Configuration sub-system for telecommunication systems

• US 10,419,134 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2018
• Issued: 09/17/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Andrew Wireless Systems GmbH (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Andrew Wireless Systems GmbH (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Melester, Matthew Thomas, Eisenwinter, Stefan, Hmimy, Ahmed H., Mini, Massimiliano, Stefanik, Joerg, Dussmann, Alfons
• Primary Examiner(s): Huang, Wen W
• Application Number:
  US16/200,416
• Publication Number:
  US 20190097739A1
• Time in Patent Office: 295 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/006 using switches for selecting the desired band H04B1/0057 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/0085 using test signal generators
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/12 of transmit antennas, e.g. of the amplitude or phase
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/143 Downlink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/24 using SIR [Signal to Interference Ratio] or other wireless path parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/245 taking into account received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

Certain aspects are directed to a configuration sub-system for telecommunication systems. The configuration sub-system can include a test signal generator, a power measurement device, at least one additional power measurement device, and a controller. The test signal generator can be integrated into components of a telecommunication system. The test signal generator can provide a test signal to a signal path of the telecommunication system. The power measurement device and the additional power measurement device can respectively be integrated into different components of the telecommunication system. The power measurement device and the additional power measurement device can respectively measure the power of the test signal at different measurement points in the signal path. The controller can normalize signals transmitted via the telecommunication system by adjusting a path gain for the signal path based on measurements from the power measurement device and the additional power measurement device.

Claims

1. A configuration sub-system comprising:

an input communicatively coupleable to a base station;

a test signal generator integrated into the configuration sub-system, wherein the configuration sub-system is configured to switch between a first mode and a second mode, wherein in the first mode the configuration sub-system is configured to provide a test signal generated by the test signal generator to a downlink path, wherein in the second mode the configuration sub-system is configured to provide an RF downlink signal that is received via the input from the base station to the downlink path and deactivate the test signal generator, wherein the configuration sub-system is configured to provide the RF downlink signal to the downlink path only in the second mode;

a power measurement device integrated into the configuration sub-system, the power measurement device being configured to;

measure a test signal power of the test signal at a measurement point in the downlink path, and

measure a downlink signal power of the RF downlink signal at the measurement point; and

a controller configured to normalize signals transmitted using a distributed antenna system via the configuration sub-system by adjusting a downlink path gain for the downlink path, wherein the distributed antenna system is configured to transmit the RF downlink signal using the downlink path gain as adjusted by the controller.

2. The configuration sub-system of claim 1, further comprising an additional power measurement device integrated into the configuration sub-system, the additional power measurement device being configured to measure an additional test signal power of the test signal at an additional measurement point in the downlink path traversed by the test signal, wherein the controller is configured to normalize downlink signals for the distributed antenna system by:

determining a signal power loss or drop in the downlink path based on a first power measurement received from the power measurement device and a second power measurement received from the additional power measurement device; and

compensating for the signal power loss or drop in the downlink path by adjusting the downlink path gain of the downlink path such that downlink signals are transmitted using the distributed antenna system at a specified power level.

3. The configuration sub-system of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to adjust the downlink path gain of the downlink path by modifying a signal attenuation by an attenuator in at least one of a base station router, a sector matrix of the distributed antenna system, a splitter/combiner of the distributed antenna system having a variable attenuator, an optical transceiver of the distributed antenna system, and a remote antenna unit of the distributed antenna system.

4. The configuration sub-system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to normalize uplink signals transmitted via an uplink path by:

determining a noise level at the measurement point; and

adjusting an uplink path gain of the uplink path such that noise included in an uplink signal traversing the uplink path is prevented from corrupting the uplink signal.

5. The configuration sub-system of claim 4, wherein the uplink path comprises a signal path from a remote antenna unit of the distributed antenna system that includes at least a portion of the configuration sub-system, wherein the controller is further configured to normalize the uplink path gain using a specified noise level for providing the uplink signals to the base station.

6. The configuration sub-system of claim 1,

wherein the test signal generator is further configured to provide an additional test signal to the downlink path;

wherein the controller is further configured to select respective frequencies of the test signal and the additional test signal such that mixing the test signal and the additional test signal generates an intermodulation product having a frequency in an uplink frequency band, wherein the uplink frequency band comprises a plurality of frequencies of uplink signals received by the distributed antenna system;

wherein the power measurement device is further configured to measure a signal power of the intermodulation product.

7. The configuration sub-system of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to automatically modify signal coverage provided by the base station based on at least one trigger, wherein the at least one trigger comprises at least one of an external trigger received by the controller via an input/output interface, a schedule, and an alarm condition.

