unit 106. The PLM information read by eachexpansion hub 116 and eachremote antenna unit 108 from thevarious PLM components 124 can be communicated to theaggregation point 142 in other ways. - The
aggregation point 142 is implemented as middleware software executing on one or more servers (or other computers). Theaggregation point 142 aggregates information from various entities within a network. The information that is aggregated by theaggregation point 142 includes information that is automatically captured by entities that include functionality for reading PLM components that are integrated into connectors. Such automatically captured information includes information about the identity, type, and length of cable used, information about the identity and type of connector used, and information that associates each such connector (and/or cable) with a respective jack, port, or other attachment point of the relevant entity. - The information that is aggregated by the
aggregation point 142 also includes information that is manually entered. Examples of such manually entered information include information about the horizontal runs (including information about the identity, type, length, and location of cabling used), information about the wall plate devices that terminate the various horizontal runs (including information about the identity, type, location, and capabilities of the wall plate device), information about switches or other networking devices (including information about the identity, type, location, and capabilities of the switches or other networking devices), and information that associates each such connector (and/or cable) with a respective jack, port, or other attachment point of the relevant entity. Other types of information that can be aggregated by theaggregation point 142 are described in the patent applications listed here. - The
aggregation point 142 can implement an application programming interface (API) by which application-layer functionality can gain access to the physical layer information maintained by theaggregation point 142 using a software development kit (SDK) that describes and documents the API. In this way, applications that make use of such PLM information can be developed without requiring those applications to directly interact with the individual devices in the network. - One function that can be performed by the
aggregation point 142 is associating various entities within the network with other entities within the network. The lower-level associations provided to the aggregation point 142 (either manually or automatically) are used to construct a set of associations that identifies a physical communication path through the devices for which theaggregation point 142 has information. For example, theaggregation point 142 can be used to construct a set of associations that identifies a physical communication path between thehost unit 106 and eachremote antenna unit 108. - As noted above, in the example described herein, the other units in the DAS 100 (that is, the
host unit 106 and eachexpansion hub 116 shown inFIG. 2 ) can also incorporate PLM technology to read PLM information from the cabling attached to those units and to communicate such information to theaggregation point 142. This can be done in the same manner described above in connection with theremote antenna units 108. This PLM information can be used, for example, in connection with the authentication processing described here and/or for other purposes (for example, general physical layer management and network management). Moreover, PLM information captured from other devices in the network (for example, patch panels, inter-networking devices (such switches, routers, hubs, gateways), optical distribution frames, etc.) can be captured and communicated toaggregation point 142 for use in connection with the authentication processing described here and/or for other purposes (for example, general physical layer management and network management). - One type of PLM technology makes use of an EEPROM or other storage device that is attached to or integrated with a connector on a cable, fiber, or other segment of communication media. With this type of PLM technology, the
PLM component 124 would be implemented using the EEPROM or storage device. The storage device is used to store information about the connector or segment of communication media along with other information. The EEPROM or other storage device can be read after the associated connected is inserted into a corresponding jack or other port of a device in the network. In this way, information about wired communication media, devices, systems, and/or networks can be captured in an automated manner. One example of this type of PLM technology is the QUAREO™ PLM technology that is used in products commercially available form TE Connectivity. This type of PLM technology is also described in the following United States patent applications, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/252,964, filed on Oct. 19, 2009, titled “ELECTRICAL PLUG FOR MANAGED CONNECTIVITY”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3045USP1; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/253,208, filed on Oct. 20, 2009, titled “ELECTRICAL PLUG FOR MANAGED CONNECTIVITY”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3045USP2; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/907,724, filed on Oct. 19, 2010, titled “MANAGED ELECTRICAL CONNECTIVITY SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3045USU1; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/303,948, filed on Feb. 12, 2010, titled “PANEL INCLUDING BLADE FEATURE FOR MANAGED CONNECTIVITY”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3069USP1; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/413,844, filed on Nov. 15, 2010, titled “COMMUNICATIONS BLADED PANEL SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3069USP2; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/439,693, filed on Feb. 4, 2011, titled “COMMUNICATIONS BLADED PANEL SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3069USP3; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/025,730, filed on Feb. 11, 2011, titled “COMMUNICATIONS BLADED PANEL SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3069USU1; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/025,737, filed on Feb. 11, 2011, titled “COMMUNICATIONS BLADED PANEL SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3069USU2; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/025,743, filed on Feb. 11, 2011, titled “COMMUNICATIONS BLADED PANEL SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3069USU3; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/025,750, filed on Feb. 11, 2011, titled “COMMUNICATIONS BLADED PANEL SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3069USU4; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/303,961; filed on Feb. 12, 2010, titled “Fiber Plug And Adapter For Managed Connectivity”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3071USP1; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/413,828, filed on Nov. 15, 2010, titled “Fiber Plugs And Adapters For Managed Connectivity”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3071USP2; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/437,504, filed on Jan. 28, 2011, titled “Fiber Plugs And Adapters For Managed Connectivity”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3071USP3; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/025,784, filed on Feb. 11, 2011, titled “Managed Fiber Connectivity Systems”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3071USU1; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/025,788, filed on Feb. 11, 2011, titled “Managed Fiber Connectivity Systems”, Attorney Docket No 02316.3071USU2; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/025,797, filed on Feb. 11, 2011, titled “Managed Fiber Connectivity Systems”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3071USU3; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/025,841, filed on Feb. 11, 2011, titled “Managed Fiber Connectivity Systems”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3071USU4; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/413,856, filed on Nov. 15, 2010, titled “CABLE MANAGEMENT IN RACK SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3090USP1; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/466,696, filed on Mar. 23, 2011, titled “CABLE MANAGEMENT IN RACK SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3090USP2; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/252,395, filed on Oct. 16, 2009, titled “MANAGED CONNECTIVITY IN ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3021USP1; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/905,689, filed on Oct. 15, 2010, titled “MANAGED CONNECTIVITY IN ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3021USU1; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/252,386, filed on Oct. 16, 2009, titled “MANAGED CONNECTIVITY IN FIBER OPTIC SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3020USP1; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/905,658, filed on Oct. 15, 2010, titled “MANAGED CONNECTIVITY IN FIBER OPTIC SYSTEMS”, Attorney Docket No. 02316.3020USU1; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/467,715, filed on Mar. 25, 2011, titled “DOUBLE-BUFFER INSERTION COUNT STORED IN A DEVICE ATTACHED TO A PHYSICAL LAYER MEDIUM”, Attorney Docket No. 100.1176USPR; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/467,725, filed on Mar. 25, 2011, titled “DYNAMICALLY DETECTING A DEFECTIVE CONNECTOR AT A PORT”, Attorney Docket No. 100.1177USPR; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/467,729, filed on Mar. 25, 2011, titled “IDENTIFIER ENCODING SCHEME FOR USE WITH MULTI-PATH CONNECTORS”, Attorney Docket No. 100.1178USPR; U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/467,736, filed on Mar. 25, 2011, titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR UTILIZING VARIABLE LENGTH DATA FIELD STORAGE SCHEMES ON PHYSICAL COMMUNICATION MEDIA SEGMENTS”, Attorney Docket No. 100.1179USPR; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/467,743, filed on Mar. 25, 2011, titled “EVENT-MONITORING IN A SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY OBTAINING AND MANAGING PHYSICAL LAYER INFORMATION USING A RELIABLE PACKET-BASED COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL”, Attorney Docket No. 100.1181USPR. - Another type of PLM technology makes use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. An RFID tag is attached to or integrated with a connector on a cable, fiber, or other segment of communication media. That is, with this type of PLM technology, the
PLM component 124 would be implemented using the RFID tag. The RFID tag is used to store information about the connector or segment of communication media along with other information. The RFID tag can be read after the associated connector is inserted into a corresponding jack or other port of a device in the network. In this way, information about wired communication media, devices, systems, and/or networks can be captured in an automated manner. - Another type of PLM technology is so-called “ninth wire” technology. Ninth wire technology makes use of special cables that include an extra conductor or signal path (also referred to here as the “ninth wire” conductor or signal path) that is used for determining which port each end of the cables is inserted into. With this type of PLM technology, the
PLM component 124 would be implemented using the ninth wire. One example of ninth wire technology is the AMPTRAC family of connectivity management products that are commercially available from TE Connectivity Ltd. Also, examples of ninth wire technology are described in the following United States patent applications, all of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 7,160,143, titled “SYSTEM FOR MONITORING CONNECTION PATTERN OF DATA PORTS”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,961,675, titled “SYSTEM FOR MONITORING CONNECTION PATTERN OF DATA PORTS”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,177, titled “SYSTEM FOR MONITORING CONNECTION PATTERN OF DATA PORTS”, U.S. Pat. No. 6,684,179, titled “SYSTEM FOR MONITORING CONNECTION PATTERN OF DATA PORTS”, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,586, titled “SYSTEM FOR MONITORING CONNECTION PATTERN OF DATA PORTS”. - Other types of PLM technology can be used (for example, bar codes).
- The authentication processing is described here as being performed by an “authentication entity”. The authentication entity can be implemented in the
host unit 106 or in an entity that is external to the DAS 100 (for example, in theaggregation point 142 or in anotherentity 146 that interacts with theaggregation point 142 in order to obtain information about theDAS 100 including at least some of the PLM information read by the remote antenna unit 108). -
FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of one example of amethod 400 of authenticating aremote antenna unit 108 for use in theDAS 100 using PLM information.Method 400 is described in the context ofDAS 100 shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 but it is to be understood that embodiments ofmethod 400 can be implemented in other distributed antenna systems. -
Method 400 comprising reading PLM information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple theremote antenna unit 108 to the host unit 106 (block 402) and communicating, to theaggregation point 142, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple theremote antenna unit 108 to the host unit 106 (block 404). In this example, as a noted above, when thesoftware 140 executing on theprogrammable processor 134 in theremote antenna unit 108 uses thePLM interface 122 to read the PLM information from thePLM component 124 and then communicates at least some of the PLM information to theaggregation point 142.Method 400 further comprises using at least some of the PLM information read from thePLM component 124 to authenticate the remote antenna unit 108 (block 406). - For example, in one implementation, the authentication entity interacts with the
aggregation point 142 to check that theremote antenna unit 108 includes operable PLM technology and has successfully read PLM information from the cable used to communicatively couple theremote antenna unit 108 to thehost unit 106 and communicated it to theaggregation point 142. That is, the authentication entity, in this example, is checking ifremote antenna unit 108 includes aPLM interface 122, has read PLM information from a cable that includes aPLM component 124, and has communicated such PLM information theaggregation point 142. If that is the case, the authentication entity considers theremote antenna unit 108 to be authenticated and to have successfully completed the authentication process and enables full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100. If that is not the case (for example, theremote antenna unit 108 does not include aPLM interface 122 or a cable that includes aPLM component 124 is not used to couple theremote antenna unit 108 to the host unit 106), then the authentication entity considers theremote antenna unit 108 to not have been authenticated and to have not successfully completed the authentication process and does not enable full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100. The authentication entity can disable or enable full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100 by sending a command or other message to thehost unit 106, which then either starts distributing downstream and upstream signals with the remote antenna unit 108 (if enabled) or does not distribute downstream and upstream signals with the remote antenna unit 108 (if not enabled). - In another implementation, the authentication entity interacts with the
aggregation point 142 to check if the PLM information read by theremote antenna unit 108 and communicated to theaggregation point 142 includes predetermined information (for example, a serial number failing within a particular range or predetermined code). If the PLM information includes the predetermined information, the authentication entity considers theremote antenna unit 108 to be authenticated and to have successfully completed the authentication process and enables full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100. If the PLM information does not include the predetermined information, then the authentication entity considers theremote antenna unit 108 to not have been authenticated and to have not successfully completed the authentication process and does not enable full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100. - In other implementations, encryption is used in the authentication process. For example, in such implementation, in addition to reading the PLM information and communicating it to the
aggregation point 142, theremote antenna unit 108 uses at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to couple theremote antenna unit 108 to thehost unit 106 to generate an authentication code. The authentication code is generated, in this example, by encrypting the PLM information with an encryption key that is shared with the authentication entity. The authentication code generated by theremote antenna unit 108 is then communicated to the authentication entity. The authentication entity can then check the generated authentication code. One way the authentication entity can check the authentication code generated by theremote antenna unit 108 can be done by having the authentication entity itself generate its own version of the authentication code by using the shared encryption key to encrypt the PLM information read by theremote antenna unit 108 and communicated to theaggregation point 142. Then, the authentication entity then checks if the authentication code generated by theremote antenna unit 108 matches the authentication code generated by the authentication entity. If they match, the authentication entity considers theremote antenna unit 108 to be authenticated and to have successfully completed the authentication process and enables full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100. If the authentication codes do not match, then the authentication entity considers theremote antenna unit 108 to not have been authenticated and to have not successfully completed the authentication process and does not enable full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100. - Another way the authentication entity can check the authentication code generated by the
remote antenna unit 108 is to use the shared encryption key to decrypt the authentication code generated by theremote antenna unit 108 in order to obtain a plain text version of the PLM information that was encrypted by theremote antenna unit 108. Then, the authentication entity can then obtain the corresponding PLM information that was communicated by theremote antenna unit 108 to theaggregation point 142 and compare it to the plain text resulting from decrypting the authentication code. If they match, the authentication entity considers theremote antenna unit 108 to be authenticated and to have successfully completed the authentication process and enables full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100. If the authentication codes do not match, then the authentication entity considers theremote antenna unit 108 to not have been authenticated and to have not successfully completed the authentication process and does not enable full operation of theremote antenna unit 108 in theDAS 100. - Although the above examples have described the authentication of
remote antenna units 108 for use in aDAS 100, it is to be understood that the other nodes in theDAS 100 can be authenticated in the same matter (including for example thehost unit 106 and the expansion unit 116). - Also, the techniques described here can be used in DAS and distributed base station configurations (such as distributed base stations that implement one or more of the Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) and Open Base Station Architecture Initiative (OBSAI) specifications and standards).
-
FIGS. 5A-5B are block diagrams of one exemplary embodiment of a digitalRF transport network 500 that implements a “host-to-host” topology. As shown inFIG. 5A , thenetwork 500 includes first and second ends 502 and 504. In this exemplary embodiment, twelvehost units 506 are deployed at each of theends 502 and 504 (though it is to be understood that other number ofhost units 506 can be used). - Each of the
host units 506 is implemented in generally the same way. As shown inFIG. 5B , each of thehost units 506 includes eight analog-to-digital (A/D)units 510, three multiplexer/serializer units 512, and threeoptical transmitters 514. Also, each of thehost units 506 includes threeoptical receivers 516, three demultiplexer/deserializer units 518, and eight digital-to-analog (D/A)units 520. - Each
host unit 506 has eightanalog RF inputs 522 and threeoptical outputs 524. Also, eachhost unit 506 has threeoptical inputs 526 and eight analog RF outputs 528. InFIG. 5A , for the ease of illustration, the eight lines shown as being connected to eachhost unit 506 represent both the eightanalog RF inputs 522 and the eightanalog RF outputs 528 for thathost unit 506. - Each
analog RF input 522 is provided to a respective A/D unit 510, which down converts and digitizes the analog RF input. Each A/D unit 510 outputs digital data to each of the three multiplexer/serializer units 512. Each of the multiplexer/serializer units 512 combines the digital data from one or more of the A/D units 510 into a serial digital data stream, which is provided to a respectiveoptical transmitter 514. Theoptical transmitter 514 transmits the serial digital data stream as an optical signal, which is output on one of theoptical outputs 524. - Each
optical input 526 is received by a respectiveoptical receiver 516, which outputs a serial digital data stream based on the optical input. The serial digital data stream includes digital data for up to eight RF signals. The serial digital data stream is provided to a respective demultiplexer/deserializer unit 518, which deserializes and demultiplexes the digital data included on thatoptical input 526 and provides the digital data for each of the eight RF signals to an appropriate one of the D/A units 520. Each D/A unit 520 digitally sums the digital data provided from the three demultiplexer/deserializer units 518, converts the resulting summed digital data to an analog signal, and upconverts the resulting analog signal to an analog RF signal, which is output as a respective one of the eight analog RF outputs 528. - In this exemplary embodiment, as shown in
FIG. 5A , theoptical outputs 524 from all of the twelvehost units 506 at eachend demultiplexer 532 and communicated over arespective fiber fiber 534 is used for communicating from thefirst end 502 to thesecond end 504 and theother fiber 536 is used for communicating from thesecond end 504 to thefirst end 502. In other words, 36 optical signals are communicated over eachfiber fiber demultiplexer 532 demultiplexes the received optical signal and outputs the 36 optical signals communicated over therespective fiber optical inputs 526 of one of thehost units 506. - In one example implementation, where a pair of 40 channel dense wavelength division multiplexer/demultiplexers is used and each
host unit 506 has threeoptical inputs 524 and threeoptical outputs 526, up to 12 host units can be used at each end. Also, where a SLIC is used to multiplex the three optical outputs for each host unit into a single optical output and to demultiplex a single optical input into the three optical inputs for each host unit, a pair of 8 channel course wavelength division multiplexer/demultiplexers can be used with up to 12 host units at each end. - In this way, very high capacity can be provided between the two ends 502 and 504 of the
network 500. This very high capacity can be used in various applications. For example, thisnetwork 500 can be used to locate serval base stations units or interfaces (providing, for example, up to 96 base station interfaces) at oneend 502 of thenetwork 500 and the host units for multiples analog DASs located at theother end 504 of thenetwork 500. Thisnetwork 500 can also be used in multi-operator or multi-service applications. - In the example shown in
FIG. 5 , eachhost unit 506 has eightanalog RF inputs 522 and eight analog RF outputs 528. However, in an alternative embodiment shown inFIGS. 6A-6B , eachhost unit 606 includes eightdigital RF inputs 622 and eight digital RF outputs 628. For example, these digital RF inputs andoutputs - In general, the
network 600 andhost units 606 are the same as thenetwork 500 andhost units 506 described above in connection withFIGS. 5A-5B , except as described here in connection withFIGS. 6A-6B . The elements of the exemplary embodiment shown inFIGS. 6A-6B that are similar to corresponding elements of the exemplary embodiment shown inFIGS. 5A-5B are referenced inFIGS. 6A-6B using the same reference numerals used inFIGS. 5A-5B but with the leading numeral changed from a “5” to a “6”. Except as described here, the description of the elements set forth above in connection with the exemplary embodiment shown inFIGS. 5A-5B applies to the corresponding elements of the exemplary embodiment shown inFIGS. 6A-6B but generally will not be repeated in connection withFIGS. 6A-6B for the sake of brevity. - In this embodiment, as shown in
FIG. 6B , eachdigital RF input 622 is converted to a digital format that is suitable for use in the rest of thehost unit 606 by aconverter unit 610. Eachconverter unit 610 outputs reformatted digital data to each of the three multiplexer/serializer units 612, which processes the reformatted digital data as described above in connection withFIGS. 5A-5B . - Each demultiplexer/
deserializer unit 618 deserializes and demultiplexes digital data received on a respectiveoptical input 626 and provides the digital data for each of the eight digital RF outputs 628 to an appropriate one of theconverter units 620. Eachconverter unit 620 converts the received digital data to a digital format that is suitable for use by the baseband unit to which thebase unit 506 is coupled. The reformatted digital is output as a respective one of the eight digital RF outputs 628. - The managed connectivity techniques described above in connection with
FIGS. 1-4 can be used with thenetworks FIGS. 5A-5B and 6A-6B. - A number of embodiments have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed invention. Also, combinations of the individual features of the above-described embodiments are considered within the scope of the inventions disclosed here.
