System for maximizing gain in a repeater

• US 9,979,460 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2015
• Issued: 05/22/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nextivity Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Nextivity Incorporated
• Inventors: Lotter, Michiel Petrus, Riphagen, Ian, Qiu, James Xiaohui, Kim, In Kwang
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Fayyaz
• Application Number:
  US14/625,512
• Publication Number:
  US 20150236776A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,189 Days
• Field of Search: 455 7, 455 634, 4555621, 4555757
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15 Active relay systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/155 Ground-based stations H04B7/204 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15571 by signal isolation, e.g. isolation by frequency or by antenna pattern, or by polarization
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/24 using SIR [Signal to Interference Ratio] or other wireless path parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/52 using AGC [Automatic Gain Control] circuits or amplifiers

Abstract

An antenna system includes a donor antenna sub-system, a server antenna sub-system, and a processor to optimize the gain of the repeater in the system. The gain in the antenna system is increased by optimizing the isolation between the donor and/or server antenna sub-systems according to a cost function.

Claims

1. An antenna system for optimizing gain of a repeater comprising:

a donor antenna sub-system that accepts an incoming signal, the donor antenna sub-system configured to operate in one or more donor operational configurations;

a server antenna sub-system configured to relay an optimized version of the incoming signal, the server antenna sub-system configured to operate in one or more server operational configurations;

a processor to determine an optimal configuration for the antenna system for generating the optimized version of the incoming signal, the optimal configuration being based on an optimal value of a cost function of operating the donor antenna sub-system in each of the one or more donor operational configurations and the server antenna sub-system in each of the one or more server operational configurations, the cost function being based on one or more operational inputs.

2. The antenna system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the one or more operational inputs include transmitter power of the donor antenna sub-system and/or the server antenna sub-system.

3. The antenna system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the one or more operational inputs include receiver power of the donor antenna sub-system and/or the server antenna sub-system.

4. The antenna system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the one or more operational inputs include at least one of a signal-to-noise ratio of the donor antenna sub-system and a signal-to-noise ratio of the server antenna sub-system.

5. The antenna system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the one or more operational inputs include at least one of the one or more donor operational configurations and the one or more server operational configurations.

6. The antenna system in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of the donor antenna sub-system and the server antenna subsystem provide a radiation pattern that is orthogonal to each other.

7. The antenna system in accordance with claim 6, wherein an orthogonality of the radiation pattern is dynamically changed by the processor according to the configuration.

8. The antenna system in accordance with claim 7, wherein the radiation pattern is changed by a change in a pattern of radiation of a signal of one or both of the donor antenna sub-system and the server antenna subsystem.

9. The antenna system in accordance with claim 7, wherein the radiation pattern is changed by a change in a polarization of one or both of the donor antenna sub-system and the server antenna subsystem.

10. The antenna system in accordance with claim 7, wherein the radiation pattern is changed by a change in a physical orientation of one or both of the donor antenna sub-system and the server antenna subsystem.

11. A method of optimizing gain of an antenna system of a repeater, the method comprising:

tuning, by a measuring system, to an operating frequency of a donor antenna sub-system of the antenna system, the donor antenna sub-system being configured to accept an incoming signal, the donor antenna sub-system configured to operate in one or more donor operational configurations;

tuning, by the measuring system, to an operating frequency of a server antenna subs-system of the antenna system, the server antenna sub-system being configured to relay an optimized version of the incoming signal, the server antenna sub-system configured to operate in one or more server operational configurations;

measuring, by the measuring system, one or more operational inputs from the operation of the donor antenna sub-system and/or server antenna sub-system at the operating frequency;

calculating, by a processor and based on the one or more operational inputs, an output of a cost function of each of the one or more donor operational configurations of the donor antenna sub-system and the one or more server operational configurations of the server antenna sub-system; and

determining, by the processor, an optimal configuration for the antenna system for generating the optimized version of the incoming signal based on an optimal cost function output.

12. The method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the one or more operational inputs comprises transmitter power of the donor antenna sub-system and/or the server antenna sub-system.

13. The method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the one or more operational inputs include receiver power of the donor antenna sub-system and/or the server antenna sub-system.

14. The method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the one or more operational inputs include at least one of a signal-to-noise ratio of the donor antenna sub-system and a signal-to-noise ratio of the server antenna sub-system.

15. The method in accordance with claim 11, further comprising providing a radiation pattern from each of the donor antenna sub-system and the server antenna subsystem, wherein the radiation patterns are orthogonal to each other.

16. The method in accordance with claim 15, further comprising changing, by the processor, an orthogonality of the radiation pattern in a dynamic manner, according to the optimal configuration for the antenna system.

17. The method in accordance with claim 16, further comprising changing, by the processor, the radiation pattern according to a change in a pattern of radiation of a signal of one or both of the donor antenna sub-system and the server antenna subsystem.

18. The method in accordance with claim 16, further comprising changing, by the processor, the radiation pattern according to a change in a polarization of one or both of the donor antenna sub-system and the server antenna subsystem.