Method and apparatus for multiplexing in a wireless communication infrastructure

• US 20020187809A1
• Filed: 11/05/2001
• Published: 12/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NextG Networks
• Original Assignee: NextG Networks
• Inventors: Mani, Sanjay, Cutrer, David
• Granted Patent: US 6,826,164 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25755 Ring network topology
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25756 Bus network topology
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 13/00 Transmission systems characterised by the medium used for transmission, not provided for in groups H04B3/00 - H04B11/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/02 Wavelength-division multiplex systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0201 Add-and-drop multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0208 Interleaved arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0226 Fixed carrier allocation, e.g. according to service
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0246 using one wavelength per ONU
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0247 Sharing one wavelength for at least a group of ONUs
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/025 using one wavelength per ONU, e.g. for transmissions from-ONU-to-OLT or from-ONU-to-ONU
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0252 Sharing one wavelength for at least a group of ONUs, e.g. for transmissions from-ONU-to-OLT or from-ONU-to-ONU
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0283 WDM ring architectures
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0291 Shared protection at the optical multiplex section (1:1, n:m)
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0295 Shared protection at the optical channel (1:1, n:m)
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0297 Optical equipment protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0298 with sub-carrier multiplexing [SCM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/42 Loop networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0067 Provisions for optical access or distribution networks, e.g. Gigabit Ethernet Passive Optical Network (GE-PON), ATM-based Passive Optical Network (A-PON), PON-Ring
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0092 Ring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/24 Cell structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 : Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 : Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

A network includes a plurality of antennas coupled to a plurality of base stations. The network can be optical or constructed with RF microwave links. The antennas and base stations are configured to transmit and receive digital signals representing cellular signals and the digital signals are exchanged over the network. A plurality of links couple the plurality of antennas and the plurality of base stations. At least one link of the plurality of links provides multiple transmission paths between at least a portion of the base stations and at least a portion of the antennas.

Claims

1. A network, comprising:

a plurality of antennas optically coupled over the network to a plurality of base stations, wherein the antennas and base stations are configured to transmit and receive digital signals representing cellular signals and the digital signals are exchanged over the network; and

a plurality of links that couple the plurality of antennas and the plurality of base stations, at least one link of the plurality of links providing multiple transmission paths between at least a portion of the base stations with at least a portion of the antennas.

2. The network of claim 1, wherein the optical links are optical fiber links.

3. The network of claim 2, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one fiber link carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

4. The network of claim 2, wherein at least one of the links is configured to transmit at least two optical wavelengths to create at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

5. The network of claim 4, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one optical wavelength carrier carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

6. The network of claim 1, wherein the optical links are free space optical links.

7. The network of claim 6, wherein at least one of the links is configured to transmit at least two optical wavelengths to create at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

8. The network of claim 1, wherein at least one of the links is configured to transmit at least two optical wavelengths to create at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

9. The network of claim 8, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one optical wavelength carrier carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

10. The network of claim 8, wherein additional transmission paths are created using frequency division multiplexing on the optical carriers.

11. The network of claim 1, wherein at least one of the links is configured to use time division multiplexing to create at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

12. The network of claim 11, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one TDM channel carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

13. The network of claim 2, wherein at least one of the links is configured to use time division multiplexing to create at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

14. The network of claim 13, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one TDM channel carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

15. The network of claim 6, wherein at least one of the links is configured to use time division multiplexing to create at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

16. The network of claim 15, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one TDM channel carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

17. The network of claim 1, wherein wavelength division multiplexing and time division multiplexing in combination creates at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

18. The network of claim 17, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one TDM channel and/or optical wavelength carrier carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

19. The network of claim 2, wherein wavelength division multiplexing and time division multiplexing in combination creates at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

20. The network of claim 19, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one TDM channel and/or optical wavelength carrier carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

21. The network of claim 6, wherein wavelength division multiplexing and time division multiplexing in combination creates at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

22. The network of claim 12, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one TDM channel and/or optical wavelength carrier carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

23. The network of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of digital transceivers coupled to the plurality of antennas and base stations that generate the digital signals.

24. The network of claim 23, wherein at least one of a digital transceiver is positioned at a base station and digitizes a downlink analog cellular signal generated by the base station that is representative of a wireless spectrum band and transmits it to one or more antennas over the network.

25. The network of claim 24, wherein the digital transceiver at the base station receives an uplink digital signal representative of a wireless spectrum band from an antenna over the network and reconstructs the analog cellular signal to pass to the base station.

26. The network of claim 25, wherein a digital transceiver at an antenna digitizes an uplink cellular signal received from the antenna and transmits a digital signal to one or more base stations over the network.

27. The network of claim 26, wherein the digital transceiver positioned at the antenna receives a digital signal representative of a downlink wireless spectrum band from a base station over the network and reconstructs the downlink analog signal to transmit to one or more mobile wireless units.

29. The network of claim 28, wherein each of a remote unit of the plurality of remote units provides baseband coding.

30. The network of claim 28, wherein each of a remote unit of the plurality of remote units provides channel coding.

31. The network of claim 28, wherein each of a remote unit of the plurality of remote units provides modulation and demodulation.

32. The network of claim 28, wherein each of a remote unit of the plurality of remote units provides channel filtering.

33. The network of claim 28, wherein each of a remote unit of the plurality of remote units provides band filtering.

34. The network of claim 28, wherein each of a remote unit of the plurality of remote units provides transmission and reception.

35. The network of claim 28, where the each of a remote unit of the plurality of remote units provides the transmit chain from modulation to transmission, and the receive chain from reception to demodulation.

36. The network of claim 28, wherein the plurality of links are free space links and the transmission paths employ different wavelength optical carriers.

37. The network of claim 28 wherein the plurality of links are a plurality of RF links and the transmission paths employ different frequency RF carriers.

38. The network of claim 28, wherein the plurality of links are optical fiber links.

39. The network of claim 38, wherein the transmission paths employ different wavelength optical carriers.

40. The network of claim 28, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of radiating units are antennas.

41. The network of claim 40, wherein at least of the portion of the plurality of base units are base stations.

42. The network of claim 28, wherein each of a remote unit is configured to receive a digital stream downlink from a base unit over the network that is representative of a downlink wireless spectrum band, construct an analog cellular signal from the digital stream and transmit the analog cellular signal to one or a plurality of wireless mobile units.

43. The network of claim 42, wherein each of a remote unit is configured to receive an off-air analog cellular signal representative of an uplink wireless spectrum band, create an uplink digital stream and then transmit the uplink digital stream to a base unit over the network.

44. The network of claim 43, wherein the digital stream downlink is produced by at least one a base unit of the plurality of base units and the uplink digital stream is received by at least one of a base unit of the plurality of base units.

45. The network of claim 28, wherein each of a remote unit of the plurality of remote units is configured to receive a digital signal input that is representative of one or more wireless channels, convert the digital signal to an analog cellular signal and then transmit the analog cellular signal to one or more mobile wireless units.

46. The network of claim 45, wherein each of a remote unit is configured to receive an analog cellular signal representative of one or more wireless channels from at least one mobile wireless unit, convert the analog cellular signal into one or more digital signals, and transmit the one or more digital signals to at least one base unit over the network.

48. The network of claim 47, in which a networking or communication protocol standard is employed over the fixed optical path.

49. The network of claim 48 where the protocol standard is selected from Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, SONET, T-carrier, ATM, and TCP.

28. A network, comprising:

a plurality of remote units and a plurality of base units, wherein each of a remote unit is a radiating unit that has at least a portion of the functionality of a base station; and

a plurality of links coupling the plurality of remote units and the plurality of base units, at least one link of the plurality of links providing multiple transmission paths between at least a portion of the base units with at least a portion of the plurality of remote units.

47. A network, comprising:

a plurality of antennas optically coupled over the network to a plurality of base stations, the base stations configured to provide cellular transmission; and

a plurality of links that couple the plurality of antennas and the plurality of base stations, at least one link of the plurality of links providing multiple transmission paths between at least a portion of the base stations with at least a portion of the antennas, at least a portion of the plurality of links being fixed optical paths, wherein each of a fixed optical path is a stationary optical link between one or more base stations and one or more antennas that is rerouted on a time scale much slower than that of the bit rate over the link, and so connects nodes to one another as a virtual circuit.

50. A network, comprising:

a plurality of antennas RF coupled over the network to a plurality of base stations, wherein the antennas and base stations are configured to transmit and receive digital signals representing cellular signals, and wherein the digital signals are exchanged over the network; and

a plurality of links that couple the plurality of antennas and the plurality of base stations, at least one link of the plurality of links providing multiple transmission paths between at least a portion of the base stations with at least a portion of the antennas.

51. The network of claim 50, wherein time division multiplexing creates at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

52. The network of claim 51, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one TDM channel carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

53. The network of claim 50, wherein different frequency channels create at least a portion of the multiple transmission paths.

54. The network of claim 53, wherein the plurality of links are configured to provide that at least one FDM channel carries at least one backhaul signal from a base station of the plurality of base stations to a switch or a bridge network.

55. A method of transmission, comprising:

providing a network that includes a plurality of optical links that couple a plurality of antennas with a plurality of base stations;

providing multiple transmission paths with at least one link using optical DWDM between at least a portion of the base stations with at least a portion of the antennas;

and encoding signals over the multiple transmission paths digitally.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein at least one transmission path carries OA&

M signals.

57. The method of claim 55, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of the links include a plurality of fixed optical paths, wherein each of a fixed optical path is a stationary optical link between one or more base stations and one or more antennas that is rerouted on a time scale much slower than that of the bit rate over the link, and so connects nodes to one another as a virtual circuit.

58. The method of claim 57, in which a networking or communication protocol standard is employed over the fixed optical path.

59. The method of claim 58 where the protocol standard is selected from Gigabit Ethernet, Fibre Channel, SONET, T-carrier, ATM, and TCP.

60. The method of claim 55, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of links are multiplexed onto at least one SONET ring.

61. The method of claim 55, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of the links transmit using the SONET protocol.

62. The method of claim 61, further comprising:

providing SONET protection against a failure in the network.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the failure is a break in a fiber link.

64. The method of claim 62, wherein the failure is a failure of equipment in the network.

65. A method of transmission, comprising:

providing a network that includes a plurality of links that couple a plurality of antennas with a plurality of base stations;

providing multiple transmission paths between at least a portion of the base stations with at least a portion of the antennas; and

encoding signals over the multiple transmission paths digitally.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein a digital signal is serialized before transmission and converted back to a parallel signal after transmission.

67. The method of claim 65, wherein one or a plurality of optical amplifiers amplifies the digital signal in the plurality of links.

68. The method of claim 65, wherein bit rates greater than 500 Mbps are employed to create high dynamic range links for improved cellular performance.

69. The method of claim 65, wherein SONET routing is used over the network.

70. The method of claim 65, wherein IP routing is used over the network.

71. The method of claim 65, wherein routing protocols are combined with traffic data to route signals to optimize capacity for a group of base stations and remote antenna nodes.

72. The method of claim 65, wherein digitally transmitting signals over the plurality of transmission paths reduces effects of crosstalk between the multiple transmission paths.

73. The method of claim 65, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of antennas receive uplink analog cellular signals from one or more mobile cellular units, sample the analog signals, generate a digital stream representing the analog cellular signals, and transmit the digital stream to one or more base stations over the network.

74. The method of claim 73, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of base stations receive uplink digital signals from one or more antennas over the network.

75. The method of claim 65, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of base stations create a digital signal representing the downlink cellular signal and then transmit the digital signal to one or more antennas over the network.

76. The method of claim 75, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of antennas receive downlink digital signals from one or more base stations over the network, convert the digital signals to analog cellular signals, and transmits those cellular signals to one or more mobile wireless units.

77. The method of claim 65, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of links use TDM to create transmission paths.

78. The method of claim 77, wherein the TDM uses SONET TDM techniques.

79. The method of claim 77, wherein the TDM is employed to carry multiple distinct cellular signals from one node to another node, in which all of the multiple signals are multiplexed together at an originating node, the multiplexed signal is then transported to a terminating node, and then the multiple signals are demultiplexed at the terminating node.

80. The method of claim 79, wherein the TDM is employed to carry multiple sectors of a base station system.

81. The method of claim 79, wherein TDM is employed to carry multiple signals from different operators.

82. The method of claim 79 wherein the TDM is performed with SONET or T-carrier signals.

83. The method of claim 79 wherein the TDM is performed to carry diversity signals.

84. The method of claim 79 wherein the TDM is performed to carry backhaul signals.

85. The method of claim 65, wherein sampling and digitizing a wireless spectrum band generates the digital signal.

86. The method of claim 85, wherein the base station samples and digitizes the downlink analog cellular signal, and transmits the digital signal to one or more antennas over the network.

87. The network of claim 86, wherein the antenna samples and digitizes an uplink cellular signal received from a wireless mobile unit and transmits a digital signal to one or more base stations over the network.

88. The network of claim 86, wherein the antenna receives the digital signal representative of a downlink wireless spectrum band from a base station over the network and reconstructs the downlink analog signal to transmit to one or more mobile cellular units.

89. The method of claim 87, wherein the base station receives an uplink digital signal representative of one or more wireless spectrum band from an antenna over the network.