Phased array communication system with remote RF transceiver and antenna beam control
First Claim
1. A method for operating a phased array antenna system from a remote location, comprising:
- at a radio hub location,generating an RF signal;
modulating with the RF signal a continuous wave optical carrier to produce a transmit modulated optical carrier (TMOC);
generating electronic control signal digital data which is configured to selectively control an antenna beam pattern of an array antenna;
responsive to the electronic control signal digital data, modulating an optical carrier to generate a control signal modulated optical carrier (CSMOC) comprising digital data;
coupling both the TMOC and CSMOC to a first optical fiber, whereby the TMOC and CSMOC are communicated to an antenna site which is remote from the radio hub location on a same optical fiber; and
at the antenna site,processing the CSMOC to recover the electronic control signal digital data;
using the TMOC to produce a plurality of transmit element level modulated RF (ELMRF) signals;
using the electronic control signal data to selectively independently control a phase and an amplitude of each of the transmit ELMRF signals; and
coupling the plurality of transmit ELMRF signals to a plurality of antenna elements of the array antenna.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Phased array antenna system operated from a remote location. Operations at a radio hub location involve generating an RF signal and modulating with the RF signal a continuous wave optical carrier to produce a transmit modulated optical carrier (TMOC). Electronic control signal digital data is also generated at the radio hub to control an antenna beam pattern of an array antenna. The control signal digital data is used to modulate an optical carrier for generating a control signal modulated optical carrier (CSMOC). Both the TMOC and CSMOC are coupled to an optical fiber for communication to an antenna site remote from the radio hub location. At the antenna site, the CSMOC and TMOC are processed to recover the electronic control signal digital data and a plurality of transmit element level modulated RF (ELMRF) signals which are applied to array antenna elements.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for operating a phased array antenna system from a remote location, comprising:
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at a radio hub location, generating an RF signal; modulating with the RF signal a continuous wave optical carrier to produce a transmit modulated optical carrier (TMOC); generating electronic control signal digital data which is configured to selectively control an antenna beam pattern of an array antenna; responsive to the electronic control signal digital data, modulating an optical carrier to generate a control signal modulated optical carrier (CSMOC) comprising digital data; coupling both the TMOC and CSMOC to a first optical fiber, whereby the TMOC and CSMOC are communicated to an antenna site which is remote from the radio hub location on a same optical fiber; and at the antenna site, processing the CSMOC to recover the electronic control signal digital data; using the TMOC to produce a plurality of transmit element level modulated RF (ELMRF) signals; using the electronic control signal data to selectively independently control a phase and an amplitude of each of the transmit ELMRF signals; and coupling the plurality of transmit ELMRF signals to a plurality of antenna elements of the array antenna. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for operating a phased array antenna system from a remote location, comprising:
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at a radio hub location, generating an RF signal; modulating with the RF signal a continuous wave optical carrier to produce a transmit modulated optical carrier (TMOC); generating electronic control signal digital data which is configured to selectively control an antenna beam pattern of an array antenna; responsive to the electronic control signal digital data, modulating an optical carrier to generate a control signal modulated optical carrier (CSMOC) comprising digital data; coupling both the TMOC and CSMOC to a first optical fiber, whereby the TMOC and CSMOC are communicated to an antenna site which is remote from the radio hub location on a same optical fiber; and at the antenna site, processing the CSMOC to recover the electronic control signal digital data; using the TMOC to produce a plurality of transmit element level modulated RF (ELMRF) signals; using the electronic control signal data to selectively independently control a phase of each of the transmit ELMRF signals; using the electronic control signal data which has been recovered at the antenna site to selectively independently control an amplitude of each of the transmit ELMRF signals; and coupling the plurality of transmit ELMRF signals to a plurality of antenna elements of the array antenna; wherein the plurality of transmit ELMRF signals are obtained by splitting the TMOC into a plurality of transmit element level modulated optical carrier (ELMOC) signals, and then demodulating the transmit ELMOC signals. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. A method for operating a phased array antenna system from a remote location, comprising:
