RADIO MODULES IN A MODULAR WIRELESS NETWORK ACCESS DEVICE

• US 20130039355A1
• Filed: 08/03/2012
• Published: 02/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cambium Networks Limited (Cambium Networks Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Xirrus Incorporated
• Inventors: de la Garrigue, Michael J.
• Granted Patent: US 10,009,937 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0413 MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/16 Involving different core network technologies, e.g. a packet-switched [PS] bearer in combination with a circuit-switched [CS] bearer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/10 adapted for operation in multiple networks, e.g. multi-mode access points

Abstract

A plurality of different radio modules is provided for a wireless network access device to provide a modular, configurable and performance scalable wireless network. The radio modules include a radio board having a size and shape with a common form factor for the wireless network access device. A radio board connector mates with any one of multiple connectors on the wireless network access device. The radio board connector includes an electrical interface that conforms to a predefined interface on the wireless network access device. The radio board includes a radio board processor that communicates with a wireless network access device controller as a single radio instance for the radio module. The radio board includes a radio chain to communicate radio signals with corresponding antennas. The radio chain, antennas, and radio board processor operate in accordance with one of a plurality of different radio module types.

Claims

1. A radio module comprising:

a radio board comprising a physical size and shape defined by a common form factor for a wireless network access device;

a radio board connector configured to mate with any one of a plurality of connectors on the wireless network access device, the radio board connector configuration including an electrical interface that conforms to a predefined radio interface on the wireless network access device;

a radio board processor configured to communicate with a wireless network access device controller as a single radio instance for the radio module;

at least one radio chain configured to communicate radio signals between the radio board processor and at least one corresponding antenna, where the radio chain, the at least one antenna, and the radio board processor operate in accordance with one of a plurality of different radio module types.

2. The radio module of claim 1 where the radio module types are distinguished by any of the following wireless communications characteristics:

different antenna configurations,

different antenna types,

different component suppliers,

different transmit power capabilities,

different radio frequency (“

RF”

) technologies,

different radio frequency bands, and

either licensed or unlicensed radio spectrums.

3. The radio module of claim 2 where the different antenna configurations include any of the following:

Single In, Single Out (“

SISO”

);

Multiple In, Multiple Out (“

MIMO”

); and

n×

m MIMO, where n and m indicate a number of receiving and transmitting spatial streams.

4. The radio module of claim 2 where the different antenna types include either directionalized antennas, omni-directional antennas, or both.

5. The radio module of claim 2 where the different radio technologies include:

WiFi operating under any suitable standard including IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, and IEEE 802.11ad;

mobile telecommunications operating under any suitable standard including cellular mobile telephony standards;

wireless personal area network communications operating under any suitable standard including Bluetooth®

.

6. The radio module of claim 1 where the at least one antenna is mounted on the radio module.

7. The radio module of claim 1 where the at least one antenna is external to the radio module, the radio module including a corresponding antenna connector for each radio chain.

8. The radio module of claim 1 where the electrical interface of the radio board connector includes a radio path that provides a point-to-point connection with a processor on the wireless network access device controller.

9. The radio module of claim 1 where the electrical interface of the radio board connector conforms to an implementation of a standard bus interface in the wireless network access device.

10. The radio module of claim 8 where the standard bus interface includes an implementation of the PCI Express®

(“

PCIe®

”

) peripheral interface.

11. A wireless communications platform for configuring a wireless network access device having scalable wireless performance, the wireless communications platform comprising:

a wireless network access device controller comprising a central processor and a plurality of individually addressable radio interface paths each terminating at a corresponding connector;

a plurality of radio modules each radio module including;

a radio board having a physical size and shape defined by a common form factor for the wireless network access device;

a radio board connector configured to mate with any one of a plurality of connectors on the wireless network access device, the radio board connector configuration including an electrical interface that conforms to a predefined radio interface on the wireless network access device;

a radio board processor configured to communicate with the wireless network access device controller as a single radio instance for the radio module;

at least one radio chain configured to communicate radio signals between the radio board processor and at least one corresponding antenna, where the radio chain, the at least one antenna, and the radio board processor operate in accordance with one of a plurality of different radio card types.

12. The wireless communications platform of claim 11 where the wireless network access device controller is selected from a group of wireless network access device controllers comprising a different number of connectors.

13. The wireless communications platform of claim 12 where each wireless network access device controller in the group operates according to the same electrical interface to permit any of the radio modules to operate on any of the wireless network access device controllers.

14. The wireless communications platform of claim 13 where the electrical interface includes a standard bus interface.

15. The wireless communications platform of claim 14 where the standard bus interface includes an implementation of the PCIe®

peripheral interface.

16. The wireless communications platform of claim 11 where the plurality of radio modules includes radio card types distinguished by any of the following wireless communications characteristics:

different antenna configurations,

different antenna types,

different component suppliers,

different transmit power capabilities, and

different radio frequency (“

RF”

) technologies,

different radio frequency bands, and

either licensed or unlicensed radio spectrums.

17. The wireless communications platform of claim 16 where the different antenna configurations include any of the following:

Single In, Single Out (“

SISO”

);

Multiple In, Multiple Out (“

MIMO”

); and

n×

m MIMO, where n and m indicate a number of receiving and transmitting spatial streams.

18. The wireless communications platform of claim 16 where the different antenna types include either directionalized antennas, omni-directional antennas, or both.

19. The wireless communications platform of claim 16 where the different radio technologies include:

WiFi operating under any suitable standard including IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, and IEEE 802.11ad;

mobile telecommunications operating under any suitable standard including cellular mobile telephony standards;

wireless personal area network communications operating under any suitable standard including Bluetooth®

.

20. The wireless communications platform of claim 16 where the at least one antenna is mounted on the radio module.

21. The wireless communications platform of claim 11 where the plurality of radio modules includes at least one radio module where the at least one antenna is external to the radio module, the radio module including a corresponding antenna connector for each radio chain.