SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR A SELF-OPTIMIZING DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEM

• US 20140024402A1
• Filed: 07/20/2012
• Published: 01/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommScope Technologies, LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ADC Telecommunications Incorporated (TE Connectivity Limited)
• Inventors: Singh, Baljit
• Granted Patent: US 9,306,682 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/501
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/12 of transmit antennas, e.g. of the amplitude or phase
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/23 Indication means, e.g. displays, alarms, audible means
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

Systems and methods for a self-optimizing distributed antenna system are provided. In certain embodiments, a distributed antenna system comprises a host unit configured to control the operation of the distributed antenna system; and a plurality of remote units coupled to the host unit. In at least one embodiment, a remote unit in the plurality of remote antenna units comprises a scanning receiver configured to receive signals in a plurality of frequency bands; at least one transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals in a frequency band in the plurality of frequency bands; and a remote unit controller configured to control an uplink gain level of the at least one transceiver and tune the scanning receiver to a frequency band in the plurality of frequency bands.

Claims

1. A method for adjusting performance in a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:

adjusting the performance of at least one remote unit in the distributed antenna system during a startup phase based on a spectral environment of the at least one remote unit, wherein the spectral environment is monitored with a scanning receiver on the at least one remote unit; and

adjusting the performance of the at least one remote unit during a normal operation phase of the at least one remote unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the performance of the at least one remote unit during the startup phase comprises scanning the spectral environment of the at least one remote unit, the at least one remote unit set to scan in at least one frequency band for an interfering signal.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein scanning the spectral environment for an interfering signal comprises:

tuning a receive frequency of a scanning receiver in the at least one remote unit to receive signals in a frequency band in the at least one frequency band;

measuring characteristics of the signal received in the frequency band; and

transmitting the measured characteristics to a system controller of the distributed antenna system.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein adjusting the operation of the at least one remote unit comprises setting transmission power and uplink gain for at least one transceiver in the at least one remote unit, wherein the at least one transceiver is configured to communicate radio frequency signals with mobile devices.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein tuning the receive frequency comprises tuning the scanning receiver to receive signals in a plurality of different frequency bands.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein measuring characteristics of the signal comprises:

determining whether the signal is an interfering signal;

determining the frequency of the signal;

determining the amplitude of the signal; and

compiling the measured characteristics in a transmissible format.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the transmissible format comprises an information table.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting the information table to a system controller for the remote unit.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the performance of the at least one remote unit during the startup phase comprises comparing reception power of remote unit signals received by at least one remote unit, wherein the remote unit signal was transmitted by a different remote unit in the distributed antenna system.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein comparing reception power of remote antenna unit signals comprises:

transmitting a signal in a frequency band from a transceiver on a first remote unit;

tuning a second remote scanning receiver in a second remote unit to the frequency band, wherein the second remote unit includes at least one transceiver; and

determining a power level of the signal received at the second remote unit.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the operation of the at least one remote unit comprises adjusting a transmission power level of the transceiver in the first remote unit based on the determined power level.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

transmitting a second signal in a second frequency band from the at least one transceiver in the second remote unit;

tuning a first remote scanning receiver in the first remote unit to the second frequency band;

determining a second power level of the second signal received at the first remote unit; and

adjusting the second transmission power level of the at least one transceiver in the second remote unit based on the second power level.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the performance of the at least one remote unit during the normal operation phase comprises monitoring the power of signals received by the at least one remote unit from an external signal source.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein monitoring the power of signals received in the at least one remote antenna unit from the external signal source comprises:

receiving a signal from the external signal source, wherein the external signal source communicates with the distributed antenna system by communicating with the at least one remote unit;

monitoring a limiter in the at least one remote unit; and

determining how often the signal engages the limiter.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein adjusting the operation of the at least one remote unit comprises adjusting a gain level for received signals in the remote unit based on the determination of how often the signal engages the limiter.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the performance of the at least one remote unit during the normal operation phase comprises monitoring the at least one remote unit for a failure in at least one frequency band.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein monitoring the at least one remote unit for failure of the at least one frequency band comprises:

monitoring operation of the at least one remote unit in the distributed antenna system;

determining when a failure occurs in the at least one remote unit; and

generating an alarm, wherein the alarm notifies a system controller for the distributed antenna system that a failure has occurred in the at least one remote unit.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein adjusting the operation of the at least one remote unit comprises adjusting the operation of adjacent remote units in the distributed antenna system to compensate for the failure in the remote unit, wherein the adjacent remote units are spatially adjacent to the remote unit.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein compensating for the failure in the remote unit comprises increasing transmission power of the at least one frequency band in the adjacent remote units.

20. A distributed antenna system, the system comprising:

a host unit configured to control the operation of the distributed antenna system;

a plurality of remote units coupled to the host unit, wherein a remote unit in the plurality of remote antenna units comprises;

a scanning receiver configured to receive signals in a plurality of frequency bands;

at least one transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals in a frequency band in the plurality of frequency bands; and

a remote unit controller configured to control an uplink gain level of the at least one transceiver and tune the scanning receiver to a frequency band in the plurality of frequency bands.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the scanning receiver digitizes the received signals and transmits them to the remote unit controller.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the remote unit controller processes the digitized signal to gather characterizing information, wherein the characterizing information describes the received signals.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the characterizing information describes at least one of:

a frequency for the received signals;

an amplitude for the received signals; and

a determination as to whether the signal is an interfering signal.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the remote unit controller transmits the characterizing information to the host unit.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the host unit determines adjustments for the performance of the plurality of remote units based on the characterizing information received from each remote unit controller in the plurality of remote units.

