DIGITAL-ANALOG INTERFACE MODULES (DAIMS) FOR FLEXIBLY DISTRIBUTING DIGITAL AND/OR ANALOG COMMUNICATIONS SIGNALS IN WIDE-AREA ANALOG DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEMS (DASS)
First Claim
1. A digital-analog interface module (DAIM) in a main distributed antenna system (DAS) to support a wide-area DAS, comprising:
- an analog communications interface configured to receive a downlink analog communications signal from at least one of an analog signal source and a baseband signal source;
at least one digital remote distribution interface to be coupled with a remote DAS component in a remote DAS in the wide-area DAS;
an analog local distribution interface configured to distribute a downlink analog radio frequency (RF) signal to a remote antenna unit (RAU) in the main DAS;
an RF conditioning circuit coupled to the analog communications interface and the analog local distribution interface, the RF conditioning circuit is configured to;
receive the downlink analog communications signal from the analog signal source;
convert the downlink analog communications signal into the downlink analog RF signal adapted for distribution in the wide-area DAS;
provide the downlink analog RF signal to the analog local distribution interface; and
provide the downlink analog RF signal to an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter;
the A/D converter coupled to the RF conditioning circuit, wherein the A/D converter is configured to convert the downlink analog RF signal to generate a downlink digital RF signal;
a digital signal processing circuit coupled to the A/D converter and the at least one digital remote distribution interface; and
wherein the digital signal processing circuit is configured to;
receive the downlink digital RF signal from the A/D converter;
convert the downlink digital RF signal to generate one or more first downlink digital RF signals;
combine one or more respective first downlink digital RF signals to generate a combined downlink digital RF signal; and
provide the combined downlink digital RF signal to the at least one digital remote distribution interface to be distributed to the remote DAS component.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the disclosure relate to digital-analog interface modules (DAIMs) for flexibly distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (DASs). In this regard, in one aspect, a DAIM is a multi-functional device capable of distributing the digital and/or analog communications signals to a local-area DASs in a wide-area DAS. The DAIM comprises an analog radio frequency (RF) communications signal interface for coupling with an analog signal source, a digital communications interface for coupling with a digital signal source, an analog local distribution interface for coupling with a remote antenna unit (RAU), and at least one digital remote distribution interface for coupling with a head-end unit (HEU) of the local-area DAS. By employing the DAIM in the wide-area DAS, it is possible to flexibly reconfigure the wide-area DAS for distributing digital and/or analog communications signals over the digital communications mediums.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A digital-analog interface module (DAIM) in a main distributed antenna system (DAS) to support a wide-area DAS, comprising:
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an analog communications interface configured to receive a downlink analog communications signal from at least one of an analog signal source and a baseband signal source; at least one digital remote distribution interface to be coupled with a remote DAS component in a remote DAS in the wide-area DAS; an analog local distribution interface configured to distribute a downlink analog radio frequency (RF) signal to a remote antenna unit (RAU) in the main DAS; an RF conditioning circuit coupled to the analog communications interface and the analog local distribution interface, the RF conditioning circuit is configured to; receive the downlink analog communications signal from the analog signal source; convert the downlink analog communications signal into the downlink analog RF signal adapted for distribution in the wide-area DAS; provide the downlink analog RF signal to the analog local distribution interface; and provide the downlink analog RF signal to an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter; the A/D converter coupled to the RF conditioning circuit, wherein the A/D converter is configured to convert the downlink analog RF signal to generate a downlink digital RF signal; a digital signal processing circuit coupled to the A/D converter and the at least one digital remote distribution interface; and wherein the digital signal processing circuit is configured to; receive the downlink digital RF signal from the A/D converter; convert the downlink digital RF signal to generate one or more first downlink digital RF signals; combine one or more respective first downlink digital RF signals to generate a combined downlink digital RF signal; and provide the combined downlink digital RF signal to the at least one digital remote distribution interface to be distributed to the remote DAS component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An optical fiber-based wide-area distributed antenna system (DAS), comprising:
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a main DAS comprising a main head-end unit (HEU), wherein the main HEU comprises one or more digital-analog interface modules (DAIMs); wherein each of the one or more DAIMs is coupled to a respective optical fiber-based downlink digital communications medium via a respective electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter and is coupled to a respective optical fiber-based uplink digital communications medium via a respective optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter; and one or more remote DASs comprising one or more remote HEUs, respectively, wherein a remote HEU among the one or more remote HEUs comprises; one or more remote-HEU digital interface modules (DIMs) corresponding to one or more radio frequency (RF) bands, respectively, wherein at least one remote-HEU DIM among the one or more remote-HEU DIMs comprised in the remote HEU is configured to interface with a respective DAIM in the main HEU; wherein the at least one remote-HEU DIM configured to interface with the respective DAIM in the main HEU is coupled to the respective optical fiber-based downlink digital communications medium via a respective remote-HEU O/E converter and is coupled to the respective optical fiber-based uplink digital communications medium via a respective remote-HEU E/O converter; a remote-HEU RF combiner/splitter coupled to the one or more remote-HEU DIMs; a remote-HEU optical splitter/combiner coupled to the remote-HEU RF combiner/splitter; and one or more remote-HEU optical interface modules (OIMs) coupled to the remote-HEU optical splitter/combiner, wherein the one or more remote-HEU OIMs is coupled with one or more remote-DAS remote antenna units (RAUs). - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification