WDM link for radio base station

• US 9,882,644 B2
• Filed: 03/19/2012
• Issued: 01/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Ponzini, Filippo, Cavaliere, Fabio
• Primary Examiner(s): Payne, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ismail, Omar S
• Application Number:
  US14/385,155
• Publication Number:
  US 20150117861A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,143 Days
• Field of Search: 398 79
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/2575 Radio-over-fibre, e.g. radio frequency signal modulated onto an optical carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25758 between a central unit and a single remote unit by means of an optical fibre
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/02 Wavelength-division multiplex systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/085 Access point devices with remote components

Abstract

A radio base station has a baseband controller coupled to a radio head by an optical wavelength division multiplexed link to pass downlink signals on a first wavelength, and uplink signals on another wavelength. A compensating delay is applied to one of the signals to compensate for a difference in transmission times between the downlink and the uplink signals. The compensating delay can be controlled according to the difference in wavelengths. By compensating for such differences in transmission times, synchronization problems can be avoided or ameliorated, or transmission distances can be increased. This can result in more flexibility in choice of wavelengths, fiber types and fiber lengths, and greater resilience. This can enable simpler installation or configuration, or reconfiguration without needing to take care to restrict the selection of wavelengths on the WDM link or restrict the length of the link for example.

Claims

1. A method of operating a radio base station having a baseband controller coupled to a radio head by an optical wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) link, the method comprising:

using the optical WDM link to pass downlink signals from the baseband controller to the radio head on a first wavelength, and using the optical WDM link to pass uplink signals from the radio head to the baseband controller on another wavelength, wherein a transmission time to pass from one end of the optical WDM link to another end of the optical WDM link is a function of signal wavelength;

determining a difference in transmission times between the uplink and downlink signals, wherein the difference in transmission times is caused by the difference in wavelength between the first wavelength and the another wavelength;

controlling a compensating delay according to the difference in transmission times; and

applying the compensating delay to one of the uplink and downlink signals to compensate for the difference in transmission times,

wherein the step of determining the difference in transmission times is based on the first wavelength and the other wavelength, an amount of chromatic dispersion in the optical WDM link and on a length of the optical WDM link.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising the steps of determining a difference in wavelength between the first wavelength and the another wavelength and controlling the compensating delay according to the difference in wavelength.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of determining the length of the optical WDM link by determining a round trip delay of the uplink and downlink.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the uplink or downlink signals comprise digital I and Q signals.

5. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising a computer program for a radio base station which, when executed by a processor of the radio base station, causes the radio base station to carry out a method of operating the radio base station, wherein the radio base station has a baseband controller coupled to a radio head by an optical wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) link, and wherein the method comprises:

using the optical WDM link to pass downlink signals from the baseband controller to the radio head on a first wavelength, and using the optical WDM link to pass uplink signals from the radio head to the baseband controller on another wavelength, wherein a transmission time to pass from one end of the optical WDM link to another end of the optical WDM link is a function of signal wavelength;

determining a difference in transmission times between the uplink and downlink signals, wherein the difference in transmission times is caused by the difference in wavelength between the first wavelength and the another wavelength;

controlling a compensating delay according to the difference in transmission times; and

applying the compensating delay to one of the uplink and downlink signals to compensate for the difference in transmission times,

wherein the step of determining the difference in transmission times is based on the first wavelength and the other wavelength, an amount of chromatic dispersion in the optical WDM link and on a length of the optical WDM link.

6. A baseband controller for a radio base station and having an interface for coupling to a radio head over an optical wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) link, the baseband controller comprising:

a downlink interface to pass downlink signals from the baseband controller to the radio head via the optical WDM link on a first wavelength;

an uplink interface to receive uplink signals sent from the radio head to the baseband controller via the optical WDM link on another wavelength,

wherein a transmission time to pass from one end of the optical WDM link to another end of the optical WDM link is a function of signal wavelength, and

wherein the baseband controller further comprises;

a delay control part arranged to determine a difference in transmission times between the uplink and downlink signals, wherein the difference in transmission times is caused by the difference in wavelength between the first wavelength and the another wavelength, and wherein the delay control part is further arranged to control a compensating delay according to the difference in transmission times; and

a delay part configured to apply the compensating delay to one of the uplink and downlink signals to compensate for the difference in transmission times,

wherein the delay control part is arranged to determine the difference in transmission times based on the first wavelength and the other wavelength, on an amount of chromatic dispersion in the optical WDM link and on a length of the optical WDM link.

7. The baseband controller of claim 6 wherein the delay control part is configured to determine a difference in wavelength between the first wavelength and the another wavelength and to control the delay part to apply the compensating delay in the uplink or downlink signals according to the difference in wavelength.

8. The baseband controller of claim 6, wherein the delay control part is arranged to determine the length of the optical WDM link by determining a round trip delay of the uplink and downlink signals.

9. The baseband controller of claim 6, wherein the delay part comprises a clocked digital register and a clock delay circuit for delaying a clock input to the digital register.

10. A radio head for a radio base station and having an interface for coupling to a baseband controller, over an optical wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) link, the radio head comprising:

an RF part for receiving or transmitting radio signals;

a downlink interface to receive downlink signals from the baseband controller via the optical WDM link on a first wavelength;

an uplink interface to send uplink signals to the baseband controller via the optical WDM link on another wavelength,

wherein a transmission time to pass from one end of the optical WDM link to another end of the optical WDM link is a function of signal wavelength, and

wherein the radio head further comprises;

a delay control part arranged to receive a delay control signal from the baseband controller; and

a delay part for applying a compensating delay to the uplink or downlink signals according to the delay control signal received from the baseband controller, wherein the delay control signal is configured to compensate for a difference in transmission times between the uplink signals on the another wavelength and the downlink signals on the first wavelength, wherein the difference in transmission times is caused by the difference in wavelength between the first wavelength and the another wavelength, and

wherein the difference in transmission times is determined based on the first wavelength and the other wavelength, on an amount of chromatic dispersion in the optical WDM link and on a length of the optical WDM link.

11. The radio head of claim 10, wherein the delay part comprises a clocked digital register and a clock delay circuit for delaying a clock input to the digital register.

12. The radio head of claim 10, wherein the uplink or downlink signals comprise digital I and Q signals.