26. The system of claim 20, wherein the remote unit controller is at least one of:

a field programmable gate array;

a microcontroller;

a digital signal processor; and

a general purpose processor.

27. The system of claim 20, wherein the host unit is configured to compare reception power of remote antenna unit signals received by at least one remote unit, wherein the remote antenna unit signal was transmitted by a different remote antenna unit in the distributed antenna system.

28. The system of claim 20, wherein the host unit is configured to monitor the power of signals received in at least one remote antenna unit from an external signal source.

29. The system of claim 20, wherein the at least one transceiver comprises a power detector configured to measure the power of at least one of the transmitted signals and the received signals.

30. A method for a adjusting the performance of a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:

tuning a receive frequency of a scanning receiver in a remote unit to receive signals in a frequency band, wherein the scanning receiver is tunable to receive signals in a plurality of frequency bands;

measuring characteristics of the signals received in the plurality of frequency bands;

transmitting the measured characteristics to a system controller;

setting transmission power and uplink gain for at least one transceiver based on the measured characteristics, where the at least one transceiver is configured to communicate radio frequency signals with mobile devices.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein measuring characteristics of the signal comprises:

determining whether the signal is an interfering signal;

determining the frequency of the signal;

determining the amplitude of the signal; and

compiling the measured characteristics in a transmissible format.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the transmissible format comprises an information table.

33. The method of claim 32, comprising transmitting the information table to a system controller for the remote unit.

34. A remote unit, the remote unit comprising:

at least one transceiver configured to communicate radio frequency signals with mobile devices, wherein each transceiver in the at least one transceiver is configured to transmit and receive signals in a particular frequency band;

a scanning receiver that is tunable to receive radio frequency signals in a plurality of frequency bands, wherein the plurality of frequency bands comprises frequency bands associated with the at least one transceiver; and

a controller configured to tune the scanning receiver to a frequency band in the plurality of frequency bands.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the controller processes the digitized signal to gather characterizing information, wherein the characterizing information describes the received signals.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the characterizing information describes at least one of:

a frequency for the received signals;

an amplitude for the received signals; and

a determination as to whether the signal is an interfering signal.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the remote unit controller transmits the characterizing information to a system controller for a distributed antenna system.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the controller receives adjustments for the at least one transceiver from the system controller.

39. The system of claim 34, wherein the controller is at least one of:

a field programmable gate array;

a microcontroller;

a digital signal processor; and

a general purpose processor.

40. The system of claim 34, wherein the at least one transceiver comprises a power detector configured to measure the power of at least one of the transmitted signals and the received signals.

41. The system of claim 34, wherein the scanning receiver mixes the received radio frequency signals to an intermediate frequency before filtering.

42. The system of claim 34, wherein the scanning receiver provides both an in phase digital signal and a quadrature digital signal to the controller.

43. The system of claim 34, wherein the scanning receiver is operable during a startup phase for the remote unit and is not in operation during a normal operation phase of the remote unit.

44. A method for adjusting the performance of a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:

transmitting a signal in a frequency band from a first transceiver in a first remote unit;

tuning a second scanning receiver in a second remote unit to the frequency band, wherein the second remote unit includes the second scanning receiver and a second transceiver;

determining a power level of the signal received at the second remote unit; and

adjusting a transmission power level of the first transceiver in the first remote unit based on the determined power level.

45. The method of claim 44, further comprising:

transmitting a second signal in a second frequency band from the second transceiver;

tuning a first remote scanning receiver in the first remote unit to the second frequency band;

determining a second power level of the second signal received at the first remote unit; and

adjusting the second transmission power level of the second transceiver in the second remote unit based on the second power level.

46. A method for adjusting the performance of a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:

receiving a signal from an external signal source, where the external signal source communicates with the distributed antenna system by communicating with a remote unit;

monitoring a limiter in the remote unit;

determining how often the signal engages the limiter; and

adjusting a gain level for received signals in the remote unit based on the determination of how often the signal engages the limiter.

47. The method of 46, wherein determining how often the signal engages the limiter comprises:

determining how often the limiter is engaged during a time period;

determining that the gain level is too high when the limiter engages more times than a threshold limit for engagement of the limiter.

48. A method for adjusting the performance of a distributed antenna system, the method comprising:

monitoring operation of a remote unit in the distributed antenna system;

determining when a failure occurs in the remote unit;

generating an alarm, wherein the alarm notifies a system controller for the distributed antenna system that a failure has occurred in the remote unit; and

adjusting the operation of adjacent remote units in the distributed antenna system to compensate for the failure in the remote unit, wherein the adjacent remote units are spatially adjacent to the remote unit.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein compensating for the failure in the remote unit comprises increasing transmission power of the at least one frequency band in the adjacent remote units.