Power supply

• US 8,014,678 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2006
• Issued: 09/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Smith, Neal D., Echols, Billy G. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vanderpuye; Ken N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Woldekidan; Hibret A
• Application Number:
  US11/424,165
• Publication Number:
  US 20070292138A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,910 Days
• Field of Search: 398/120, 398/121, 398/127, 398/125, 398115-117, 398/113, 398/128, 398/137, 343713-718
• US Class Current: 398/115
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/801 using optical interconnects, e.g. light coupled isolators, circuit board interconnections

Abstract

A device includes a power module to produce a switched voltage and to convert the switched voltage into a waveform adapted to wirelessly pass through a structure. The device may include a data module to receive a wireless signal through the structure, where the wireless signal includes information, and to send the information toward a destination.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an inboard module, comprising;

a power module to;

receive power from a network device, use the received power to produce a waveform that passes through an opaque barrier, and cause the waveform to pass through the barrier, and a data module to;

receive information signals that wirelessly passes through the barrier, where the information signals are analog information signals, convert the received analog information signals to digital information and provide the detail information signals to the network device; and

an outboard module that is physically unattached to the inboard module, comprising;

an outboard power module to;

receive the waveform via the barrier, and use energy from the waveform to produce an output voltage, and an outboard data module comprising an antenna, where the outboard data module is to;

receive the output voltage from the outboard power module, use the received output voltage to power the antenna, receive information via the antenna, generate a particular information signal based on the information, and cause the particular information signal to be wirelessly sent through the barrier to the data module.

2. The system of claim 1, where the data module sends a wireless data signal through the barrier to the outboard data module.

3. The system of claim 1, where the waveform is an electromagnetic waveform.

4. The system of claim 1, where the information signal is an optical signal.

5. The system of claim 4, where the data module further comprises:

an optical filter to remove out-of-band wavelengths from the information signal.

6. The system of claim 4, where the data module further comprises:

a conversion component to convert the optical signal into an electrical signal, and

an interface to make the information available to a downstream device.

7. The system of claim 1, where the outboard power module comprises:

a rectifier to transform the received waveform into the output voltage.

8. The system of claim 1, where the inboard module or the outboard module is supported on the barrier by an attachment device.

9. The system of claim 8, where the attachment device comprises a vacuum-based, magnetic-based, or adhesive-based device.

10. The system of claim 8, where the attachment device is to:

pass the information signal from a first side of the barrier to a second side of the barrier or to pass the waveform from the second side to the first side.

11. The system of claim 1, where the opaque material comprises wood, metal, brick, stucco, composite, or plastic.

12. The system of claim 1, where when the data module is to provide the digital information signals to the network device, the data module is further to perform at least one of:

reformatting the digital signal,

scaling the digital signal,

decrypting the digital signal,

detecting an error in the digital signal, or

correcting an error in the digital signal.

13. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a first module, power from a network device;

generating, by the first module, an energy signal, using the received power;

sending the energy signal, that passes through opaque materials, from the first module to a second module, where the first module is supported on a first side of a barrier that includes the opaque materials, where the second module is supported on a second side of the barrier, and where the first and second modules are physically unconnected;

receiving, by the first module and from the network device, a digital signal;

converting, by the first module, the digital signal to an analog signal;

sending a data signal, based on the analog signal, from the first module to the second module, where the data signal is separate from the energy signal;

receiving, by the second module, the sent data signal;

powering a transmitter in the second module using the energy signal; and

transmitting the received data signal from the second module via the transmitter.

14. The method of claim 13, where the digital signal is a first digital signal, where the analog signal is a first analog signal, and where the data signal is a first data signal, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the second module via the transmitter, a second data signal;

sending a second analog signal, that is based on the second data signal, from the second module to the first module;

receiving, by the first module, the second analog signal from the second module;

converting the second analog signal to a second digital signal; and

providing the second digital signal to the network device.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

filtering the data signal prior to the sending of the data signal to the second module.

16. A communication device, comprising:

an outdoor module supported on a first side of a structure, the outdoor module comprising;

a power module to;

receive an intermediate waveform through the structure from a power source supported on a second side of the structure, where the power source and the outdoor module are physically unattached, where the waveform passes through opaque materials, where the waveform is generated by the power source based on a power signal received by the power source from a network device, and where the waveform is based on at least one of;

a composition of the structure,

a thickness of the structure, or

a desired output current; and

convert the intermediate waveform into a supply voltage;

a data module to;

receive the supply voltage from the power module to power a receiver,

receive an incoming wireless signal via the receiver, and

transmit information in the incoming wireless signal to a transceiver supported on the second side, where the data module and the transceiver are physically unattached; and

an indoor module supported on the second side of the structure to;

receive, from the transceiver, an analog signal that includes the information in the incoming wireless signal,

convert the analog signal to a digital signal that includes at least some of the information in the incoming wireless signal, and

provide the digital signal to the network device.

17. The communication device of clam 16, further comprising a digital signal processor to process the digital signal before the indoor module provides the digital signal to the network device, where when processing the digital signal, the digital signal processor is to perform at least one of:

reformatting the digital signal,

scaling the digital signal,

decrypting the digital signal,

detecting an error in the digital signal, or

correcting an error in the digital signal.