Architecture, devices and methods for supporting multiple channels in a wireless system

• US 8,891,464 B2
• Filed: 09/19/2011
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aviat U.S., Inc. (Aviat Networks Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Redline Innovations Group Inc.
• Inventors: Picker, Dan
• Primary Examiner(s): Moore, Jr., Michael J
• Application Number:
  US13/235,569
• Publication Number:
  US 20130070688A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,156 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/329
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0671 using different delays between antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0689 using different transmission schemes, at least one of them being a diversity transmission scheme
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0857 using maximum ratio combining techniques, e.g. signal-to- interference ratio [SIR], received signal strenght indication [RSS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0871 using different reception schemes, at least one of them being a diversity reception scheme
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/14 Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are presented for a wireless base station to assign dynamically a plurality of radio transceiver chains among a varying number of wireless channels. In this manner, the communication system including the wireless base station may transition between a range extension mode and an enhanced capacity mode. In the range extension mode, a system is configured for maximum communication range with Subscriber Stations that are relatively distant from the radio transceiver chains, although communication is still possible with nearby Subscriber Stations. In the enhanced capacity mode, the system is configured for maximum communication throughput with Subscriber Stations that are relatively near to the radio transceiver chains, whereas communication with relatively distant Subscriber Stations will be either terminated or at least non-optimized.

Claims

1. A wireless Base Station (BS) system, operative to assign dynamically a plurality of radio transceiver chains among a varying number of wireless channels, comprising:

a Base-Band (BB) subsystem comprising N digital ports, operative to synthesize N digital Base-Band (BB) signals associated with K wireless channels, wherein N is equal to at least 2, K is equal to at most N, and K is equal to at least 1; and

N radio transceiver chains, each connects to one of the N digital ports of the BB subsystem via an Analog-Digital interface;

wherein the system is configured to;

set dynamically K according to a first criterion, wherein K is a number between 1 and N;

assign dynamically the N radio transceiver chains among the K wireless channels according to a second criterion, such that each radio transceiver is assigned to only one of the wireless channels;

synthesize, by the BB subsystem, the N digital BB signals associated with the K wireless channels; and

input the N digital BB signals to the N radio transceiver chains via the corresponding N digital ports and the corresponding Analog-Digital interfaces, thereby transmitting the K wireless channels via the N radio transceiver chains.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein K is smaller than N, therefore at least one of the wireless channels is transmitted via at least two of the radio transceiver chains.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein at least two of the N digital BB signals driving the at least two of the radio transceiver chains comprise at least two Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) signals, thereby transmitting the at least one of the wireless channels using a MIMO scheme.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein at least two of the N digital BB signals driving the at least two of the radio transceiver chains comprise at least two Phased-Array signals, thereby transmitting the at least one of the wireless channels using a Phased-Array scheme comprising the at least two of the radio transceiver chains.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first criterion is based on distance of Subscriber-Stations (SS) to the wireless BS, such that during initial operation phase of the wireless BS, when the SS are relatively distant from the wireless BS, K is set to 1, thereby creating a single wireless channel transmitting via the N radio transceiver chains and increasing the range of the single wireless channel to facilitate communication with the relatively distant SS.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the N digital BB signals driving the N radio transceiver chains comprise N Phased-Array signals, thereby transmitting the single wireless channels using a Phased-Array scheme comprising the N radio transceiver chains, wherein the BB subsystem is reconfigured to generate the N Phased-Array signals accordingly.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein during later operation phase of the wireless BS, when the SS become closer to the wireless BS, K is set to at least two, such that each of the wireless channels is transmitting via less than the N radio transceiver chains, thereby decreasing the range of the wireless channels, but increasing data throughput of the wireless BS.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein at the transition from a single wireless channel operation to at least two wireless channels operation, the BB subsystem is reconfigured to transition between a single wireless channel N-Phased-Array operation to a multiple wireless channels MIMO operation.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein at the transition from a single wireless channel operation to at least two wireless channels operation, the BB subsystem is reconfigured to transition between a transmission scheme selected from a group consisting of single wireless channel N-level coherent phase transmission and Cyclic Delay Diversity (CDD), to a transmission scheme comprising multiple wireless channels MIMO operation.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein at the transition from a single wireless channel operation to at least two wireless channels operation, the BB subsystem is reconfigured to transition between an N-level combining-algorithm reception mode selected from a group consisting of Phased-array coherent reception, Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC), Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) and Maximum Likelihood (ML), to a multiple wireless channels MIMO reception mode.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein during the initial operation phase of the wireless BS, all aggregated transmission power of the N radio transceiver chains is utilized for the transmission of the single wireless channel, thereby maximizing the range of the single wireless channel.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein during the later operation phase of the wireless BS, each of the wireless channels is transmitting via less than the N radio transceiver chains, and therefore with less power than the aggregated transmission power of the N radio transceiver chains, thereby decreasing the range of each of the wireless channels and decreasing inter-cell interferences with close-by wireless Base Stations.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the BB subsystem comprises a BB processor, and the BB processor is operative to simultaneously generate the K wireless channels and the corresponding N BB signals, according to the setting of K.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the BB processor comprises at least one device selected from a group consisting of Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), Field Programmable gate array (FPGA) and Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and simultaneous generation of the K wireless channels and the corresponding N BB signals is performed, at least in part, by the at least one device according to the setting of K.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the at least one device is a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), and simultaneous generation of the K wireless channels and the corresponding N BB signals is done, at least in part, in software running on the DSP, according to the setting of K.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the BB subsystem comprises at least two BB processors, and the at least two BB processors are operative to simultaneously generate the K wireless channels and the corresponding N BB signals, according to the setting of K.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein each of the at least two BB processors is operative to generate one of the K wireless channels and the corresponding N BB signals.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein a configurable digital interconnect subsystem is used to interconnect each of the at least two BB processors with at least some of the N digital ports, according to the setting of K and according to the assignment of the N radio transceiver chains among the K wireless channels.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the second criterion is based on assigning more radio transceiver chains to wireless channels in need for long range, and the radio transceiver chains, selected for the channels in need for long range, convey a transmission scheme selected from a group consisting of single wireless channel N-level coherent phase transmission and Cyclic Delay Diversity (CDD), and receive combinable signals enabling utilization of reception algorithms selected from a group consisting of Phased-array coherent reception, Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC), Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) and Maximum Likelihood (ML).

