Distributed antenna system with combination of both all digital transport and hybrid digital/analog transport
First Claim
1. A communication system, comprising:
- a first master host unit adapted to communicate analog signals with at least a first service provider interface using a first set of bands of analog spectrum;
a plurality of digital communication links coupled to the first master host unit, wherein the first master host unit is further adapted to communicate digitized spectrum in first N-bit words over at least a first digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and second N-bit words over at least a second digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links;
the first master host unit further adapted to convert between the first set of bands of analog spectrum and the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum, the first master host unit further adapted to convert between the first set of bands of analog spectrum and the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum;
a first hybrid expansion unit communicatively coupled to the first master host unit by the first digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and adapted to communicate the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first master host unit across the first digital communication link, the first hybrid expansion unit further adapted to convert between the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a second set of bands of analog spectrum;
a first analog communication link coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit, wherein the first hybrid expansion unit is further adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum across the first analog communication link;
a first analog remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit by the first analog communication link and adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum with the first hybrid expansion unit across the first analog communication link, the first analog remote antenna unit further adapted to transmit and receive first wireless signals over a first plurality of air interfaces;
a first digital remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to the first master host unit by the second digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and adapted to communicate the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first master host unit across the second digital communication link, the first digital remote antenna unit further adapted to convert between the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a third set of bands of analog spectrum, the first digital remote antenna unit further adapted to transmit and receive second wireless signals over a second plurality of air interfaces; and
wherein the first master host unit, the first hybrid expansion unit, the first analog remote antenna unit, and the first digital remote antenna unit are synchronized in time and frequency.
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Abstract
A communication system includes master host unit, hybrid expansion unit, analog remote antenna unit, and digital remote antenna unit. Master host unit communicates analog signals with at least a first service provider interface using first bands of analog spectrum. Master host unit and hybrid expansion unit communicate first N-bit words of digitized spectrum over first digital link. Hybrid expansion unit converts between first N-bit words and second bands of analog spectrum. Hybrid expansion unit and analog remote antenna unit communicate second bands over analog medium. Analog remote antenna unit transmits and receives first plurality of wireless signals over air interfaces. Master host unit and digital remote antenna unit communicate second N-bit words of digitized spectrum over second digital link. Digital remote antenna unit converts between second N-bit words and third bands of analog spectrum. Digital remote antenna unit transmits and receives second wireless signals over air interfaces.
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Citations
62 Claims
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1. A communication system, comprising:
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a first master host unit adapted to communicate analog signals with at least a first service provider interface using a first set of bands of analog spectrum; a plurality of digital communication links coupled to the first master host unit, wherein the first master host unit is further adapted to communicate digitized spectrum in first N-bit words over at least a first digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and second N-bit words over at least a second digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links; the first master host unit further adapted to convert between the first set of bands of analog spectrum and the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum, the first master host unit further adapted to convert between the first set of bands of analog spectrum and the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum; a first hybrid expansion unit communicatively coupled to the first master host unit by the first digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and adapted to communicate the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first master host unit across the first digital communication link, the first hybrid expansion unit further adapted to convert between the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a second set of bands of analog spectrum; a first analog communication link coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit, wherein the first hybrid expansion unit is further adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum across the first analog communication link; a first analog remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit by the first analog communication link and adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum with the first hybrid expansion unit across the first analog communication link, the first analog remote antenna unit further adapted to transmit and receive first wireless signals over a first plurality of air interfaces; a first digital remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to the first master host unit by the second digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and adapted to communicate the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first master host unit across the second digital communication link, the first digital remote antenna unit further adapted to convert between the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a third set of bands of analog spectrum, the first digital remote antenna unit further adapted to transmit and receive second wireless signals over a second plurality of air interfaces; and wherein the first master host unit, the first hybrid expansion unit, the first analog remote antenna unit, and the first digital remote antenna unit are synchronized in time and frequency. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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22. A method comprising:
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converting first wireless spectrum for a first wireless service between a first band of analog spectrum and a first stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum at a first master host unit; converting second wireless spectrum for a second wireless service between a second band of analog spectrum and a second stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum at the first master host unit; in the downstream direction, multiplexing at least the first stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the second stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum into a first multiplexed stream at the first master host unit; and multiplexing at least the first stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the second stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum into a second multiplexed stream at the first master host unit; transporting the first multiplexed stream of wireless spectrum on a first digital communication link between the first master host unit and a hybrid expansion unit; converting the first multiplexed stream of wireless spectrum between N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a third set of bands of analog spectrum at the hybrid expansion unit; transporting the third set of bands of analog spectrum on a first analog communication link between the hybrid expansion unit and a first analog remote antenna unit; communicating at least a portion of one of the first wireless spectrum and the second wireless spectrum across at least a first air interface at the first analog remote antenna unit; transporting the second multiplexed stream of wireless spectrum on a second digital communication link between the first master host unit and a first digital remote antenna unit; converting the second multiplexed stream of wireless spectrum between N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a fourth set of bands of analog spectrum at the first digital remote antenna unit; communicating at least a portion of one of the first wireless spectrum and the second wireless spectrum across at least a second air interface at the first digital remote antenna unit; and synchronizing the first master host unit, the first hybrid expansion unit, the first analog remote antenna unit, and the first digital remote antenna unit in time and frequency. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 51, 52)
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30. A communication system, comprising:
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a first master host unit adapted to communicate analog signals with at least a first service provider interface using a first set of bands of analog spectrum; a plurality of digital communication links coupled to the first master host unit, wherein the first master host unit is further adapted to communicate digitized spectrum in first N-bit words over the plurality of digital communication links; the first master host unit further adapted to convert between the first set of bands of analog spectrum and the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum; a first hybrid expansion unit communicatively coupled to the first master host unit by a first digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and adapted to communicate the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first master host unit across the first digital communication link, the first hybrid expansion unit further adapted to convert between the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a second set of bands of analog spectrum; a first analog communication link coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit, wherein the first hybrid expansion unit is further adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum across the first analog communication link; a first analog remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit by the first analog communication link and adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum with the first hybrid expansion unit across the first analog communication link, the first analog remote antenna unit further adapted to transmit and receive first wireless signals over a first plurality of air interfaces; a first digital expansion unit communicatively coupled to the first master host unit by a second digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and adapted to communicate second N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first master host unit across the second digital communication link; a first digital expansion communication link coupled to the first digital expansion unit, wherein the first digital expansion unit is further adapted to communicate the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum across the first digital expansion communication link; a first digital remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to the first digital expansion unit by the first digital expansion communication link and adapted to convert between the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a third set of bands of analog spectrum, the first digital remote antenna unit adapted to transmit and receive second wireless signals over a second plurality of air interfaces; and wherein the first master host unit, the first hybrid expansion unit, the first analog remote antenna unit, the first digital expansion unit, and the first digital remote antenna unit are synchronized in time and frequency. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 53, 54, 55)
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41. A communication system, comprising:
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a first master host unit adapted to communicate analog signals with at least a first service provider interface using a first set of bands of analog spectrum; a first digital communication link coupled to the first master host unit, wherein the first master host unit is further adapted to communicate digitized spectrum in first N-bit words over the first digital communication link; the first master host unit further adapted to convert between the first set of bands of analog spectrum and the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum; a first digital expansion unit communicatively coupled to the first master host unit by the first digital communication link and adapted to communicate the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first master host unit across the first digital communication link; a first digital expansion communication link coupled to the first digital expansion unit, wherein the first digital expansion unit is further adapted to communicate digitized spectrum in second N-bit words across the first digital expansion communication link; a first hybrid expansion unit communicatively coupled to the first digital expansion unit by the first digital expansion communication link of the plurality of digital expansion communication links and adapted to communicate the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first digital expansion unit across the first digital expansion communication link, the first hybrid expansion unit adapted to convert between the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a second set of bands of analog spectrum; a first analog communication link coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit, wherein the first hybrid expansion unit is further adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum across the first analog communication link; a first analog remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit by the first analog communication link and adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum with the first hybrid expansion unit across the first analog communication link, the first analog remote antenna unit further adapted to transmit and receive first wireless signals over a first plurality of air interfaces; and wherein the first master host unit, the first digital expansion unit, the first hybrid expansion unit, the first analog remote antenna unit, and the first digital remote antenna unit are synchronized in time and frequency. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 56, 57, 58)
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59. A communication system, comprising:
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a first master host unit adapted to communicate analog signals with at least a first service provider interface using a first set of bands of analog spectrum; a plurality of digital communication links coupled to the first master host unit, wherein the first master host unit is further adapted to communicate digitized spectrum in first N-bit words over at least a first digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and second N-bit words over at least a second digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links; the first master host unit further adapted to convert between the first set of bands of analog spectrum and the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum, the first master host unit further adapted to convert between the first set of bands of analog spectrum and the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum; a first hybrid expansion unit communicatively coupled to the first master host unit by the first digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and adapted to communicate the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first master host unit across the first digital communication link, the first hybrid expansion unit further adapted to convert between the first N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a second set of bands of analog spectrum; a first analog communication link coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit, wherein the first hybrid expansion unit is further adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum across the first analog communication link; a first analog remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to the first hybrid expansion unit by the first analog communication link and adapted to communicate the second set of bands of analog spectrum with the first hybrid expansion unit across the first analog communication link, the first analog remote antenna unit further adapted to transmit and receive first wireless signals over a first plurality of air interfaces; a first digital remote antenna unit communicatively coupled to the first master host unit by the second digital communication link of the plurality of digital communication links and adapted to communicate the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the first master host unit across the second digital communication link, the first digital remote antenna unit further adapted to convert between the second N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a third set of bands of analog spectrum, the first digital remote antenna unit further adapted to transmit and receive second wireless signals over a second plurality of air interfaces; and wherein a common reference clock is distributed to wherein the first master host unit, the first hybrid expansion unit, the first analog remote antenna unit, and the first digital remote antenna unit. - View Dependent Claims (60)
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61. A method comprising:
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converting first wireless spectrum for a first wireless service between a first band of analog spectrum and a first stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum at a first master host unit; converting second wireless spectrum for a second wireless service between a second band of analog spectrum and a second stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum at the first master host unit; in the downstream direction, multiplexing at least the first stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the second stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum into a first multiplexed stream at the first master host unit; and multiplexing at least the first stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum with the second stream of N-bit words of digitized spectrum into a second multiplexed stream at the first master host unit; transporting the first multiplexed stream of wireless spectrum on a first digital communication link between the first master host unit and a hybrid expansion unit; converting the first multiplexed stream of wireless spectrum between N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a third set of bands of analog spectrum at the hybrid expansion unit; transporting the third set of bands of analog spectrum on a first analog communication link between the hybrid expansion unit and a first analog remote antenna unit; communicating at least a portion of one of the first wireless spectrum and the second wireless spectrum across at least a first air interface at the first analog remote antenna unit; transporting the second multiplexed stream of wireless spectrum on a second digital communication link between the first master host unit and a first digital remote antenna unit; converting the second multiplexed stream of wireless spectrum between N-bit words of digitized spectrum and a fourth set of bands of analog spectrum at the first digital remote antenna unit; communicating at least a portion of one of the first wireless spectrum and the second wireless spectrum across at least a second air interface at the first digital remote antenna unit; and distributing a common reference clock to the first master host unit, the first hybrid expansion unit, the first analog remote antenna unit, and the first digital remote antenna unit. - View Dependent Claims (62)
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Specification