Radio access networks
First Claim
1. A communication system comprising:
- remote units to exchange radio frequency signals with mobile devices, at least some of the radio frequency signals comprising information destined for, or originating from, the mobile devices;
a controller connected to an external network, the controller being separated from the remote units by an intermediate switched network, over which data corresponding to the information is transmitted in frames between the controller and the remote units;
a reference timing source that is synchronized to a stable reference clock;
a controller clock synchronized with the reference timing source, the controller clock for providing first timing information to the controller; and
a remote unit clock to be synchronized with the controller clock, the remote unit clock for providing second timing information to a remote unit;
wherein at least one of the controller or the remote unit is configured to transmit time stamp messages to synchronize the remote unit clock to the controller clock; and
wherein at least one of the controller or the remote unit is configured to transmit the time stamp messages to affect a frequency of contention in switches of the intermediate switched network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Among other things, a communication system comprising remote units, a reference timing source, a controller, a controller clock, and a remote unit clock. The remote units exchange radio frequency (RF) signals with mobile devices. The reference timing source is synchronized with a coordinated universal time (UTC) or a Global Positioning System (GPS). The controller clock is synchronized with the reference timing source and provides timing information to the controller. The remote unit clock is synchronized with the controller clock and provides timing information to a remote unit. The controller and the remote unit are configured to transmit time stamp messages to synchronize the controller clock and the remote unit clock, by avoiding contention between time stamp transmissions and baseband data transmissions or between time stamp transmissions of different remote units to the controller.
247 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A communication system comprising:
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remote units to exchange radio frequency signals with mobile devices, at least some of the radio frequency signals comprising information destined for, or originating from, the mobile devices; a controller connected to an external network, the controller being separated from the remote units by an intermediate switched network, over which data corresponding to the information is transmitted in frames between the controller and the remote units; a reference timing source that is synchronized to a stable reference clock; a controller clock synchronized with the reference timing source, the controller clock for providing first timing information to the controller; and a remote unit clock to be synchronized with the controller clock, the remote unit clock for providing second timing information to a remote unit; wherein at least one of the controller or the remote unit is configured to transmit time stamp messages to synchronize the remote unit clock to the controller clock; and wherein at least one of the controller or the remote unit is configured to transmit the time stamp messages to affect a frequency of contention in switches of the intermediate switched network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification