Systems and methods of optical path protection for distributed antenna systems
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- a hub;
at least one remote node that is located remotely from the hub;
wherein the hub communicates with the at least one remote node via either one of a primary fiber path and a backup fiber path, the primary fiber path comprising an uplink fiber and a downlink fiber and the backup fiber path comprising an uplink fiber and a downlink fiber;
wherein the at least one remote node is coupled to the downlink fiber of the primary fiber path and the downlink fiber of the backup fiber path via an optical combiner;
wherein the at least one remote node is further coupled to the uplink fiber of the primary fiber path and the uplink fiber of the backup fiber path via an optical splitter;
wherein the at least one remote node further comprises a manager monitoring a signal quality of a downlink optical signal, wherein the manager transmits an uplink optical signal to the hub based on the signal quality; and
wherein the hub switches from communicating with the at least one remote node on the primary fiber path to communicating with the at least one remote node on the backup fiber path based on the uplink optical signal from the manager.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods for optical path protection for distributed antenna systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method is provided. The method comprises receiving an electrical uplink radio frequency signal; generating an uplink optical signal derived from the electrical uplink radio frequency signal; splitting the uplink optical signal for transmission on a primary uplink optical fiber and a secondary uplink optical fiber; combining any downlink optical signal received on a primary downlink optical communication medium and any downlink optical signal received on a second downlink optical communication medium in order to output a downlink optical signal; and generating a downlink radio frequency signal derived from the downlink optical signal.
238 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
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a hub; at least one remote node that is located remotely from the hub; wherein the hub communicates with the at least one remote node via either one of a primary fiber path and a backup fiber path, the primary fiber path comprising an uplink fiber and a downlink fiber and the backup fiber path comprising an uplink fiber and a downlink fiber; wherein the at least one remote node is coupled to the downlink fiber of the primary fiber path and the downlink fiber of the backup fiber path via an optical combiner; wherein the at least one remote node is further coupled to the uplink fiber of the primary fiber path and the uplink fiber of the backup fiber path via an optical splitter; wherein the at least one remote node further comprises a manager monitoring a signal quality of a downlink optical signal, wherein the manager transmits an uplink optical signal to the hub based on the signal quality; and wherein the hub switches from communicating with the at least one remote node on the primary fiber path to communicating with the at least one remote node on the backup fiber path based on the uplink optical signal from the manager. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
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transmitting a downlink optical signal to a downlink fiber of one of a first fiber path and a second fiber path; combining any downlink optical signal received on the downlink fiber of the first fiber path and any downlink optical signal received on the downlink fiber of the second fiber path in order to output the downlink optical signal; splitting an uplink optical signal for transmission on an uplink fiber of the first fiber path and an uplink fiber of the second fiber path; determining a signal quality of the downlink optical signal as received at a first unit; determining a signal quality of the uplink optical signal as received at a second unit; switching at the second unit between a normal state and backup state based on one or both of the signal quality of the uplink optical signal and the signal quality of the downlink optical signal; wherein the first unit communicates the signal quality of the downlink optical signal to the second unit. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A distributed antenna system, the system comprising:
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means for combining an optical signal received on a downlink fiber of a first fiber path with an optical signal received on a downlink fiber of a second fiber path in order to output a downlink optical signal; means for splitting an uplink optical signal for transmission on an uplink fiber of the first fiber path and an uplink fiber of the second fiber path; means for determining an attribute of the downlink optical signal indicative of the signal quality of the downlink optical signal as received at a first unit; means for determining an attribute of the uplink optical signal indicative of the signal quality of the uplink optical signal as received at a second unit; and means for switching between a normal alignment state and a backup alignment state based on one or both of the attribute of the downlink optical signal and the attribute of the uplink optical signal wherein the first unit communicates the attribute of the downlink optical signal to the second unit. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25)
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Specification