Radiating closures

• US 10,700,411 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2019
• Issued: 06/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vermes, Jonathan J., Schwengler, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Nhan T
• Application Number:
  US16/395,018
• Publication Number:
  US 20190252763A1
• Time in Patent Office: 432 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4416 Heterogeneous cables
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/44265 Fibre-to-antenna cables; Auxiliary devices thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4442 Cap coupling boxes
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/4459 Ducts; Conduits; Hollow tubes for air blown fibres
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/475 Mechanical aspects of installing cables in ducts or the like for buildings
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/501 underground installation of connection boxes
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/504 Installation in solid material, e.g. underground
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/564 Repair sets
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2291 used in bluetooth or WI-FI devices of Wireless Local Area Networks [WLAN] H01Q1/241 takes precedence; WLAN in general H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/061 Two dimensional planar arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/0407 Substantially flat resonant element parallel to ground plane, e.g. patch antenna dipole H01Q9/285; monopole H01Q9/40
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 3/083 Inlets
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49718 Repairing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

Novel tools and techniques are provided for implementing telecommunications signal relays, and, more particularly, to methods, systems, and apparatuses for implementing telecommunications signal relays using radiating closures (either aerial, below grade, and/or buried, etc.), or the like. In various embodiments, a signal distribution system, which might be disposed within a radiating closure, might receive a first communications signal. A wireless transceiver of the signal distribution system might send the first communications signal, via one or more wireless communications channels, to one or more devices that are external to the radiating closure. In some embodiments, antennas—which might comprise first antennas disposed within the radiating closure or second antennas embedded in a housing material of the radiating closure, or both—might direct the first communications signal that is sent from the wireless transceiver to the one or more devices. In some cases, IoT sensors may be implemented in the radiating closure.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, with a divider of a signal distribution system disposed within a radiating closure, a first communications signal, wherein the radiating closure is one of a below grade radiating closure or a buried radiating closure;

dividing, with the divider of the signal distribution system, the first communications signal into multiple communications signals;

separately relaying, from the divider to a wireless transceiver, each of the multiple communications signals;

sending, with the wireless transceiver of the signal distribution system, each of the multiple communications signals via one or more wireless communications channels, to one or more devices that are external to the radiating closure; and

directing, with at least one of one or more first antennas disposed within the radiating closure or one or more second antennas embedded in a housing material of the radiating closure, each of the multiple communications signals that are sent, via the one or more wireless communications channels, from the wireless transceiver to the one or more devices.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first communications signal comprises receiving, with the signal distribution system, the first communications signal via one or more signal lines entering the radiating closure through one or more pass-throughs in at least one wall of the radiating closure, the one or more signal lines comprising at least one of one or more telecommunications lines, one or more broadband-over-power signal lines, one or more copper cable lines, one or more optical fiber lines, or one or more coaxial cable lines.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein directing each of the multiple communications signals to the one or more devices via the one or more wireless communications channels comprises directing, with the at least one of the one or more first antennas disposed within the radiating closure or the one or more second antennas embedded in the housing material of the radiating closure, each of the multiple communications signals the one or more devices via the one or more wireless communications channels in multiple different directions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more first antennas and the one or more second antennas each transmits and receives wireless broadband signals according to a set of protocols comprising at least one of IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11ad, or IEEE 802.11af.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more first antennas and the one or more second antennas each transmits and receives wireless broadband signals according to a set of protocols comprising at least one of Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“

UMTS”

), Code Division Multiple Access (“

CDMA”

), Time Division Multiple Access (“

TDMA”

), Global System for Mobile Communication (“

GSM”

), Long Term Evolution (“

LTE”

), Personal Communications Service (“

PCS”

), Advanced Wireless Services (“

AWS”

), Emergency Alert System (“

EAS”

), Citizens Band Radio Service (“

CBRS”

), or Broadband Radio Service (“

BRS”

).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more first antennas each comprises at least one of a plurality of lateral patch antennas, a plurality of arrays of patch antennas, one or more micro-strip patch antennas, a two-dimensional (“

2D”