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at a radio hub location, generating an RF signal; modulating with the RF signal a continuous wave optical carrier to produce a transmit modulated optical carrier (TMOC); generating electronic control signal digital data which is configured to selectively control an antenna beam pattern of an array antenna; responsive to the electronic control signal digital data, modulating an optical carrier to generate a control signal modulated optical carrier (CSMOC) comprising digital data; coupling both the TMOC and CSMOC to a first optical fiber, whereby the TMOC and CSMOC are communicated to an antenna site which is remote from the radio hub location on a same optical fiber; and at the antenna site, processing the CSMOC to recover the electronic control signal digital data; using the TMOC to produce a plurality of transmit element level modulated RF (ELMRF) signals; using the electronic control signal data to selectively independently control a phase of each of the transmit ELMRF signals; coupling the plurality of transmit ELMRF signals to a plurality of antenna elements of the array antenna; coupling a plurality of receive ELMRF signals respectively from the plurality of antenna elements comprising the array antenna, to a plurality of optical modulators, so as to respectively generate a plurality of receive element level modulated optical carrier (ELMOC) signals; and responsive to the electronic control signal data, performing phase adjustment operations to facilitate receive beam-forming operations with respect to the array antenna. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for operating a phased array antenna system from a remote location, comprising:
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at a radio hub location, generating an RF signal; modulating with the RF signal a continuous wave optical carrier to produce a transmit modulated optical carrier (TMOC); generating electronic control signal digital data which is configured to selectively control an antenna beam pattern of an array antenna; responsive to the electronic control signal digital data, modulating an optical carrier to generate a control signal modulated optical carrier (CSMOC) comprising digital data; coupling both the TMOC and CSMOC to a first optical fiber, whereby the TMOC and CSMOC are communicated to an antenna site which is remote from the radio hub location on a same optical fiber; and at the antenna site, processing the CSMOC to recover the electronic control signal digital data; using the TMOC to produce a plurality of transmit element level modulated RF (ELMRF) signals; using the electronic control signal data to selectively independently control a phase of each of the transmit ELMRF signals; and coupling the plurality of transmit ELMRF signals to a plurality of antenna elements of the array antenna; and emulating direct communication in accordance with a predetermined electronic interface standard (PEIS) between an antenna control unit (ACU) at the radio hub which generates the electronic control signal data, and a beam control processor (BCP), which uses the electronic control signal data at the antenna site, by using a first and second transport module, respectively disposed proximate to the radio hub location and the antenna site, to communicate the CSMOC through the first optical fiber. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method for operating a phased array antenna system from a remote location, comprising:
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at a radio hub location, generating electronic control signal digital data which is configured to selectively control an antenna beam pattern of an array antenna; responsive to the electronic control signal digital data, modulating an optical carrier to generate a control signal modulated optical carrier (CSMOC) comprising digital data; coupling the CSMOC to a first optical fiber to communicate the CSMOC to an antenna site which is remote from the radio hub location; and at the antenna site, processing the CSMOC to recover the electronic control signal data; coupling a plurality of receive element level modulated RF (ELMRF) signals respectively from a plurality of antenna elements comprising the array antenna, to a plurality of optical modulators, so as to respectively generate a plurality of receive element level modulated optical carrier (ELMOC) signals; responsive to the electronic control signal data, performing phase adjustment operations and amplitude adjustment operations to facilitate receive beam-forming operations with respect to the array antenna; combining the plurality of receive ELMOC signals after the phase adjustment operations have been performed to form a receive modulated optical carrier (RMOC) signal; and coupling the RMOC to a second optical fiber to communicate the RMOC from the antenna site to the radio hub location. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A communication system, comprising:
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a central radio hub comprising an antenna control unit and at least one radio hub photonic subsystem (RHPS), the RHPS including at least one opto-electronic and electro-optic (O/E-E/O) conversion interface; the antenna control unit configured to generate electronic control signal digital data which is configured to selectively control an antenna beam pattern of an array antenna; the RHPS configured to modulate an optical carrier signal responsive the electronic control signal digital data so as to form a control signal modulated optical carrier (CSMOC); utilize a radio frequency (RF) signal to modulate a continuous wave optical carrier to produce a transmit modulated optical carrier (TMOC); and an optical multiplexer configured to concurrently couple the TMOC and the CSMOC to a first optical fiber for communication to an antenna site which is remote from the central radio hub, whereby the TMOC and CSMOC are communicated on a same optical fiber; the antenna site comprising an antenna site photonic subsystem (ASPS) that is configured to; generate a status digital data concerning a status of at least one condition; modulate an optical carrier responsive to the status digital data to generate a status signal modulated optical carrier (SSMOC); and couple the SSMOC to a second optical fiber to communicate the SSMOC from the antenna site to the RHPS. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification