Distributed software-defined radio
First Claim
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1. A network of nodes comprising a software-defined radio (SDR) residing on a distributed computing platform, comprising:
- a first network node comprising;
a first hardware interface configurable for communicatively coupling to at least a second network node via a fronthaul network;
a first processor; and
a first memory comprising a first component of the SDR having first instructions for;
performing a first of a plurality of physical-layer processing operations of a radio access network (RAN) communication standard to generate a first signal comprising a portion of a RAN transmission signal; and
interfacing with at least a second component of the SDR comprising at least second instructions residing in at least a second memory of the at least the second network node; and
the at least the second network node comprising;
at least a second hardware interface configurable for communicatively coupling to at least the first network node via the fronthaul network;
at least a second processor;
the at least the second memory comprising the at least the second instructions for;
performing at least a second of the plurality of physical-layer processing operations of the RAN communication standard on the first signal to generate the RAN transmission signal having data modulated thereon; and
a RAN transmitter configured to transmit the RAN transmission signal via the RAN to a receiver that demodulates the RAN transmission signal to receive the data.
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Abstract
A software defined radio (SDR) virtualizes physical-layer processing operations of a radio access network (RAN) communication standard. The SDR comprises multiple components which are distributed across network nodes communicatively coupled by a fronthaul network. The SDR components are coordinated to function as a RAN transceiver. In one aspect, the SDR can simultaneously support multiple RAN communication protocols and function as a personalized virtual base station for each and every client device in the RAN.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A network of nodes comprising a software-defined radio (SDR) residing on a distributed computing platform, comprising:
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a first network node comprising; a first hardware interface configurable for communicatively coupling to at least a second network node via a fronthaul network; a first processor; and a first memory comprising a first component of the SDR having first instructions for; performing a first of a plurality of physical-layer processing operations of a radio access network (RAN) communication standard to generate a first signal comprising a portion of a RAN transmission signal; and interfacing with at least a second component of the SDR comprising at least second instructions residing in at least a second memory of the at least the second network node; and the at least the second network node comprising; at least a second hardware interface configurable for communicatively coupling to at least the first network node via the fronthaul network; at least a second processor; the at least the second memory comprising the at least the second instructions for; performing at least a second of the plurality of physical-layer processing operations of the RAN communication standard on the first signal to generate the RAN transmission signal having data modulated thereon; and a RAN transmitter configured to transmit the RAN transmission signal via the RAN to a receiver that demodulates the RAN transmission signal to receive the data. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A first network node configured to host at least one component of a software-defined radio (SDR) residing on a distributed computing platform, the distributed computing platform comprising a network of nodes, the first network node comprising:
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a first hardware interface configurable for communicatively coupling to at least a second network node via a fronthaul network; a first processor; and a first memory configured to store a first SDR component comprising first instructions for; performing a first of a plurality of physical-layer processing operations of a radio access network (RAN) communication standard to generate a first signal comprising a portion of a RAN transmission signal; and interfacing with second instructions of a second SDR component configured to cause at least a second processor to perform a second of the plurality of physical-layer processing operations on the first signal to generate the RAN transmission signal having data modulated thereon, the second instructions residing in a second memory of the second network node; at least one of the first network node and the at least second network node comprising a RAN transmitter configured to transmit the RAN transmission signal to a RAN receiver that demodulates the RAN transmission signal to receive the data. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. In a radio access network (RAN), a method comprising:
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implementing a software defined radio (SDR) to virtualize physical-layer processing operations of a RAN communication standard; distributing a plurality of components of the SDR across a plurality of network nodes communicatively coupled by a fronthaul network to provide for distributed computing; coordinating the plurality of components to work together to function as a RAN transmitter, each of the plurality of components performing a different set of the physical-layer processing operations to generate a RAN transmission signal having data modulated thereon; and transmitting the RAN transmission signal in a RAN to a RAN receiver that demodulates the RAN transmission signal to receive the data. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification