Synchronization of communication equipment
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a synchronization information receiver to receive network synchronization information from a network communication link that enables communications with a communication network, the received network synchronization information for synchronizing communication equipment with the communication network;
a quality monitor to monitor a quality measure of the received network synchronization information; and
a synchronization information distributor to provide, based on the received network synchronization information, local synchronization information for synchronizing local communication equipment with the communication network, and to provide, based on the received network synchronization information, remote synchronization information for transmission to remote communication equipment via a Quality of Service (QoS) forwarding mechanism over a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) communication link, the remote synchronization information for synchronizing the remote communication equipment with the communication network,the local communication equipment and the remote communication equipment comprising respective installations of wireless communication equipment that are coupled to a further communication network comprising the DSL communication link and provide a wireless communication service to wireless communication devices within respective service areas,the network communication link comprising a bonded communication link,the synchronization information receiver being operable to isolate respective redundant frequency reference signals from multiple DSL communication links of the bonded communication link, the redundant frequency reference signals comprising the network synchronization information, one of the redundant frequency reference signals being selected for use as basis for the local synchronization information responsive to a result of monitoring by the quality monitor,the quality measure comprising respective error rates of the redundant frequency reference signals, the redundant frequency reference signal having a lowest error rate being selected for use as basis for the local synchronization information,the synchronization information distributor being operable to determine the respective error rates based on a PRBS (Pseudo-Random Bit Sequence) that is combined with the redundant frequency reference signals.
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Abstract
Apparatus and methods relating to synchronization of communication equipment are disclosed. Synchronization information received from a bonded communication link can be used to synchronize local and/or remote communication equipment, such as femtocell sites coupled to nodes in a ring network. This may involve isolating a frequency reference signal from a DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) communication link which is a constituent link of a bonded communication link, for example. In a ring network, received synchronization information could be used in synchronizing a locally connected installation of communication equipment, and passed for transmission in the ring network for synchronizing other communication equipment. Such dropping and passing of an analog frequency reference signal could be applied in networks having other topologies as well. At least some embodiments of the invention are applicable to optical links. One or more dedicated wavelengths of an optical link could be used to transfer a frequency reference signal, for example. Other functions, such as quality monitoring, quality reporting, and/or predictive traffic forwarding may be provided in some embodiments.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a synchronization information receiver to receive network synchronization information from a network communication link that enables communications with a communication network, the received network synchronization information for synchronizing communication equipment with the communication network; a quality monitor to monitor a quality measure of the received network synchronization information; and a synchronization information distributor to provide, based on the received network synchronization information, local synchronization information for synchronizing local communication equipment with the communication network, and to provide, based on the received network synchronization information, remote synchronization information for transmission to remote communication equipment via a Quality of Service (QoS) forwarding mechanism over a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) communication link, the remote synchronization information for synchronizing the remote communication equipment with the communication network, the local communication equipment and the remote communication equipment comprising respective installations of wireless communication equipment that are coupled to a further communication network comprising the DSL communication link and provide a wireless communication service to wireless communication devices within respective service areas, the network communication link comprising a bonded communication link, the synchronization information receiver being operable to isolate respective redundant frequency reference signals from multiple DSL communication links of the bonded communication link, the redundant frequency reference signals comprising the network synchronization information, one of the redundant frequency reference signals being selected for use as basis for the local synchronization information responsive to a result of monitoring by the quality monitor, the quality measure comprising respective error rates of the redundant frequency reference signals, the redundant frequency reference signal having a lowest error rate being selected for use as basis for the local synchronization information, the synchronization information distributor being operable to determine the respective error rates based on a PRBS (Pseudo-Random Bit Sequence) that is combined with the redundant frequency reference signals. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method comprising:
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receiving network synchronization information from a network communication link that enables communications with a communication network, the received network synchronization information for synchronizing communication equipment with the communication network, the network communication link comprising a bonded communication link, the receiving comprising isolating respective redundant frequency reference signals from multiple DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) communication links of the bonded communication link, the redundant frequency reference signals comprising the network synchronization information; providing, based on the received network synchronization information, local synchronization information for synchronizing local communication equipment with the communication network; providing, based on the received network synchronization information, remote synchronization information for transmission to remote communication equipment via a Quality of Service (QoS) forwarding mechanism over a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) communication link, the remote synchronization information for synchronizing the remote communication equipment with the communication network, the local communication equipment and the remote communication equipment comprising respective installations of wireless communication equipment that are coupled to a further communication network comprising the DSL communication link and provide a wireless communication service to wireless communication devices within respective service areas, the method further comprising; monitoring a quality measure of the respective frequency reference signals; selecting one of the redundant frequency reference signals for use as basis for the local synchronization information responsive to a result of the monitoring, the quality measure comprising respective error rates of the redundant frequency reference signals, wherein selecting comprises selecting the redundant frequency reference signal having a lowest error rate; determining the respective error rates based on a PRBS (Pseudo-Random Bit Sequence) that is combined with the redundant frequency reference signals. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification