CONTROL SYSTEM FOR ANTENNA OF MOBILE COMMUNICATION BASE STATION AND IMAGE DATA OFFER SYSTEM AND METHOD TO USE THE CONTROL SYSTEM

• US 20110151932A1
• Filed: 08/20/2008
• Published: 06/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KMW Incorporated
• Original Assignee: KMW Incorporated
• Inventors: KIM, Duk-Yong
• Granted Patent: US 8,676,266 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/562.1
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/005 using remotely controlled antenna positioning or scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/23 Indication means, e.g. displays, alarms, audible means
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/24 with feedback of measurements to the transmitter
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering

Abstract

A system for controlling a mobile communication antenna is provided, which includes a plurality of antenna systems each installed in a BS, and a remote control system for monitoring and controlling the plurality of antenna systems. In each of the antenna systems, an antenna module includes a radiation plate and a radiation device for transmitting and receiving radio signals for a mobile communication service, a sensor unit senses the inclination and horizontal rotation of the antenna module, a transceiver transmits data sensed by the sensor unit to the remote control system and receives a control signal from the remote control system, and a controller controls an operation of the antenna system according to the remote control signal received from the transceiver. In the remote control system, a BS monitoring information DB server accumulates the sensed data received from the plurality of antenna systems on a BS basis and an antenna system basis, and a remote control center outputs control signals to the antenna systems to monitor the antenna systems remotely.

Claims

1. A system for controlling a mobile communication Base Station (BS) antenna, comprising:

a plurality of antenna systems each installed in a BS; and

a remote control system for monitoring and controlling the plurality of antenna systems,

wherein each of the antenna systems comprises;

an antenna module including a radiation plate and a radiation device for transmitting and receiving radio signals for a mobile communication service;

a sensor unit for sensing the inclination and horizontal rotation of the antenna module;

a transceiver for transmitting data sensed by the sensor unit to the remote control system and receiving a control signal from the remote control system, and

a controller for controlling an operation of the antenna system according to the remote control signal received from the transceiver, and

wherein the remote control system comprises;

a BS monitoring information DataBase (DB) server for accumulating the sensed data received from the plurality of antenna systems on a BS basis and an antenna system basis; and

a remote control center for outputting control signals to the antenna systems to monitor the antenna systems remotely.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit includes a camera module installed in the antenna system, for capturing a full service area of the antenna system, and the sensed data includes still image and/or moving picture data captured by the camera module.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the camera module captures still images at every predetermined intervals and/or captures moving pictures in real time according to a predetermined capturing-related control signal received from the remote control system.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit includes an inclination sensor for sensing the inclination of the antenna module and/or an azimuth angle sensor for sensing a change in the horizontal rotation of the antenna module.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein a communication channel is established between a BS and the remote control system and the transceiver transmits the sensed data on the communication channel, in order to process the sensed data in the same manner as a mobile communication service signal.

6. A system for controlling a mobile communication Base Station (BS) antenna, comprising:

a plurality of antenna systems each installed in a BS; and

a remote control system for monitoring and controlling the plurality of antenna systems,

wherein each of the antenna systems comprises;

an antenna module including a radiation plate and a radiation device for transmitting and receiving radio signals for a mobile communication service;

a vertical tilting driver for vertically tilting the antenna module;

a horizontal steering driver for rotating the antenna module;

a sensor unit for sensing the inclination and horizontal rotation of the antenna module;

a transceiver for transmitting data sensed by the sensor unit to the remote control system and receiving a control signal from the remote control system,

a controller for controlling an operation of the antenna system according to the remote control signal received from the transceiver; and

a memory for storing data needed for operating the antenna system, including data sensed by the sensor unit under the control of the controller, and

wherein the remote control system comprises;

a BS monitoring information DataBase (DB) server for accumulating the sensed data received from the plurality of antenna systems on a BS basis and an antenna system basis; and

a remote control center for outputting control signals to the antenna systems to monitor the antenna systems remotely.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the sensor unit includes a camera module installed in the antenna system, for capturing a full service area of the antenna system, and the sensed data includes still image and/or moving picture data captured by the camera module.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the camera module captures still images at every predetermined interval and/or captures moving pictures in real time according to a predetermined capturing-related control signal received from the remote control system.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the controller of the antenna system stores an image captured during an initial installation of the antenna system as a reference image in the memory, compares an image captured later under a use environment with the reference image, and controls the vertical tilting driver and the horizontal steering driver to correct positioning of the antenna module if the difference between the later-captured image and the reference image is beyond a predetermined threshold.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the sensor unit includes an inclination sensor for sensing the inclination of the antenna module and/or an azimuth angle sensor for sensing a change in the horizontal rotation of the antenna module.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the controller of the antenna system stores an inclination sensed by the inclination sensor and/or an azimuth angle sensed by the azimuth angle sensor as a reference inclination and/or as a reference azimuth angle in the memory, compares an inclination and/or an azimuth angle sensed later under a use environment with the reference inclination and/or the reference azimuth angle, and controls the vertical tilting driver and the horizontal steering driver, if the difference between the later-sensed inclination with the reference inclination and/or the difference between the later-sensed azimuth angle and the reference azimuth angle is beyond a predetermined threshold.

12. The system of claim 6, wherein a communication channel is established between a BS and the remote control system and the transceiver transmits the sensed data on the communication channel, in order to process the sensed data in the same manner as a mobile communication service signal.

13. A system for providing image information using a mobile communication Base Station (BS) antenna, comprising:

a BS antenna controlling system comprising a plurality of antenna systems, each having a camera module that is installed at a mobile communication BS antenna module and captures a full service area of the mobile communication BS antenna module, for transmitting image data captured by the camera module to a remote control system, and a remote control system for accumulating the sensed data received from the plurality of antenna systems on a BS basis and an antenna system basis in a BS image DataBase (DB) server, and monitoring and controlling the plurality of antenna systems; and

a server for accessing the BS image DB server, retrieving the image data from the BS image DB server, and transmitting image data of a BS corresponding to an area requested by remote users connected over a communication network to the remote users.