Hybrid universal broadband telecommunications using small radio cells interconnected by free-space optical links
First Claim
1. A telecommunications apparatus comprising:
- a communications switch;
a first transceiver, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating externally to the apparatus by electromagnetic signals having a first frequency;
a second, optical, transceiver, also electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating externally to the apparatus, by optical signals of a second frequency higher than is the first frequency, over a plurality of free-space optical links; and
a controllerfor causing the communications switch to route telecommunications traffic between the first transceiver and the second transceiver, and, further,for causing the second, optical, transceivers to route an optical signal received upon some one of the plurality of free-space optical links to another one of the plurality of free-space optical links, serving thus as an optical signal repeater;
wherein wireless telecommunication signals are routed between a first-frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and a second-frequency optical portion of the electromagnetic spectrum; and
wherein second-frequency optical wireless telecommunications signals are routed between free-space optical paths.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Diverse communication terminals attach via broadband radio to a communications network at any of typically three hierarchical cell sizes increasing from, typically, a single building to a city to a region. Almost all telecommunications traffic transpires, however, within lowest-level "picocells 1" to and from low cost "base stations 11" that have typically one radio transceiver 111, four optical transceivers 112, an ATM switch 113 and an ATM controller 114. Each local "base station 11" is interconnected to a regional "end office switch 12", where is realized connection to a worldwide wire/fiber line communications backbone 4, upon a multi-hop mesh network 100 via short highly-focused free-space broadband directional optical links 10. By this free-space wireless broadband access the need for new broadband access cabling the "last mile" to subscriber/users is totally surmounted. Subscriber service is of the order of 20 Mb/s peak rate, and 10 Mb/s average rate.
170 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A telecommunications apparatus comprising:
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a communications switch; a first transceiver, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating externally to the apparatus by electromagnetic signals having a first frequency; a second, optical, transceiver, also electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating externally to the apparatus, by optical signals of a second frequency higher than is the first frequency, over a plurality of free-space optical links; and a controller for causing the communications switch to route telecommunications traffic between the first transceiver and the second transceiver, and, further, for causing the second, optical, transceivers to route an optical signal received upon some one of the plurality of free-space optical links to another one of the plurality of free-space optical links, serving thus as an optical signal repeater; wherein wireless telecommunication signals are routed between a first-frequency portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and a second-frequency optical portion of the electromagnetic spectrum; and wherein second-frequency optical wireless telecommunications signals are routed between free-space optical paths. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A telecommunications method comprising:
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first-telecommunicating a local omnidirectional first-frequency first signal by use of an omnidirectional first-frequency first wireless transceiver; second-telecommunicating a plurality of local directional second signals of a second frequency, higher than is the first frequency, by use of an associated plurality of directional second-frequency second wireless transceivers; converting between (i) the first signal, as is telecommunicated with the first wireless transceiver, and (i) some particular one of the second signals, as is associated with a particular second wireless transceiver, in accordance with a protocol for telecommunicating along a chosen directional path;
whilecross-communicating between the second transceivers so that all second signals directionally telecommunicated by use of any one of the second transceivers are subsequently further telecommunicated by use of another one of the second transceivers so as to advance further each second signal, as well as the converted first signal, along a chosen directional path in accordance with the protocol; wherein, although both the first-telecommunicating and the second-telecommunicating are both of local signals, the omnidirectional first-frequency first signal is immediately converted to a second-frequency directional second signal, and is only then directionally telecommunicated and cross-communicated, while the directionally telecommunicated second-frequency signals are always directionally telecommunicated, along the chosen directional path. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A telecommunications apparatus comprising:
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a communications switch; a broadband radio first transceiver, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating omnidirectionally externally to the apparatus in a local area by broadband radio in a first, radio, portion of the electromagnetic spectrum; a second transceiver, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating directionally externally to the apparatus across free-space optical links to distant points outside the local area by broadband optical signals in a second, optical, portion of the electromagnetic spectrum; and a controller for causing the communications switch to first-route telecommunications traffic between the broadband radio first transceiver and the broadband optical second transceiver. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10)
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11. A telecommunications method for and upon a communications mesh network of arrayed nodes, the method comprising:
