System and method for retransmission of data

• US 7,215,651 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2004
• Issued: 05/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: CommScope Technologies, LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ADC Wireless Solutions LLC
• Inventors: Millar, Jeffrey R.
• Primary Examiner(s): DILDINE JR, R STEPHEN
• Application Number:
  US11/012,868
• Publication Number:
  US 20050172198A1
• Time in Patent Office: 875 Days
• Field of Search: 370/315, 370/328
• US Class Current: 370/315
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 2203/0028 Local loop
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/047 Distributors with transistors or integrated circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/14 Monitoring arrangements for SDH/SONET rings H04J3/085
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/1611 Synchronous digital hierarchy [SDH] or SONET H04J3/1664 takes precedence for interactions with OTN
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0083 Formatting with frames or packets; Protocol or part of protocol for error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1835 Buffer management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

A received RF signal can include data information intended for transmission over a wireless communication link. The data information of the signal can be processed at a node to produce overhead bits supporting a serial transmission of the data information over a communication medium to another node. For example, the data information of the received signal and overhead bits can be combined or framed according to a serial transport protocol for transmission over the communication medium. This technique of mapping or framing the data information into a serial transport protocol is used to more efficiently transmit the data over the communication medium to a target receiver, where the original RF signal can be reconstructed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving data information representing a digitized version of a radio frequency signal comprising at least one radio frequency channel to be transmitted over a wireless link; and

combining the data information and overhead bits generated from the data information, wherein the data information and the overhead bits are combined according to a transport protocol for transmission of the data information and overhead bits in a serial stream over a transport communication medium.

2. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

recognizing that the serial stream will be re-transmitted at a following node according to a selected transport protocol; and

transmitting at least a portion of the overhead bits in an allocated register of the transport protocol that will be overwritten when at least a portion of the serial stream is re-transmitted from the following node.

3. A method as in claim 2 further comprising:

upon receipt of the re-transmitted serial stream according to the selected protocol, processing the serial stream to reproduce the radio frequency signal as originally received.

4. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

receiving the serial transmission over the transport communication medium; and

re-transmitting the received serial transmission according to a SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) protocol.

5. A method as in claim 1, wherein the transport communication medium is a fiber optic link and the data is intended for transmission over an RF (Radio Frequency) antenna device to a mobile cellular phone user.

6. A method as in claim 1, wherein the overhead bits include time stamps.

7. A method as in claim 6, wherein the time stamps are used for location services.

8. A method as in claim 6, wherein the time stamps are used to determine a path delay.

9. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

converting the digitized version of the radio frequency signal for transmission over the transport communication medium;

transmitting the serial stream including data of the digitized RF signal over the transport communication medium according to a SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) protocol; and

reconstructing the radio frequency signal based on receipt of the serial stream over the transport communication medium.

10. A method as in claim 1, wherein the overhead bits include parity information to identify a quality of the serial stream.

11. A method as in claim 1, wherein the transport protocol is a quasi-SONET protocol that supports transmission of a serial stream of data.

12. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

generating overhead information that is included in the transport protocol for reconstructing an originally received signal.

13. A method as in claim 1, wherein the data information comprises information transmitted over a cellular communication system.

14. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

decoding the signal to retrieve data words of a first length; and

converting the retrieved data words into a second word length for serial transmission over the transport communication medium.

15. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

allocating at least a portion of overhead bits to indicate a status of a corresponding link.

16. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

utilizing at least one overhead bit to control hardware at a downstream node that is used to generate an RF (Radio Frequency) signal.

17. A method as in claim 1, wherein the overhead bits include path trace information to identify a source and characteristics of a received serial stream.

18. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

configuring at least a portion of a communication system based on path trace information.

19. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

checking for configuration errors in at least a portion of the communication system based upon path trace information.

20. A method as in claim 1 further comprising:

mapping information received in a parallel format to the serial stream.

21. A system comprising:

a hub to receive a signal from at least one base station, the signal comprising at least one radio frequency channel;

wherein the hub generates data information representing a digitized version of at least a portion of the signal;

wherein the hub produces overhead bits supporting a serial transmission of the data information over a communication medium to a remote antenna device and combines the overhead bits with at least a portion of the data information for transmission over the communication medium to the remote antenna device.

22. A system as in claim 21 further comprising:

a patch panel disposed in the hub for selecting which of multiple remote antenna devices a serial stream will be directed.

23. A system as in claim 22, wherein the patch panel enables an operator to manually connect input and output ports via a cable so that a serial stream is directed to a particular remote antenna device.

24. A system as in claim 21, wherein the hub comprises a down converter to strip away a radio frequency carrier frequency from the signal.

25. A system as in claim 21, wherein the hub comprises a framer to combine the overhead bits with at least a portion of the data information for transmission over the communication medium to the remote antenna device.

26. A system as in claim 21, wherein the transport protocol is a SONET (Synchronous Optical Network) protocol.

27. A system as in claim 21, wherein the communication medium is a fiber optic link and the data information is transmitted to a remote RF (Radio Frequency) antenna device for reconstructing a signal that includes the radio frequency channel for transmission to a mobile cellular phone user.

28. A system as in claim 21, wherein the overhead bits include time stamps.

29. A system as in claim 28, wherein the time stamps are used for location services.

30. A system as in claim 28, wherein the time stamps are used to determine a path delay.

31. A system as in claim 21, wherein the overhead bits include parity information to identify quality of a serial stream.

32. A system as in claim 21, wherein the overhead bits include path trace information to route a serial stream through the system.

33. A system as in claim 21, wherein the overhead bits include path trace information to verify a configuration of equipment passing a serial stream.

34. A system as in claim 21, wherein the overhead bits include path trace information to configure equipment as a serial stream is passed through the system.

35. A method for communicating data information in a distributed RF communication system, the method comprising:

receiving an analog RF signal comprising at least one radio frequency channel for transmission over a wireless link;

producing digital data words from the analog RF;

processing the digital data words to produce overhead bits supporting a serial transmission over a communication medium; and

framing the digital data words and overhead bits according to a selected transport protocol for transmission of the digital data words and overhead bits in a serial stream over the communication medium.