Remote antenna clusters and related systems, components, and methods supporting digital data signal propagation between remote antenna units
First Claim
1. A remote antenna cluster supporting signal propagation among remote antenna units in a distributed communications system, the remote antenna cluster comprising:
- a first remote antenna unit (RAU) provided in a first coverage zone; and
at least one second RAU provided in at least one second coverage zone overlapping with the first coverage zone,wherein the first coverage zone and the at least one second coverage zone are configured to;
form a common coverage area in an overlapping portion of the first coverage zone and the at least one second coverage zone;
form a first non-overlapping coverage area in the first coverage zone and not overlapping with the common coverage area; and
form at least one second non-overlapping coverage area in the at least one second coverage zone and not overlapping with the common coverage area;
wherein the first RAU is configured to;
receive downlink signals over at least one downlink communications link and communicate the received downlink signals to first client devices located in the first coverage zone;
receive first uplink signals from the first client devices and communicate the received first uplink signals over at least one uplink communications link;
propagate the received downlink signals to the at least one second RAU; and
receive second uplink signals from the at least one second RAU for communication over the at least one uplink communications link;
wherein the at least one second RAU is configured to;
receive the downlink signals and communicate the received downlink signals to second client devices located in the at least one second coverage zone;
receive the second uplink signals from the second client devices located in the at least one second non-overlapping coverage area; and
propagate the received second uplink signals for receipt by the first RAU;
wherein the first RAU is further configured to communicate the second uplink signals received from the at least one second RAU to the first client devices located in the first non-overlapping coverage area.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Distributed antenna systems supporting digital data signal propagation between remote antenna clusters, and related distributed antenna systems, components and methods are disclosed. The distributed antenna systems facilitate distributing digital data signals to provide digital data services remotely to distributed remote antenna units. The digital data signals may be propagated between remote antenna units within a remote antenna cluster for digital data signals transmitted to wireless client devices in the distributed antenna system and for digital data signals received from wireless client devices in the distributed antenna system. Received digital data signals from wireless client devices can be propagated from remote antenna unit to remote antenna unit in a remote antenna cluster until the digital data signals reach a wired network device for communication over a network. The remote antenna units may be configured to support high-frequency digital data signal to support larger channel bandwidths and in turn higher data rate transfers.
813 Citations
32 Claims
-
1. A remote antenna cluster supporting signal propagation among remote antenna units in a distributed communications system, the remote antenna cluster comprising:
-
a first remote antenna unit (RAU) provided in a first coverage zone; and at least one second RAU provided in at least one second coverage zone overlapping with the first coverage zone, wherein the first coverage zone and the at least one second coverage zone are configured to; form a common coverage area in an overlapping portion of the first coverage zone and the at least one second coverage zone; form a first non-overlapping coverage area in the first coverage zone and not overlapping with the common coverage area; and form at least one second non-overlapping coverage area in the at least one second coverage zone and not overlapping with the common coverage area; wherein the first RAU is configured to; receive downlink signals over at least one downlink communications link and communicate the received downlink signals to first client devices located in the first coverage zone; receive first uplink signals from the first client devices and communicate the received first uplink signals over at least one uplink communications link; propagate the received downlink signals to the at least one second RAU; and
receive second uplink signals from the at least one second RAU for communication over the at least one uplink communications link;wherein the at least one second RAU is configured to; receive the downlink signals and communicate the received downlink signals to second client devices located in the at least one second coverage zone; receive the second uplink signals from the second client devices located in the at least one second non-overlapping coverage area; and propagate the received second uplink signals for receipt by the first RAU; wherein the first RAU is further configured to communicate the second uplink signals received from the at least one second RAU to the first client devices located in the first non-overlapping coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. A method of propagating signals between remote antenna units in a remote antenna cluster in a distributed communications system, the method comprising:
-
providing a first remote antenna unit (RAU) in a first coverage zone; providing at least one second RAU in at least one second coverage zone overlapping with the first coverage zone, wherein the first coverage zone and the at least one second coverage zone are configured to; form a common coverage area in an overlapping portion of the first coverage zone and the at least one second coverage zone; form a first non-overlapping coverage area in the first coverage zone and not overlapping with the common coverage area; and form at least one second non-overlapping coverage area in the at least one second coverage zone and not overlapping with the common coverage area; receiving, in the first RAU, downlink signals over at least one downlink communications link and communicating the received downlink signals to first client devices located in the first coverage zone; receiving, in the first RAU, first uplink signals from the first client devices and communicating the received first uplink signals over at least one uplink communications link; propagating the received downlink signals from the first RAU to the at least one second RAU; receiving, in the first RAU, second uplink signals from the at least one second RAU for communication over the at least one uplink communications link; receiving, in the at least one second RAU, the received downlink signals and communicating the received downlink signals to second client devices located in the at least one second coverage zone; receiving, in the at least one second RAU, the second uplink signals from the second client devices located in the at least one second non-overlapping coverage area; propagating the received second uplink signals for receipt by the first RAU; and communicating the second uplink signals received by the first RAU from the at least one second RAU to the first client devices located in the first non-overlapping coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
-
Specification