Antenna deployment sector cell shaping system and method

• US 6,246,674 B1
• Filed: 09/05/1997
• Issued: 06/12/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hanger Solutions, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Metawave Communications Corp.
• Inventors: Reudink, Mark, Reudink, Douglas O., Feuerstein, Martin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheng, Joe H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kim T.
• Application Number:
  US08/924,285
• Time in Patent Office: 1,376 Days
• Field of Search: 370/331, 370/334, 370/335, 370/342, 370/480, 370/482, 455/438, 455/443, 455/444
• US Class Current: 370/334
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/246 specially adapted for base stations
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 25/00 Antennas or antenna systems providing at least two radiating patterns arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern H01Q3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 25/002 providing at least two patterns of different beamwidth; Variable beamwidth antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/28 varying the amplitude
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/40 with phasing matrix
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/24 Cell structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering

Abstract

A system and method are disclosed for dynamically sizing sectors of a multi-sectored radiation pattern. The disclosed invention teaches the use of multiple narrow beams composited to form a radiation pattern. Signals associated with each such narrow beam may be provided to inputs of a scan receiver or signaling radio which inputs are associated with a particular sector of the radiation pattern. The number of narrow beam signals provided inputs associated with a particular sector defines the azimuthal width of that sector. By altering the number of narrow beam signals provided each such input, the azimuthal width of the sectors may be adjusted. The disclosed invention also teaches the use of attenuators in the signal path between the narrow beams and the scan receiver or signalling radio. By adjusting these attenuators, the effective length of the sectors may be adjusted.

Claims

1. A system for dynamically adjusting a sector size of a plurality of sectors of a radiation pattern, the radiation pattern impacting a communication device having a plurality of inputs, wherein ones of said plurality of inputs are associated with a particular sector of said plurality of sectors of said radiation pattern, and wherein sectors utilize the same frequency and communication channels within said frequency are differentiated by a channel attribute, where said channel attribute is a code or a code delay, said system comprising:

means for providing a plurality of predefined narrow beams composited to form said radiation pattern, each beam having a discrete signal associated therewith suitable for input into particular inputs of said plurality of inputs, wherein a sector of said plurality of sectors is at least in part defined as a function of ones of said discrete signals input into a same particular input of said communication device;

means for determining forward and reverse traffic loading across beams of the sectors; and

means controlled by said determining means for periodically altering said ones of said discrete signals input into said same particular input of said communication device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a width of at least one of said sectors is at least in part defined as a function of a number of said discrete signals input into said same particular input of said communication device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein ones of said sectors overlap, said sector overlap being a function of ones of said discrete signals being simultaneously input into a plurality of inputs of said communication device, ones of said plurality of inputs being associated with different sectors of said plurality of sectors.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

means for adjusting a power level of at least one signal associated with said plurality of beams, wherein a length of at least a portion of one of said sectors is determined by power level adjustment of said signal input into said particular input of said communication device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said power level adjusting means comprise said periodic altering means, said periodic altering of said ones of said discrete signals input into said same particular input of said communication device being accomplished by adjusting said power level adjusting means to result in a signal having an insignificant power level input into select signal inputs of said plurality of inputs.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said determining means comprise:

means for monitoring received power on at least one of said beams.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said determining means comprise:

means for monitoring a transmitted signal to interference ratio on at least one of said beams.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said determining means comprise:

means for monitoring transmitted power on at least one of said beams.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said determining means comprise means for establishing external control for selected periods of time.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said determining means further comprise information provided by a centralized controller operating to control a plurality of cooperating communication devices.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein said determining means comprise information regarding a particular channel within said beam signals.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said information comprises data pertaining to the relative traffic loading among said beams.