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the BB subsystem is reconfigured to receive the combinable signals as at least some of the N BB signals, upon exercising the assignment based on the second criterion.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the second criterion is based on assigning more radio transceiver chains to wireless channels in need for high data throughputs, and the radio transceiver chains selected for the channels in need for high data throughputs convey MIMO signals.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the BB subsystem is reconfigured to synthesize the MIMO signals as at least some of the N BB signals, upon exercising the assignment based on the second criterion.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the N radio transceiver chains are connected to N omni-directional antennas respectively, thereby allowing each of the K wireless channels to substantially span a 360 degrees coverage area around the wireless BS, regardless of assignment of radio transceiver chains among the wireless channels.

24. A method for transitioning from a range-extension-mode to an enhanced-capacity-mode in a wireless Base Station (BS), comprising:

assigning, by a wireless BS, N radio transceiver chains to a first wireless channel associated with a first frequency range;

communicating data wirelessly during an initial operation phase, by the wireless BS, with distant Subscribed Stations (SS), over the first wireless channel, via the N radio transceiver chains, thereby utilizing the aggregated transmission power and the aggregated reception capability of the N radio transceiver chains to reach the distant SS;

stopping communication, by the wireless BS, with the distant SS at the end of the initial operation phase;

assigning respectively, by the wireless BS, first and second mutually-exclusive subsets of the N radio transceiver chains to first and second wireless channels associated with first and second frequency ranges respectively; and

communicating data wirelessly, by the wireless BS, with near-by Subscribed Stations (SS), over the first and second channels, via the first and second mutually-exclusive subsets respectively, thereby utilizing the aggregated spectrum of the first and second frequency ranges to enhance data capability of the wireless BS.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising using N-level coherent-phase transmission scheme over the N radio transceiver chains to communicate data wirelessly via the first wireless channel during the initial operation phase.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising using an N-level combining-algorithm selected from a group consisting of Phased-array coherent reception, Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC), Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE), and Maximum Likelihood (ML), in order to utilize the aggregated reception capability of the N radio transceiver chains during the initial operation phase.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

stop using the N-level coherent-phase transmission scheme and the N-level combining-algorithm at the end of the initial operation phase; and

start using Multiple Input Multiple Output (MEMO) transmission and reception schemes for at least one of the first and second wireless channels.