- Example 1 includes a digital antenna system (DAS) comprising: a host unit; and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit; wherein the host unit is configured to communicate a downstream transport signal from the host unit to the remote antenna unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to use the downstream transport signal to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the DAS is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Example 2 includes the DAS of Example 1, wherein the host unit is configured to work with remote antenna units from multiple vendors. Example 3 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-2, wherein the remote antenna unit comprises an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.
- Example 4 includes the DAS of Example 3, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. Example 5 includes the DAS of Example 4, wherein an out-of-band channel is provided between the host unit and the remote antenna unit over which the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate with the PLM aggregation point.
- Example 6 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-5, wherein the authentication process is performed by at least one of: the host unit and an entity external to the DAS. Example 7 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-6, wherein the authentication process comprises determining if the remote antenna unit read predetermined information from the at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. Example 8 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-7, wherein the authentication process comprises: receiving a first authentication code from the remote antenna unit; generating a second authentication code; and comparing the first authentication code to the second authentication code.
- Example 9 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-8, wherein the authentication process comprises: receiving an authentication code from the remote antenna unit; decrypting the authentication using a key to generate plain text; and determining if the plain text includes predetermined information. Example 10 includes the DAS of Example 9, wherein the predetermined information comprises at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. Example 11 includes the DAS of Example 10, wherein the authentication process further comprises: receiving at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit by at least one of the remote antenna unit and a device other than the remote antenna unit.
- Example 12 includes the DAS of Example 11, wherein the device other than the remote antenna unit comprises at least one of: the host unit, an expansion hub, and a patch panel. Example 13 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-12, wherein the host unit is communicatively coupled to the remote antenna unit using at least one intermediary device. Example 14 includes the DAS of Example 13, wherein the intermediary device comprises an expansion hub.
- Example 15 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-14, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate an upstream transport signal from an upstream radio frequency signal received via at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate the upstream transport signal from the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein the host unit is configured to use the upstream transport signal to generate a upstream signal that is provided by the host unit to at least one base-station related node.
- Example 16 includes the DAS of Example 15, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate the upstream transport signal by doing at least one of: down-converting a signal derived from the upstream radio frequency signal; and performing an analog-to-digital conversion (A/D) process on a signal derived from the upstream radio frequency signal. Example 17 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 15-16, wherein the host unit is configured to do at least one of the following in connection with generating the upstream signal from the upstream transport signal: performing a digital-to-analog conversion on a signal derived from the upstream transport signal; and upconverting a signal derived from the upstream transport signal. Example 18 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-17, wherein the host unit is coupled to a base-station related node. Example 19 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-18, wherein the base-station related node comprises at least one of a base station, a radio access controller, and a base station controller.
- Example 20 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-19, wherein the host unit is configured to receive downstream radio frequency signal from a base station and to generate the downstream transport signal from the downstream radio frequency signal. Example 21 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-20, wherein the host unit is configured to receive digital downstream baseband data from a base station related node and to generate the downstream transport signal from the digital downstream baseband data. Example 22 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-21, wherein DAS comprises at least one of an analog DAS and a digital DAS.
- Example 23 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-22, wherein the host unit is configured to generate the downstream transport signal by doing at least one of: generating digital downstream baseband data using a base band module or a base station module included in the host unit; performing an analog-to-digital conversion on a signal derived from the downstream signal; and frequency shifting a signal derived from the downstream signal.
- Example 24 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-23, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to do at least one of the following in connection with generating the downstream radio frequency signal from the downstream transport signal: performing a digital-to-analog conversion on a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; up-converting a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; a filtering a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; and amplifying a signal derived from the downstream transport signal.
- Example 25 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-24, further comprising an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit is used in the authentication process.
- Example 26 includes the DAS of Example 25, wherein the host unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit. Example 27 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-26, wherein the DAS is configured to enable full operation of an expansion unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein full operation of the expansion unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is coupled to the host unit via the expansion unit. Example 28 includes the DAS of any of the Examples 1-27, wherein the DAS is configured to enable full operation of the host unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein full operation of the host unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the host unit.
- Example 29 includes a remote antenna unit for use in a distributed antenna (DAS) comprising the remote antenna unit and a host unit, the remote antenna unit comprising: a port to attach at least one cable that is used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit from a downstream transport signal received at the remote antenna unit from the host unit; and wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate information used in an authentication process that is used to determine whether to enable operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS.
- Example 30 includes the remote antenna unit of Example 29, further comprising at least one programmable processor configured to execute software. Example 31 includes the remote antenna unit of any of the Examples 29-30, further comprising an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.
- Example 32 includes the remote antenna unit of Example 31, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. Example 33 includes the remote antenna unit of Example 32, wherein an out-of-band channel is provided between the host unit and the remote antenna unit over which the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate with the PLM aggregation point. Example 34 includes the remote antenna unit of any of the Examples 29-34, wherein the remote antenna unit generates the downstream radio frequency signal from the downstream transport signal by doing at least one of: performing a digital-to-analog process on a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; upconverting a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; filtering a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; and amplifying a signal derived from the downstream transport signal.
- Example 35 includes the remote antenna unit of any of the Examples 29-34, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate an upstream transport signal from an upstream radio frequency signal received via at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate the upstream transport signal from the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein the host unit is configured to use the upstream transport signal to generate a upstream signal that is provided by the host unit to at least one base-station related node.
- Example 36 includes a host unit for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) comprising the host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit and that is communicatively coupled to the host unit, the host unit comprising: an interface to communicatively couple the host unit the remote antenna unit; and wherein the host unit is configured to generate a downstream transport signal, wherein the downstream transport signal is communicated from the host unit to the remote antenna unit for use by the remote antenna unit in generating a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the host unit is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Example 37 includes the host unit of Example 36, wherein the host unit is configured to work with remote antenna units from multiple vendors. Example 38 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-37, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process. Example 39 includes the host unit of Example 38, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- Example 40 includes the host unit of Example 39, wherein an out-of-band channel is provided between the host unit and the remote antenna unit over which the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate with the PLM aggregation point. Example 41 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-40, further comprising at least one programmable processor configured to execute software. Example 42 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-41, further comprising an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit is used in the authentication process. Example 43 includes the host unit of Example 42, wherein the host unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit.
- Example 44 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-43, wherein the host unit is configured to generate the downstream transport signal by doing at least one of: generating digital downstream baseband data using a base band module or a base station module included in the host unit; performing an analog-to-digital conversion on a signal derived from the downstream signal; and frequency shifting a signal derived from the downstream signal. Example 45 includes the host unit of any of Examples 36-44, wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate an upstream transport signal from an upstream radio frequency signal received via at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit; wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate the upstream transport signal from the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein the host unit is configured to use the upstream transport signal to generate a upstream signal that is provided by the host unit to at least one base-station related node.
- Example 46 includes a method for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) that comprises a host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit, the method comprising: performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit; and enabling full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Example 47 includes the method of Example 46, further comprising using reading physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.
- Example 48 includes the method of Example 47, further comprising communicating, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. Example 49 includes the method of any of Examples 46-48, wherein the authentication process is performed by at least one of: the host unit and an entity external to the DAS. Example 50 includes the method of any of Examples 46-49, wherein the authentication process comprises determining if the remote antenna unit read predetermined information from the at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit.
- Example 51 includes the method of any of Examples 46-50, wherein the authentication process comprises: receiving a first authentication code from the remote antenna unit; generating a second authentication code; and comparing the first authentication code to the second authentication code. Example 52 includes the method of any of Examples 46-51, wherein the authentication process comprises: receiving an authentication code from the remote antenna unit; decrypting the authentication using a key to generate plain text; and determining if the plain text includes predetermined information. Example 53 includes the method of Example 52, wherein the predetermined information comprises at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. Example 54 includes the method of Example 53, wherein the authentication process further comprises: receiving at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit by at least one of the remote antenna unit and a device other than the remote antenna unit; performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit; and enabling full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.
