Radio system for long-range high speed wireless communication

• US 9,733,797 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2014
• Issued: 08/15/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ubiquiti Inc.
• Original Assignee: Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (Ubiquiti Inc.)
• Inventors: Schulz, Gary, Sanford, John, Lascari, Lance, Fay, Christopher, Keniuk, Richard, Macenski, Charles, Lee, Jude
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Graham
• Assistant Examiner(s): KIM, JAE K
• Application Number:
  US14/177,117
• Publication Number:
  US 20140225788A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,282 Days
• Field of Search: 343702, 343841, 343872, 343878
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/1228 on a boom
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/147 provided with means for controlling or monitoring the shape of the reflecting surface for scanning H01Q3/01; aerials or aerial systems providing multiple beamwidths H01Q25/002
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/193 with feed supported subreflector splash plate feeds H01Q19/134
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/28 Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems multiple beam H01Q25/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49016 Antenna or wave energy "plumbing" making

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention provides a radio assembly. The radio assembly includes an antenna housing unit that houses a pair of reflectors which are situated on a front side of the antenna housing unit, a printed circuit board (PCB) that includes at least a transmitter and a receiver, and a backside cover. The PCB is situated within a cavity at a backside of the antenna housing unit and the backside cover covers the cavity, thereby enclosing the PCB within the antenna housing unit. One embodiment of the present invention provides a user interface for configuring a radio. The user interface includes a display and a number of selectable tabs presented on the display. A selection of a respective tab results in a number of user-editable fields being displayed, thereby facilitating a user in configuring and monitoring operations of the radio.

Claims

1. A radio assembly, comprising:

an antenna housing unit that houses a pair of parabolic reflectors, wherein the pair of reflectors are situated on a front side of the antenna housing unit, wherein the pair of reflectors include a transmitting reflector having a circular rim that overlaps and truncates a portion of an adjacent receiving reflector which consequently has a partially circular rim;

wherein the partially circular rim of the receiving reflector has an outer diameter that is larger than that of the circular rim of the transmitting reflector;

a printed circuit board (PCB) comprising at least a transmitter coupled to the transmitting reflector and a receiver coupled to the receiving reflector, wherein the PCB is situated within a cavity at a backside of the antenna housing unit; and

a backside cover that covers the cavity, thereby enclosing the PCB within the antenna housing unit.

2. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the transmitter is electronically isolated from the receiver.

3. The radio assembly of claim 2, wherein the transmitter and the receiver can be configured to operate in one of:

a full-duplex mode; and

a half-duple mode.

4. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the pair of reflectors are formed using a single mold.

5. The radio assembly of claim 1, further comprising a pair of feed antennas that are coupled to the transmitter and the receiver.

6. The radio assembly of claim 1, further comprising a mounting unit for mounting the radio assembly onto a pole, wherein the mounting unit is coupled to the backside of the antenna housing unit.

7. The radio assembly of claim 6, wherein the mounting unit includes:

an azimuth-adjustment mechanism for adjusting the reflectors'"'"' azimuth; and

an elevation-adjustment mechanism for adjusting the reflectors'"'"' elevation.

8. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the PCB further comprises a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip coupled to the transmitter and the receiver.

9. The radio assembly of claim 8, wherein the PCB further comprises a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to the FPGA chip.

10. The radio assembly of claim 8, wherein the PCB further comprises an Ethernet transceiver coupled to the FPGA chip.

11. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the PCB further comprises a GPS receiver.

12. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the transmitter further comprises a quadrature modulator for modulating transmitted signals.

13. The radio assembly of claim 12, wherein the transmitter further comprises an IQ alignment module for automatic alignment of inphase and quadrature components of transmitted signals.

14. The radio assembly of claim 1, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are configured to operate in a license-free 24 GHz frequency band.

15. A method for forming a radio, comprising:

placing a pair of parabolic reflectors on a front side of an antenna housing unit, wherein the pair of reflectors include a transmitting reflector having a circular rim that overlaps and truncates a portion of an adjacent receiving reflector which consequently has a partially circular rim, and wherein the partially circular rim of the receiving reflector has an outer diameter that is larger than that of the circular rim of the transmitting reflector;

placing a printed circuit board (PCB) comprising at least a transmitter coupled to the transmitting reflector and a receiver coupled to the receiving reflector within a cavity at a backside of the antenna housing unit; and

placing a backside cover over the cavity, thereby enclosing the PCB within the antenna housing unit.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the transmitter and the receiver are electronically isolated from each other.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising configuring the transmitter and the receiver to operate in one of:

a full-duplex mode; and

a half-duple mode.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the pair of reflectors are formed using a single mold.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the transmitter further comprises a quadrature modulator for modulating transmitted signals.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the transmitter further comprises an IQ alignment module for automatic alignment of inphase and quadrature components of transmitted signals.