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wirelessly locally radio telecommunicating to a radio transceiver at each node by radio; wirelessly locally directionally optically free-space telecommunicating between each of a plurality of optical transceivers, co-located with each other and with the radio transceiver at each node, by a plurality of directional free-space optical signals to a plurality of nearby nodes; and first-routing, at each node, telecommunications to and from the radio transceiver and a selected one of the plurality of optical receivers that is so selected in accordance with a protocol for telecommunicating along a chosen path upon the mesh;
whilesecond-routing, at each node, telecommunications received at one or more of the plurality of local directional optical transceivers to another one or ones of the plurality of local directional optical transceivers so to establish and maintain optical telecommunications along a path upon the mesh that is chosen in accordance with the protocol; wherein, by the radio telecommunicating and the optical telecommunicating, and by the first-routing and the second-routing, telecommunications transpires (i) omnidirectionally at each node by radio, and (ii) directionally between nodes upon the path upon the mesh by optics. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A telecommunications apparatus, called a base station, located within a multi-hop free-space optical telecommunications mesh consisting of a large number of identical base stations geographically dispersed, each base station of the mesh comprising:
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a communications switch; a first transceiver, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating locally externally to the base station; a plurality of optical transceivers, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly directionally telecommunicating externally to the base station by an associated free-space directional optical link; and a controller for causing the communications switch to route (i) telecommunications traffic telecommunicated with the first transceiver to one of the plurality of optical transceivers, and (ii) also optical telecommunications traffic received at one directional optical transceiver to another directional optical transceiver for further free-optical optical transmission, all to the consistent purpose and end that telecommunications traffic to and from the first transceiver should be routed through a selected co-located directional optical transceiver and then through the further directional optical transceivers of whatsoever number of other base stations as are required until reaching a particular base station called an end office; wherein radio and free-space optical communications upon the mesh support telecommunications between, on the one hand, (i) a first transceiver of a base station and, on the other hand, (ii) a particular base station called the end office. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A communications system comprising:
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an end-office having a communications switch, a hardwired connection between the switch and a communications backbone external to the system to which communications backbone other end-offices also connect, a plurality of optical transceivers, electrically connected to the communications switch, for telecommunicating externally to the end-office optically through free space, and a controller for causing the communications switch to route communications traffic between (i) the hardwired connection to the external communications backbone and (ii) the plurality of optical transceivers; and a multi-hop mesh of optically-free-space multi-hop telecommunicating base stations each having a communications switch, a plurality of optical transceivers, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating externally to the base station by and in multiple hops over and upon multiple free-space optical links, and a controller for causing the communications switch to route received optical communications traffic from a receiving to a transmitting optical transceiver to the purpose and the end that multi-hop telecommunications traffic at any individual base station will be free-space optically communicated, one hop to the next, thorough whatsoever number of base stations is required until telecommunicatively connecting to the end office and to the communications backbone; wherein free-space optical communications upon the mesh are variably routed multi-hop from one base station to another. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A communications system comprising:
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an end-office having a communications switch, a hardwired connection between the switch and a communications backbone external to the system to which communications backbone other end-offices also connect, a plurality of optical transceivers, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating externally to the end-office optically through free space, and a controller for causing the communications switch to route communications traffic between (i) its hardwired connection to the external communications backbone and (ii) its plurality of optical transceivers; and a multi-hop mesh network of free-space multi-hop-optically-communicating base stations each having a communications switch, a radio transceiver, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly telecommunicating by radio locally externally to the base station, a plurality of optical transceivers, electrically connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly communicating regionally externally to the base station by multi-hop free-space optical links, and a controller for causing the communications switch (i) to route telecommunications traffic between the radio transceiver and the optical transceivers, and also (ii) to route any received multi-hop optical communications traffic from a receiving to a transmitting optical transceiver, to the purpose and the end that (i) local telecommunications traffic at the radio transceiver is free-space optically communicated step-wise multi-hop regionally through the optical transceivers of whatsoever number of base stations are required to and from the end office, and upon the communications backbone, while (ii) optical communications of other base stations are passed from a receiving to a sending optical transceiver in order that multi-hop optical communications may be realized upon the mesh network; wherein radio telecommunications local to one base station are free-space multi-hop optically telecommunicated upon the mesh network until ultimately communicatively interconnecting to the communications backbone.
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27. A communications method comprising:
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bi-directionally wire/cable-communicating information between a communications switch at a particular, end-office, site and a hardwired connection to a communications backbone which backbone is external to the end-office site and to which other end-office sites also connect; end-office-wire/cable-switching the information between the end-office communications switch and a selected one of a plurality of wireless first transceivers, co-located at the end office with and electrically wire/cable connected to the communications switch, where the selected one of the plurality of wireless first transceivers at the end office is so selected in accordance with the information telecommunicated; first wirelessly-telecommunicating the information through the selected one of the plurality of wireless first transceivers into free space, and onto a mesh of a multiplicity of free-space wireless communication transceivers; further first wirelessly-telecommunicating the information upon successive links in free space upon the mesh, and through successive selected ones of the multiplicity of wireless first transceivers as are each located at a geographically separated mesh node, the successive selections of which ones of the wireless first transceivers are invoked for telecommunication upon the mesh, and the direction of the telecommunication of the information upon the mesh, all being in accordance with the information, until a mesh telecommunications linkage is ultimately made with a wireless first transceiver at a particular selected, base station, mesh node; base-station-wire/cable-switching, in a switch at the selected base station mesh node that wire/cable connected to the wireless first transceiver at this selected base station mesh node, the information between the wireless first transceiver at this selected base-station node and a wireless second transceiver that is co-located at this selected base-station node along with the first transceiver; and second wirelessly-telecommunicating the information with and through the second transceiver to a telecommunicating device in the local geographical region of the selected base-station node; wherein communications and telecommunications have transpired by, inter alia, wire/cable-communicating at the end-office, first wirelessly-telecommunicating over free-space mesh network links between the end-office and the selected base station node, and second wirelessly-telecommunicating at the selected base station node to the telecommunicating device. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A telecommunications apparatus, called a station, located within a multi-hop free-space optical telecommunications mesh consisting of a large number of stations geographically dispersed, each station of the mesh comprising:
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a communications switch; a collector, communicatively connected to the communications switch, for communicating locally at the base station with at least one communication device; a plurality of optical transceivers, communicatively connected to the communications switch, for wirelessly directionally telecommuncating externally to the station to and from a like optical transceiver of another station by and across an associated free-space directional optical link; and a controller for causing the communications switch to route (i) communications traffic communicated through the collector to and from one of the local plurality of optical transceivers, and (ii) also optical telecommunications traffic between local optical transceivers, all to the consistent purpose and end that communications traffic to and from the collector is routed through a selected co-located directional optical transceiver, and then through the further directional optical transceivers of whatsoever number of other stations as are required, until reaching a particular station called an end office; wherein free-space directional optical communication upon the multi-hop free-space optical telecommunications mesh enables communications between, on the one hand, (i) the communication devices of the station and, on the other hand, (ii) a particular station called the end office. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. A telecommunications mesh network system for communicatively interconnecting (i) a multiplicity of broadband communication devices at each of a multiplicity of locations, and (ii) a broadband communications backbone, the system comprising:
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a mesh network of a plurality of directional free-space optically telecommunicating optical transceivers located at each of a multiplicity of geographically distributed sites called stations; a communicative connection at a one station between the local plurality of optical transceivers and the broadband communications backbone; a collection means at each station for collecting the local broadband communications traffic of the multiplicity of broadband communications devices located locally at the station; control means (i) for communicating the collected local broadband communications traffic at the station upon a selected, directionally-free-space-telecommunicating, one of the local optical transceivers, and, further, (ii) for establishing virtual communication paths upon the mesh network directionally between ones, and successive ones, of selected optical transceivers at selected ones of the multiplicity of stations, so that the collected local broadband communications traffic is communicated to a selected local optical transceiver, and directionally upon free-space optical links between successive transceivers at successive stations, until the entire broadband communication traffic of the devices at each of a multiplicity of locations is communicatively connected to the broadband communications backbone at the one station. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A method of communicatively interconnecting (i) a multiplicity of broadband communication devices at each of a multiplicity of locations, upon (ii) a telecommunications mesh network, with (iii) a broadband communications backbone, the method comprising:
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collecting at each of a multiplicity of locations, called stations, local broadband communications traffic of at least one locally-located broadband communication device; providing at one location, called an end office, a hard-wired communication connection between (i) each of a local plurality of optical transceivers at the location and (ii) the broadband communications backbone; locally communicating via a hard-wired channel at each of the stations the locally-collected broadband communications traffic to a particular one of a local plurality of directional free-space optically telecommunicating optical transceivers that is selected in accordance with a then-existing path upon the communications mesh network to the end-office; and optically free-space directionally telecommunicating between the selected one optical transceiver, and upon particular additional ones of the optical transceivers which are located at a plurality of the stations and that are also selected in accordance with the then-existing path, and an optical transceiver local to the end office, and onto the broadband communications backbone; wherein, while locally-collected broadband communications at a station is hard-wired to a local optical transceiver, and while the optical transceivers of the end office are also hard-wired to the broadband communications backbone, telecommunications upon the mesh network is multi-hop along a free-space optical path. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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Specification