BEAMFORMER CONFIGURABLE FOR CONNECTING A VARIABLE NUMBER OF ANTENNAS AND RADIO CIRCUITS
First Claim
1. A radio frequency (RF) routing module having a configurable number of RF inputs and a configurable number of RF outputs, comprising:
- a number M of RF inputs;
a number N of RF outputs, wherein M is greater than N;
a plurality of RF switches arranged to select between incoming RF signals;
a plurality of RF combiners arranged to combine RF signals to a single RF signal; and
a plurality of RF couplers, each associated with a transfer switch and an attenuator having a specified attenuation,wherein the switches, the combiners, and the RF couplers are configured to route any of number 1 to M of the inputs into at least one of the N outputs such that all combiners used in the route receive RF signals on all inputs thereof.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A reconfigurable RF routing module may include M RF inputs and N RF outputs, wherein M is greater than N; a plurality of RF switches arranged to select between incoming RF signals; a plurality of RF combiners arranged to combine RF signals to a single RF signal; and a plurality of RF couplers, each associated with a transfer switch and a specified attenuation, wherein the specified attenuation of each one of the plurality of RF couplers is selected so that the RF inputs of each one of the plurality of the RF combiners are combined in a balanced manner, wherein the switches, the combiners, and the RF couplers are configured to route any of 1 to M of the inputs into each of the N outputs.
30 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A radio frequency (RF) routing module having a configurable number of RF inputs and a configurable number of RF outputs, comprising:
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a number M of RF inputs; a number N of RF outputs, wherein M is greater than N; a plurality of RF switches arranged to select between incoming RF signals; a plurality of RF combiners arranged to combine RF signals to a single RF signal; and a plurality of RF couplers, each associated with a transfer switch and an attenuator having a specified attenuation, wherein the switches, the combiners, and the RF couplers are configured to route any of number 1 to M of the inputs into at least one of the N outputs such that all combiners used in the route receive RF signals on all inputs thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A radio frequency (RF) multiple inputs multiple outputs (MIMO) receiving system having a number N channels comprising:
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a number M antennas; a number N beamformers, wherein M is greater than N; a number N radio circuits; and an RF routing module including a plurality of RF combiners arranged to combine RF signals to a single RF signal, said RF routing module being configurable to route signals of any number of 1 to M of the antennas into at least one of the N radio circuits such that all combiners used in the route receive RF signals on all inputs thereof. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification