APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING A PLURALITY OF ANTENNA SIGNALS AT DIFFERENT OPTICAL WAVELENGTHS

• US 20130089336A1
• Filed: 01/16/2012
• Published: 04/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Kare Gustafsson
• Inventors: Dahlfort, Stefan, Gustafsson, Kre, Laraqui, Kim
• Granted Patent: US 9,184,842 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 398/115
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25759 Details of the reception of RF signal or the optical conversion before the optical fibre
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0282 WDM tree architectures

Abstract

A remote radio unit is disclosed that includes antenna interfaces, RF receivers, and a digital-to-optical converter. The antenna interfaces each receive an antenna signal from a different antenna. The RF receivers downconvert the antenna signals to baseband signals, and convert the baseband signals to digital streams of user data. The digital-to-optical converter converts each of the digital streams of user data to optical signals having different optical wavelengths for output to an optical fiber for communication to a radio equipment control unit. Related radio base stations and network control points are disclosed.

Claims

1. A remote radio unit comprising:

antenna interfaces that each receive an antenna signal from a different antenna;

RF receivers that downconvert the antenna signals to baseband signals, and convert the baseband signals to digital streams of user data; and

a digital-to-optical converter that converts each of the digital streams of user data to optical signals having different optical wavelengths for output to an optical fiber for communication to a radio equipment control unit.

2. The remote radio unit of claim 1, wherein:

the RF receivers output Common Public Radio Interface, CPRI, streams of user data; and

the digital-to-optical converter outputs the optical signals to a CPRI optical fiber link toward the radio equipment control unit.

3. The remote radio unit of claim 1, wherein:

each of the RF receivers convert one of the baseband signals to Inphase data and Quadrature data that is output as the digital stream of user data.

4. The remote radio unit of claim 3, further comprising:

a multiplexer that multiplexes the Inphase data and Quadrature data for each of the digital streams of user data into respective serial data streams,

wherein the digital-to-optical converter converts each of the serial data streams to optical signals having different optical wavelengths for output to the optical fiber.

5. The remote radio unit of claim 4, wherein:

the multiplexer outputs each of the serial data streams with alternating digital representations of the Inphase data and Quadrature data.

6. The remote radio unit of claim 1, further comprising:

a controller that generates control data for use in controlling the radio equipment control unit,

wherein the digital-to-optical converter converts the control data to a different optical wavelength from the wavelengths of the digital streams of user data for output to the optical fiber for communication to the radio equipment control unit.

7. A radio base station comprising:

a plurality of remote radio units each configured to;

receive antenna signals each from a different antenna;

downconvert each the antenna signals to a baseband signal;

convert each of the baseband signals to a digital stream of user data; and

convert each of the digital streams of user data to optical signals having different optical wavelengths for output to an optical fiber for communication to a radio equipment control unit;

an data transport network comprising a plurality of optical fibers communicatively connected to each of the remote radio units to receive the optical signals; and

a radio equipment control unit connected to the data transport network to receive the optical signals, and configured to select among the remote radio units and generate control data that is communicated through the data transport network to control operation of the selected remote radio unit.

8. The radio base station of claim 7, further comprising:

a network control point that contains resource information identifying which remote radio units are connected to which optical fibers of the data transport network, and that is configured to select a digital stream of user data from among the digital streams of user data responsive to the resource information, and to control routing of the selected digital stream of user data through the data transport network.

9. The radio base station of claim 7, further comprising:

a network control point that contains resource information identifying which antennas of each of the remote radio units are transported by which wavelengths on which optical fibers of the data transport network, and that is configured to select a digital stream of user data from a particular antenna of a particular remote radio unit responsive to the resource information, and to control routing of the selected digital stream of user data through the data transport network.

10. The radio base station of claim 7, further comprising:

a network control point that contains resource information identifying locations within a memory of user data from each of the digital streams of user data from each of the antennas of the remote radio units, and that is configured to select among the user data from one of the digital streams of user data for output through an optical fiber of the data transport network responsive to the resource information.

11. The radio base station of claim 10, wherein:

the network control point is configured to select user data from a plurality of the digital streams of user data responsive to the resource information, and to multiplex the selected user data for output through the optical fiber of the data transport network.

12. The radio base station of claim 7, further comprising:

a network control point that is configured to determine bandwidth utilization information for a plurality of optical fibers of the data transport network, and to map the digital streams of user data for output among selected ones of the optical fibers responsive to the bandwidth utilization information.

13. The radio base station of claim 7, further comprising:

a plurality of the radio equipment control units connected to the data transport network; and

a network control point that is configured to receive utilization information for the radio equipment control units, and to map the digital streams of user data for output through optical fibers of the data transport network for transport to selected ones of the radio equipment control units responsive to the utilization information.

14. A network control point comprising:

a Common Public Radio Interface, CPRI, point device that is configured to;

receive a plurality of optical signals transported by a plurality of optical fibers from a plurality of remote radio units; and

perform an optical-to-electrical conversion on the optical signals to detect a plurality of streams of user data each being transported by a different optical wavelength, wherein each of the streams of user data comprises Inphase data and Quadrature data from different antennas of the remote radio units.

15. The network control point of claim 14, further comprising:

a control module, CM, that accesses resource information that identifies logical associations between each of the streams of user data and each of the remote radio units, selects a stream of user data among the streams of user data responsive to the resource information for output through an optical fiber toward a radio equipment control unit.

16. The network control point of claim 15, wherein:

the control module receives bandwidth utilization information for a plurality of optical fibers that are available for transporting the streams of user data toward a plurality of radio equipment control units, and maps the streams of user data for output among selected ones of the optical fibers responsive to the bandwidth utilization information.

17. The network control point of claim 15, wherein:

the control module receives utilization information for a plurality of radio equipment control units, and maps the streams of user data for output through optical fibers for transport to selected ones of the radio equipment control units responsive to the utilization information.

18. The network control point of claim 15, wherein:

the control module receives resource information identifying which remote radio units are connected to which optical fibers, and that is configured to select a digital stream of user data from among the digital streams of user data responsive to the resource information, and to control routing of the selected digital stream of user data through a data transport network.

19. The network control point of claim 15, wherein:

the control module receives resource information identifying which antennas of each of the remote radio units are transported by which wavelengths on which optical fibers of a data transport network, and that is configured to select a digital stream of user data from a particular antenna of a particular remote radio unit responsive to the resource information, and to control routing of the selected digital stream of user data through the data transport network.

20. The network control point of claim 15, wherein:

the control module receives resource information identifying locations within a memory of user data from each of the digital streams of user data from each of a plurality of antennas of the remote radio units, and that is configured to select among the user data from one of the digital streams of user data for output through an optical fiber of a data transport network responsive to the resource information.