- Example 55 includes the method of any of Examples 46-54, further comprising: performing an authentication process related to an expansion unit; and enabling full operation of the expansion unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein full operation of the expansion unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is coupled to the host unit via the expansion unit. Example 56 includes the method of any of Examples 46-55, further comprising: performing an authentication process related to the host unit; and enabling full operation of the host unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the host unit, wherein full operation of the host unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the host unit. Example 57 includes a host-to-host network comprising: a plurality of first host units located at a first end, each of the plurality of first host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals; a plurality of second host units located at a second end, each of the plurality of second host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals; a first optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the first host units and output a corresponding first combined optical output over a first optical fiber; a second optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to receive the first combined optical output from the first fiber and demultiplex the optical output signals and provide them as the optical input signals for the second host units; wherein the second optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the second host units and output a corresponding second combined optical output over a second optical fiber; and wherein the first optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to receive the second combined optical output form the second fiber and demultiplex the optical output signals and provide them as the optical input signals for the first host units.
- Example 58 includes the network of Example 57, wherein each of the first host units and second host unit includes a respective plurality of multiplexer/serializer units and a plurality of demultiplexer/deserializer units. Example 59 includes the network of any of Examples 57-58, wherein each of the first host units and second host units includes a respective plurality of analog-to-digital converters and a respective plurality of digital-to-analog converters. Example 60 includes the network of any of Examples 57-59, wherein each of the first host units and second host units includes a respective plurality of converters for converting digital baseband unit data to a different digital data format. Example 61 includes the network of any of Examples 57-60, wherein the digital baseband unit data comprises one of CPRI baseband data and OBSAI baseband data.
Claims (61)
Priority Applications (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US13/939,392 US20140016583A1 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2013-07-11 | Distributed antenna system with managed connectivity |
US16/036,505 US11290187B2 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2018-07-16 | RF transport network |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US201261670482P | 2012-07-11 | 2012-07-11 | |
US13/939,392 US20140016583A1 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2013-07-11 | Distributed antenna system with managed connectivity |
Related Child Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US16/036,505 Continuation US11290187B2 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2018-07-16 | RF transport network |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20140016583A1 true US20140016583A1 (en) | 2014-01-16 |
Family
ID=49913950
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US13/939,392 Abandoned US20140016583A1 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2013-07-11 | Distributed antenna system with managed connectivity |
US16/036,505 Active 2033-07-25 US11290187B2 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2018-07-16 | RF transport network |
Family Applications After (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US16/036,505 Active 2033-07-25 US11290187B2 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2018-07-16 | RF transport network |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US20140016583A1 (en) |
EP (2) | EP2873164A4 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2014011832A1 (en) |
Cited By (66)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US9037143B2 (en) | 2010-08-16 | 2015-05-19 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Remote antenna clusters and related systems, components, and methods supporting digital data signal propagation between remote antenna units |
US9042732B2 (en) | 2010-05-02 | 2015-05-26 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Providing digital data services in optical fiber-based distributed radio frequency (RF) communication systems, and related components and methods |
US9106315B2 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2015-08-11 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Remote unit for communicating with base stations and terminal devices |
US9112611B2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2015-08-18 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Optical fiber-based distributed antenna systems, components, and related methods for calibration thereof |
WO2015134714A1 (en) * | 2014-03-05 | 2015-09-11 | Dali Systems Co. Ltd. | Distributed radio system with remote radio heads |
US20150303999A1 (en) * | 2014-01-06 | 2015-10-22 | Dali Systems Co. Ltd. | Network switch for a distributed antenna network |
US9178635B2 (en) | 2014-01-03 | 2015-11-03 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Separation of communication signal sub-bands in distributed antenna systems (DASs) to reduce interference |
US9184843B2 (en) | 2011-04-29 | 2015-11-10 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Determining propagation delay of communications in distributed antenna systems, and related components, systems, and methods |
US9219879B2 (en) | 2009-11-13 | 2015-12-22 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Radio-over-fiber (ROF) system for protocol-independent wired and/or wireless communication |
US9240835B2 (en) | 2011-04-29 | 2016-01-19 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Systems, methods, and devices for increasing radio frequency (RF) power in distributed antenna systems |
US9247543B2 (en) | 2013-07-23 | 2016-01-26 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within coverage areas of distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US9319138B2 (en) | 2010-02-15 | 2016-04-19 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Dynamic cell bonding (DCB) for radio-over-fiber (RoF)-based networks and communication systems and related methods |
US9325429B2 (en) | 2011-02-21 | 2016-04-26 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Providing digital data services as electrical signals and radio-frequency (RF) communications over optical fiber in distributed communications systems, and related components and methods |
US20160119041A1 (en) * | 2010-10-01 | 2016-04-28 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Distributed antenna system for mimo signals |
US9357551B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2016-05-31 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Systems and methods for simultaneous sampling of serial digital data streams from multiple analog-to-digital converters (ADCS), including in distributed antenna systems |
WO2016098109A1 (en) * | 2014-12-18 | 2016-06-23 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. | Digital interface modules (dims) for flexibly distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (dass) |
WO2016098111A1 (en) * | 2014-12-18 | 2016-06-23 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. | Digital- analog interface modules (da!ms) for flexibly.distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (dass) |
US9385810B2 (en) | 2013-09-30 | 2016-07-05 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Connection mapping in distributed communication systems |
US9420542B2 (en) | 2014-09-25 | 2016-08-16 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | System-wide uplink band gain control in a distributed antenna system (DAS), based on per band gain control of remote uplink paths in remote units |
US20160242130A1 (en) * | 2013-10-28 | 2016-08-18 | Kmw Inc. | Donor unit, remote unit, and mobile communication base station system having same |
US9455784B2 (en) | 2012-10-31 | 2016-09-27 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Deployable wireless infrastructures and methods of deploying wireless infrastructures |
US20160285552A1 (en) * | 2013-12-06 | 2016-09-29 | Solid, Inc. | Remote device of optical relay system |
US9525488B2 (en) | 2010-05-02 | 2016-12-20 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Digital data services and/or power distribution in optical fiber-based distributed communications systems providing digital data and radio frequency (RF) communications services, and related components and methods |
US9577922B2 (en) | 2014-02-18 | 2017-02-21 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Selectively combining uplink signals in distributed antenna systems |
US9602210B2 (en) | 2014-09-24 | 2017-03-21 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Flexible head-end chassis supporting automatic identification and interconnection of radio interface modules and optical interface modules in an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS) |
US9621293B2 (en) | 2012-08-07 | 2017-04-11 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Distribution of time-division multiplexed (TDM) management services in a distributed antenna system, and related components, systems, and methods |
US9647758B2 (en) | 2012-11-30 | 2017-05-09 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Cabling connectivity monitoring and verification |
US9661781B2 (en) | 2013-07-31 | 2017-05-23 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Remote units for distributed communication systems and related installation methods and apparatuses |
US9673904B2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2017-06-06 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Optical fiber-based distributed antenna systems, components, and related methods for calibration thereof |
US9681313B2 (en) | 2015-04-15 | 2017-06-13 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Optimizing remote antenna unit performance using an alternative data channel |
US9705609B2 (en) | 2014-04-15 | 2017-07-11 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Wideband remote unit for distributed antenna system |
US9715157B2 (en) | 2013-06-12 | 2017-07-25 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Voltage controlled optical directional coupler |
US9722675B2 (en) | 2014-04-09 | 2017-08-01 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Multistage combining sub-system for distributed antenna system |
US9730228B2 (en) | 2014-08-29 | 2017-08-08 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Individualized gain control of remote uplink band paths in a remote unit in a distributed antenna system (DAS), based on combined uplink power level in the remote unit |