13. A system for dynamically adjusting a sector size of a plurality of sectors of a radiation pattern, the radiation pattern associated with a communication device having a plurality of outputs, wherein ones of said plurality of outputs are associated with a particular sector of said plurality of sectors of said radiation pattern, wherein all sectors utilize the same frequency, and wherein communication channels within said frequency are differentiated by a code, said system comprising:

means for providing a plurality of predefined narrow beams composited to form said radiation pattern, ones of said beams switchably coupled to ones of said plurality of outputs, wherein a sector of said plurality of sectors is at least in part defined as a function of ones of said beams coupled to a particular one of said plurality of outputs;

means for determining forward and reverse traffic loading across beams of the sectors; and

means controlled by said determining means for periodically altering said one of said switchable couplings between said plurality of outputs and ones of said beams.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein a width of at least one of said sectors is at least in part defined as a function of a number of said beams switchably coupled to ones of said plurality of outputs.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein ones of said sectors at least partially overlap, said sector overlap being a function of ones of said outputs being simultaneously switchably coupled to a same said beam.

16. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

means for adjusting a power level of at least one signal switchably coupled to ones of said beams, wherein a length of at least a portion of one of said sectors is determined by power level adjustment of said signal.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein said determining means comprise;

means for monitoring a signal attribute of at lease one of said outputs selected from the group consisting of;

a transmitted power level associated with one of said sectors;

a transmitted power level associated with one of said code channels; and

a transmitted power level associated with one of said beams.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein said determining means comprise:

means for monitoring a signal attribute selected from the group consisting of;

a code channel receive signal strength; and

a received signal to interference ratio.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein said determining means comprise information provided by a centralized controller operating to control a plurality of cooperating communication devices.

20. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

means for providing a signal associated with said particular one of said plurality of outputs to the ones of said beams defining said sector without substantial correlation.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein said means for providing a signal associated with said particular one of said plurality of outputs comprises a delay in a signal path coupling ones of said beams to ones of said plurality of outputs.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein said delay is a switchable delay.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein said delay is provided by a device selected from the group consisting of:

a surface acoustic wave device;

a predetermined length of cable; and

a digital signal processor.

24. A system for providing a plurality of variable size sectors in a radiation pattern including a plurality of predefined beams, each beam providing a discrete beam input signal suitable for input into a demodulation receiver having a plurality of inputs, each beam also providing radiation of a discrete beam output signal substantially within a predefined area, said beam output signals adapted to receive a signal output from a cell site transmitter having a plurality of outputs, wherein ones of said plurality of demodulation receiver inputs and ones of said plurality of cell site transmitter outputs are associated with sectors of said plurality of sectors, said system comprising:

a plurality of beam input signal path control means for switchably providing ones of said beam input signals to select ones of said demodulation receiver inputs, wherein a sector of said plurality of sectors is at least in part defined as a function of switchable control of said input control means;

a plurality of beam output signal path control means for switchably providing ones of said cell site transmitter outputs to select ones of said beam output signals, wherein a sector of said plurality of sectors is at least in part defined as a function of switchable control of said output control means; and

control means for controlling said input control means and said output control means depending on utilization patterns of users in said variable size sectors.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein an azimuthal size of said variable size sectors is a function of a number of said beam input signals provided to said inputs of said demodulation receiver associated with a particular sector.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein an azimuthal size of said variable size sectors is a function of a number of said beam output signals provided from an output of said cell site transmitter associated with a particular sector.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein a number of beam input signals associated with a particular variable size sector and a number of beam output signals associated with said same particular variable size sector are the same.

28. The system of claim 24, wherein a number of beam input signals associated with a particular variable size sector and a number of beam output signals associated with said same particular variable size sector are different.

29. The system of claim 24, wherein at least one of said plurality of beam signal input path control means and said beam signal output path control means comprise a switch matrix.

30. The system of claim 29, further comprising:

attenuation means for attenuating at least one beam input signal of said plurality of beam input signals, wherein attenuation of said beam signal is operable to adjust a longitudinal size of at least a portion of a variable size sector of said plurality of variable size sectors.

