Radio system for long-range high-speed wireless communication

• US 10,452,235 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2017
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ubiquiti Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ubiquiti Inc.
• Inventors: Schulz, Gary, Sanford, John, Lascari, Lance, Fay, Christopher, Keniuk, Richard, Lee, Jude, Macenski, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Graham P
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim, Jae K
• Application Number:
  US15/644,592
• Publication Number:
  US 20170308250A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/1228 on a boom
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/147 provided with means for controlling or monitoring the shape of the reflecting surface for scanning H01Q3/01; aerials or aerial systems providing multiple beamwidths H01Q25/002
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/193 with feed supported subreflector splash plate feeds H01Q19/134
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/28 Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems multiple beam H01Q25/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49016 Antenna or wave energy "plumbing" making

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a radio assembly. The radio assembly includes an antenna housing unit that houses a pair of reflectors which are situated on a front side of the antenna housing unit, a printed circuit board (PCB) that includes at least a transmitter and a receiver, and a backside cover. The PCB is situated within a cavity at a backside of the antenna housing unit and the backside cover covers the cavity, thereby enclosing the PCB within the antenna housing unit. One embodiment of the present invention provides a user interface for configuring a radio. The user interface includes a display and a number of selectable tabs presented on the display. A selection of a respective tab results in a number of user-editable fields being displayed, thereby facilitating a user in configuring and monitoring operations of the radio.

Claims

1. A radio assembly, comprising:

a pair of reflectors positioned on a front side of the radio assembly, wherein a first reflector of the pair of reflectors has a diameter that is smaller than that of a second reflector, and wherein a portion of the first reflector overlaps with the second reflector;

a hollow enclosure on a back side of the radio assembly positioned directly behind the pair of reflectors; and

a printed circuit board (PCB) comprising at least a transmitter circuitry and a receiver circuitry, wherein the PCB is positioned inside the hollow enclosure, wherein the transmitter circuitry is coupled to the first reflector of the pair of reflectors, and wherein the receiver circuitry is coupled to the second reflector of the pair of reflectors.

2. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the transmitter circuitry is electronically isolated from the receiver circuitry.

3. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry are configured to operate in one of:

a full-duplex mode; and

a half-duple mode.

4. The radio assembly of claim 1, further comprising a pair of feed antennas that are coupled to the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry, respectively.

5. The radio assembly of claim 1, further comprising a back side cover configured to prevent environmental damages to the PCB inside the hollow enclosure.

6. The radio assembly of claim 5, further comprising a layer of insulation film positioned between the back side cover and the PCB.

7. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the transmitter circuitry further comprises a quadrature modulator for modulating transmitted signals.

8. The radio assembly of claim 7, wherein the transmitter circuitry further comprises an IQ alignment module for automatic alignment of inphase and quadrature components of transmitted signals.

9. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the PCB comprises:

a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip comprising at least a baseband digital signal processor (DSP); and

a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to the FPGA chip, wherein the CPU is configured to control operations of the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry.

10. A wireless communication system, comprising:

a pair of radios communicating with each other;

wherein each radio comprises;

a pair of reflectors positioned on a front side of the radio, wherein a first reflector of the pair of reflectors has a diameter that is smaller than that of a second reflector, and wherein a portion of the first reflector overlaps with the second reflector;

a hollow enclosure on a back side of the radio positioned directly behind the pair of reflectors;

a printed circuit board (PCB) comprising at least a transmitter circuitry and a receiver circuitry, wherein the PCB is positioned inside the hollow enclosure, wherein the transmitter circuitry is coupled to the first reflector of the pair of reflectors, and wherein the receiver circuitry is coupled to the second reflector of the pair of reflectors; and

wherein the radios are configured in a way that reflectors of a first radio face reflectors of a second radio.

11. The wireless communication system of claim 10, wherein the pair of reflectors includes a top parabola reflector situated above a bottom parabola reflector, wherein the radios are configured in a way that the top parabola reflector of the first radio is in communication with the bottom parabola reflector of the second radio, and the bottom parabola reflector of the first radio is in communication with the top parabola reflector of the second radio.

12. The wireless communication system of claim 10, wherein the radios are configured to operate a full-duplex mode or a half-duplex mode.

13. The wireless communication system of claim 10, wherein each radio further comprises:

a back side cover configured to prevent environmental damages to the PCB inside the hollow enclosure; and

a layer of insulation film positioned between the back side cover and the PCB.

14. A method for assembling a radio, comprising:

placing a pair of reflectors on a front side of an antenna housing unit, wherein a first reflector of the pair of reflectors has a diameter that is smaller than that of a second reflector, wherein a portion of the first reflector overlaps with the second reflector, and wherein the antenna housing unit comprises a hollow enclosure positioned on a back side; and

placing a printed circuit board (PCB) comprising at least a transmitter circuitry and a receiver circuitry inside the hollow enclosure, wherein the transmitter circuitry is coupled to the first reflector of the pair of reflectors, and wherein the receiver circuitry is coupled to the second reflector of the pair of reflectors; and

placing a backside cover over the hollow enclosure, thereby preventing environmental damages to the PCB.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the transmitter circuitry is electronically isolated from the receiver circuitry.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry are configured to operate in one of:

a full-duplex mode; and

a half-duple mode.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising coupling a pair of feed antennas to the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry, respectively.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising inserting a layer of insulation film between the back side cover and the PCB.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the transmitter circuitry further comprises a quadrature modulator for modulating transmitted signals and an IQ alignment module for automatic alignment of inphase and quadrature components of transmitted signals.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the PCB comprises:

a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip comprising at least a baseband digital signal processor (DSP); and

a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to the FPGA chip, wherein the CPU is configured to control operations of the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry.