EMBEDDED CONTROL SIGNALING FOR SELF-ORGANIZING WIRELESS BACKHAUL RADIO AND SYSTEMS

• US 20160135191A1
• Filed: 12/29/2015
• Published: 05/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: COMS IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: CBF Networks, Inc. (COMSovereign Holding Corp.)
• Inventors: Negus, Kevin J., Proctor, James A. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 10,356,782 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0413 MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0486 taking channel rank into account
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/08 at the receiving station
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/10 Polarisation diversity; Directional diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15 Active relay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15592 Adapting at the relay station communication parameters for supporting cooperative relaying, i.e. transmission of the same data via direct - and relayed path cooperative diversity H04B7/024
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/38 Demodulator circuits; Receiver circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA

Abstract

Enhancement of wireless Channel Order and rank (ECHO) systems and ECHO repeater devices for enhancement of a wireless propagation channel for point to point or point to multipoint radio configurations are disclosed. The enhancement may be used for MIMO communications channels. Aspects support a richer multipath environment to increase the rank of the channel propagation matrix and/or to increase the magnitude of the coefficients of the propagation matrix between two or more radios. Such enhancement is applicable to backhaul radios in terms of increased range or in the number of supportable information streams. The installation, provisioning, optimization, control, monitoring, and adaptation of such devices within a network of backhaul radios is also disclosed. Wireless links and control between IBR and ECHO devices, and between ECHO devices and other ECHO devices, are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A first backhaul radio for at least communicating one or more first information streams to one or more other backhaul radios, said first backhaul radio comprising:

one or more directive gain antenna elements;

one or more combiners, wherein each respective combiner is configured to linearly combine at least one of the one or more first information streams with one or more associated first control signals to provide a respective combined transmission signal, and wherein at least one of the one or more associated first control signals is a spread spectrum signal;

one or more transmitters, wherein each transmitter is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one transmitter is configured to transmit at least one respective combined transmission signal; and

one or more receivers, wherein each receiver is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one receiver is configured to receive at least second control information from at least one second backhaul radio;

wherein the second control information is usable to adjust one or more parameters at the first backhaul radio to enhance at least one performance characteristic or to prevent degradation to at least one performance characteristic of at least one of the first backhaul radio and the at least one second backhaul radio; and

wherein the second control information is based upon or contingent upon at least a reception of at least one of the one or more associated first control signals at the at least one second backhaul radio.

2. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein each respective combiner is further configured to linearly combine a unique one of the one or more first information streams with a unique one of the one or more associated first control signals to provide the respective combined transmission signal.

3. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein the at least one receiver is configured to receive at least one of one or more associated second control signals from the at least one second backhaul radio, said at least one of one or more associated second control signals comprising at least the second control information.

4. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein each respective combiner is further configured to linearly combine at least one of the one or more first information streams with one or more associated first control signals simultaneously in time such that the one or more associated first control signals are embedded within the respective combined transmission signal at a same time as at least one or more of a set of symbols associated with at least one of the one or more first information streams.

5. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more associated first control signals comprises a signature signal.

6. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein each of the one or more associated first control signals comprises a unique signature signal.

7. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein a power level for each of the one or more associated first control signals within the respective combined transmission signal is set so as to not interfere with a demodulation of one or more of the one or more first information streams within the respective combined transmission signal at a receiving one of the one or more other backhaul radios.

8. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein at least one respective combined transmission signal is usable at one or more receiving radios for detecting a transmission from the first backhaul radio, and wherein said detecting does not require demodulation of any of the one or more first information streams at one or more of the one or more receiving radios.

9. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein each respective one of the one or more transmitters is configured to simultaneously transmit a unique respective combined transmission signal.

10. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more associated first control signals that is a spread spectrum signal comprises one or more of the following:

a PN code;

a Gold code;

a Walsh code;

Walsh Hadamard code;

an orthogonal code;

a CAZAC code;

a Zadoff-Chu code;

a maximal length “

M”

code;

a Golay Code;

a code for use as a phase reference;

a code for use as a amplitude reference;

a code for using to derive timing synchronization;

a pilot channel code for synchronization and for use as a phase and amplitude reference for demodulation;

or combinations thereof.

11. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein the at least one second backhaul radio is configured to perform the reception of at least one of the one or more associated first control signals without a use of demodulated information from the one or more first information streams.

12. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters comprise one or more of the following:

digital transmit beam former weights, settings, or parameters;

digital receive beam former weights, settings, or parameters;

phased array weights, settings, or parameters;

gain of receive or transmit beam former parameters;

alignment of transmit or receive antenna elements;

electromechanical adjustments of antennas;

interference cancellation parameters;

frequency tracking parameters;

timing tracking parameters;

receive antenna polarization related parameters;

transmit antenna polarization related parameters;

couplings between any transmitter or receiver and any of the one or more directive gain antenna elements;

channel bandwidth;

operating frequencies;

antenna selection settings;

transmit power levels of one or more information streams;

transmit power levels of one or more associated control signals;

or combinations thereof.

13. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein the at least one performance characteristic comprises or is derived from one or more of the following:

Signal to noise ratio (SNR), C/I, Io, Es, Ec, EOM, Es/Io, Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), bit rate, RSSI, modulation, forward error correction (FEC), interference level, or combinations thereof.

14. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein the at least one second backhaul radio is configured to receive at least first control information comprised within at least one of the one or more associated first control signals.

15. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein the at least one performance characteristic comprises one or more of the following:

at least one performance characteristic of the first backhaul radio and at least one performance characteristic of the at least one second backhaul radio;

at least one performance characteristic of the first backhaul radio, and no performance characteristics of the at least one second backhaul radio;

at least one performance characteristic of the at least one second backhaul radio, and no performance characteristics of the first backhaul radio.

16. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein a number of the one or more directive gain antenna elements is at least two.

17. The first backhaul radio of claim 16, wherein the one or more directive gain antenna elements are arranged on a plurality of facets with one or more directive gain antenna elements per facet, and wherein each facet is oriented at a different azimuth angle relative to at least one other facet.

18. The first backhaul radio of claim 16, wherein the one or more directive gain antenna elements comprises a first subset of one or more directive gain elements with a first polarization and a second subset of one or more directive gain elements with a second polarization, and wherein the first polarization is orthogonal to the second polarization.

19. The first backhaul radio of claim 18, wherein the first polarization is vertical and the second polarization is horizontal.

20. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more directive gain antenna elements comprises at least one patch antenna element.

21. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein at least one transmitter and at least one receiver are each configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more directive gain antenna elements via at least a duplexer filter, and wherein the duplexer filter comprises at least a receive band-select filter configured to selectively pass RF signals within a receive frequency band and a transmit band-select filter configured to selectively pass RF signals within a transmit frequency band.

22. The first backhaul radio of claim 21, wherein both of the transmit frequency band and the receive frequency band are within a frequency range of between 2 GHz and 6 GHz.

23. The first backhaul radio of claim 21, wherein both of the transmit frequency band and the receive frequency band are within a frequency range of above 10 GHz.

24. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein at least one transmitter and at least one receiver are each configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more directive gain antenna elements via at least an RF switch.

25. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein at least one transmitter comprises at least one transmit RF chain, and wherein the at least one transmit RF chain is configured to at least convert from a respective combined transmission signal or a signal derived from a respective combined transmission signal to a respective transmit RF signal within a transmit frequency band.

26. The first backhaul radio of claim 25, wherein the at least one transmit RF chain comprises at least a vector modulator and two digital to analog converters that are configured to produce the respective transmit RF signal, and wherein each respective combined transmission signal or signal derived from a respective combined transmission signal is comprised of digital baseband quadrature signals.

27. The first backhaul radio of claim 1, wherein at least one receiver comprises at least one receive RF chain, and wherein the at least one receive RF chain is configured to at least convert from a respective receive RF signal within a receive frequency band to a respective receive chain output signal.

28. The first backhaul radio of claim 27, wherein the at least one receive RF chain comprises at least a vector demodulator and two analog to digital converters that are configured to produce the respective receive chain output signal, and wherein each respective receive chain output signal is comprised of digital baseband quadrature signals.

29. A backhaul communication system comprising:

a first backhaul radio for at least communicating one or more first information streams to one or more other first backhaul radios, said first backhaul radio comprising;

one or more first directive gain antenna elements;

one or more first combiners, wherein each respective first combiner is configured to linearly combine at least one of the one or more first information streams with one or more associated first control signals to provide a respective first combined transmission signal, wherein at least one of the one or more associated first control signals is a spread spectrum signal, and wherein at least one of the one or more associated first control signals comprises at least first control information; and

one or more first transmitters, wherein each first transmitter is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more first directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one first transmitter is configured to transmit at least one respective first combined transmission signal;

and at least one second backhaul radio for at least communicating one or more second information streams to one or more other second backhaul radios, said at least one second backhaul radio comprising;

one or more second directive gain antenna elements; and

one or more second receivers, wherein each second receiver is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more second directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one second receiver is configured to receive at least the first control information;

wherein the first control information is usable to adjust one or more parameters at the at least one second backhaul radio to enhance at least one performance characteristic or to prevent degradation to at least one performance characteristic of at least one of the first backhaul radio and the at least one second backhaul radio.

30. The backhaul communication system of claim 29, wherein the at least one second backhaul radio further comprises:

one or more second combiners, wherein each respective second combiner is configured to linearly combine at least one of the one or more second information streams with one or more associated second control signals to provide a respective second combined transmission signal, wherein at least one of the one or more associated second control signals is a spread spectrum signal, and wherein at least one of the one or more associated second control signals comprises at least second control information; and

one or more second transmitters, wherein each second transmitter is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more second directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one second transmitter is configured to transmit at least one respective second combined transmission signal.

31. The backhaul communication system of claim 30, wherein the first backhaul radio further comprises:

one or more first receivers, wherein each first receiver is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more first directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one first receiver is configured to receive at least the second control information;

wherein the second control information is usable to adjust one or more parameters at the first backhaul radio to enhance at least one performance characteristic or to prevent degradation to at least one performance characteristic of at least one of the first backhaul radio and the at least one second backhaul radio.

32. The backhaul communication system of claim 31, wherein the at least one second backhaul radio is configured to generate the second control information based upon or contingent upon at least a reception of at least one of the one or more associated first control signals at the at least one second backhaul radio.

33. A backhaul communication system comprising:

a first backhaul radio for at least communicating one or more first information streams to one or more other first backhaul radios, said first backhaul radio comprising;

one or more first directive gain antenna elements;

one or more first combiners, wherein each respective first combiner is configured to linearly combine at least one of the one or more first information streams with one or more associated first control signals to provide a respective first combined transmission signal, wherein at least one of the one or more associated first control signals is a spread spectrum signal;

one or more first transmitters, wherein each first transmitter is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more first directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one first transmitter is configured to transmit at least one respective first combined transmission signal; and

one or more first receivers, wherein each first receiver is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more first directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one first receiver is configured to receive at least second control information;

wherein the second control information is usable to adjust one or more parameters at the first backhaul radio to enhance at least one performance characteristic or to prevent degradation to at least one performance characteristic of at least one of the first backhaul radio and the at least one second backhaul radio;

and at least one second backhaul radio for at least communicating one or more second information streams to one or more other second backhaul radios, said at least one second backhaul radio comprising;

one or more second directive gain antenna elements;

one or more second combiners, wherein each respective second combiner is configured to linearly combine at least one of the one or more second information streams with one or more associated second control signals to provide a respective second combined transmission signal, wherein at least one of the one or more associated second control signals is a spread spectrum signal, and wherein at least one of the one or more associated second control signals comprises at least the second control information;

one or more second transmitters, wherein each second transmitter is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more second directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one second transmitter is configured to transmit at least one respective second combined transmission signal; and

one or more second receivers, wherein each second receiver is configured to be couplable or coupled to at least one of the one or more second directive gain antenna elements, and wherein at least one second receiver is configured to receive at least one of the one or more associated first control signals;

wherein the at least one second backhaul radio is configured to generate the second control information based upon or contingent upon at least said reception of at least one of the one or more associated first control signals.