31. The system of claim 29, further comprising:

attenuation means for attenuating at least one beam output signal of said plurality of beam output signals, wherein attenuation of said beam signal is operable to adjust a longitudinal size of at least a portion of a variable size sector of said plurality of variable size sectors.

32. The system of claim 24, wherein said control means substantially automatically controls said input control means and said output control means to provide dynamic size adjustment of ones said plurality of variable size sectors.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein said control means operates to substantially automatically control said input control means and said output control means as a function of communication information determined by said system.

34. The system of claim 32, wherein said control means operates to substantially automatically control said input control means and said output control means as a function of a signal provided by a centralized controller operating to control a plurality of cooperating communication systems.

35. The system of claim 24, wherein ones of said beam output signal paths include a delay device.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein said ones of said beam output signal paths including said delay device are associated with alternating ones of said beams.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein said delay device is switchably selectable.

38. A method for providing a variable size sector in a radiation pattern including a plurality of predefined beams each having a discrete beam signal for use with a transceiver apparatus having a plurality of ports, wherein ones of said plurality of ports are associated with a particular sector of a plurality of sectors identifiable in said radiation pattern, said method comprising the steps of:

coupling at least one of said plurality of beam signals to more than one port of said plurality of ports of said transceiver apparatus; and

selecting said ports of said transceiver apparatus for coupling of ones of said plurality of beam signals based at least in part on a particular sector said ones of said beam signals are to be associated with.

39. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of:

switching a switch matrix associated with a particular beam signal of said plurality of beam signals to switchably communicate said particular beam signal to a select port of said transceiver apparatus.

40. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of:

switching a switch matrix associated with a particular port of said plurality of ports of said transceiver apparatus to switchably communicate at least one particular beam signal of said plurality of beam signals to said particular port of said transceiver apparatus.

41. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of:

adjusting a set of attenuators associated with a particular beam signal of said plurality of beam signals to allow communication of a particular beam signal of said plurality beam signals to a select port of said transceiver apparatus.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein a size of said variable size sector is determined by attenuation of said beam signal provided to said ports of said transceiver apparatus associated with a particular sector.

43. The method of claim 38, wherein a size of said variable size sector is determined by a number of said beam signals provided to said ports of said transceiver apparatus associated with a particular sector.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein said variable size sector azimuthally overlaps another sector of said plurality of sectors, said overlap being a function of a same beam signal being simultaneously provided to a plurality of ports of said transceiver apparatus associated with different sectors of said plurality of sectors.

45. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of:

managing said provision of ones of said plurality of beam signals to select ports of said transceiver apparatus to dynamically adjust a size of said variable size sector.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein said managing step operates to substantially automatically adjust a size of said variable size sector as a function of information determined by said system.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein said managing step operates to substantially automatically adjust a size of said variable size sector as a function of a signal provided by a centralized controller operating to control a plurality of cooperating communication systems.

48. The method of claim 38, further comprising the step of:

delaying at least one of said coupled ones of said plurality of beam signals with respect to another one of said coupled ones of said plurality of beam signals.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein said delaying step comprises the step of:

switching a delay element into a signal path.

50. The method of claim 48, wherein said delaying step comprises the step of:

delaying signals associated with alternating ones of said beam signals.

51. An apparatus for dynamically adjusting sector size of a plurality of sectors of a radiation pattern composed of a plurality of predefined narrow beams associated with substantially co-located sources and each providing a discrete signal suitable for input into a CDMA communication device having a plurality of inputs, wherein ones of said plurality of inputs are associated with a particular sector of said plurality of sectors of said radiation pattern, said apparatus comprising:

a first signal splitter associated with each said discrete signal operable to split said discrete signals into multiple signals each suitable for simultaneous provision to more than one input of said plurality of inputs of said CDMA communication device; and

a switch matrix associated with each said discrete signal operable to switchably connect ones of said multiple signals to any combination of said plurality of inputs of said communication device.

52. The apparatus of claim 51, wherein a width of ones of said sectors is determined at least in part by a number of said multiple signals associated with different discrete signals switched to a particular said input of said CDMA communication device.

53. The apparatus of claim 52, wherein said width of said ones of said sectors is adjustable to provide sector overlap, said sector overlap resulting from ones of said multiple signals being simultaneously switched to a plurality of inputs of said CDMA communication device associated with different sectors of said plurality of sectors.

54. The apparatus of claim 51, further comprising:

a set of signal manipulators operable to manipulate ones of said multiple signals associated with a particular discrete signal, wherein manipulation of said ones of said multiple signals adjusts an effective length of at least a portion of a sector of said plurality of sectors.

55. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said manipulation of said ones of said multiple signals includes attenuation of said signals.

56. The apparatus of claim 54, wherein said manipulation of said multiple signal includes amplification of said signals.

57. The apparatus of claim 51, further comprising:

a processor-based controller providing a control signal to said switch matrixes, said control signal operable to cause said switch matrixes to substantially automatically adjust a size of ones said plurality of sectors by switchably connecting select ones of said multiple signals to select ones of said plurality of inputs of said CDMA communication device.

58. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein said processor-based controller provides said control signal as a function of current communication information determined by said apparatus.

59. The apparatus of claim 58, further comprising:

a second signal splitter associated with each said discrete signal operable to split said discrete signals into at least two signals, a first said signal suitable for provision to said first signal splitter, and a second said signal for provision to a receive attribute measurement circuit, wherein said current communication information comprises information provided by said receive attribute measurement circuit.

60. The apparatus of claim 57, wherein said processor-based controller provides said control signal as a function of a signal provided said processor-based controller by a centralized controller operating to control a plurality of communication devices.

61. An apparatus for dynamically adjusting sector size of a plurality of sectors of a radiation pattern composed of a plurality of predefined narrow beams associated with substantially co-located sources and each providing a discrete signal suitable for input into a CDMA communication device having a plurality of inputs, wherein ones of said plurality of inputs are associated with a particular sector of said plurality of sectors of said radiation pattern, said apparatus comprising:

a first signal splitter associated with each said discrete signal operable to split said discrete signals into multiple signals each suitable for simultaneous provision to more than one input of said plurality of inputs of said CDMA communication device;

a set of attenuators associated with each said discrete signal operable to attenuate ones of said multiple signals associated with said discrete signal, wherein low order attenuation of ones of said multiple signals provides communication of said multiple signal to a particular input of said plurality of inputs and high order attenuation of said multiple signals substantially interrupts communication of said multiple signal to said particular input; and

a signal combiner associated with each input of said plurality of inputs of said CDMA communication device operable to combine ones of said multiple signals provided to a same input of said plurality of inputs into a composite signal for input into said communication device, wherein a width of each sector of said plurality of sectors is at least in part defined as a function of said multiple signals provided said inputs associated with each said sector.

62. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein said width of said ones of said sectors is adjustable to provide sector overlap, said sector overlap being a function of ones of said multiple signals being simultaneously provided to a plurality of inputs of said CDMA communication device associated with different sectors of said plurality of sectors.

63. The apparatus of claim 61, wherein attenuation of said ones of said multiple signals adjusts an effective length of at least a portion of a sector of said plurality of sectors.

64. The apparatus of claim 61, further comprising:

a processor-based system controlling said attenuator sets to cause said attenuator sets to substantially automatically adjust ones said plurality of sectors to a predetermined size.

65. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said processor-based system controls said attenuator sets as a function of communication information determined by said apparatus.

66. The apparatus of claim 65, further comprising:

a second signal splitter associated with each said discrete signal operable to split said discrete signals into at least two signals, a first said signal for provision to said first signal splitter, a second said signal for provision to a receive attribute measurement circuit, wherein said communication information comprises information at least in part provided by said receive attribute measurement circuit.

67. The apparatus of claim 64, wherein said processor-based system controls said attenuator sets as a function of information from a plurality of communication devices.