Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W84/00—Network topologies
  • H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
  • H04W84/10—Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
  • H04W84/16—WPBX [Wireless Private Branch Exchange]

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a radio communication system comprising terminal stations with outdoor radio terminals for communication via radio frequency antenna with a service provider in a radio linked access network, and indoor access units for providing communication services to users.
• a radio linked access network may often prove to be a profitable solution to access business customers or residential customers.
• a point-to- multipomt radio access structure provides the operator with a single feed point out to a number of radio terminals at various locations .
• radio terminals In point-to-multipomt radio communication networks, see FIG. 1, information is communicated between the central radio node and a number of outdoor terminal stations, also called radio terminals. Each radio terminal m turn continuously communicates with one or more indoor user access units arranged near to the terminal station, for example in a multi-tenant or business building. In such a design, all frequence dependent parts may be placed outdoors in the outdoor radio terminal and all traffic dependent parts indoors m the indoor access unit. In order to make efficient use of available spectrum, the radio spectrum has to be shared by all terminals.
• One access scheme is TDMA, i.e. time division multiple access.
• the radio node continuously communicates with a transmission network, where terminals share the uplink radio path for communication from the terminals to the radio node.
• the terminals share a common communication resource within which each radio terminal is assigned a time period during which it is allowed to send a burst of information.
• the transmission is continuous and all terminals have got access to all the information, i.e. information is broadcasted, and relevant information is subsequently selected and fed to the user.
• each user may potentially use a common radio path towards a node.
• each user has its own radio terminal and indoor access equipment as shown in FIG. 2.
• the radio terminal is a relatively high cost device.
• multiple radio terminals are requiring much space, e.g. due to being line of sight equipment.
• Another problem with this type of installation is that it requires multiple sets of infra-structure, like e.g. power supplies and cabling.
• FIG. 3 Another solution, see FIG. 3, is to share the same indoor access equipment for a number of users that are connected to a single indoor access unit, using a single outdoor radio terminal to access a radio node. This works well as long as the users constitute a united group. The solution may also be very attractive for a group of individual customers, as the equipment and installation cost is minimized. However, the solution has several drawbacks:
• the indoor access unit has to accommodate a lot of different end interfaces making it complex and bulky.
• the indoor access unit also has to be changed accordingly.
• the shared use of the indoor access unit raises some questions as to - who owns the device - who is responsible for service and upgrading 9 and, - should the device be located m a common location for convenient access? • As the access unit is common to a number of users, higher requirements may be put on availability - should the access unit have redundancy? - do all users want to pay for redundancy?
• US-A-5 710 910 shows a multiservice access network system where local user access is channeled to a service provider via a common access module.
• the system may use a radio link connection via a radio frequency channel between customer premise equipment and a base station or an access module.
• This access module acts as an
• the communication system comprises terminal stations with outdoor radio terminals for communication via radio frequency antenna with a service provider in a radio linked access network, and indoor access units for providing communication services to users. At least one of the outdoor radio terminals is shared by at least two indoor access units. Each of these units provides an individual set of services to the respective user.
• the outdoor radio terminal and the indoor access units are preferably connected via a cable that handles both the transmitted and the received communication information.
• the same cable is also used for transmitting information regarding operation and maintenance between the outdoor radio terminal and the indoor access units.
• the outdoor radio terminal may be connected to power supplying means via the cable.
• the cable may also be used for controlling a radio frequency transmitter.
• the cable is a single coaxial cable.
• the transmission information is handled via an uplink bursted channel .
• the received information is preferably handled via a downlink broadcast channel.
• intermediate frequency signals are used for communication between the outdoor radio terminal and the indoor unit.
• This signal type may also be used for controlling a radio frequency transmitter of said outdoor terminal.
• the system is preferably used in a point-to-multipomt system for communication, implementing time division multiple access for communication from a number of radio terminal stations to the central node station.
• system is preferably used for speech and/or data communication in transmission channels.
• the outdoor radio terminal and the indoor access units are preferably located at a multi-tenant building.
• FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a point-to-multipomt radio communication network in which information is transferred between a central node and a number of terminal stations
• FIG. 2 shows a first prior art configuration of outdoor radio terminals and indoor access units at a multi-tenant building
• FIG. 3 shows a second prior art configuration of an outdoor radio terminal and indoor access unit at a multi-tenant building
• FIG. 4 shows the configuration of an outdoor radio terminal and indoor access units at a multi-tenant building in accordance with the invention.
• FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a typical point-to-multipoint radio communication network in which information is transferred between a central node 40 and terminal stations 10, 20, 30.
• Each of these terminal stations comprises an outdoor radio terminal 11; 21 or 31 and an indoor access unit 12; 22 or 32.
• the communication from the central node 40 to the terminal stations 10, 20, 30 comprises a continuous transmission or broadcasting and all terminal stations 10, 20, 30 have access to all the information.
• continuous lines indicate a continuous flow of information whereas dashed lines indicate a discontinuous flow of information (uplink) .
• Information is continuously transmitted from the central node 40 to the transmission network 50 and the radio terminals 11, 21, 31 receive information from the indoor access units 12, 22, 32.
• FIG. 2 shows a multi-tenant building 60 which is provided with a radio access network comprising three separate indoor access units 12, 22, 32. Each of these units is connected via a cable 70 to an outdoor radio terminal 11, 21, 31.
• FIG. 3 shows another multi-tenant building 61 which is provided with a radio access network comprising a single indoor access unit 12.
• This unit 12 is accessible by users via user interfaces 13a, 13b, 13c.
• the unit is connected via a cable 70 to an outdoor radio terminal 11.
• FIG. 4 shows a multi-tenant building 62 which is provided with a radio access network according to the invention.
• the network comprises a single outdoor radio terminal 11.
• the network users in the building are connected via separate indoor access units 12a, 12b, 12c .... to the outdoor radio terminal 11.
• the radio terminal is located at a place where line of sight with the node is achieved, and the indoor access unit may be located at any place where cabling and physical access is convenient.
• the interface between the access units and the outdoor radio terminal may be a single coaxial cable 71. It is very easy to add new users to the network, and to provide new services to a user/customer, without changing the equipment at other users/customers. The cost of this installation can be reasonably low as standardized indoor access units may be used and by the fact that the outdoor radio part is commonly shared. Intermediate frequency signals may be used for communication between the outdoor radio terminal 11 and the indoor unit as well as for controlling the radio frequency transmitter via the coaxial cable 71.
• TDMA radio resource
• the different access units needs to be initiated ust as all normal access terminals in a point-to-multipoint system has to be.
• a customer Identity is associated to each access terminal.
• a distance ranging procedure equalizes the delay difference between radio terminals so that bursts sent towards the central node 40 arrive at a predetermined time. The equalization is done in the access terminals which means that also delay differences between access units m a building will be compensated.
• a number of informations are fed through the common coaxial cable:
• the power supply to the outdoor radio terminal is now made redundant as all access units are supplying all (or part off) the power needed in the outdoor radio.
• the different indoor units are commonly sharing both the coaxial cable, outdoor transmitter and spectrum.
• the operation and maintenance channel is now made into a multipoint bus where all indoor units may access information about outdoor radio status (for fault localization) . It is also possible to control the power level settings, transmit and receive frequencies etc. from any indoor access unit having the necessary access authorities.
• the outdoor radio terminal may be provided with redundancy. Thus, the outdoor radio terminal becomes relatively simple and transparent to the traffic.
• the radio node controls the access to the complete point-to-multipoint radio system.
• the indoor units communicate directly and on equal terms with the radio node as if they are using separate outdoor radio terminals.
• a system comprising one outdoor unit and a number of indoor units with the subscribers.
• the communication is bidirectional and preferably a coaxial cable interconnects the units.
• the outdoor unit is particularly totally transparent and supplied and controlled from the indoor units via the cable. It is thus an advantage that no separate supply means need to be arranged for the supply of outdoor unit and no common devices are needed anywhere.
• the invention can be implemented in a number of different systems, particularly within microwave communication in point-to-multipoint systems but also in other point-to-multipoint systems.

Priority Applications (1)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20415391

Family Applications (1)

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Citations (4)

• 1999
  • 1999-04-29 SE SE9901538A patent/SE9901538L/sv not_active Application Discontinuation
• 2000
  • 2000-04-27 AU AU47889/00A patent/AU4788900A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2000-04-27 WO PCT/SE2000/000794 patent/WO2000067496A1/en active Application Filing

Patent Citations (4)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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