Apparatus, system, method and computer program product for digital beamforming in the intermediate frequency domain
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for digital beamforming in the intermediate frequency (IF) domain, comprising:
- an input unit adapted to receive a plurality of IF input signals from a plurality of input sources;
a separator/generator adapted to separate each of said plurality of IF input signals into a plurality of IF signal pairs and to generate an in-phase and quadrature signal for each of said plurality of IF signal pairs;
a shifter unit adapted to shift each of said IF signals in phase and amplitude;
a multiplier unit adapted to multiply each in-phase and quadrature signal with a predetermined weight coefficient vector;
a summer unit adapted to sum the weighted in-phase and quadrature signals to produce a plurality of IF output signals; and
a controller for the general control and monitoring of said units of the apparatus, wherein each of said output signals is associated with a data channel and an element of an antenna array.
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Abstract
An apparatus, system, method and computer program product for digital beamforming in the IF domain. The beamforming technique of the present invention can be implemented in general point-to-multipoint wireless networks to significantly increase bandwidth in both the downlink and uplink directions. This beamforming technique allows for a modular design of a smart antenna system which typically includes an antenna array, a multiple number of transceivers, IF beamformers, and a set of modems.
53 Citations
60 Claims
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1. An apparatus for digital beamforming in the intermediate frequency (IF) domain, comprising:
- an input unit adapted to receive a plurality of IF input signals from a plurality of input sources;
a separator/generator adapted to separate each of said plurality of IF input signals into a plurality of IF signal pairs and to generate an in-phase and quadrature signal for each of said plurality of IF signal pairs;
a shifter unit adapted to shift each of said IF signals in phase and amplitude;
a multiplier unit adapted to multiply each in-phase and quadrature signal with a predetermined weight coefficient vector;
a summer unit adapted to sum the weighted in-phase and quadrature signals to produce a plurality of IF output signals; and
a controller for the general control and monitoring of said units of the apparatus, wherein each of said output signals is associated with a data channel and an element of an antenna array. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
- an input unit adapted to receive a plurality of IF input signals from a plurality of input sources;
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16. A system for digital beamforming in the intermediate frequency (IF) domain, comprising:
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a network connection for communicating data between a data network and said system; a router for routing data received from said network connection to said system; a plurality of modems for receiving a plurality of IF signals from said router; a digital beamformer unit for performing beamforming digital signal processing of said plurality of IF signals received by modems to produce a plurality of IF output signals; a plurality of antenna elements; a plurality of transceivers each associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of antenna elements for upconverting a corresponding one of the plurality of IF output signals for wireless transmission to a plurality of remote units via said plurality of antenna elements. - View Dependent Claims (17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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18. A system for digital beamforming in the intermediate frequency (IF) domain, comprising:
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a plurality of transceivers having antenna elements for wirelessly receiving a plurality of signals transmitted from corresponding ones of a plurality of remote units and producing a corresponding plurality of IF signals; a digital beamformer unit for performing beamforming digital signal processing of said plurality of IF signals to produce a plurality of IF output signals; a plurality of modems connected to said digital beamformer unit each for receiving a corresponding one of said IF output signals; and a router connected to said plurality of modems for transmission of said IF output signals to a data network. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. A method for digital beamforming in the IF domain, comprising:
- receiving at a beamformer unit a plurality of IF input signals from a plurality of input sources;
separating each of said plurality of IF input signals into a plurality of IF signal pairs in said beamformer unit;
generating an in-phase and quadrature signal for each of said plurality of IF input signals in said beamformer unit;
shifting each one of said IF input signals in both amplitude and phase in said beamformer unit;
multiplying each in-phase and quadrature signal for said plurality of IF input signals with a predetermined weight coefficient vector in said beamformer unit; and
summing the weighted in-phase and quadrature signals for said plurality of IF input signals to produce a plurality of IF output signals in said beamformer unit;
wherein each of said output signals is associated with a data channel and an element of an antenna array. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
