Active antenna array configuration and control for cellular communication systems

• US 6,900,775 B2
• Filed: 07/21/1999
• Issued: 05/31/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Celletra Ltd. (Unity Wireless Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Celletra Ltd. (Unity Wireless Corp.)
• Inventors: Shapira, Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Wimer, Michael C.
• Application Number:
  US09/357,844
• Publication Number:
  US 20030073463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,141 Days
• Field of Search: H01/Q02.1/00, 343/797, 343/844, 343/853, 455/562.1, 342371-374
• US Class Current: 343/844
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/246 specially adapted for base stations
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/08 the units being spaced along or adjacent to a rectilinear path waveguide fed H01Q21/0037
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/26 varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture H01Q3/12, H01Q3/22, H01Q3/24 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/2676 Optically controlled phased array
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/40 with phasing matrix
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/06 at the transmitting station
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0848 Joint weighting
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/10 Polarisation diversity; Directional diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

Various antenna arrangements are provided with active transmit and receive antenna elements for transmitting and receiving signals within a cellular communication system. Also presented are specific base station antenna systems and methods, and portions thereof, which improve and control specific characteristics and features of antenna systems including antenna beam patterns. In addition, method for the optimization of a cellular communications network is provided which exploits reverse-link, forward-link, and pilot signal information to optimize network operations.

Claims

1. An antenna array arrangement for a wireless communication network, comprising:

a plurality of transmit active antenna elements, each active antenna element including;

a transmit amplifier;

a bandpass filter receiving a signal from the transmit amplifier;

an antenna structure constructed and arranged to radiate an electromagnetic wave corresponding to a signal from the bandpass filter; and

a plurality of receive active antenna elements, each including;

an antenna element constructed and arranged for receiving signals,

a receive bandpass filter arranged to receive signals from the antenna element, and

a receive amplifier for amplifying signals from the filter.

wherein said transmit active antenna elements and receive antenna elements are disposed in a repeating alternating configuration such that each of said transmit active antenna elements are separated from each other by an optimal distance enabling said transmit active antenna elements to form a relatively narrow transmit beam by combined radiation of at least consecutive ones of said transmit active antenna elements, said beam being steerable by phase control of consecutive ones of said transmit active antenna elements and each of said receive active antenna elements are separated from each other by said optimal distance enabling said receive active antenna elements to form a relatively narrow receive beam by combined radiation of at least consecutive ones of said receive active antenna elements, said beam being steerable by phase control of consecutive ones of said receive active antenna elements, and wherein said transmit active antenna elements are controllable to form a transmit phased array and said receive active antenna elements are controllable to form a receive phased array.

2. The antenna array arrangement of claim 1, wherein said transmit active antenna elements are vertically polarized, said receive active antenna elements are linearly-slant polarized, and said transit antenna elements and receive active antenna elements are configured in a vertical configuration.

3. The antenna array arrangement of claim 1, wherein said transmit active antenna elements are vertically polarized, said receive active antenna elements are linearly-slant polarized, and said transit antenna elements and receive antenna elements are configured in a multi-columnar configuration.

4. The antenna array arrangement of claim 1, wherein said transmit antenna elements and said receive antenna elements are linearly-slant polarized and said transmit antenna elements and receive antenna elements are configured in a vertical configuration.

5. The antenna array arrangement of claim 1, wherein said transmit antenna elements and said receive antenna elements are linearly-slant polarized and said transmit antenna elements and receive antenna elements are configured in a multi-columnar configuration.

6. The antenna array arrangement of claim 1, further including a plurality of active radiating units, wherein said transmit antenna elements and said receive antenna elements are incorporated within said active radiating units.

