MULTI GIGABIT MODEM FOR MMWAVE POINT TO POINT LINKS

• US 20130094549A1
• Filed: 12/30/2011
• Published: 04/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maxlinear Asia Singapore Pte Ltd. (Maxlinear Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ridel, Eran, Soffer, Ran
• Granted Patent: US 8,837,564 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/222
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/00 Modulated-carrier systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

A millimeter wave modem assembly, which includes an input/output interface module configured to receive and transmit standardized data streams in accordance with dedicated interface specifications, and includes an encoder module configured to encode the standardized data streams to form coded digital bits, and also includes a physical layer module configured to convert the coded digital bits into digital symbols and into digital samples, and to convert the digital samples into the digital symbols and then into the coded digital bits; and further includes a data conversion module configured to perform a high rate conversion of the digital samples to form an analog signal suitable for wireless transmission over a link in accordance with the dedicated interface specifications.

Claims

1. A millimeter wave modem assembly, comprising:

an input/output interface module configured to receive and transmit a plurality of standardized data streams in accordance with dedicated interface specifications;

an encoder module configured to encode the plurality of standardized data streams to form a plurality of coded digital bits;

a physical layer module configured to;

convert the plurality of coded digital bits into digital symbols and into digital samples, and

convert the digital samples into the digital symbols and into the plurality of coded digital bits; and

a data conversion module configured to perform a high rate conversion of the digital samples to form an analog signal suitable for wireless transmission over a link in accordance with the dedicated interface specifications.

2. The millimeter wave modem assembly of claim 1, wherein the data conversion module is configured to perform the high rate data conversion at up to approximately 9 gigabits per second, at baud rates of approximately 125 MSym/Sec to approximately 1.7 Gsym/Sec, at a bandwidth of approximately 2 GHz, and at a high modulation order.

3. The millimeter wave modem assembly of claim 2, wherein the encoder module is a channel code encoder.

4. The millimeter wave modem assembly of claim 3, wherein the coded digital bits are encoded using a forward error correction scheme.

5. The millimeter wave modem assembly of claim 1, wherein the plurality of standardized data streams include a combination of digital bits, management data and a high-level clock signal.

6. The millimeter wave modem assembly of claim 5, wherein the plurality of standardized data streams are channels of data that have been framed according to common public radio interface (CPRI) specifications, or open base station architecture initiative (OBSAI) specifications.

7. The millimeter wave modem assembly of claim 1,

wherein the input/output interface module is configured to receive and transmit the plurality of standardized data streams in accordance with common public radio interface (CPRI) specifications, open base station architecture initiative (OBSAI) specifications, or a European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standard, and

wherein the data conversion module is also configured to perform the high rate data conversion in accordance with the common public radio interface (CPRI) specifications, the open base station architecture initiative (OBSAI) specifications, or the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standard.

8. The millimeter wave modem assembly of claim 1,

wherein the data conversion module is configured to perform the high rate conversion of the analog signal to form the digital samples, and

wherein at least a portion of the encoder module is configured to decode the coded digital bits to form the plurality of standardized data streams.

9. A method of preparing data to be transmitted over a wireless link, comprising:

receiving a plurality of standardized data streams, in accordance with dedicated interface specifications, at an input/output interface module;

encoding the plurality of standardized data streams to form a plurality of coded digital bits;

converting the plurality of coded digital bits into digital symbols;

transforming the digital symbols into digital samples, and

performing a high rate conversion of the digital samples to form an analog signal suitable for wireless transmission over a link in accordance with the dedicated interface specifications.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the high rate conversion is capable of being performed at up to approximately 9 gigabits per second, at baud rates in the range of approximately 125 MSym/Sec to approximately 1.7 Gsym/Sec, at a bandwidth of approximately 2 GHz, and at a high modulation order.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the coded digital bits are encoded using a forward error correction scheme.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of standardized data streams include a combination of digital bits, management data and a high-level clock signal.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the plurality of standardized data streams are channels of data that have been framed according to common public radio interface (CPRI) specifications or open base station architecture initiative (OBSAI) specifications.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising preparing the analog signal to be further transmitted, where the analog signal has been received over the wireless link.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving the analog signal from a millimeter wave antenna assembly;

performing a second high rate conversion of the analog signal, in accordance with the dedicated interface specifications to form recovered digital samples;

converting the recovered digital samples into recovered digital symbols;

transforming the recovered digital symbols into a plurality of recovered coded digital bits;

decoding the plurality of recovered coded digital bits to from a plurality of recovered standardized data streams; and

outputting the plurality of recovered standardized data streams to a standardized framer module.

16. The method of claim 15,

wherein the input/output interface module receives and transmits the plurality of standardized data streams in accordance with common public radio interface (CPRI) specifications, open base station architecture initiative (OBSAI) specifications, or a European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standard, and

wherein the high rate conversion is performed in accordance with the common public radio interface (CPRI) specifications, the open base station architecture initiative (OBSAI) specifications, or the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standard.

17. A wireless communication facilitation system, comprising:

a computing module configured to operate on management data;

a modem assembly configured to

perform a high rate conversion of a plurality of standardized digital samples to form at least one analog sequence suitable for wireless transmission over of a wireless link in accordance with dedicated interface specifications, and

perform a high rate conversion of an analog signal received over the wireless link, in accordance with the dedicated interface specifications, to form a plurality of standardized recovered digital samples; and

a digital/RF functional module configured to

combine at least one digital sequence, convert the at least one digital sequence into the at least one analog sequence, and up-convert the at least one analog sequence to form the analog signal that is suitable for transmission over the wireless link in accordance with a mobile standard, and

down-convert the analog signal, received over the wireless link, to form the at least one analog sequence, and convert the at least one analog sequence into the at least one digital sequence or split the at least one analog sequence into the at least one digital sequence in accordance with the dedicated interface specifications.

18. The wireless communication facilitation system of claim 17, further comprising:

a serial/deserializer module configured to convert a digital data signal between serial data and parallel interfaces in varying directions; and

a standardized framer module configured to receive a plurality of digital data streams and to frame the plurality of digital data streams with the management data in accordance with a high-level clock signal, to form a plurality of standardized digital bits in accordance with common public radio interface (CPRI) specifications or open base station architecture initiative (OBSAI) specifications.

19. The wireless communication facilitation system of claim 17, further comprising at least one outdoor signal conversion module, wherein the at least one outdoor signal conversion module contains the computing module, the modem assembly, the standardized framer module, and the digital/RF functional module.

20. The wireless communication facilitation system of claim 17, wherein the modem assembly is configured to perform the high rate data conversion at up to approximately 9 gigabits per second, at baud rates of approximately 125 MSym/Sec to approximately 1.7 Gsym/Sec, at a bandwidth of approximately 2 GHz, and at any modulation order.