8. The configuration sub-system of claim 1, further comprising an additional test signal generator integrated into a remote antenna unit of the distributed antenna system, wherein the additional test signal generator is configured to provide an additional test signal to an uplink path, wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine a downlink loss for the downlink path based on the test signal power measured by the power measurement device; and

determine an uplink loss for the uplink path based on an additional test signal power measured by the power measurement device for the additional test signal.

9. The configuration sub-system of claim 1, further comprising an identification signal module configured to provide an identification signal to a signal path of the distributed antenna system, wherein the identification signal identifies a device from which the identification signal originated, wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive a respective report from each component of a plurality of components in the signal path indicating receipt of the identification signal; and

identify each component of the signal path reporting receipt of the identification signal.

10. The configuration sub-system of claim 1, wherein the configuration sub-system is at least partially integrated into one or more of:

a point of interface of the distributed antenna system, an intelligent point of interface of the distributed antenna system, a base station router of the distributed antenna system, a sector matrix of the distributed antenna system, a splitter/combiner of the distributed antenna system having a variable attenuator, an optical transceiver of the distributed antenna system, and a remote antenna unit of the distributed antenna system.

11. A method comprising:

configuring a configuration sub-system to operate in a first mode, wherein the first mode comprises providing, by a test signal generator integrated into configuration sub-system, a test signal to a downlink path;

switching the configuration sub-system to operate in a second mode, wherein the second mode comprises receiving an RF downlink signal from a base station communicatively coupled to the configuration sub-system and providing the RF downlink signal to the downlink path, wherein the RF downlink signal is only provided to the downlink path in the second mode, wherein the second mode further comprises deactivating the test signal generator;

measuring a test signal power of the test signal at a measurement point in the downlink path and a downlink signal power of the RF downlink signal at the measurement point; and

normalizing signals transmitted using a distributed antenna system via the configuration sub-system by adjusting a downlink path gain for the downlink path, wherein the RF downlink signal is transmitted via the distributed antenna system using the adjusted downlink path gain.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

measuring an additional test signal power of the test signal at an additional measurement point in the downlink path traversed by the test signal, wherein normalizing signals transmitted using the distributed antenna system includes;

determining a signal power loss or drop in the downlink path based on a first power measurement received from the power measurement device and a second power measurement received from the additional power measurement device; and

compensating for the signal power loss or drop in the downlink path by adjusting the downlink path gain of the downlink path such that downlink signals are transmitted using the distributed antenna system at a specified power level.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein adjusting a downlink path gain for the downlink path includes modifying a signal attenuation by an attenuator in at least one of a base station router, a sector matrix of the distributed antenna system, a splitter/combiner of the distributed antenna system having a variable attenuator, an optical transceiver of the distributed antenna system, and a remote antenna unit of the distributed antenna system.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein normalizing signals transmitted using the distributed antenna system includes:

determining a noise level at the measurement point; and

adjusting an uplink path gain of an uplink path such that noise included in an uplink signal traversing the uplink path is prevented from corrupting the uplink signal.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the uplink path comprises a signal path from a remote antenna unit of the distributed antenna system that includes at least a portion of the configuration sub-system, the method further comprising normalizing the uplink path gain using a specified noise level for providing the uplink signals to the base station.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing, by the test signal generator integrated into the configuration sub-system, an additional test signal to the downlink path;

selecting respective frequencies of the test signal and the additional test signal such that mixing the test signal and the additional test signal generates an intermodulation product having a frequency in an uplink frequency band, wherein the uplink frequency band comprises a plurality of frequencies of uplink signals received by the distributed antenna system;

measuring a signal power of the intermodulation product at a measurement point in an uplink path.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising automatically modifying signal coverage provided by the base station based on at least one trigger, wherein the at least one trigger comprises at least one of an external trigger received by the controller via an input/output interface, a schedule, and an alarm condition.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing, by an additional test signal generator integrated into a remote antenna unit of the distributed antenna system, an additional test signal to an uplink path;

measuring an additional test signal power of the additional test signal at an additional measurement point in the uplink path;

determining a downlink loss for the downlink path based on the measured test signal power; and

determining an uplink loss for the uplink path based on the measured additional test signal power.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing an identification signal to a signal path of the distributed antenna system, wherein the identification signal identifies a device from which the identification signal originated;

receiving a respective report from each component of a plurality of components in the signal path indicating receipt of the identification signal; and

identifying each component of the signal path reporting receipt of the identification signal.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein providing the identification signal to the signal path comprises at least one of:

combining the identification signal with an additional test signal generated by the test signal generator; and

combining the identification signal with a downlink signal received from the base station.