Phase-combined transmitter module and modular transmitter system
First Claim
1. A phase-combined transmitter module comprising:
- a discrete-coefficients phase-combiner, inputs of the discrete-coefficients phase-combiner representing the inputs to the transmitter module;
an up-conversion and amplification (UCA) unit to receive digital signals from the discrete-coefficients phase-combiner, up-convert and amplify the received signals and output amplified analog signals; and
an analog-coefficients phase-combiner to receive the amplified analog signals from the UCA unit, outputs of the analog-coefficients phase-combiner unit representing outputs of the transmitter module.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A transmitter module is provided that includes a discrete-coefficients phase-combiner and an analog-coefficients phase combiner sandwiched on either side of a middle section having at least a bank of up-converters and a bank of amplifiers. Despite a transmission scenario changing, e.g., by the addition of another carrier frequency, it is not necessary to replace the transmitter module with new equipment. Rather, the transmitter module can be retained and reused in combination with an additional transmitter module whose software aspects (discrete-coefficients phase-combiner) can be tuned so that the transfer function of the additional transmitter module matches the transfer function of the retained transmitter module.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A phase-combined transmitter module comprising:
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a discrete-coefficients phase-combiner, inputs of the discrete-coefficients phase-combiner representing the inputs to the transmitter module;
an up-conversion and amplification (UCA) unit to receive digital signals from the discrete-coefficients phase-combiner, up-convert and amplify the received signals and output amplified analog signals; and
an analog-coefficients phase-combiner to receive the amplified analog signals from the UCA unit, outputs of the analog-coefficients phase-combiner unit representing outputs of the transmitter module. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A modular phase-combined transmitter system comprising:
at least two phase-combined transmitter modules, each module including a discrete-coefficients phase-combiner, inputs of the discrete-coefficients phase-combiner representing the inputs to the transmitter module, an up-conversion and amplification (UCA) unit to receive digital signals from the discrete-coefficients phase-combiner, up-convert and amplify the received signals and output amplified analog signals, and an analog-coefficients phase-combiner to receive the amplified analog signals from the UCA unit, outputs of the analog-coefficients phase-combiner unit representing outputs of the transmitter module. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of modularly reconfiguring a first transmitter system having M transmitter modules where M is an integer and M≧
- 1, the first system having been configured to accommodate a first set of N carrier frequencies where N is an integer and N≧
1, into a second transmitter system that can accommodate a set of N+K carrier frequencies where K is an integer and K≧
1, the first transmitter system sourcing a plurality of antennas,the method comprising;
retaining the M transmitter modules; and
providing K additional transmitter modules that are substantially the same as the M retained transmitter modules;
connecting the inputs of the M+K transmitter modules similarly;
connecting the outputs of the M+K transmitter modules to the plurality of antennas similarly; and
calibrating coefficients of each of the K additional transmitter modules in order to make the transfer function of each of the K additional transmitter modules match the transfer function of the M retained transmitter modules. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
- 1, the first system having been configured to accommodate a first set of N carrier frequencies where N is an integer and N≧
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22. A reconfigured phase-combined transmitter system comprising:
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at least one original transmitter module; and
at least one additional transmitter module added during the reconfiguration;
each original transmitter module having an input phase-combiner, inputs of the phase-combiner representing the inputs to the original transmitter module, a middle section to at least amplify signals from the input phase-combiner, and an analog-coefficients phase-combiner to receive the amplified signals from the middle section, outputs of the analog-coefficients phase-combiner unit representing outputs of the original transmitter module; and
each additional transmitter module having a discrete-coefficients phase-combiner, inputs of the discrete-coefficients phase-combiner representing the inputs to the additional transmitter module, an up-conversion and amplification (UCA) unit to receive digital signals from the discrete-coefficients phase-combiner, up-convert and amplify the received signals and output amplified analog signals, and an analog-coefficients phase-combiner to receive the amplified analog signals from the UCA unit, outputs of the analog-coefficients phase-combiner unit representing outputs of the transmitter module, coefficients of the discrete-coefficients phase-combiner having been tuned so that the transfer function of each additional transmitter module matches the transfer function of the at least one original transmitter module. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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Specification