- receiving at a beamformer unit a plurality of IF input signals from a plurality of input sources;
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43. A computer-readable medium encoded with processing instructions, that when executed by a computer or processor, cause the computer or processor to process signals for implementing digital beamforming in the intermediate frequency (IF) domain, comprising functions of:
- receiving a plurality of IF input signals from a plurality of input sources;
separating each of said input signals into a plurality of IF signal pairs;
generating an in-phase and quadrature signal for each of said IF signal pairs;
shifting each of said IF input signals in amplitude and phase;
multiplying each in-phase and quadrature signal for said IF input signals with a predetermined weight coefficient vector; and
summing the weighted in-phase and quadrature signals for said IF input signals to produce a plurality of IF output signals, wherein each of said output signals is associated with a data channel and an element of an antenna array. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
- receiving a plurality of IF input signals from a plurality of input sources;
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50. A method for digital beamforming in the IF domain, comprising:
- receiving N plurality of IF input signals from a plurality of modems, each of the N plurality of IF input signals to be transmitted to a corresponding one or more of a plurality of remote terminals via M plurality of antenna elements;
generating an in-phase (I) and a quadrature (Q) IF transmit signal for each of said N plurality of IF input signals;
for each antenna element i=1 to M, multiplying the I and Q IF transmit signals for each of said N plurality of IF input signals by corresponding weight coefficients WijI, WijQ for j=1 to N. to produce N plurality of weighted I and Q IF transmit signals for each of said M plurality of antenna elements; and
summing together the N weighted I and Q IF transmit signals for each of said M plurality of antenna to produce M plurality of IF output signals, each of the plurality of IF output signals for upconversion and transmission via a corresponding one of the M plurality of antenna elements. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54)
- receiving N plurality of IF input signals from a plurality of modems, each of the N plurality of IF input signals to be transmitted to a corresponding one or more of a plurality of remote terminals via M plurality of antenna elements;
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55. A method for digital beamforming in the IF domain, comprising:
- producing M plurality of IF receive signals derived from a signal transmitted from any one or more of a plurality of remote terminals and received at M plurality of antenna elements;
generating in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) IF receive signals for each of said M plurality of IF receive signals;
multiplying the I and Q IF receive signals for each of said M plurality of IF receive signals by corresponding weight coefficients WijI,–
WijQ for i=1 to M to produce M plurality of weighted I and Q IF receive signals; and
summing together the M weighted I and Q IF receive signals to produce IF receive signals for each of a corresponding one or more of the N plurality of modems. - View Dependent Claims (56)
- producing M plurality of IF receive signals derived from a signal transmitted from any one or more of a plurality of remote terminals and received at M plurality of antenna elements;
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57. A computer-readable medium encoded with instructions, that when executed by a computer or processor, cause the computer or processor to process N plurality of intermediate frequency (IF) input signals from a plurality of modems, each of the N plurality of IF input signals to be beamformed and transmitted to a corresponding one of a remote terminals via M plurality of antenna elements, and to process M plurality of IF receive signals derived from a signal transmitted from any one or more of the plurality of remote terminals and received at the M plurality of antenna elements, wherein the instructions cause the computer or processor to perform functions of:
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in a transmit direction, generating an in-phase (I) and a quadrature (Q) IF transmit signal for each of said N plurality of IF input signals;
for each antenna element i=1 to M, multiplying the I and Q IF transmit signals for each of said N plurality of IF input signals by corresponding weight coefficients WijI, WijQ for j=1 to N to produce N plurality of weighted I and Q IF transmit signals for each of said M plurality of antenna elements; and
summing together the N weighted I and Q IF transmit signals for each of said M plurality of antenna to produce M plurality of IF output signals, each of the plurality of IF output signals for upconversion and transmission via a corresponding one of the M plurality of antenna elements; andin a receive direction, generating I and Q IF receive signals for each of said M plurality of IF receive signals;
multiplying the I and Q IF receive signals for each of said M plurality of IF receive signals by corresponding weight coefficients WijI,–
WijQ for i=1 to M to produce M plurality of weighted I and Q IF receive signals; and
summing together the M weighted I and Q IF receive signals to produce IF receive signals for each of a corresponding one more of the N plurality of modems. - View Dependent Claims (58, 59, 60)
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Specification