Satellite receiver module for telecommunication equipment

• US 9,325,408 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2014
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Coriant Oy (Infinera Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Coriant Oy (Infinera Corp.)
• Inventors: Parkkonen, Pertti
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton, Dang
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mansoury, Nourali
• Application Number:
  US14/173,091
• Publication Number:
  US 20140219163A1
• Time in Patent Office: 811 Days
• Field of Search: 370/316
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/35 Constructional details or hardware or software details of the signal processing chain
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3805 with built-in auxiliary receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18517 Transmission equipment in earth stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18519 Operations control, administration or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0644 External master-clock
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0685 Clock or time synchronisation in a node; Intranode synchronisation

Abstract

A satellite receiver module for telecommunication equipment includes circuitries configured to receive timing information from one or more satellites and to form timing messages based on a clock signal in accordance with the received timing information. The clock signal is a stream of temporally successive clock pulses and the pulse-rate of the clock signal is accordant with a pace indicating signal received. from a body device of the telecommunication equipment. The satellite receiver module further includes a data interface including a connector for detachably attaching to the body device and for transferring the timing messages to the body device. Because the pulse-rate, i.e. the frequency, of the clock signal is accordant with the pace indicating signal received from the body device, a high-quality local oscillator is not necessary in the satellite receiver module.

Claims

1. A satellite receiver module for telecommunication equipment, the satellite receiver module comprising:

a first circuitry configured to receive timing information from one or more satellites;

a second circuitry configured to form timing messages based on a first clock signal in accordance with the received timing information, the first clock signal being a stream of temporally successive first clock pulses, the second circuitry being configured to determine the timing messages according to arrival moments of timing pulses carried by the timing information received from the one or more satellites and to count the first clock pulses at time intervals between successive arrivals of the timing pulses so as to form values for the timing messages at the time intervals between the successive arrivals of the timing pulses;

a data interface comprising a connector configured to detachably attach to a body device of the telecommunication equipment and to transfer the timing messages to the body device of the telecommunication equipment; and

a third circuitry configured to receive a pace-indicating signal from the body device of the telecommunication equipment and to deliver the first clock signal to the second. circuitry so that a pulse-rate of the first clock signal is accordant with the pace-indicating signal.

2. The satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the pace-indicating signal is a bit stream. received from the body device of the telecommunication equipment and the third circuitry is configured to extract the clock signal from the bit stream.

3. The satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the pace-indicating signal is a second clock signal received from the body device of the telecommunication equipment and being a stream of temporally successive second clock pulses, and the third circuitry is configured to generate the first clock signal with a phase-locked loop on the basis of the second clock signal.

4. The satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the third circuitry is configured receive the first. clock signal from the body device of the telecommunication equipment.

5. The satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the satellite receiver module further comprises

a local oscillator, and

a controllable selector configured to select whether the third circuitry is used to deliver the first clock signal to the second circuitry or whether the local oscillator is used as a source of the first clock signal.

6. The satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the data interface comprises an electrical connector comprising connector poles to provide galvanic couplings with corresponding connector poles of the body device.

7. The satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the data interface comprises an optical interface configured to generate an optical signal carrying the timing messages.

8. The satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the satellite receiver module is a plug-in unit connectable to the body device of the telecommunication equipment.

9. Telecommunication equipment, Comprising:

a satellite receiver module comprising

a first circuitry configured to receive timing information from one or more satellites,

a second circuitry configured to form timing messages based on a first clock signal in accordance with the received timing information, the first clock signal being a stream of temporally successive first clock pulses, the second circuitry being configured to determine the timing messages according to arrival moments of timing pulses carried by the timing information received from the one or more satellites and to count the first clock pulses at time intervals between successive arrivals of the timing pulses to form values for the timing messages at the time intervals between the successive arrivals of the timing pulses,

a data interface comprising a connector configured to detachably attach to a body device and to transfer the timing messages to the body device, and

a third circuitry or receiving a pace-indicating signal from the body device and for delivering the first clock signal to the second circuitry so that a pulse-rate of the first clock signal is accordant with the pace-indicating signal; and

a body device comprising

a data interface comprising a connector configured to detachably attach to the connector of the data interface of the satellite receiver module, and

a fourth circuitry configured to deliver the pace-indicating signal to the satellite receiver module and to receive the timing messages from the satellite receiver module.

10. The telecommunication equipment according to claim 9, wherein the fourth circuitry is configured to deliver, to the satellite receiver module, a bit stream that represents the pace-indicating signal, the bit stream being transmitted from the body device in accordance with a clock signal available in the body device.

11. The telecommunication equipment according to claim 9, wherein the fourth circuitry is configured to deliver, to the satellite receiver module, a second clock signal that is a stream of temporally successive second clock pulses and that represents pace-indicating signal.

12. The telecommunication equipment according to claim 11, wherein the second clock signal is at least one of the following:

a transmission clock of the telecommunication equipment, a reception clock of the telecommunication equipment, an output signal of an oscillator of the body device.

13. The telecommunication equipment according to claim 11, wherein the body device comprises a phase-locked loop circuit configured to generate the first clock signal to represent the pace-indicating signal on the basis of at least one of the following:

a transmission clock of the telecommunication equipment, a reception clock of the telecommunication equipment, and an output signal of an oscillator of the body device.

14. The telecommunication equipment according to claim 9, wherein the body device is at least one of the following:

an internet protocol (IP) router, an Ethernet switch, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) switch, and a MultiProtocol Label Switching (MPLS) switch.

15. A method comprising:

receiving, at a satellite receiver module of telecommunication equipment, timing information from one or more satellites, the satellite receiver module being detachably attached to a body device of the telecommunication equipment;

receiving, at the satellite receiver module, a pace-indicating signal from the body device of the telecommunication equipment,

forming timing messages based on a first clock signal in accordance with the received timing information, the first clock signal being a stream of temporally successive first clock pulses and a pulse-rate of the first. clock signal being accordant with the pace-indicating signal, the timing messages being determined according to arrival moments of timing pulses carried by the timing information received from the one or more satellites, and the first clock pulses are counted at time intervals between successive arrivals of the timing pulses to form values for the timing messages at the time intervals between the successive arrivals of the timing pulses; and

transferring, from the satellite receiver module, the timing messages to the body device of the telecommunication equipment.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising computer-executable instructions for controlling a programmable processor of a satellite receiver module of telecommunication equipment to:

form timing messages based on a first clock signal in accordance with timing information received from one or more satellites, the first. clock signal being a stream of temporally successive first clock pulses and a pulse-rate of the first clock signal being accordant with a pace-indicating signal received from a body device of the telecommunication equipment, the timing messages being determined according to arrival moments of timing pulses carried by the timing information received from the one or more satellites, and the first clock pulses being counted at time intervals between successive arrivals of the timing pulses to form values for the timing messages at the time intervals between the successive arrivals of the timing pulses; and

control a data interface of the satellite receiver module to transfer the timing messages to the body device of the telecommunication equipment.