FLEXIBLE HEAD-END CHASSIS SUPPORTING AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION AND INTERCONNECTION OF RADIO INTERFACE MODULES AND OPTICAL INTERFACE MODULES IN AN OPTICAL FIBER-BASED DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEM (DAS)

• US 20160087725A1
• Filed: 09/16/2015
• Published: 03/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corning Optical Communications LLC (Corning Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. (Corning Incorporated)
• Inventors: Berlin, Igor, Cune, William Patrick, Mizrahi, Gavrial
• Granted Patent: US 9,602,210 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25753 Distribution optical network, e.g. between a base station and a plurality of remote units
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 11/0005 Switch and router aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2011/0015 using splitting combining

Abstract

Flexible head-end chassis supporting automatic identification and interconnection of radio interface modules (RIMs) and optical interface modules (OIMs) in an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS) are disclosed. In one embodiment, the flexible head-end chassis includes a plurality of module slots each configured to receive either a RIM or an OIM. A chassis control system identifies an inserted RIM or OIM to determine the type of module inserted. Based on the identification of the inserted RIM or OIM, the chassis control system interconnects the inserted RIM or OIM to related combiners and splitters in head-end equipment for the RIM or OIM to receive downlink communication signals and uplink communications signals for processing and distribution in the optical fiber-based DAS. In this manner, the optical fiber-based DAS can easily be configured or reconfigured with different combinations of RIMs and OIMs to support the desired communications services and/or number of remote units.

Claims

1. A head-end chassis for an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS), comprising:

a housing;

a plurality of module slots disposed in the housing, each module slot among the plurality of module slots configured to receive a connected module comprised of a radio interface module (RIM) or an optical interface module (OIM);

a backplane disposed in the housing, the backplane comprising;

a plurality of backplane interconnects each associated with a module slot among the plurality of module slots, each backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects configured to interconnect with the connected module inserted into the module slot associated with the backplane interconnect;

each backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects comprises;

a backplane downlink input configured to receive an electrical downlink communications signal from a RIM;

a backplane downlink output configured to provide an electrical split downlink communications signal to an OIM;

a backplane uplink input configured to receive an electrical uplink communications signal from an OIM; and

a backplane uplink output configured to provide an electrical split uplink communications signal to a RIM;

a downlink combiner comprising a plurality of combiner downlink inputs each corresponding to a backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects, the plurality of combiner downlink inputs configured to receive a plurality of electrical downlink communications signals from a plurality of RIMs, combine the received plurality of electrical downlink communications signals into an electrical combined downlink communications signal, and provide the electrical combined downlink communications signal on a combiner downlink output;

a downlink splitter comprising a splitter downlink input configured to receive the electrical combined downlink communications signal from the combiner downlink output, split the received electrical combined downlink communications signal into a plurality of electrical split downlink communications signals, and provide the plurality of electrical split downlink communications signals on a plurality of splitter downlink outputs each corresponding to a backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects;

an uplink combiner comprising a plurality of combiner uplink inputs each corresponding to a backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects, the plurality of combiner uplink inputs configured to receive a plurality of electrical uplink communications signals from at least one OIM, combine the received plurality of electrical uplink communications signals into an electrical combined uplink communications signal, and provide the electrical combined uplink communications signal on a combiner uplink output;

an uplink splitter comprising a splitter uplink input configured to receive the electrical combined uplink communications signal from the combiner uplink output, split the received electrical combined uplink communications signal into a plurality of electrical split uplink communications signals, and provide the plurality of electrical split uplink communications signals on a plurality of splitter uplink outputs each corresponding to a backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects;

a plurality of downlink switches each configured to selectively couple, in response to a downlink switch selector, either the backplane downlink input of a backplane interconnect connected to a RIM, to a corresponding combiner downlink input among the plurality of combiner downlink inputs to provide the electrical downlink communications signal from the RIM to the downlink combiner;

or the backplane downlink output of the backplane interconnect connected to an OIM, to a corresponding splitter downlink output among the plurality of splitter downlink outputs to provide the electrical split downlink communications signal to the OIM; and

a plurality of uplink switches each configured to selectively couple, in response to an uplink switch selector, either the backplane uplink output of a backplane interconnect connected to the RIM, to a corresponding splitter uplink output among the plurality of splitter uplink outputs to provide the electrical split uplink communications signal to the RIM;

or the backplane uplink input of the backplane interconnect connected to the OIM, to a corresponding combiner uplink input among the plurality of combiner uplink inputs to provide the electrical uplink communications signal from the OIM to the uplink combiner.

2. The head-end chassis of claim 1, further comprising a chassis control system configured to:

provide the downlink switch selector to each of the plurality of downlink switches; and

provide the uplink switch selector to each of the plurality of uplink switches.

3. The head-end chassis of claim 2, wherein the chassis control system comprises:

a chassis controller; and

a switch controller configured to provide the downlink switch selector to each of the plurality of downlink switches, and provide the uplink switch selector to each of the plurality of uplink switches;

the chassis controller configured to;

detect a connection of the connected module to a backplane interconnect of a module slot in the plurality of module slots;

determine if the connected module is a RIM or an OIM;

if the connected module is a RIM, the chassis controller configured to;

instruct the switch controller to;

generate the downlink switch selector to cause a downlink switch corresponding to the module slot to couple the backplane downlink input of the backplane interconnect connected to the RIM, to the corresponding combiner downlink input; and

generate the uplink switch selector to cause an uplink switch corresponding to the module slot to couple the backplane uplink output of the backplane interconnect connected to the RIM, to the corresponding splitter uplink output;

if the connected module is an OIM, the chassis controller configured to;

instruct the switch controller to;

generate the downlink switch selector to cause the downlink switch corresponding to the module slot to couple the backplane downlink output of the backplane interconnect connected to the OIM, to the corresponding splitter downlink output; and

generate the uplink switch selector to cause the uplink switch corresponding to the module slot to couple the backplane uplink input of the backplane interconnect connected to the OIM to the corresponding combiner uplink input.

4. The head-end chassis of claim 3, wherein the chassis controller is configured to automatically:

detect the connection of the connected module to a backplane interconnect of a module slot in the plurality of module slots;

determine if the connected module is a RIM or an OIM; and

instruct the switch controller to generate the downlink switch selector and the uplink switch selector.

5. The head-end chassis of claim 3, wherein the chassis controller is configured to:

detect the connection of the connected module to a backplane interconnect of a module slot in the plurality of module slots and determine if the connected module is a RIM or an OIM for each module slot among the plurality of module slots; and

instruct the switch controller to generate the downlink switch selector and the uplink switch selector corresponding to each module slot among the plurality of module slots, based on whether the connected module is a RIM or an OIM.

6. The head-end chassis of claim 3, each backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects further comprises a module ID input configured to interconnect with a module ID output from a RIM or OIM inserted into the module slot associated with the backplane interconnect;

the chassis controller configured to;

detect the connection of the connected module to the backplane interconnect of the module slot in the plurality of module slots based on a module ID signal received from the module ID output on the module ID input; and

determine if the connected module is a RIM or an OIM based on the module ID signal received on the module ID input.

7. The head-end chassis of claim 3, wherein the chassis control is further configured to:

determine if a backplane interconnect for a module slot among the plurality of module slots is unconnected; and

if the backplane interconnect for the module slot is unconnected, the chassis controller is further configured to instruct the switch controller to;

generate the downlink switch selector to cause the downlink switch corresponding to the module slot to couple the backplane downlink input of the unconnected backplane interconnect to the corresponding combiner downlink input; and

generate the uplink switch selector to cause the uplink switch corresponding to the module slot to couple the backplane uplink output of the unconnected backplane interconnect to the corresponding splitter uplink output.

8. The head-end chassis of claim 3, wherein the chassis control is further configured to:

determine if a backplane interconnect for a module slot among the plurality of module slots is unconnected; and

if the backplane interconnect for the module slot is unconnected, the chassis controller is further configured to instruct the switch controller to;

generate the downlink switch selector to cause the downlink switch corresponding to the module slot to couple the backplane downlink output of the unconnected backplane interconnect to the corresponding splitter downlink output; and

generate the uplink switch selector to cause the uplink switch corresponding to the module slot to couple the backplane uplink input of the unconnected backplane interconnect to the corresponding combiner uplink input.

9. The head-end chassis of claim 1 provided in an indoor optical fiber-based DAS.

10. A method for interconnecting a connected module in a head-end chassis with head-end equipment in an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS) comprising:

detecting a connection of a connected module comprised of a radio interface module (RIM) or an optical interface module (OIM), to a backplane interconnect of a module slot among a plurality of module slots in a head-end chassis;

determining if the connected module in the module slot is a RIM or an OIM;

if the connected module in the module slot is determined to be a RIM, coupling the backplane interconnect connected to the RIM to;

a downlink combiner configured to receive an electrical downlink communications signal from the RIM, combine the received electrical downlink communications signal into an electrical combined downlink communications signal and provide the electrical combined downlink communications signal to a downlink splitter;

an uplink splitter configured to receive an electrical combined uplink communications signal from an uplink combiner, split the electrical combined uplink communications signal into the plurality of electrical split uplink communications signals, and provide the electrical split communications signal to the RIM; and

if the connected module in the module slot is determined to be an OIM, coupling the backplane interconnect connected to the OIM to;

a downlink splitter configured to receive the electrical combined downlink communications signal from the downlink combiner, split the received electrical combined downlink communications signal into an electrical split downlink communications signal, and provide the electrical split downlink communications signal to the OIM; and

an uplink combiner configured to receive an electrical uplink communications signal from the OIM, combine the received electrical uplink communications signal into the electrical combined uplink communications signal, and provide the electrical combined uplink communications signal to the uplink splitter.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising automatically:

detecting the connection of the connected module to the backplane interconnect of the module slot among the plurality of module slots in the head-end chassis;

determining if the connected module in the module slot is the RIM or the OIM;

if the connected module in the module slot is determined to be the RIM, coupling the backplane interconnect to the RIM; and

if the connected module in the module slot is determined to be the OIM, coupling the backplane interconnect to the OIM.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising, for each of the plurality of module slots:

detecting the connection of the connected module to the backplane interconnect of the module slot among the plurality of module slots in the head-end chassis;

determining if the connected module in the module slot is the RIM or the OIM;

if the connected module in the module slot is determined to be the RIM, coupling the backplane interconnect to the RIM; and

if the connected module in the module slot is determined to be the OIM, coupling the backplane interconnect to the OIM.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein:

detecting the connection of the connected module comprises detecting the connection of the connected module to the backplane interconnect of the module slot in the plurality of module slots based on a module ID signal received from the connected module; and

determining if the connected module is a RIM or an OIM based on the module ID signal.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining if a backplane interconnect for a module slot among the plurality of module slots is unconnected; and

if the backplane interconnect for the module slot is unconnected, coupling the unconnected backplane interconnect to the downlink combiner and the uplink splitter.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining if a backplane interconnect for a module slot among the plurality of module slots is unconnected; and

if the backplane interconnect for the module slot is unconnected, coupling the unconnected backplane interconnect to the downlink splitter and the uplink combiner.

16. An optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS), comprising:

a central unit, comprising;

a plurality of radio interface modules (RIMs) each configured to;

receive an electrical downlink communications signal;

receive an electrical split uplink communications signal from at least one optical interface module (OIM);

a plurality of OIMs each configured to;

receive an electrical split downlink communications signal;

convert the received electrical split downlink communications signal into an optical split downlink communications signal;

distribute the optical split downlink communications signal to a plurality of remote units;

receive a plurality of optical uplink communications signals from the plurality of remote units;

convert the received plurality of optical uplink communications signals to a plurality of electrical uplink communications signals;

each of the plurality of remote units configured to;

receive the optical split downlink communications signal from the central unit;

convert the received optical split downlink communications signal into an electrical split downlink communications signal;

distribute the electrical split downlink communications signal to at least one client device;

receive an electrical uplink communications signal from the at least one client device;

convert the received electrical uplink communications signal into an optical uplink communications signal; and

distribute the optical uplink communications signal to the central unit;

the central unit further comprising a head-end chassis, comprising;

a housing;

a plurality of module slots disposed in the housing, each module slot among the plurality of module slots configured to receive a connected module comprised of a RIM among the plurality of RIMs or an OIM among the plurality of OIMs;

a backplane disposed in the housing, the backplane comprising;

a plurality of backplane interconnects each associated with a module slot among the plurality of module slots, each backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects configured to interconnect with the connected module inserted into the module slot associated with the backplane interconnect;

each backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects comprises;

 

a backplane downlink input configured to receive the electrical downlink communications signal from a RIM among the plurality of RIMs;

 

a backplane downlink output configured to provide an electrical split downlink communications signal to an OIM among the plurality of OIMs;

 

a backplane uplink input configured to receive an electrical uplink communications signal from the OIM;

 

a backplane uplink output configured to provide an electrical split uplink communications signal to the RIM;

a downlink combiner comprising a plurality of combiner downlink inputs each corresponding to a backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects, the plurality of combiner downlink inputs configured to receive a plurality of electrical downlink communications signals from the plurality of RIMs, combine the received plurality of electrical downlink communications signals into an electrical combined downlink communications signal, and provide the electrical combined downlink communications signal on a combiner downlink output;

a downlink splitter comprising a splitter downlink input configured to receive the electrical combined downlink communications signal from the combiner downlink output, split the received electrical combined downlink communications signal into a plurality of electrical split downlink communications signals, and provide the plurality of electrical split downlink communications signals on a plurality of splitter downlink outputs each corresponding to a backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects;

an uplink combiner comprising a plurality of combiner uplink inputs each corresponding to a backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects, the plurality of combiner uplink inputs configured to receive a plurality of electrical uplink communications signals from the plurality of OIMs, combine the received plurality of electrical uplink communications signals into an electrical combined uplink communications signal, and provide the electrical combined uplink communications signal on a combiner uplink output;

an uplink splitter comprising a splitter uplink input configured to receive the electrical combined uplink communications signal from the combiner uplink output, split the received electrical combined uplink communications signal into a plurality of electrical split uplink communications signals, and provide the plurality of electrical split uplink communications signals on a plurality of splitter uplink outputs each corresponding to a backplane interconnect among the plurality of backplane interconnects;

a plurality of downlink switches each configured to selectively couple, in response to a downlink switch selector, either the backplane downlink input of a backplane interconnect connected to a RIM, to a corresponding combiner downlink input among the plurality of combiner downlink inputs to provide the electrical downlink communications signal from the RIM to the downlink combiner;

or the backplane downlink output of the backplane interconnect connected to an OIM, to a corresponding splitter downlink output among the plurality of splitter downlink outputs to provide the electrical split downlink communications signal to the OIM; and

a plurality of uplink switches each configured to selectively couple, in response to an uplink switch selector, either the backplane uplink output of a backplane interconnect connected to the RIM, to a corresponding splitter uplink output among the plurality of splitter uplink outputs to provide the electrical split uplink communications signal to the RIM;

or the backplane uplink input of the backplane interconnect connected to the OIM, to a corresponding combiner uplink input among the plurality of combiner uplink inputs to provide the electrical uplink communications signal from the OIM to the uplink combiner.