US9775123B2 (en) | 2014-03-28 | 2017-09-26 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. | Individualized gain control of uplink paths in remote units in a distributed antenna system (DAS) based on individual remote unit contribution to combined uplink power |
US9794795B1 (en) * | 2016-04-29 | 2017-10-17 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Implementing a live distributed antenna system (DAS) configuration from a virtual DAS design using an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specific software system in a DAS |
US9807700B2 (en) | 2015-02-19 | 2017-10-31 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Offsetting unwanted downlink interference signals in an uplink path in a distributed antenna system (DAS) |
US20170347305A1 (en) * | 2016-05-27 | 2017-11-30 | Corning Incorporated | Wideband digital distributed communications system(s) (dcs) employing programmable digital signal processing circuit for scaling supported communications services |
US20170359737A1 (en) * | 2016-06-13 | 2017-12-14 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Enhanced neighbor relations and physical cell identifier confusion detection |
US20180027431A1 (en) * | 2015-04-17 | 2018-01-25 | Solid, Inc. | Node unit of distributed antenna system |
CN107743687A (en) * | 2015-06-19 | 2018-02-27 | 安德鲁无线系统有限公司 | Scalable telecommunication system |
US9948349B2 (en) | 2015-07-17 | 2018-04-17 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | IOT automation and data collection system |
US9955361B2 (en) | 2013-02-26 | 2018-04-24 | Dali Systems Co., Ltd. | Method and system for WI-FI data transmission |
US9974074B2 (en) | 2013-06-12 | 2018-05-15 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Time-division duplexing (TDD) in distributed communications systems, including distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US10096909B2 (en) | 2014-11-03 | 2018-10-09 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. | Multi-band monopole planar antennas configured to facilitate improved radio frequency (RF) isolation in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna arrangement |
US10111107B2 (en) * | 2014-12-30 | 2018-10-23 | Solid, Inc. | Downlink digital signal summation in distributed antenna system |
US10128951B2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2018-11-13 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Optical fiber-based distributed antenna systems, components, and related methods for monitoring and configuring thereof |
US10136200B2 (en) | 2012-04-25 | 2018-11-20 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Distributed antenna system architectures |
US10135533B2 (en) | 2014-11-13 | 2018-11-20 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Analog distributed antenna systems (DASS) supporting distribution of digital communications signals interfaced from a digital signal source and analog radio frequency (RF) communications signals |
US10181656B2 (en) | 2013-10-21 | 2019-01-15 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Antenna detection with non-volatile memory powered by DC over coaxial cable |
US10236924B2 (en) | 2016-03-31 | 2019-03-19 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Reducing out-of-channel noise in a wireless distribution system (WDS) |
US10505635B2 (en) * | 2000-07-19 | 2019-12-10 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Point-to-multipoint digital radio frequency transport |
US10523321B2 (en) * | 2016-11-21 | 2019-12-31 | Corning Incorporated | Multi-functional units incorporating lighting capabilities in converged networks |
US10530500B2 (en) * | 2018-04-25 | 2020-01-07 | Rohde & Schwarz Gmbh & Co. Kg | Measurement system and measurement method |
US10560214B2 (en) | 2015-09-28 | 2020-02-11 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Downlink and uplink communication path switching in a time-division duplex (TDD) distributed antenna system (DAS) |
US10659163B2 (en) | 2014-09-25 | 2020-05-19 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Supporting analog remote antenna units (RAUs) in digital distributed antenna systems (DASs) using analog RAU digital adaptors |
US10659108B2 (en) | 2013-12-19 | 2020-05-19 | Dali Wireless, Inc. | Digital transport of data over distributed antenna network |
US10763927B2 (en) | 2018-04-25 | 2020-09-01 | Rohde & Schwarz Gmbh & Co. Kg | Signal generator and signal generating method |
US20210050906A1 (en) * | 2013-02-16 | 2021-02-18 | Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. | Multiple-input multiple-output (mimo) communication system |
US11178609B2 (en) | 2010-10-13 | 2021-11-16 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Power management for remote antenna units in distributed antenna systems |
US11290187B2 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2022-03-29 | Commscope Technologies Llc | RF transport network |
US20220286193A1 (en) * | 2019-08-30 | 2022-09-08 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Apparatuses and Methods for Sequential Receive Combining |
US11489711B2 (en) * | 2011-07-01 | 2022-11-01 | Arris Enterprises Llc | Digital optical transmitter for digitized narrowcast signals |
USRE49377E1 (en) | 2002-12-03 | 2023-01-17 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Distributed digital antenna system |
US11909432B2 (en) | 2020-08-03 | 2024-02-20 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Universal digital card (UDC) for use as digital donor card or digital distribution card |
US12028131B2 (en) | 2019-08-30 | 2024-07-02 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Apparatuses and methods for sequential transmit precoding |
Families Citing this family (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
IT201600131387A1 (en) * | 2016-12-27 | 2018-06-27 | Teko Telecom S R L | RECONFIGURABLE REMOTE RADIO UNIT FOR ANTENNA DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS |
CN108738020B (en) * | 2018-04-13 | 2020-10-23 | 三维通信股份有限公司 | Authorization management method and system for signal transmission bandwidth of DAS (data acquisition System) |
Citations (16)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20040203384A1 (en) * | 2002-03-04 | 2004-10-14 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Short range radio communication system with using improved authentication scheme |
US20050232643A1 (en) * | 2004-04-14 | 2005-10-20 | Lew Aronson | Out-of-band data communication between network transceivers |
US7286507B1 (en) * | 2005-10-04 | 2007-10-23 | Sprint Spectrum L.P. | Method and system for dynamically routing between a radio access network and distributed antenna system remote antenna units |
US20080238682A1 (en) * | 2007-03-26 | 2008-10-02 | Sanden Corporation | Rfid tag reader |
US20090157064A1 (en) * | 2007-05-11 | 2009-06-18 | Hodel Michael R | RFID System and Method Therefor |
US20090240945A1 (en) * | 2007-11-02 | 2009-09-24 | Finisar Corporation | Anticounterfeiting means for optical communication components |
US20100014494A1 (en) * | 2008-02-08 | 2010-01-21 | Adc Telecommunications, Inc. | Enterprise mobile network for providing cellular wireless service using licensed radio frequency spectrum and the session initiation protocol |
US20100278530A1 (en) * | 2009-04-29 | 2010-11-04 | Andrew Llc | Distributed antenna system for wireless network systems |
US20100297942A1 (en) * | 2008-01-09 | 2010-11-25 | Endress + Hauser Process Solutions Ag | Method for integrating a field device into a process automatiion technology network |
US20110105184A1 (en) * | 2008-04-25 | 2011-05-05 | Olli Juhani Piirainen | Dynamic cell configuration employing distributed antenna system for advaced cellular networks |
US20110261391A1 (en) * | 2010-04-22 | 2011-10-27 | Ricoh Company, Ltd., | Printer Data Collection Cable |
US20110314522A1 (en) * | 2010-06-18 | 2011-12-22 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Method and apparatus for relay node management and authorization |
US20120002594A1 (en) * | 2009-03-11 | 2012-01-05 | Racz Andras | Setup and Configuration of Relay Nodes |
US20130028194A1 (en) * | 2010-04-07 | 2013-01-31 | Lg Electronics | Method of transmitting and receiving signal in a distributed antenna system |
US20130163762A1 (en) * | 2010-09-13 | 2013-06-27 | Nec Corporation | Relay node device authentication mechanism |
US20130189941A1 (en) * | 2012-01-19 | 2013-07-25 | Extenet Systems, Inc. | Local Management And Control Of Remotely Subscribed Wireless Communication Devices |
Family Cites Families (25)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
ATE339726T1 (en) | 1999-04-06 | 2006-10-15 | Itracs Corp | A SYSTEM FOR MONITORING CONNECTION PATTERNS OF DATATORS |
SG74714A1 (en) | 1999-04-06 | 2001-08-21 | Cablesoft Inc | A system for monitoring connection pattern of data ports |
US6961675B2 (en) | 2000-03-14 | 2005-11-01 | Itracs Corporation | System for monitoring connection pattern of data ports |
US7089420B1 (en) | 2000-05-24 | 2006-08-08 | Tracer Detection Technology Corp. | Authentication method and system |
US6801767B1 (en) | 2001-01-26 | 2004-10-05 | Lgc Wireless, Inc. | Method and system for distributing multiband wireless communications signals |
US6650809B2 (en) * | 2001-02-06 | 2003-11-18 | Metrophotonics Inc. | Multiple band optical multiplexer and demultiplexer |
US20040198453A1 (en) * | 2002-09-20 | 2004-10-07 | David Cutrer | Distributed wireless network employing utility poles and optical signal distribution |
US9819403B2 (en) * | 2004-04-02 | 2017-11-14 | Rearden, Llc | System and method for managing handoff of a client between different distributed-input-distributed-output (DIDO) networks based on detected velocity of the client |
KR100744372B1 (en) * | 2005-02-17 | 2007-07-30 | 삼성전자주식회사 | Wired and wireless convergence network based on WDM-PON using injection locked FP-EML |
US7840138B2 (en) * | 2005-11-01 | 2010-11-23 | Technology Advancement Group, Inc. | Method and system for bi-directional communication over a single optical fiber |
US8098990B2 (en) * | 2006-09-12 | 2012-01-17 | Nec Laboratories America, Inc. | System and method for providing wireless over a passive optical network (PON) |
US8583100B2 (en) * | 2007-01-25 | 2013-11-12 | Adc Telecommunications, Inc. | Distributed remote base station system |
CN101400187B (en) * | 2007-09-24 | 2011-06-22 | 中兴通讯股份有限公司 | Management method for remote radio frequency unit of multiple vendors |
KR101066326B1 (en) * | 2008-04-04 | 2011-09-20 | 서강대학교산학협력단 | Scheduling apparatus and method in distributed antenna systems |
US8208414B2 (en) | 2008-06-24 | 2012-06-26 | Lgc Wireless, Inc. | System and method for configurable time-division duplex interface |
US20100001862A1 (en) | 2008-07-03 | 2010-01-07 | James Charles Wilson | Method for authenticating radio frequency identification |
KR100969741B1 (en) * | 2008-07-11 | 2010-07-13 | 엘지노텔 주식회사 | Optical communication system for providing ring hybrided star network |
US8346278B2 (en) * | 2009-01-13 | 2013-01-01 | Adc Telecommunications, Inc. | Systems and methods for mobile phone location with digital distributed antenna systems |
EP2489101B1 (en) * | 2009-10-16 | 2016-08-17 | ADC Telecommunications, Inc. | Managed connectivity in electrical systems and methods thereof |
IT1398025B1 (en) * | 2010-02-12 | 2013-02-07 | Andrew Llc | DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEM FOR MIMO COMMUNICATIONS. |
US8472805B2 (en) * | 2010-05-26 | 2013-06-25 | Google Inc. | Tunable multi-wavelength optical transmitter and transceiver for optical communications based on wavelength division multiplexing |
AU2012237675B2 (en) | 2011-03-25 | 2016-09-08 | Adc Telecommunications, Inc. | Identifier encoding scheme for use with multi-path connectors |
US9025956B2 (en) * | 2012-01-31 | 2015-05-05 | Dali Systems Co. Ltd. | Data transport in a virtualized distributed antenna system |
EP2873164A4 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2016-03-02 | Adc Telecommunications Inc | Distributed antenna system with managed connectivity |
US11113642B2 (en) | 2012-09-27 | 2021-09-07 | Commscope Connectivity Uk Limited | Mobile application for assisting a technician in carrying out an electronic work order |
-
2013
- 2013-07-11 EP EP13817139.2A patent/EP2873164A4/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2013-07-11 EP EP19169108.8A patent/EP3528405B1/en active Active
- 2013-07-11 WO PCT/US2013/050008 patent/WO2014011832A1/en active Application Filing
- 2013-07-11 US US13/939,392 patent/US20140016583A1/en not_active Abandoned
-
2018
- 2018-07-16 US US16/036,505 patent/US11290187B2/en active Active
Patent Citations (16)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20040203384A1 (en) * | 2002-03-04 | 2004-10-14 | Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba | Short range radio communication system with using improved authentication scheme |
US20050232643A1 (en) * | 2004-04-14 | 2005-10-20 | Lew Aronson | Out-of-band data communication between network transceivers |
US7286507B1 (en) * | 2005-10-04 | 2007-10-23 | Sprint Spectrum L.P. | Method and system for dynamically routing between a radio access network and distributed antenna system remote antenna units |
US20080238682A1 (en) * | 2007-03-26 | 2008-10-02 | Sanden Corporation | Rfid tag reader |
US20090157064A1 (en) * | 2007-05-11 | 2009-06-18 | Hodel Michael R | RFID System and Method Therefor |
US20090240945A1 (en) * | 2007-11-02 | 2009-09-24 | Finisar Corporation | Anticounterfeiting means for optical communication components |
US20100297942A1 (en) * | 2008-01-09 | 2010-11-25 | Endress + Hauser Process Solutions Ag | Method for integrating a field device into a process automatiion technology network |
US20100014494A1 (en) * | 2008-02-08 | 2010-01-21 | Adc Telecommunications, Inc. | Enterprise mobile network for providing cellular wireless service using licensed radio frequency spectrum and the session initiation protocol |
US20110105184A1 (en) * | 2008-04-25 | 2011-05-05 | Olli Juhani Piirainen | Dynamic cell configuration employing distributed antenna system for advaced cellular networks |
US20120002594A1 (en) * | 2009-03-11 | 2012-01-05 | Racz Andras | Setup and Configuration of Relay Nodes |
US20100278530A1 (en) * | 2009-04-29 | 2010-11-04 | Andrew Llc | Distributed antenna system for wireless network systems |
US20130028194A1 (en) * | 2010-04-07 | 2013-01-31 | Lg Electronics | Method of transmitting and receiving signal in a distributed antenna system |
US20110261391A1 (en) * | 2010-04-22 | 2011-10-27 | Ricoh Company, Ltd., | Printer Data Collection Cable |
US20110314522A1 (en) * | 2010-06-18 | 2011-12-22 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Method and apparatus for relay node management and authorization |
US20130163762A1 (en) * | 2010-09-13 | 2013-06-27 | Nec Corporation | Relay node device authentication mechanism |
US20130189941A1 (en) * | 2012-01-19 | 2013-07-25 | Extenet Systems, Inc. | Local Management And Control Of Remotely Subscribed Wireless Communication Devices |
Non-Patent Citations (1)
Title |
---|
English translation of Wang, Yun et al., Multi-manufacturer Remote Radio Unit Management Method, CN 101400187 A, published on 2009-04-01, pgs. 1-17 * |
Cited By (129)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US10505635B2 (en) * | 2000-07-19 | 2019-12-10 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Point-to-multipoint digital radio frequency transport |
USRE50112E1 (en) | 2002-12-03 | 2024-09-03 | Outdoor Wireless Networks LLC | Distributed digital antenna system |
USRE49377E1 (en) | 2002-12-03 | 2023-01-17 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Distributed digital antenna system |
US10153841B2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2018-12-11 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Optical fiber-based distributed antenna systems, components, and related methods for calibration thereof |
US9112611B2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2015-08-18 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Optical fiber-based distributed antenna systems, components, and related methods for calibration thereof |
US10128951B2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2018-11-13 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Optical fiber-based distributed antenna systems, components, and related methods for monitoring and configuring thereof |
US9673904B2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2017-06-06 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Optical fiber-based distributed antenna systems, components, and related methods for calibration thereof |
US9900097B2 (en) | 2009-02-03 | 2018-02-20 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Optical fiber-based distributed antenna systems, components, and related methods for calibration thereof |
US9485022B2 (en) | 2009-11-13 | 2016-11-01 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Radio-over-fiber (ROF) system for protocol-independent wired and/or wireless communication |
US9729238B2 (en) | 2009-11-13 | 2017-08-08 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Radio-over-fiber (ROF) system for protocol-independent wired and/or wireless communication |
US9219879B2 (en) | 2009-11-13 | 2015-12-22 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Radio-over-fiber (ROF) system for protocol-independent wired and/or wireless communication |
US9319138B2 (en) | 2010-02-15 | 2016-04-19 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Dynamic cell bonding (DCB) for radio-over-fiber (RoF)-based networks and communication systems and related methods |
US9270374B2 (en) | 2010-05-02 | 2016-02-23 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Providing digital data services in optical fiber-based distributed radio frequency (RF) communications systems, and related components and methods |
US9525488B2 (en) | 2010-05-02 | 2016-12-20 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Digital data services and/or power distribution in optical fiber-based distributed communications systems providing digital data and radio frequency (RF) communications services, and related components and methods |
US9042732B2 (en) | 2010-05-02 | 2015-05-26 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Providing digital data services in optical fiber-based distributed radio frequency (RF) communication systems, and related components and methods |
US9853732B2 (en) | 2010-05-02 | 2017-12-26 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Digital data services and/or power distribution in optical fiber-based distributed communications systems providing digital data and radio frequency (RF) communications services, and related components and methods |
US9037143B2 (en) | 2010-08-16 | 2015-05-19 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Remote antenna clusters and related systems, components, and methods supporting digital data signal propagation between remote antenna units |
US20150195038A1 (en) * | 2010-08-16 | 2015-07-09 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Remote antenna clusters and related systems, components, and methods supporting digital data signal propagation between remote antenna units |
US10014944B2 (en) * | 2010-08-16 | 2018-07-03 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Remote antenna clusters and related systems, components, and methods supporting digital data signal propagation between remote antenna units |
US9602176B2 (en) * | 2010-10-01 | 2017-03-21 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Distributed antenna system for MIMO signals |
US20160119041A1 (en) * | 2010-10-01 | 2016-04-28 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Distributed antenna system for mimo signals |
US9979443B2 (en) | 2010-10-01 | 2018-05-22 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Distributed antenna system for MIMO signals |
US10491273B2 (en) | 2010-10-01 | 2019-11-26 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Distributed antenna system for MIMO signals |
US11224014B2 (en) | 2010-10-13 | 2022-01-11 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Power management for remote antenna units in distributed antenna systems |
US11671914B2 (en) | 2010-10-13 | 2023-06-06 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Power management for remote antenna units in distributed antenna systems |
US11178609B2 (en) | 2010-10-13 | 2021-11-16 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Power management for remote antenna units in distributed antenna systems |
US11212745B2 (en) | 2010-10-13 | 2021-12-28 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Power management for remote antenna units in distributed antenna systems |
US9813164B2 (en) | 2011-02-21 | 2017-11-07 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Providing digital data services as electrical signals and radio-frequency (RF) communications over optical fiber in distributed communications systems, and related components and methods |
US10205538B2 (en) | 2011-02-21 | 2019-02-12 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Providing digital data services as electrical signals and radio-frequency (RF) communications over optical fiber in distributed communications systems, and related components and methods |
US9325429B2 (en) | 2011-02-21 | 2016-04-26 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Providing digital data services as electrical signals and radio-frequency (RF) communications over optical fiber in distributed communications systems, and related components and methods |
US9240835B2 (en) | 2011-04-29 | 2016-01-19 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Systems, methods, and devices for increasing radio frequency (RF) power in distributed antenna systems |
US10148347B2 (en) | 2011-04-29 | 2018-12-04 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Systems, methods, and devices for increasing radio frequency (RF) power in distributed antenna systems |
US9369222B2 (en) | 2011-04-29 | 2016-06-14 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Determining propagation delay of communications in distributed antenna systems, and related components, systems, and methods |
US9807722B2 (en) | 2011-04-29 | 2017-10-31 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Determining propagation delay of communications in distributed antenna systems, and related components, systems, and methods |
US9184843B2 (en) | 2011-04-29 | 2015-11-10 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Determining propagation delay of communications in distributed antenna systems, and related components, systems, and methods |
US9806797B2 (en) | 2011-04-29 | 2017-10-31 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Systems, methods, and devices for increasing radio frequency (RF) power in distributed antenna systems |
US11489711B2 (en) * | 2011-07-01 | 2022-11-01 | Arris Enterprises Llc | Digital optical transmitter for digitized narrowcast signals |
US10136200B2 (en) | 2012-04-25 | 2018-11-20 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Distributed antenna system architectures |
US10349156B2 (en) | 2012-04-25 | 2019-07-09 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Distributed antenna system architectures |
US11290187B2 (en) | 2012-07-11 | 2022-03-29 | Commscope Technologies Llc | RF transport network |
US9621293B2 (en) | 2012-08-07 | 2017-04-11 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Distribution of time-division multiplexed (TDM) management services in a distributed antenna system, and related components, systems, and methods |
US9973968B2 (en) | 2012-08-07 | 2018-05-15 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Distribution of time-division multiplexed (TDM) management services in a distributed antenna system, and related components, systems, and methods |
US9455784B2 (en) | 2012-10-31 | 2016-09-27 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Deployable wireless infrastructures and methods of deploying wireless infrastructures |
US9647758B2 (en) | 2012-11-30 | 2017-05-09 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Cabling connectivity monitoring and verification |
US10361782B2 (en) | 2012-11-30 | 2019-07-23 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Cabling connectivity monitoring and verification |
US20210050906A1 (en) * | 2013-02-16 | 2021-02-18 | Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. | Multiple-input multiple-output (mimo) communication system |
US10681563B2 (en) * | 2013-02-26 | 2020-06-09 | Dali Systems Co. Ltd. | Method and system for Wi-Fi data transmission |
US11395153B2 (en) | 2013-02-26 | 2022-07-19 | Dali Wireless, Inc. | Method and system for Wi-Fi data transmission |
US9955361B2 (en) | 2013-02-26 | 2018-04-24 | Dali Systems Co., Ltd. | Method and system for WI-FI data transmission |
US9106315B2 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2015-08-11 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Remote unit for communicating with base stations and terminal devices |
US10027369B2 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2018-07-17 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Remote unit for communicating with base stations and terminal devices |
US9876527B2 (en) | 2013-03-15 | 2018-01-23 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Remote unit for communicating with base stations and terminal devices |
US11792776B2 (en) | 2013-06-12 | 2023-10-17 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Time-division duplexing (TDD) in distributed communications systems, including distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US11291001B2 (en) | 2013-06-12 | 2022-03-29 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Time-division duplexing (TDD) in distributed communications systems, including distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US9974074B2 (en) | 2013-06-12 | 2018-05-15 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Time-division duplexing (TDD) in distributed communications systems, including distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US9715157B2 (en) | 2013-06-12 | 2017-07-25 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Voltage controlled optical directional coupler |
US9526020B2 (en) | 2013-07-23 | 2016-12-20 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within coverage areas of distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US9967754B2 (en) | 2013-07-23 | 2018-05-08 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within coverage areas of distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US9247543B2 (en) | 2013-07-23 | 2016-01-26 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within coverage areas of distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US10292056B2 (en) | 2013-07-23 | 2019-05-14 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within coverage areas of distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US9661781B2 (en) | 2013-07-31 | 2017-05-23 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Remote units for distributed communication systems and related installation methods and apparatuses |
US9385810B2 (en) | 2013-09-30 | 2016-07-05 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Connection mapping in distributed communication systems |
US10181656B2 (en) | 2013-10-21 | 2019-01-15 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Antenna detection with non-volatile memory powered by DC over coaxial cable |
US9992757B2 (en) * | 2013-10-28 | 2018-06-05 | Kmw Inc. | Donor unit, remote unit, and mobile communication base station system having same |
US20160242130A1 (en) * | 2013-10-28 | 2016-08-18 | Kmw Inc. | Donor unit, remote unit, and mobile communication base station system having same |
US9735872B2 (en) * | 2013-12-06 | 2017-08-15 | Solid, Inc. | Remote device of optical relay system |
US20160285552A1 (en) * | 2013-12-06 | 2016-09-29 | Solid, Inc. | Remote device of optical relay system |
US11277172B2 (en) | 2013-12-19 | 2022-03-15 | Dali Wireless, Inc. | Digital transport of data over distributed antenna network |
US10659108B2 (en) | 2013-12-19 | 2020-05-19 | Dali Wireless, Inc. | Digital transport of data over distributed antenna network |
US9178635B2 (en) | 2014-01-03 | 2015-11-03 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Separation of communication signal sub-bands in distributed antenna systems (DASs) to reduce interference |
US20150303999A1 (en) * | 2014-01-06 | 2015-10-22 | Dali Systems Co. Ltd. | Network switch for a distributed antenna network |
US10404329B2 (en) * | 2014-01-06 | 2019-09-03 | Dali Systems Co. Ltd. | Network switch for a distributed antenna network |
US10291295B2 (en) | 2014-02-18 | 2019-05-14 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Selectively combining uplink signals in distributed antenna systems |
US9577922B2 (en) | 2014-02-18 | 2017-02-21 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Selectively combining uplink signals in distributed antenna systems |
EP3793260A1 (en) * | 2014-03-05 | 2021-03-17 | Dali Systems Co. Ltd. | Distributed radio system with remote radio heads |
WO2015134714A1 (en) * | 2014-03-05 | 2015-09-11 | Dali Systems Co. Ltd. | Distributed radio system with remote radio heads |
US9775123B2 (en) | 2014-03-28 | 2017-09-26 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. | Individualized gain control of uplink paths in remote units in a distributed antenna system (DAS) based on individual remote unit contribution to combined uplink power |
US9722675B2 (en) | 2014-04-09 | 2017-08-01 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Multistage combining sub-system for distributed antenna system |
US11949468B2 (en) | 2014-04-09 | 2024-04-02 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Multistage combining sub-system for distributed antenna system |
US9705609B2 (en) | 2014-04-15 | 2017-07-11 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Wideband remote unit for distributed antenna system |
US10009120B2 (en) | 2014-04-15 | 2018-06-26 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Wideband remote unit for distributed antenna system |
US11283530B2 (en) | 2014-04-15 | 2022-03-22 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Wideband remote unit for distributed antenna system |
US9807772B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2017-10-31 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. | Systems and methods for simultaneous sampling of serial digital data streams from multiple analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), including in distributed antenna systems |
US9357551B2 (en) | 2014-05-30 | 2016-05-31 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Systems and methods for simultaneous sampling of serial digital data streams from multiple analog-to-digital converters (ADCS), including in distributed antenna systems |
US9730228B2 (en) | 2014-08-29 | 2017-08-08 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Individualized gain control of remote uplink band paths in a remote unit in a distributed antenna system (DAS), based on combined uplink power level in the remote unit |
US10397929B2 (en) | 2014-08-29 | 2019-08-27 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Individualized gain control of remote uplink band paths in a remote unit in a distributed antenna system (DAS), based on combined uplink power level in the remote unit |
US9929810B2 (en) | 2014-09-24 | 2018-03-27 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Flexible head-end chassis supporting automatic identification and interconnection of radio interface modules and optical interface modules in an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS) |
US9602210B2 (en) | 2014-09-24 | 2017-03-21 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Flexible head-end chassis supporting automatic identification and interconnection of radio interface modules and optical interface modules in an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS) |
US10659163B2 (en) | 2014-09-25 | 2020-05-19 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Supporting analog remote antenna units (RAUs) in digital distributed antenna systems (DASs) using analog RAU digital adaptors |
US9788279B2 (en) | 2014-09-25 | 2017-10-10 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | System-wide uplink band gain control in a distributed antenna system (DAS), based on per-band gain control of remote uplink paths in remote units |
US9420542B2 (en) | 2014-09-25 | 2016-08-16 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | System-wide uplink band gain control in a distributed antenna system (DAS), based on per band gain control of remote uplink paths in remote units |
US10096909B2 (en) | 2014-11-03 | 2018-10-09 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. | Multi-band monopole planar antennas configured to facilitate improved radio frequency (RF) isolation in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna arrangement |
US10135533B2 (en) | 2014-11-13 | 2018-11-20 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Analog distributed antenna systems (DASS) supporting distribution of digital communications signals interfaced from a digital signal source and analog radio frequency (RF) communications signals |
US10523326B2 (en) | 2014-11-13 | 2019-12-31 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Analog distributed antenna systems (DASS) supporting distribution of digital communications signals interfaced from a digital signal source and analog radio frequency (RF) communications signals |
US10361783B2 (en) | 2014-12-18 | 2019-07-23 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Digital interface modules (DIMs) for flexibly distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
WO2016098109A1 (en) * | 2014-12-18 | 2016-06-23 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. | Digital interface modules (dims) for flexibly distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (dass) |