7. A cellular base station antenna system comprising:

a multi-columnar antenna arrangement comprising;

a plurality of active transmit antenna elements, each active transmit element including;

a transmit amplifier;

a bandpass filter receiving a signal from the transmit amplifier;

an antenna structure constructed and arranged to radiate an electromagnetic wave corresponding to a signal from the bandpass filter; and

active receive antenna elements, each active receive antenna element including;

an antenna element constructed and arranged for receiving signals;

a receive bandpass filter arranged to receive signals from the antenna element, and

a receive amplifier for amplifying signals from the filter;

a transmit transform matrix, coupled to said multi-columnar antenna arrangement, for processing signals to be transmitted by active transmit antenna elements; and

a receive transform matrix, coupled to said multi-columnar antenna arrangement, for processing signals received by active receive antenna elements,

wherein, said transmit transform matrix and said receive transform matrix are separate and each one forms a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane and each of said matrices comprises phase definitions, thereby to provide a phased array respectively for each input port of the transmit transform matrix enabling said transmit active antenna elements to form said plurality of relatively narrow transmit beams by combined radiation of at least consecutive ones of said transmit active antenna elements, said relatively narrow transmit beams being steerable by phase control of consecutive ones of said transmit active antenna elements, and each output port of the receive transform matrix enabling said receive active antenna elements to form said plurality of relatively narrow receive beams by combined radiation of at least consecutive ones of said receive active antenna elements, said relatively narrow receive beams being steerable by phase control of consecutive ones of said receive active antenna elements.

8. The base station antenna system of claim 7, wherein said transmit transform matrix and said receive transform matrix contain beam ports which are coupled to amplitude adjusting elements, gain adjusting elements, and phase adjusting elements for controlling a shape of said plurality of narrow beam patterns.

9. A base station antenna system comprising:

a multi-columnar antenna arrangement containing at least two active polarization diversity antenna elements, each of said active polarization diversity antenna elements comprising an antenna structure, an amplifier and bandpass filter;

a delay unit coupled to one of said at least two polarization diversity antenna elements for delaying a signal of said coupled antenna element; and

a transform matrix coupled to said delay units and to undelayed ones of said at least two polarization diversity antenna elements, and constructed to form a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane, said transform matrix having a plurality of beam ports and a plurality of antenna ports, and defining a phase relationship between said antenna elements.

10. A system according to claim 9, wherein said two diversity polarization antenna elements are receive antenna elements, said transform matrix processes signals received by said active receive antenna elements, and said delayed signal of said coupled antenna element is combined with a signal from the other antenna element before being processed by said transform matrix.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein said two polarization diversity antenna elements are transmit antenna elements, said transform matrix processes signals to be transmitted by said active transmit antenna elements, thereby to provide transmit diversity.

12. A base station antenna system comprising:

a multi-columnar antenna arrangement containing a plurality of first active antenna elements and a plurality of second active antenna elements, said plurality of first active antenna elements having polarization diversity from said plurality of second active antenna elements;

a first transform matrix, coupled to said multi-columnar antenna arrangements, constructed to form a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane, said first transform matrix being associated with said plurality of first active antenna elements and having a plurality of beam ports coupled to a plurality of adjustment elements for adjusting a first plurality of beam port signals;

a second transform matrix, coupled to said multi-columnar antenna arrangement, constructed to form a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane, said second transform matrix being associated with said plurality of second active antenna elements and having a plurality of beam ports coupled to a plurality of adjustment elements for adjusting a second plurality of beam port signals;

a first combiner for generating a first combined signal by combining all signals in said first plurality of beam port signals;

a second combiner for generating a second combined signal by combining all signals in said second plurality of beam port signals;

a delay unit coupled to said first combiner for delaying said first combined signal; and

a third combiner for combining delayed first combined signal and second combined signal.

13. A base station antenna system comprising:

a multi-columnar antenna arrangement containing a plurality of first active antenna elements and a plurality of second active antenna elements, said plurality of first active antenna elements having polarization diversity from said plurality of second active antenna elements;

a first transform matrix, coupled to said multi-columnar antenna arrangements, constructed to form a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane, said first transform matrix being associated with said plurality of first active antenna elements and having a plurality of beam ports coupled to a plurality of adjustment elements for adjusting a first plurality of beam port signals;

a second transform matrix, coupled to said multi-columnar antenna arrangements, constructed to form a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane, said second transform matrix being associated with said plurality of second active antenna elements and having a plurality of beam ports coupled to a plurality of adjustment elements for adjusting a second plurality of beam port signals;

a combined signal splitter for splitting a combined signal into a first split signal and a second split signal;

a delay unit for delaying said first split signal;

a first splitter for splitting said delayed first split signal into a first plurality of beam port signals; and

a second splitter for splitting said second split into a second plurality of beam port signals,

wherein said first and second plurality of beam port signals are adjusted and supplied to said first transform matrix and said second transform matrix, respectively.

14. A base station antenna system comprising:

a multi-columnar antenna arrangement containing a plurality of first active antenna elements and a plurality of second active antenna elements, said plurality of first active antenna elements having polarization diversity from said plurality of second active antenna elements;

a first set of adjustment elements coupled to each of said plurality of first active antenna elements for adjusting radiation characteristics of said first active antenna elements;

a second set of adjustment elements coupled to each of said plurality of second active antenna elements for adjusting radiation characteristics of said second active antenna elements;

a transform matrix constructed to form a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane, said transform matrix having a plurality of beam ports and a plurality of antenna ports.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein said plurality of first active antenna elements and said plurality of second active antenna elements are transmit antenna elements, said transform matrix processes signals to be transmitted by said first and second active transmit antenna elements.

16. A base station antenna system comprising:

a multi-columnar antenna arrangement containing a plurality of first active antenna elements and a plurality of second active antenna elements, said plurality of first active antenna elements having polarization diversity from said plurality of second active antenna elements;

a first transform matrix, coupled to said multi-columnar antenna arrangement, and constructed to form a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane, said first transform matrix being associated with said plurality of first active antenna elements and having a plurality of beam ports coupled to a plurality of first transform adjustment elements for adjusting a first plurality of beam port signals;

a second transform matrix, coupled to said multi-columnar antenna arrangement, constructed to form a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane, said second transform matrix being associated with said plurality of second active antenna elements and having a plurality of beam ports coupled to a plurality of second transform adjustment elements for adjusting a second plurality of beam port signals;

a signal splitter for splitting a combined signal into a first split signal and a second split signal;

a first set of adjustment elements for adjusting said first split signal;

a second set of adjustment elements for adjusting said second split signal;

a first splitter for splitting said adjusted first split signal into a first plurality of beam port signals; and

a second splitter for splitting said adjusted second split signal into a second plurality of beam port signals,

wherein said first and second plurality of beam port signals are further respectively adjusted by said first and second transform adjustment elements and then respectively supplied to said first transform matrix and said second transform matrix.

17. A base station multi-carrier antenna system comprising:

a multi-columnar antenna arrangement containing a plurality of active antenna elements, said elements comprising transmit elements arranged at a predetermined distance from one another and receive elements arranged at said predetermined distance from one another, said transmit and receive elements being interleaved with each other;

a transform matrix, coupled to said multi-columnar antenna arrangement, constructed to form a plurality of narrow beam patterns that span different angular directions in a predetermined plane, said transform matrix having a plurality of beam ports and for defining a phase relationship, thereby to provide a phased array for each input port of the transmission matrix, and each output port of the receive matrix.

a plurality of frequency separators, coupled to said beam ports, for separating signals from said beam ports into a plurality of constituent carrier frequency signals;

a plurality of adjustment elements for adjusting each of said plurality of carrier frequency signals;

a plurality of combiners, wherein each of said plurality of combiners combines all adjusted carrier frequency signals of a predetermined frequency and outputs a predetermined frequency signal; and

a plurality of filters, wherein each of said plurality of filters is tuned to said predetermined frequency signal and is coupled to each of said combiners.

18. A base station antenna array arrangement for a wireless communication network, comprising:

a plurality of transmit active antenna elements located at a predetermined distance from one another, each active antenna element including;

a transmit amplifier;

a bandpass filter receiving a signal from the transmit amplifier;

an antenna structure constructed and arranged to radiate an electromagnetic wave corresponding to a signal from the bandpass filter; and

a plurality of receive active antenna elements located at said predetermined distance from one another, said receive active antenna elements being interleaved with said transmit antenna elements, each receive active antenna element including;

a structure for receiving signals,

a receive bandpass filter arranged to receive signals from the antenna element, and

a receive amplifier for amplifying signals from the filter,

wherein said transmit antenna elements and receive antenna elements are vertically arranged in a repeating alternating configuration and are separately controllable to provide respectively transmit and receive phased arrays.

19. The base station antenna arrangement of claim 18, wherein each of said transmit antenna elements is adjacent to a corresponding one of said receive antenna elements.