System and method for indoor wireless service distribution via ultra-wideband signals, and aggregation of combined digital signals for wireless service

• US 8,050,291 B1
• Filed: 08/14/2007
• Issued: 11/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Dianda, Janet Ruth, McCloskey, John, Prasad, Sunil
• Primary Examiner(s): PHAM, BRENDA H
• Application Number:
  US11/838,756
• Time in Patent Office: 1,540 Days
• Field of Search: 370/466, 370/395.62, 370/467, 370/478, 370/479, 370/482, 370/483, 370/498, 375/130, 375/259
• US Class Current: 370/467
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7163 using impulse radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2626 Arrangements specific to the transmitter only

Abstract

A method and system for communicating an ultra-wideband signal carrying a combined digital signal that represents digital signals for multiple communication channels of a wireless communication system. A distributed antenna system includes multiple remote antenna entities. Each remote antenna entity may include an ultra-wideband transceiver for sending or receiving the ultra-wideband signal. The multiple remote antenna entities may be spaced apart within an indoor premises so as to extend cell coverage of a base transceiver station. The ultra-wideband signal may be transmitted in a forward-link direction towards one or more wireless communication devices or in a reverse-link direction towards the base transceiver station. An aggregator within a remote antenna entity may aggregate multiple combined digital signals so as to form an aggregated combined digital signal that may be transmitted in a reverse-link direction towards the base transceiver station.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

at a first signal conditioner located at a first remote antenna entity, receiving from a first transceiver, a first non-ultra-wideband signal carrying a first analog baseband signal,

wherein the first analog baseband signal represents digital signals for a first set of wireless communication channels,

wherein the digital signals are converted to the first analog baseband signal at a clock rate interval for an air interface protocol defining the first set of wireless communication channels,

at the first signal conditioner, (i) demodulating the first non-ultra-wideband signal so as to recover the first analog baseband signal, (ii) making power level measurements of the recovered first analog baseband signal at the clock rate interval, (iii) generating a first combined digital signal comprising data bits that represent a power level measurement of the recovered first analog baseband signal measured at the clock rate interval, and (iv) modulating a first carrier signal with the first combined digital signal so as to generate a first ultra-wideband signal carrying the first combined digital signal; and

at the second transceiver, receiving from the first signal conditioner the first ultra-wideband signal, and thereafter transmitting the first ultra-wideband signal away from the second transceiver.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first signal conditioner is connected to the first transceiver and to the second transceiver,

wherein the first transceiver and the second transceiver are located at the first remote antenna entity,

wherein the first set of wireless communication channels are assigned by a base transceiver station to one or more wireless communication devices, and

wherein the first remote antenna entity is one of a plurality of remote antenna entities of a distributed antenna system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first transceiver is a non-ultra-wideband transceiver and the second transceiver is an ultra-wideband transceiver.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at the second transceiver a second ultra-wideband signal,

wherein the second ultra-wideband signal carries a second combined digital signal comprising data bits that represents a power level measurement of a second analog baseband signal measured at the clock rate interval of the air interface protocol, wherein the second analog baseband signal represents digital signals for a second set of wireless communication channels comprising forward-link communication channels assigned by a base transceiver station to one or more wireless communication devices,

at the first signal conditioner, (i) receiving the second ultra-wideband signal from the second transceiver, (ii) recovering the second combined digital signal from the second ultra-wideband signal, (iii) generating a third analog baseband signal from the second combined digital signal, wherein the third analog baseband signal represents the digital signals for the second set of wireless communication channels, and (iv) modulating a second carrier signal with the third analog baseband signal so as to generate a second non-ultra-wideband signal, wherein the second non-ultra-wideband signal carries the third analog baseband signal, and

at the first transceiver, receiving the second non-ultra-wideband signal from the first signal conditioner, and thereafter transmitting away from the first transceiver the second non-ultra-wideband signal for reception at the one or more wireless communication devices.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at the second transceiver a second ultra-wideband signal,

wherein the second ultra-wideband signal carries a second combined digital signal comprising data bits that represents a power level measurement of a second analog baseband signal measured at the clock rate interval of the air interface protocol,

wherein the second analog baseband signal represents digital signals for a second set of wireless communication channels comprising reverse-link communication channels assigned by a base transceiver station to one or more wireless communication devices,

at the first signal conditioner, receiving the second ultra-wideband signal from the second transceiver, recovering the second combined digital signal from the second ultra-wideband signal, modulating a second carrier signal with the second combined digital signal so as to generate a second non-ultra-wideband signal, wherein the second non-ultra-wideband signal carries the second combined digital signal, and

at the first transceiver, receiving the second non-ultra-wideband signal from the first signal conditioner, and thereafter transmitting the second non-ultra-wideband signal away from the first transceiver.

