TDMA repeater eliminating feedback

• US 6,061,548 A
• Filed: 07/17/1997
• Issued: 05/09/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hanger Solutions, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Metawave Communications Corp.
• Inventors: Reudink, Douglas O.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hudspeth, David R.
• Assistant Examiner(s): ABEBE, DANIEL DEMELASH
• Application Number:
  US08/895,734
• Time in Patent Office: 1,027 Days
• Field of Search: 455/18, 455/16, 455/25, 455/24, 455/7, 455/13.1
• US Class Current: 455/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15528 Control of operation parameters of a relay station to exploit the physical medium
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15564 Relay station antennae loop interference reduction
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2643 using time-division multiple access [TDMA] H04B7/2615, H04B7/2618 take precedence

Abstract

A system and method for providing a re-transmitted signal substantially free of feedback is disclosed. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a delay is utilized with select burst periods of a TDMA signal so as to re-transmit these burst periods coincident with a subsequent burst period of the original signal. Accordingly, the re-transmitted signal of the present invention is decoupled from the input of the original signal.

Claims

1. A system for providing re-transmission of selected components of a signal, said system comprising:

means for accepting said selected components of said signal to the exclusion of other components of said signal;

means for manipulating said accepted signal components wherein said manipulated signal components include a selected attribute corresponding to an attribute of ones of said excluded other components;

means for controlling said accepting means wherein said accepting means operates to terminate acceptance of said signal components at least in part as a function of said selected attribute; and

means for transmitting said manipulated signal components.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said controlling means is operable to terminate acceptance of said excluded signal components during transmission of said manipulated signal components by said transmitting means.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein ones of said transmitted manipulated signal components are associated with a forward channel and other ones of said manipulated signal components are associated with a reverse channel.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said signal is associated with a first base site of a plurality of base sites and said selected attribute is selected so as to minimize interference with transmissions associated with a second base site of said plurality of base sites.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein said signal is associated with a first base site of a plurality of base sites and a second base site of said plurality of base sites selectively utilizes signal attributes so as to avoid interference with transmission of said manipulated signal components.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for controlling an intended recipient of said accepted signal components to receive said manipulated signal components.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said last mentioned controlling means comprises:

means for transmitting information with respect to said selected attribute over a control channel.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein said last mentioned controlling means comprises:

means for modifying control information associated with said manipulated signal components to include information with respect to said selected attribute.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for providing transparent re-transmission of said manipulated signal components to a communication unit associated with ones of said accepted signal components.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said providing means comprises:

means for manipulating signalling information to cause said communication unit to be unaware of said manipulated attribute of said re-transmitted manipulated signal components.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein said providing means comprises:

means for manipulating timing information to cause said communication unit to be unaware of said manipulated attribute of said re-transmitted manipulated signal components.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein ones of said accepted signal components and ones of said excluded signal components form a frame of a TDMA signal.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said selected attribute is a timing characteristic associated with a particular burst period of said TDMA frame.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein said timing characteristic is selected in order reduce interference from re-transmission of ones said accepted signal components with an intended recipient of ones of said excluded signal components.

15. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for selecting said selected attribute through reference to communications utilizing said excluded signal components.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for selecting said selected signal components through reference to communications utilizing said selected signal components.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein said signal is associated with a cellular telecommunications system.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein said accepting means comprises:

a device providing switchable signal communication between an antenna and said manipulating means.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said device is selected from the group consisting of:

a switch;

an attenuator; and

a filter.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein said manipulating means comprises:

a signal delay device operable to delay said accepted signal components a predetermined amount of time.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein said delay device comprises a device selected from the group consisting of:

a predetermined length of cable;

a digital signal processor; and

a surface acoustic wave device.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein said controlling means comprises:

a processor based system operating under control of a switching algorithm, wherein said switching algorithm utilizes information with respect to said signal in order to control said accepting means to terminate acceptance of ones of said signal components.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said information includes timing information of burst periods of a TDMA frame.

24. A method for providing re-transmission of selected components of a signal, said method comprising the steps of:

accepting said selected components of said signal for re-transmission;

rejecting other components of said signal;

manipulating said accepted signal components to include a selected attribute corresponding to an attribute of ones of said rejected other signal components;

controlling said rejecting step as a function of said selected attribute; and

transmitting said manipulated signal components.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said controlling step is operable to terminate acceptance of said excluded signal components during transmission of said manipulated signal components.

26. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of:

controlling a communication unit associated with ones of said accepted signal components.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said last mentioned controlling step comprises the step of:

transmitting control information over a control channel instructing said communication unit to adjust communications to correspond to said selected aspect.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein said last mentioned controlling step comprises the step of:

modifying control information associated with said signal components thereby instructing said communication unit to adjust communications to correspond to said selected aspect.

29. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of:

providing transparent re-transmission of said manipulated signal components to a communication unit associated with ones of said accepted signal components.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said providing step comprises the step of:

manipulating signalling information to cause said communication unit to be unaware of said manipulated attribute of said re-transmitted manipulated signal components.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein said providing step comprises the step of:

manipulating timing information to cause said communication unit to be unaware of said manipulated attribute of said re-transmitted manipulated signal components.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein ones of said accepted signal components and ones of said excluded signal components form a frame of a TDMA signal.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein said selected attribute is a timing characteristic associated with a burst period of said TDMA frame.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein said timing characteristic is selected in order reduce interference from re-transmission of ones said manipulated signal components with a communication unit utilizing ones of said excluded signal components.

35. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of:

selecting said selected attribute through reference to information with respect to said excluded signal components.

36. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of:

selecting said selected signal components through reference to communications parameters of a communication unit utilizing ones of said selected signal components.

37. A system for use in a communication network having a first communication site and a second communication site, wherein re-transmission of selected TDMA periods of a first signal associated with said first communication site is provided, said system comprising:

a receiver accepting said selected TDMA periods of said first signal and excluding other TDMA periods of said first signal;

a device adjusting said accepted TDMA periods to correspond with a TDMA period of ones of said excluded other TDMA periods;

a transmitter operable to transmit said adjusted TDMA periods coincident with ones of said excluded other TDMA periods; and

a controller operable with communication information from said first communication site and said second communication site selecting ones of said TDMA periods to associate with particular information to avoid interference with said transmitted adjusted TDMA periods.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein said controller comprises:

means for causing information initially associated with a particular TDMA period of said second communication site coinciding with an adjusted TDMA period of said adjusted TDMA periods to be associated with an alternative TDMA period.

39. The system of claim 37, wherein said controller comprises:

means for controlling adjusting of said accepted TDMA periods to avoid transmission of said adjusted TDMA periods coincident with information associated with a particular TDMA period of said second communication site.

40. The system of claim 37, wherein said controller comprises:

means for causing transmission of information associated with a particular TDMA period of said second communication site coinciding with a TDMA period of said transmitted adjusted TDMA periods to be restricted to a region substantially isolated from transmission of said adjusted TDMA period.

41. The system of claim 37, wherein said adjusting device comprises:

means for controlling an intended recipient of said accepted TDMA periods to receive said adjusted TDMA periods.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein said controlling means comprises:

means for transmitting information with respect to said adjusted TDMA period over a control channel.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein said controlling means comprises:

means for adjusting control information associated with said accepted TDMA periods to reflect said adjustment of said adjusted TDMA period.

44. A system for providing repeated signals decoupled from an input signal, said system comprising:

means for accepting said input signal wherein said accepting means is operable to selectively terminate acceptance of signals;

means for delaying said accepted input signal a predetermined period of time; and

means for controlling said accepting means wherein said accepting means operates to selectively terminate acceptance of signals as a function of said predetermined period of time.

45. The system of claim 44, further comprising:

means for transmitting said accepted input signal wherein said transmitted accepted input signal is delayed said predetermined period of time.

46. The system of claim 45, wherein said signal delay is provided by a delay apparatus selected from the group consisting of:

a length of transmission cable;

a surface acoustic wave device; and

a digital signal processor.

47. The system of claim 45, wherein said controlling means is operable to terminate acceptance of signals during transmission of said accepted input signal by said transmitting means.

48. The system of claim 44, further comprising:

means for providing a control channel signal operable to instruct an intended recipient of said accepted input signal with respect to said predetermined period of time.

49. The system of claim 44, wherein said input signal includes a burst period of a TDMA signal.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein said predetermined period of time is approximately an integer multiple of the duration of said burst period.

51. The system of claim 49, wherein said predetermined period of time is selected in order that said repeated signal does not substantially interfere with a signal of a different burst period of said TDMA signal.

52. The system of claim 49 wherein said input signal is transmitted from a first cellular telecommunication device and is directed toward a select second cellular telecommunication device.

53. A signal repeater apparatus providing re-transmission of selected portions of an input signal, wherein said input signal is substantially free of feedback associated with the re-transmitted signal, said apparatus comprising:

a switchable input operable to admit said selected portions of said input signal;

a signal delay device operable to introduce a predetermined delay with respect to said admitted portions of said input signal; and

a controller operable to switch said switchable input to selectively refuse portions of said input signal not selected, wherein occurrence of said refused portions of said input signal corresponds to said predetermined delay.

54. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said switchable input is a switch operating under control of said controller.

55. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said switchable input is a signal attenuation device operating under control of said controller.

56. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said delay device includes a predetermined length of cable.

57. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said delay device includes a surface acoustic wave device.

58. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said delay device includes a digital signal processor.

59. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said controller operates to refuse portions of said input signal during re-transmission of said admitted signal portions.

60. The apparatus of claim 53, wherein said input signal includes burst periods of a TDMA signal.

61. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein said predetermined period of time is substantially an integer multiple of the duration of one of said burst periods.

62. The apparatus of claim 60, wherein said predetermined period of time is selected in order that said re-transmitted portions of said input signal do not substantially interfere with a denied signal portion.

63. A cellular telecommunication signal repeater apparatus providing re-transmission of selected bursts of a TDMA input signal, wherein said input signal is substantially free of feedback associated with the re-transmitted signal, said apparatus comprising:

a switchable input operable to admit said selected bursts of said input signal;

a signal delay device operable to introduce a predetermined delay with respect to said admitted bursts of said input signal, said predetermined delay substantially corresponding to a duration of the bursts of said TDMA input signal; and

a controller operable to switch said switchable input to selectively deny bursts of said input signal not selected, wherein occurrence of said denied bursts of said input signal substantially correspond to said predetermined delay, and wherein said controller operates to deny portions of said input signal during re-transmission of said admitted signal portions.