DIGITAL INTERFACE MODULES (DIMS) FOR FLEXIBLY DISTRIBUTING DIGITAL AND/OR ANALOG COMMUNICATIONS SIGNALS IN WIDE-AREA ANALOG DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEMS (DASS)
First Claim
1. An optical fiber-based wide-area distributed antenna system (DAS), comprising:
- a main DAS comprising a main head-end unit (HEU), wherein the main HEU comprises;
one or more radio interface modules (RIMs) communicatively coupled to one or more base transceiver stations (BTSs);
a radio frequency (RF) combiner/splitter coupled to the one or more RIMs;
an optical splitter/combiner coupled to the RF combiner/splitter;
one or more main-HEU digital interface modules (DIMs) coupled to the optical splitter/combiner, wherein each of the one or more main-HEU DIMs is coupled to a respective optical fiber-based downlink digital communications medium via a respective electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter and 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 DIMs corresponding to one or more 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 main-HEU DIM in the main HEU;
wherein the at least one remote-HEU DIM configured to interface with the respective main-HEU DIM 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).
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Abstract
Embodiments of the disclosure relate to digital interface modules (DIMs) for flexibly distributing digital and/or analog communications signals in wide-area analog distributed antenna systems (DASs). In this regard, in one aspect, a DIM is a multi-functional device capable of distributing the digital and/or analog communications signals to a local-area DASs in the wide-area DAS. The DIM comprises a digital communications interface for coupling with a digital signal source, an analog local distribution interface for coupling with an analog signal source, and at least one digital remote distribution interface for coupling with a head-end unit (HEU) of the local-area DAS. By employing the DIM 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
21 Claims
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1. 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 radio interface modules (RIMs) communicatively coupled to one or more base transceiver stations (BTSs); a radio frequency (RF) combiner/splitter coupled to the one or more RIMs; an optical splitter/combiner coupled to the RF combiner/splitter; one or more main-HEU digital interface modules (DIMs) coupled to the optical splitter/combiner, wherein each of the one or more main-HEU DIMs is coupled to a respective optical fiber-based downlink digital communications medium via a respective electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter and 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 DIMs corresponding to one or more 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 main-HEU DIM in the main HEU; wherein the at least one remote-HEU DIM configured to interface with the respective main-HEU DIM 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 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification