Distributed signal summation and gain control
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A communication system comprising:
- a plurality of distributed antenna ports each capable of receiving a communication signal having a signal level;
a communication medium coupling the plurality of distributed antenna ports;
an attenuation function coupled to the plurality of antenna ports, the attenuation function capable of attenuating at least one signal level in response to attenuation instructions; and
a gain control function coupled to the attenuation function, the gain control function generating the attenuation instructions in response to a sample of the at least one signal level.
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Abstract
A distributed antenna system is configured in a daisy-chain fashion along a single path. The summation of the signals received by each antenna port of the system is distributed along the path. The signal gain for the system is controlled by distributed attenuation and distributed gain control by using attenuators at port inputs, port outputs, or both.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. A communication system comprising:
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a plurality of distributed antenna ports each capable of receiving a communication signal having a signal level;
a communication medium coupling the plurality of distributed antenna ports;
an attenuation function coupled to the plurality of antenna ports, the attenuation function capable of attenuating at least one signal level in response to attenuation instructions; and
a gain control function coupled to the attenuation function, the gain control function generating the attenuation instructions in response to a sample of the at least one signal level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A communication system comprising:
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a plurality of distributed antenna ports each capable of receiving a communication signal having a first signal level;
a plurality of distributed summation functions, each summation function coupled to a distributed antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports and generating an aggregate signal, the plurality of distributed summation functions comprising a head end summation function that generates an aggregate signal having a second signal level;
a communication medium coupling the plurality of summation functions;
an attenuation function coupled to head end summation function, the attenuation function capable of attenuating the second signal level in response to attenuation instructions; and
a gain control function coupled to the attenuation function, the gain control function generating the attenuation instructions in response to a sample of the second signal level. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A communication system comprising:
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a plurality of distributed antenna ports each capable of receiving a communication signal;
a plurality of distributed summation functions, each summation function coupled to a distributed antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports and generating an aggregate signal, having an aggregate signal level, that represents a sum of the communication signal coupled to the summation function and any aggregate signal input to the summation function;
a communication medium coupling the plurality of distributed summation functions;
a plurality of distributed attenuation functions each coupled to a summation function such that the summation function'"'"'s aggregate signal is attenuated in response to attenuation instructions; and
a plurality of distributed gain control functions each coupled to a distributed attenuation function of the plurality of distributed attenuation functions, each distributed gain control function generating the attenuation instructions in response to a sample of the aggregate signal level. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A communication system comprising:
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a plurality of distributed antenna ports each capable of receiving a communication signal;
a plurality of distributed summation functions, each summation function coupled to a distributed antenna port and generating an aggregate signal that represents a sum of the communication signal coupled to the summation function and any aggregate signal input to the summation function;
a communication medium coupling the plurality of distributed summation functions;
a plurality of first distributed attenuation functions each coupling an antenna port to its respective distributed summation function;
a plurality of second distributed attenuation functions each coupling an aggregate signal to an input of a distributed summation function; and
a plurality of distributed gain control functions each coupled to a first and a second distributed attenuation function, each distributed gain control function generating first attenuation instructions for the first distributed attenuation function in response to a sample of the communication signal and second attenuation instructions for the second distributed attenuation function in response to a sample of the aggregate signal. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A communication system comprising:
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a plurality of distributed antenna ports each capable of receiving a communication signal;
a plurality of distributed summation functions, each distributed summation function coupled to a distributed antenna port and generating an aggregate signal that represents a sum of the communication signal coupled to the distributed summation function and any aggregate signal input to the distributed summation function, a final distributed summation function generating a final aggregate signal from a daisy-chain summation of the aggregate signals;
a communication medium coupling the plurality of distributed summation functions;
a plurality of distributed attenuation functions each coupling an antenna port to its respective distributed summation function;
a plurality of distributed gain control functions each coupled to an attenuation function, each distributed gain control function generating attenuation instructions for the distributed attenuation function in response to a sample of the communication signal and a head end feedback signal; and
a head end gain control function coupled to each of the plurality of distributed gain control functions and generating the head end feedback signal in response to a sample of the final aggregate signal. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A communication system comprising:
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a plurality of distributed antenna ports each capable of receiving a communication signal;
a plurality of distributed summation functions, each distributed summation function coupled to a distributed antenna port and generating an aggregate signal that represents a sum of the communication signal coupled to the distributed summation function and any aggregate signal input to the distributed summation function;
a communication medium coupling the plurality of distributed summation functions;
a plurality of distributed attenuation functions each coupling an antenna port to its respective distributed summation function; and
a plurality of distributed gain control functions each coupled to a distributed attenuation function, each distributed gain control function generating attenuation instructions for the distributed attenuation function in response to a sample of the communication signal and either a local attenuation signal based on the aggregate signal from its respective distributed summation function or a feedback attenuation signal from an upstream distributed gain control function. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A method for distributed gain control of a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:
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summing a plurality of received signals in a distributed, daisy-chain fashion such that each received signal is summed with any prior summed signals to generate a final aggregate signal;
sampling a signal level of the final aggregate signal; and
attenuating the final aggregate signal in response to the signal level. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method for distributed gain control of a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:
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summing a plurality of received signals in a distributed, daisy-chain fashion such that each received signal is summed with a prior summed signal to generate a plurality of aggregate signals;
sampling a signal level of each of the plurality of aggregate signals; and
attenuating each aggregate signal in response to its signal level. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 38)
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34. A method for distributed gain control of a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:
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summing a plurality of received signals in a distributed, daisy-chain fashion such that each received signal is summed with a prior summed signal to generate a plurality of aggregate signals;
sampling a first signal level of each of the prior summed signals;
sampling a second signal level of each of the received signals; and
attenuating each prior summed signal and each received signal in response to the first and second signal levels. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 39)
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40. A method for distributed gain control of a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:
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summing a plurality of received signals in a distributed, daisy-chain fashion such that each received signal is summed with a prior summed signal to generate a plurality of aggregate signals, one of the plurality of aggregate signals being a final aggregate signal;
sampling a signal level of each received signal;
sampling a signal level of the final aggregate signal to generate a feedback attenuation signal; and
attenuating each received signal in response to its signal level and the feedback attenuation signal. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43)
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44. A method for distributed gain control of a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:
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summing a plurality of received signals in a distributed, daisy-chain fashion such that each received signal is summed with a prior summed signal to generate a plurality of aggregate signals;
sampling a signal level of each received signal;
sampling a signal level of each aggregate signal;
generating a local attenuation signal in response to the signal level of each aggregate signal; and
attenuating each received signal in response to the signal level of its received signal and either the local attenuation signal or a feedback attenuation signal from an upstream direction. - View Dependent Claims (45)
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Specification