System and method of automatically calibrating the gain for a distributed wireless communication system
First Claim
1. A method of automatically calibrating the gain of an indoor unit of a base station having an outdoor unit and a broadband cable connecting the indoor unit and outdoor unit in a wireless communication system having customer sites, the method comprising:
- determining which customer sites are not operating at maximum power;
measuring, for a customer site not operating at maximum power, average received power at the outdoor unit;
comparing the average received power to a nominal level; and
increasing the gain of the indoor unit if the average received power is greater than the nominal level or decreasing the gain of the indoor unit if the average received power is less than the nominal level.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method providing a wireless broadband connection between base stations and customer sites. The system includes indoor units, within the base stations and customer sites, that communicate across cables to outdoor units. The indoor units link to routers, switches and other devices and services. The outdoor units transmit and receive wireless data and send it to the indoor units. The indoor units control the functioning of the outdoor units by transmitting digital messages along the interface cables. The outdoor units report various detector values to the indoor units, which allows the indoor units to tune and adjust several functions within the outdoor units. Several embodiments for automatically calibrating the receive path gain in the base stations to compensate for the base station cable between the indoor unit and outdoor unit are described. In addition, an An improved transmit power control technique which is not affected by modulation type, is also described.
55 Citations
51 Claims
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1. A method of automatically calibrating the gain of an indoor unit of a base station having an outdoor unit and a broadband cable connecting the indoor unit and outdoor unit in a wireless communication system having customer sites, the method comprising:
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determining which customer sites are not operating at maximum power;
measuring, for a customer site not operating at maximum power, average received power at the outdoor unit;
comparing the average received power to a nominal level; and
increasing the gain of the indoor unit if the average received power is greater than the nominal level or decreasing the gain of the indoor unit if the average received power is less than the nominal level. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A base station, configured to automatically calibrate a receive path gain, for use in a wireless communication system having customer sites, the base station comprising:
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an outdoor unit configured to receive signals from the customer sites, wherein the signals include power readings from the customer sites;
a broadband cable connected to the outdoor unit; and
an indoor unit connected to the broadband cable and configured to receive message data from the outdoor unit through the broadband cable, wherein the indoor unit includes a processor configured to;
determine which customer sites are not operating at maximum power, instruct the outdoor unit to measure, for a customer site not operating at maximum power, average received power at the outdoor unit, compare the average received power to a nominal level, and increase the gain of the indoor unit if the average received power is greater than the nominal level or decrease the gain of the indoor unit if the average received power is less than the nominal level. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of automatically calibrating a receive path gain of a base station having an indoor unit, an outdoor unit and a broadband cable connecting the indoor unit and the outdoor unit in a wireless communication system having one or more customer sites, the method comprising:
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wirelessly receiving signals from one or more customer sites;
measuring, for a customer site not operating at maximum power, power of the received signal at the outdoor unit;
comparing the power of the received signal to a predetermined level; and
increasing a receive path gain of the indoor unit if the power of the received signal is greater than the predetermined level or decreasing the receive path gain of the indoor unit if the power of the received signal is less than the predetermined level. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of automatically controlling the transmit power of a customer site by a base station having an indoor unit, an outdoor unit and a broadband cable connecting the indoor unit and the outdoor unit in a wireless communication system so as to automatically compensate for losses due to the cable, the method comprising:
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wirelessly receiving a signal from a customer site that has started to transmit the signal;
measuring power of the received signal at the indoor unit;
comparing the power of the received signal to a predetermined level;
requesting the customer site to decrease the transmit power if the power of the received signal is greater than the predetermined level or requesting the customer site to increase the transmit power if the power of the received signal is less than the predetermined level; and
providing a maximum power status to the base station if the customer site is operating at maximum power so as to control automatic compensation for losses due to the base station cable. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A base station configured to automatically calibrate a receive path gain in a wireless communication system having customer sites, the base station comprising:
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an outdoor unit wirelessly receiving signals from the customer sites, wherein the signals include power levels of one or more of the customer sites;
a broadband cable connected to the outdoor unit; and
an indoor unit connected to the broadband cable and receiving message data from the outdoor unit through the broadband cable, wherein the indoor unit includes a processor configured to;
measure, for a customer site not operating at maximum power, power of the received signal at the outdoor unit, compare the power of the received signal to a predetermined level, and increase a receive path gain of the indoor unit if the power of the received signal is greater than the predetermined level or decrease the receive path gain of the indoor unit if the power of the received signal is less than the predetermined level. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A base station for maintaining transmit peak power at a constant level regardless of modulation type for use in a wireless communication system, the base station comprising:
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an indoor unit having a modem configured to provide an output and to use multiple modulation types within a single time division duplexing frame;
an outdoor unit connected to the indoor unit and having a transmit system configured to upconvert the output of the modem, the outdoor unit comprising;
a wideband detector configured to monitor a transmit system output signal;
a sample and hold circuit connected to the wideband detector, the sample and hold circuit having a gate input;
a delay circuit receiving a transmit/receive control signal and providing an output to the gate input of the sample and hold circuit;
a transmit level adjust circuit configured to provide a predetermined transmit output level; and
a comparator configured to compare the predetermined transmit output level with the output of the sample and hold circuit so as to generate an error signal to maintain transmit peak power at a constant level. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A subsystem for maintaining transmit peak power at a constant level regardless of modulation type in an outdoor unit of a wireless communication system, the subsystem comprising:
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a wideband detector configured to monitor a transmit output signal;
a sample and hold circuit connected to the wideband detector, the sample and hold circuit having a gate input;
a delay circuit providing an output, indicative of a time in the transmit output signal when a known modulation type occurs, to the gate input of the sample and hold circuit;
a transmit level adjust circuit configured to provide a predetermined transmit output level; and
a comparator configured to compare the predetermined transmit output level with the output of the sample and hold circuit so as to generate an error signal used to maintain transmit peak power at a constant level. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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37. A method of maintaining transmit peak power at a constant level regardless of modulation type in an outdoor unit of a time division duplexing wireless communication system, the method comprising:
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providing a control signal at a predetermined time delay after a transition from a receive mode to a transmit mode;
measuring the amplitude of a transmit output signal based on the delayed control signal;
providing a predetermined transmit output level;
comparing the predetermined transmit output level with the amplitude of the transmit output signal; and
generating a signal representative of the comparing so as to maintain transmit peak power at a constant level. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40)
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41. A base station comprising:
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an outdoor unit to wirelessly receive signals from customer sites;
an indoor unit configured to receive said received signals from said outdoor unit through one or more cables, the indoor unit being adapted to;
identify one or more of said customer sites that are not operating at a maximum power level;
measure, an average power level of signals from at least one of said one or more customer sites not operating at said maximum power level and received at said outdoor unit; and
increase a gain of the indoor unit in response to said average received power exceeding a nominal power level or decrease said gain in response to said average received power not exceeding said nominal level. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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46. An apparatus comprising:
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means for identifying one or more customer sites of a wireless communication system that are not operating at a maximum power level;
means for measuring, an average power level of signals from at least one of said one or more customer sites not operating at said maximum power level and received at an outdoor unit of a base station of said wireless communication system; and
means for increasing a gain of an indoor unit of said base station in response to said average received power exceeding a nominal power level or decreasing the gain of the indoor unit in response to said average received power not exceeding said nominal level. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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Specification