US10523327B2 (en) | 2014-12-18 | 2019-12-31 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Digital-analog interface modules (DAIMs) for flexibly distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US10187151B2 (en) | 2014-12-18 | 2019-01-22 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Digital-analog interface modules (DAIMs) for flexibly distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
US10110308B2 (en) | 2014-12-18 | 2018-10-23 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Digital interface modules (DIMs) for flexibly distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (DASs) |
WO2016098111A1 (en) * | 2014-12-18 | 2016-06-23 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. | Digital- analog interface modules (da!ms) for flexibly.distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (dass) |
US10716011B2 (en) | 2014-12-30 | 2020-07-14 | Solid, Inc. | Downlink digital signal summation in distributed antenna system |
US10111107B2 (en) * | 2014-12-30 | 2018-10-23 | Solid, Inc. | Downlink digital signal summation in distributed antenna system |
US9807700B2 (en) | 2015-02-19 | 2017-10-31 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Offsetting unwanted downlink interference signals in an uplink path in a distributed antenna system (DAS) |
US10292114B2 (en) | 2015-02-19 | 2019-05-14 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Offsetting unwanted downlink interference signals in an uplink path in a distributed antenna system (DAS) |
US9681313B2 (en) | 2015-04-15 | 2017-06-13 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Optimizing remote antenna unit performance using an alternative data channel |
US10009094B2 (en) | 2015-04-15 | 2018-06-26 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Optimizing remote antenna unit performance using an alternative data channel |
US20180027431A1 (en) * | 2015-04-17 | 2018-01-25 | Solid, Inc. | Node unit of distributed antenna system |
US10820215B2 (en) * | 2015-04-17 | 2020-10-27 | Solid, Inc. | Node unit of distributed antenna system |
CN107743687A (en) * | 2015-06-19 | 2018-02-27 | 安德鲁无线系统有限公司 | Scalable telecommunication system |
US9948349B2 (en) | 2015-07-17 | 2018-04-17 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | IOT automation and data collection system |
US10560214B2 (en) | 2015-09-28 | 2020-02-11 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Downlink and uplink communication path switching in a time-division duplex (TDD) distributed antenna system (DAS) |
US10236924B2 (en) | 2016-03-31 | 2019-03-19 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Reducing out-of-channel noise in a wireless distribution system (WDS) |
US9794795B1 (en) * | 2016-04-29 | 2017-10-17 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Implementing a live distributed antenna system (DAS) configuration from a virtual DAS design using an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specific software system in a DAS |
US10390234B2 (en) | 2016-04-29 | 2019-08-20 | Corning Optical Communications LLC | Implementing a live distributed antenna system (DAS) configuration from a virtual DAS design using an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specific software system in a DAS |
US10003977B2 (en) | 2016-04-29 | 2018-06-19 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Implementing a live distributed antenna system (DAS) configuration from a virtual DAS design using an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) specific software system in a DAS |
US20170318475A1 (en) * | 2016-04-29 | 2017-11-02 | Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd | Implementing a live distributed antenna system (das) configuration from a virtual das design using an original equipment manufacturer (oem) specific software system in a das |
US20170347305A1 (en) * | 2016-05-27 | 2017-11-30 | Corning Incorporated | Wideband digital distributed communications system(s) (dcs) employing programmable digital signal processing circuit for scaling supported communications services |
US10419049B2 (en) | 2016-05-27 | 2019-09-17 | Corning Incorporated | Wideband digital distributed communications system(s) (DCS) employing programmable digital signal processing circuit for scaling supported communications services |
US10164675B2 (en) * | 2016-05-27 | 2018-12-25 | Corning Incorporated | Wideband digital distributed communications system(s) (DCS) employing programmable digital signal processing circuit for scaling supported communications services |
US11005511B2 (en) | 2016-05-27 | 2021-05-11 | Corning Incorporated | Wideband digital distributed communications system(s) (DCS) employing programmable digital signal processing circuit for scaling supported communications services |
US20170359737A1 (en) * | 2016-06-13 | 2017-12-14 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Enhanced neighbor relations and physical cell identifier confusion detection |
US10271227B2 (en) * | 2016-06-13 | 2019-04-23 | Qualcomm Incorporated | Enhanced neighbor relations and physical cell identifier confusion detection |
US10523321B2 (en) * | 2016-11-21 | 2019-12-31 | Corning Incorporated | Multi-functional units incorporating lighting capabilities in converged networks |
US10530500B2 (en) * | 2018-04-25 | 2020-01-07 | Rohde & Schwarz Gmbh & Co. Kg | Measurement system and measurement method |
US10763927B2 (en) | 2018-04-25 | 2020-09-01 | Rohde & Schwarz Gmbh & Co. Kg | Signal generator and signal generating method |
US20220286193A1 (en) * | 2019-08-30 | 2022-09-08 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Apparatuses and Methods for Sequential Receive Combining |
US12028131B2 (en) | 2019-08-30 | 2024-07-02 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Apparatuses and methods for sequential transmit precoding |
US11863278B2 (en) * | 2019-08-30 | 2024-01-02 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Apparatuses and methods for sequential receive combining |
US11909432B2 (en) | 2020-08-03 | 2024-02-20 | Commscope Technologies Llc | Universal digital card (UDC) for use as digital donor card or digital distribution card |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US11290187B2 (en) | 2022-03-29 |
EP3528405B1 (en) | 2023-09-06 |
EP3528405A1 (en) | 2019-08-21 |
EP2873164A4 (en) | 2016-03-02 |
EP2873164A1 (en) | 2015-05-20 |
WO2014011832A1 (en) | 2014-01-16 |
US20180343641A1 (en) | 2018-11-29 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US11290187B2 (en) | RF transport network | |
JP5131026B2 (en) | WIRELESS BASE STATION SYSTEM, CONTROL DEVICE AND WIRELESS DEVICE | |
CN110661606B (en) | Data scrambling method and related equipment | |
US20150111508A1 (en) | Antenna detection with non-volatile memory powered by dc over coaxial cable | |
US11323171B2 (en) | System and method for a mobile communication coverage area | |
US11483057B2 (en) | Base station signal matching device, and base station interface unit and distributed antenna system including the same | |
CN106211175B (en) | Method, device and system for configuring working frequency band of base station | |
CN106330324B (en) | Control method and device | |
WO2019100325A1 (en) | Uplink signal transmission method, base station, and system | |
US9236941B2 (en) | System for implementing a radio over fiber transmission in a passive optical network | |
US20180131401A1 (en) | Wireless sfp module | |
JP5928931B2 (en) | Data transmission and reception method and data transmission and reception device | |
WO2017097107A1 (en) | Active antenna device and test method therefor | |
KR102287210B1 (en) | Node unit of distributed antenna system | |
US10177448B2 (en) | Antenna system | |
Hizan et al. | Multiservice wireless network testbed design using SDR and RoF platforms | |
EP3189705B1 (en) | Splitter device connecting multiple remote radio heads | |
KR20080107956A (en) | Apparatus and method for communicating with heterogeneous terminal |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ADC TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC., MINNESOTA Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:SMITH, TREVOR D.;REEL/FRAME:034556/0658 Effective date: 20141217 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: TYCO ELECTRONICS SERVICES GMBH, SWITZERLAND Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:ADC TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INC.;TE CONNECTIVITY SOLUTIONS GMBH;REEL/FRAME:036908/0443 Effective date: 20150825 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: COMMSCOPE EMEA LIMITED, IRELAND Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:TYCO ELECTRONICS SERVICES GMBH;REEL/FRAME:036956/0001 Effective date: 20150828 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC, NORTH CAROLINA Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:COMMSCOPE EMEA LIMITED;REEL/FRAME:037012/0001 Effective date: 20150828 |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT, ILLINOIS Free format text: PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (TERM);ASSIGNOR:COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC;REEL/FRAME:037513/0709 Effective date: 20151220 Owner name: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT, ILLINOIS Free format text: PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL);ASSIGNOR:COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC;REEL/FRAME:037514/0196 Effective date: 20151220 Owner name: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT, IL Free format text: PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (TERM);ASSIGNOR:COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC;REEL/FRAME:037513/0709 Effective date: 20151220 Owner name: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT, IL Free format text: PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL);ASSIGNOR:COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC;REEL/FRAME:037514/0196 Effective date: 20151220 |
|
STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO PAY ISSUE FEE |
|
AS | Assignment |
Owner name: ALLEN TELECOM LLC, ILLINOIS Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:048840/0001 Effective date: 20190404 Owner name: COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC, NORTH CAROLINA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:048840/0001 Effective date: 20190404 Owner name: ANDREW LLC, NORTH CAROLINA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:048840/0001 Effective date: 20190404 Owner name: COMMSCOPE, INC. OF NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:048840/0001 Effective date: 20190404 Owner name: REDWOOD SYSTEMS, INC., NORTH CAROLINA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:048840/0001 Effective date: 20190404 Owner name: ANDREW LLC, NORTH CAROLINA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:049260/0001 Effective date: 20190404 Owner name: COMMSCOPE, INC. OF NORTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:049260/0001 Effective date: 20190404 Owner name: ALLEN TELECOM LLC, ILLINOIS Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:049260/0001 Effective date: 20190404 Owner name: REDWOOD SYSTEMS, INC., NORTH CAROLINA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:049260/0001 Effective date: 20190404 Owner name: COMMSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES LLC, NORTH CAROLINA Free format text: RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY;ASSIGNOR:JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.;REEL/FRAME:049260/0001 Effective date: 20190404 |