6. The method of claim 5,

wherein after transmitting the second non-ultra-wideband signal away from the first transceiver, the second non-ultra-wideband signal is transmitted via a shared transport medium to a base transceiver station signal conditioner that connects to the base transceiver station,

wherein the base transceiver station signal conditioner (i) recovers the second combined digital signal from the second non-ultra-wideband signal, (ii) generates a third analog baseband signal, wherein the third analog baseband signal represents the digital signals for the second set of wireless communication channels, (iii) modulates a third carrier signal with the third analog baseband signal so as to generate a signal carrying the third analog baseband signal, and (iv) transmits the signal carrying the third analog baseband signal to an antenna feed of the base transceiver station.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the shared transport medium comprises a broadband wireless transport medium selected from the group consisting of (i) a free space optics transport medium, (ii) a millimeter wave transport medium, and (iii) a microwave radio transport medium.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the shared transport medium comprises a broadband wireline transport medium selected from the group consisting of (i) a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) transport medium, (ii) a broadband over electrical power line transport medium, (iii) an optical fiber transport medium, (iv) a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) transport medium, and (v) a coaxial cable transport medium.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the first combined digital signal further comprises:

encoding least significant bits of the first combined digital signal with a binary bit pattern representing the power level measurement of the recovered first analog baseband signal; and

assigning a most significant bit of the first combined digital signal a value of zero if an amplitude of the first analog baseband signal is positive or a value of one if the amplitude of the first analog baseband signal is negative.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first ultra-wideband signal comprises a signal arranged according to a protocol selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a direct sequence ultra-wideband protocol, and (ii) a multi-band orthogonal frequency division ultra-wideband protocol.

11. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first ultra-wideband signal comprises a signal selected from the group consisting of (i) a signal having a fractional bandwidth greater than 0.25, (ii) a signal that occupies 500 MHz or more of a frequency band, (iii) a signal having a −

10 dB bandwidth in a frequency band between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz, and (iv) a signal in a frequency band within a bandwidth designated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by ultra-wideband signals, and

wherein the first non-ultra-wideband signal comprises a signal selected from the group consisting of (i) a signal having a fractional bandwidth less than or equal to 0.25, (ii) a signal that occupies less than or equal to 500 MHz of a frequency band, (iii) a signal having a −

10 dB bandwidth outside of the frequency band between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz, and (iv) a signal in a frequency band within a bandwidth not designated by the FCC for use by ultra-wideband signals.

12. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first set of wireless communication channels comprises reverse-link communication channels assigned by a base transceiver station to one or more wireless communication devices, and

wherein the first non-ultra-wideband signal is received at the first transceiver from the one or more wireless communication devices transmitting the digital signals over the first set of wireless communication channels.

13. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first set of wireless communication channels comprises forward-link communication channels assigned by a base transceiver station to one or more wireless communication devices, and

wherein the first non-ultra-wideband signal is transmitted to the first transceiver from the base transceiver station.

14. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first remote antenna entity comprises a housing,

wherein the first signal conditioner, at least a portion of the first transceiver, and at least a portion of the second transceiver are all located within the housing, and

wherein the first remote antenna entity is located within an indoor premises.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving at the second transceiver (i) a second ultra-wideband signal carrying a second combined digital signal, and (ii) a third ultra-wideband signal carrying a third combined digital signal;

at the first signal conditioner, receiving the second ultra-wideband signal from the second transceiver and thereafter recovering the second combined digital signal from the second ultra-wideband signal;

at the first signal conditioner, receiving the third ultra-wideband signal from the second transceiver and thereafter recovering the third combined digital signal from the third ultra-wideband signal; and

at an aggregator, receiving from the first signal conditioner the second combined digital signal and the third combined digital signal and thereafter aggregating the second combined digital signal and the third combined digital signal to form a first aggregated combined digital signal representing the second combined digital signal and the third combined digital signal,

wherein the second combined digital signal comprises data bits representing a power level measurement of a second analog baseband signal measured at the clock rate interval,

wherein the second analog baseband signal represents digital signals carried over a first set of reverse-link communication channels between a second remote antenna entity and a first set of one or more wireless communication devices,

wherein the third combined digital signal comprises data bits representing a power level measurement of a third analog baseband signal measured at the clock rate interval, and

wherein the third analog baseband signal represents digital signals carried over a second set of reverse-link communication channels between a third remote antenna entity and a second set of one or more wireless communication devices.

16. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first signal conditioner comprises an aggregator,

the method further comprising:

receiving at the aggregator a second combined digital signal and a third combined digital signal,

wherein the second combined digital signal comprises data bits representing a power level measurement of a second analog baseband signal measured at the clock rate interval,

wherein the second analog baseband signal represents digital signals for a first set of reverse-link communication channels,

wherein the third combined digital signal comprises data bits representing a power level measurement of a third analog baseband signal measured at the clock rate interval,

wherein the third analog baseband signal represents digital signals for a second set of reverse-link communication channels,

at the aggregator, aggregating the second combined digital signal and the third combined digital signal to form an aggregated combined digital signal;

modulating a second carrier signal with the aggregated combined digital signal so as to generate a second non-ultra-wideband signal, wherein the second non-ultra-wideband signal carries the aggregated combined digital signal; and

transmitting away from the first transceiver the second non-ultra-wideband signal carrying the aggregated combined digital signal for reception of the second non-ultra-wideband signal at least one other non-ultra-wideband transceiver.

17. The method of claim 16,

wherein the first remote antenna entity comprises the first transceiver, the second transceiver, the first signal conditioner, and the aggregator,

wherein a second remote antenna entity comprises a second signal conditioner,

wherein the second combined digital signal is generated at the second signal conditioner,

wherein a third remote antenna entity comprises a third signal conditioner, and

wherein the third combined digital signal is generated at the third signal conditioner.

18. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first set of wireless communication channels are forward-link communication channels,

wherein a second remote antenna entity receives the first ultra-wideband signal, recovers the first combined digital signal from the first ultra-wideband signal, converts the first combined digital signal into a second analog baseband signal that represents the digital signals carried over the first set of wireless communication channels, and transmits a second non-ultra-wideband signal away from the second remote antenna entity,

wherein the second non-ultra-wideband signal carries the second analog baseband signal to one or more wireless communication devices.

19. The method of claim 1,

wherein the first set of wireless communication channels are reverse-link communication channels,

wherein a second remote antenna entity receives the first ultra-wideband signal, recovers the first combined digital signal from the first ultra-wideband signal, creates a set of data packets having the recovered first combined digital signal as a payload, and transmits the set of data packets to a base transceiver station signal conditioner connected to a base transceiver station, and

wherein the base transceiver station signal conditioner recovers the first combined digital signal from the set of data packets, converts the recovered first combined digital signal into a second analog baseband signal that represents the digital signals carried over the first set of wireless communication channels, and transmits the second analog baseband signals to the base transceiver station.

20. A remote antenna entity comprising:

a first transceiver for receiving and transmitting ultra-wideband signals;

a second transceiver for receiving and transmitting non-ultra-wideband signals; and

a signal conditioner connected to the first transceiver and to the second transceiver,

wherein the second transceiver provides to the signal conditioner a non-ultra-wideband signal received at the second transceiver,

wherein the non-ultra-wideband signal carries a first analog baseband signal representing digital signals for multiple wireless communication channels,

wherein the digital signals are converted to the first analog baseband signal at a clock rate interval for an air interface protocol defining the multiple wireless communication channels,

wherein the signal conditioner;

(i) demodulates the non-ultra-wideband signal so as to recover the first analog baseband signal, (ii) makes power level measurements of the recovered first analog baseband signal at the clock rate interval, (iii) generates a first combined digital signal comprising data bits that represent one of the power level measurements of the first analog baseband signal, and (iv) modulates a first carrier signal with the first combined digital signal so as to generate a first ultra-wideband signal carrying the first combined digital signal, and

wherein the first transceiver wirelessly transmits the first ultra-wideband signal away from the remote antenna entity.

21. The remote antenna entity of claim 20,

wherein the first transceiver provides to the signal conditioner a second ultra-wideband signal received at the first transceiver,

wherein the second ultra-wideband signal carries a second combined digital signal comprising data bits representing a power level measurement of a second analog baseband signal measured at the clock rate interval,

wherein the second analog baseband signal represents digital signals for the multiple wireless communication channels,

wherein the signal conditioner recovers the second combined digital signal from the second ultra-wideband signal, modulates a second carrier signal with the second combined digital signal so as to generate a third ultra-wideband signal,

wherein the third ultra-wideband signal carries the second combined digital signal, and

wherein the first transceiver wirelessly transmits the third ultra-wideband signal away from the remote antenna entity.

22. The remote antenna entity of claim 20,

wherein the multiple wireless communication channels comprise forward-link communication channels assigned by a base transceiver station to one or more wireless communication devices, and

wherein the non-ultra-wideband signal received at the second transceiver is received from the base transceiver station.

23. The remote antenna entity of claim 20,

wherein the multiple wireless communication channels comprise reverse-link communication channels assigned by a base transceiver station to one or more wireless communication devices, and

wherein the non-ultra-wideband signal received at the second transceiver is a result of the one or more wireless communication devices transmitting the digital signals for multiple wireless communication channels via the reverse-link communication channels.

24. The remote antenna entity of claim 20, further comprising:

a housing,

wherein the first transceiver comprises an ultra-wideband antenna,

wherein the second transceiver comprises a non-ultra-wideband antenna, and

wherein the signal conditioner, at least a portion of the ultra-wideband antenna, and at least a portion of the non-ultra-wideband antenna are all located within the housing.

25. The remote antenna entity of claim 20,

wherein the remote antenna entity is located within an indoor premises, and

wherein the remote antenna entity is part of a distributed antenna system that extends a cell or cell sector of a base transceiver station.

26. The remote antenna entity of claim 20, wherein the first combined digital signal further comprises a data bit that represents whether an amplitude of the first analog baseband signal is positive or negative.

27. A system comprising:

a first remote antenna entity comprising;

(i) a first non-ultra-wideband transceiver, (ii) a first ultra-wideband transceiver, and (iii) a first signal conditioner connected to the first non-ultra-wideband transceiver and to the first ultra-wideband transceiver; and

a second remote antenna entity comprising;

(i) a second non-ultra-wideband transceiver, (ii) a second ultra-wideband transceiver, and (iii) a second signal conditioner connected to the second non-ultra-wideband transceiver and to the second ultra-wideband transceiver,

wherein the first ultra-wideband transceiver wirelessly transmits to the second ultra-wideband transceiver a first ultra-wideband signal carrying a combined digital signal comprising data bits representing a power level measurement of a first analog baseband signal measured at a clock rate interval for an air interface protocol defining multiple wireless communication channels,

wherein the first analog baseband signal represents digital signals for the multiple wireless communication channels,

wherein the second signal conditioner;

(i) receives the first ultra-wideband signal from the second ultra-wideband transceiver, (ii) recovers the combined digital signal from the first ultra-wideband signal, (iii) uses the recovered combined digital signal to generate a second analog baseband signal, wherein the second analog baseband signal represents the digital signals for the multiple wireless communication channels, and (iv) modulates a first carrier signal with the second analog baseband signal so as to generate a non-ultra-wideband signal carrying the second analog baseband signal, and

wherein the second non-ultra-wideband transceiver transmits the non-ultra-wideband signal away from the second remote antenna entity for reception at one or more wireless communication devices.

28. The system of claim 27,

wherein the first ultra-wideband signal comprises a signal selected from the group consisting of (i) a signal having a fractional bandwidth greater than 0.25, (ii) a signal that occupies 500 MHz or more of a frequency band, (iii) a signal having a −

10 dB bandwidth in a frequency band between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz, and (iv) a signal in a frequency band within a bandwidth designated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use by ultra-wideband signals, and

wherein the non-ultra-wideband signal comprises a signal selected from the group consisting of (i) a signal having a fractional bandwidth less than or equal to 0.25, (ii) a signal that occupies less than or equal to 500 MHz of a frequency band, (iii) a signal having a −

10 dB bandwidth outside of the frequency band between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz, and (iv) a signal in a frequency band within a bandwidth not designated by the FCC for use by ultra-wideband signals.

29. The system of claim 27,

wherein the first remote antenna entity further comprises a first housing,

wherein the second remote antenna entity further comprises a second housing,

wherein the first signal conditioner, at least a portion of the first non-ultra-wideband transceiver, and at least a portion of the first ultra-wideband transceiver are located within the first housing, and

wherein the second signal conditioner, at least a portion of the second non-ultra-wideband transceiver, and at least a portion of the second ultra-wideband transceiver are located within the second housing.

30. The system of claim 29, further comprising:

a third remote antenna entity comprising;

(i) a third non-ultra-wideband transceiver, (ii) a third ultra-wideband transceiver, and (iii) a third signal conditioner connected to the third non-ultra-wideband transceiver and to the third ultra-wideband transceiver,

wherein the second signal conditioner modulates a second carrier signal with the recovered combined digital signal so as to generate a second ultra-wideband signal carrying the combined digital signal,

wherein the second ultra-wideband transceiver transmits the second ultra-wideband signal away from the second remote antenna entity, and

wherein the third ultra-wideband transceiver receives the second ultra-wideband signal.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein communication of the combined digital signal from the first remote antenna entity to the second remote antenna entity and then to the third remote antenna entity is performed as wireless daisy-chain communications.