Method and apparatus for use with a radio distributed antenna system having an in-band reference signal

• US 10,516,515 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2019
• Issued: 12/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2015
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gerszberg, Irwin, Henry, Paul Shala, Bennett, Robert, Barzegar, Farhad, Barnickel, Donald J., Willis, III, Thomas M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Phunkulh, Bob A
• Application Number:
  US16/372,722
• Publication Number:
  US 20190229872A1
• Time in Patent Office: 266 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/00 Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field H04B10/00, H04B15/00 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2647 Arrangements specific to the receiver only equalisation H04L27/01
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2657 Carrier synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/10 between terminal device and access point, i.e. wireless air interface

Abstract

Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving, by a network element of a distributed antenna system, a reference signal, a control channel and a first modulated signal at a first carrier frequency, the first modulated signal including first communications data provided by a base station and directed to a mobile communication device. The instructions in the control channel direct the network element of the distributed antenna system to convert the first modulated signal at the first carrier frequency to the first modulated signal in a first spectral segment. The reference signal is received at an out of band frequency relative to the control channel. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a system including signal processing circuitry, a first modulated signal in a first spectral segment directed to a mobile communication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to a signaling protocol;

converting, by the system, the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal in a second spectral segment based on a mixing of the first modulated signal with a local oscillator signal and without modifying the signaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the second spectral segment is outside the first spectral segment;

transmitting, by the system, instructions in a control channel to direct a network element of a distributed antenna system to convert the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment to the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment; and

transmitting, by the system, a first reference signal in addition to the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment to the network element of the distributed antenna system, the first reference signal having a phase and frequency corresponding to the local oscillator signal, wherein the first reference signal is transmitted at an out of band frequency relative to the control channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the control channel is transmitted at a frequency adjacent to the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the control channel is transmitted at a frequency adjacent to the first reference signal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the second spectral segment is in a millimeter-wave frequency band.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first modulated signal is generated by modulating signals in a plurality of frequency channels according to the signaling protocol to generate the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the signaling protocol comprises a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) wireless protocol or a fifth generation cellular communications protocol.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting by the system comprises up-converting the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the converting by the network element comprises down-converting the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment to the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting by the system comprises down-converting the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the converting by the network element comprises up-converting the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment to the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the system, a second modulated signal in a third spectral segment from the network element, wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulated signal in a fourth spectral segment, and wherein the network element converts the second modulated signal in the fourth spectral segment to the second modulated signal in the third spectral segment and transmits the second modulated signal in the third spectral segment and a second reference signal.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

converting, by the system, the second modulated signal in the third spectral segment to the second modulated signal in the fourth spectral segment utilizing the second reference signal to remove distortion in the second modulated signal in the third spectral segment; and

sending, by the system, the second modulated signal in the fourth spectral segment to a base station for processing.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the fourth spectral segment differs from the first spectral segment, and wherein the second spectral segment differs from the third spectral segment.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal processing circuitry comprises analog signal processing circuitry that facilitates analog signal processing, wherein the analog signal processing does not require either an analog to digital conversion or a digital to analog conversion.

15. A device, comprising:

a base station interface configured to receive from a base station a first modulated signal in a first spectral segment for transmission to a mobile communication device, wherein the first modulated signal conforms to a signaling protocol; and

a transceiver configured to convert the first modulated signal in the first spectral segment to the first modulated signal in a second spectral segment based on a mixing of the first modulated signal with a local oscillator signal and without modifying the signaling protocol of the first modulated signal, wherein the transceiver is further configured to transmit instructions in a control channel to direct a network element of a distributed antenna system to convert the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment to the first modulated signal in a selected spectral segment and to transmit a first reference signal with the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment to the network element of the distributed antenna system for wireless distribution of the first modulated signal to the mobile communication device in the first spectral segment, the first reference signal having a phase and frequency corresponding to the local oscillator signal, wherein the first reference signal is transmitted at an out of band frequency relative to the control channel.

16. The device of claim 15, wherein the control channel is transmitted at a frequency adjacent to the first modulated signal in the second spectral segment.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the control channel is transmitted at a frequency adjacent to the first reference signal.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the signal processing is performed without digital signal processing, and wherein the transceiver receives a second modulated signal in a third spectral segment and a second reference signal from the network element, wherein the mobile communication device generates the second modulated signal in a fourth spectral segment, and wherein the network element converts the second modulated signal in the fourth spectral segment to the second modulated signal in the third spectral segment and transmits the second modulated signal in the third spectral segment.

19. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a network element of a distributed antenna system, a reference signal, a control channel and a modulated signal at a carrier frequency, the reference signal having a phase and frequency corresponding to a local oscillator signal, the modulated signal including communications data provided by a base station in a wireless signaling protocol of a mobile communication device, wherein instructions in the control channel direct the network element of the distributed antenna system to convert the modulated signal at the carrier frequency to the modulated signal in a spectral segment, wherein the reference signal is received at an out of band frequency relative to the control channel;

generating the local oscillator signal from the reference signal;

converting, by the network element, the modulated signal at the carrier frequency to the modulated signal in the spectral segment in accordance with the instructions and based on a mixing of the modulated signal and the local oscillator signal; and

wirelessly transmitting, by the network element, the modulated signal at the spectral segment to the mobile communication device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the control channel is received at a frequency adjacent to the modulated signal at the carrier frequency.