WIRELESS SYSTEM WITH CONFIGURABLE RADIO AND ANTENNA RESOURCES

• US 20150110049A1
• Filed: 10/20/2014
• Published: 04/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Everest Networks, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Tembo Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Pabla, Arbinder Singh
• Granted Patent: US 9,479,241 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2291 used in bluetooth or WI-FI devices of Wireless Local Area Networks [WLAN] H01Q1/241 takes precedence; WLAN in general H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/246 specially adapted for base stations
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/38 formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support patch antennas H01Q9/0407; microstrip dipole antennas H01Q9/065; microstrip slot antennas H01Q13/106; transmission line microstrip antennas H01Q13/206; manufacturing reflecting surfaces using insulating material for supporting the reflecting surface H01Q15/142
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/48 Earthing means; Earth screens; Counterpoises
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/068 using parallel coplanar travelling wave or leaky wave aerial units H01Q21/065 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0413 MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0691 using subgroups of transmit antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0697 using spatial multiplexing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/046 the resource being in the space domain, e.g. beams
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

A wireless access device, system and method are disclosed for provisioning multiple concurrent radio services and adaptive management of multi-radio access points or multi-radio small cell base stations.

Claims

1. A wireless access device comprising:

a radio bank including multiple radios; and

an antenna bank coupled to the radio bank, the antenna bank including multiple planar antennas interconnected to one or more radios in the radio bank, where one or more of the multiple planar antennas are configurable.

2. The wireless access device of claim 1, where at least two of the multiple radios provide services to a common spatial sector or to multiple spatial sectors.

3. The wireless access device of claim 1, where at least two of the radios provide radio frequency communication signals using different radio frequency communication technologies.

4. The wireless access device of claim 1, further comprising:

a processor bank including one or more processors, the one or more processors assigning the multiple radios in the radio bank to the multiple configurable planar antennas in the antenna bank.

5. The wireless access device of claim 4, further comprising:

a communication interface coupled to the processor bank to receive information from a network for dedicating and rededicating assignment of specific radios to specific configurable planar antennas and configuring the assigned configurable planar antennas.

6. The wireless access device of claim 1, further comprising:

a communication interface coupled to one or more of the radios to receive information from a network for dedicating and rededicating assignment of specific radios to specific configurable planar antennas and configuring the assigned configurable planar antennas.

7. The wireless access device of claim 4, where more than one radio is interfaced with a single processor.

8. The wireless access device of claim 1, where at least two of the multiple radios are assigned to one spatial sector.

9. The wireless access device of claim 1, where one or more of the configurable planar antennas are traveling wave antennas.

10. The wireless access device of claim 1, where one or more of the configurable planar antennas are leaky-wave antennas.

11. The wireless access device of claim 10, where one or more of the configurable leaky-wave antennas are configurable metamaterial leaky-wave antennas.

12. The wireless access device of claim 1, where the radio bank is enclosed in a physical unit that is remotely located from the antenna bank.

13. The wireless access device of claim 1, where the antenna bank includes one or more antenna arrays where each antenna array comprises multiple configurable planar antennas.

14. The wireless access device of claim 13, where at least one antenna array is fabricated on a common printed circuited board.

15. The wireless access device of claim 1 comprising configurable planar antennas operating at different frequencies.

16. The wireless access device of claim 1 comprising an interface matrix for selectively interconnecting the multiple radios to the multiple planar antennas.

17. The wireless access device of claim 1, where at least two of the spatial sectors overlap.

18. A method of configuring radio and antenna resources in a wireless system, comprising:

assigning, by one or more processors of the wireless system, multiple independently configurable radios of the wireless system to multiple independently configurable planar antennas of the wireless system;

selectively interconnecting, by an interface matrix of the wireless system, the multiple radios assigned to the multiple independently configurable planar antennas; and

dynamically configuring the independently configurable planar antennas to radiate radio frequency signals into one or more spatial sectors.

19. The method claim 18 comprising:

enabling, by the interface matrix, the selective interconnections between one or more frequency ports of the multiple independently configurable radios to one or more of the independently configurable planar antennas.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

dynamically assigning at least two of the multiple radios to one spatial sector; and

independently configuring the dynamically assigned multiple radios to provide different services to the one spatial sector.

21. A wireless system comprising:

a remote server computer programmed to configure the wireless system;

a network coupled to the remote server computer;

a plurality of wireless access devices coupled to the network, each wireless access device including;

a radio bank including multiple independently configurable radios;

an antenna bank including multiple independently configurable planar antennas; and

an interface matrix selectively interconnecting the multiple independently configurable radios to the multiple independently configurable antennas according to commands received through the network from the programmed remote server computer.

22. The wireless system of claim 21, where at least two of the independently configurable radios provide services to a common spatial sector or to multiple spatial sectors through one or more of the multiple independently configurable planar antennas.

23. The wireless system of claim 21, where at least two of the independently configurable radios provide radio frequency communication signals through one or more of the multiple independently configurable planar antennas using different radio frequency communication technologies.

24. The wireless system of claim 21, where at least two of the multiple radios are assigned to one spatial sector.

25. A wireless system comprising:

means for assigning multiple independently configurable radios of the wireless system to multiple independently configurable planar antennas of the wireless system;

means for selectively interconnecting the multiple radios to the multiple independently configurable planar antennas; and

means for dynamically configuring the independently configurable planar antennas to radiate radio frequency signals into one or more spatial sectors.

26. The wireless system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for providing services to a common spatial sector or multiple spatial sectors through one or more of the multiple independently configurable planar antennas.

27. The wireless system of claim 25, further comprising:

means for using different radio frequency communication technologies to provide services to a common spatial sector or multiple spatial sectors through one or more of the multiple independently configurable planar antennas.

28. The wireless system of claim 25, where at least two of the multiple radios are assigned to one spatial sector.