) leaky waveguide antenna, or a three-dimensional (“

3D”

) array of antenna elements, wherein one or more of the at least one of the plurality of lateral patch antennas, the plurality of arrays of patch antennas, the one or more micro-strip patch antennas, the two-dimensional (“

2D”

) leaky waveguide antenna, or the three-dimensional (“

3D”

) array of antenna elements comprise flexible material that allows the one or more of the at least one of the plurality of lateral patch antennas, the plurality of arrays of patch antennas, the one or more micro-strip patch antennas, the two-dimensional (“

2D”

) leaky waveguide antenna, or the three-dimensional (“

3D”

) array of antenna elements to be bent while being disposed within the radiating closure.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the one or more first antennas and the one or more second antennas comprises at least one active antenna element.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring, with one or more Internet of Things (“

IoT”

)-capable sensor devices disposed within the radiating closure, one or more environmental conditions within the radiating closure and external to the radiating closure;

determining, with the one or more IoT-capable sensor devices, whether one or more sensor data corresponding to the monitored one or more environmental conditions exceed one or more corresponding predetermined thresholds; and

based on a determination that the one or more sensor data corresponding to the monitored one or more environmental conditions exceed one or more corresponding predetermined thresholds, autonomously sending, with the one or more IoT-capable sensor devices and via machine-to-machine communications, the one or more sensor data to one or more nodes.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring, with one or more Internet of Things (“

IoT”

)-capable sensor devices disposed within the radiating closure, one or more environmental conditions within the radiating closure and external to the radiating closure; and

determining, with the one or more IoT-capable sensor devices, whether one or more sensor data corresponding to the monitored one or more environmental conditions indicate that an outage is likely to occur.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a housing;

a signal distribution comprising a divider, which is disposed within the housing, that receives a first communications signal, wherein the divider receives the first communications signal, divides the first communications signal into multiple communications signals, and separately relays each of the multiple communications signals;

a wireless transceiver, which is communicatively coupled to the divider and the signal distribution system, that receives each of the separately relayed multiple communications signals and sends each of the multiple communications signals via one or more wireless communications channels, to one or more devices that are external to the housing; and

at least one of one or more first antennas disposed within the housing or one or more second antennas embedded in a housing material of the housing that directs each of the multiple communications signals that are sent, via the one or more wireless communications channels, from the wireless transceiver to the one or more devices;

wherein the apparatus is a radiating closure, which is one of a below grade radiating closure or a buried radiating closure.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the radiating closure forms a container.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the radiating closure forms a lid of a container.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the housing material comprises at least one of metal or plastic.

14. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein receiving the first communications signal comprises receiving the first communications signal via one or more signal lines entering the apparatus through one or more pass-throughs in at least one wall of the housing, the one or more signal lines comprising at least one of one or more telecommunications lines, one or more broadband-over-power signal lines, one or more copper cable lines, one or more optical fiber lines, or one or more coaxial cable lines.

15. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein directing each of the multiple communications signals to the one or more devices via the one or more wireless communications channels comprises directing each of the multiple communications signals to the one or more devices via the one or more wireless communications channels in multiple different directions.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the one or more first antennas each comprises at least one of a plurality of lateral patch antennas, a plurality of arrays of patch antennas, one or more micro-strip patch antennas, a two-dimensional (“

2D”

) leaky waveguide antenna, or a three-dimensional (“

3D”

) array of antenna elements, wherein one or more of the at least one of the plurality of lateral patch antennas, the plurality of arrays of patch antennas, the one or more micro-strip patch antennas, the two-dimensional (“

2D”

) leaky waveguide antenna, or the three-dimensional (“

3D”

) array of antenna elements comprise flexible material that allows the one or more of the at least one of the plurality of lateral patch antennas, the plurality of arrays of patch antennas, the one or more micro-strip patch antennas, the two-dimensional (“

2D”

) leaky waveguide antenna, or the three-dimensional (“

3D”

) array of antenna elements to be bent while being disposed within the housing.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising:

one or more Internet of Things (“

IoT”

)-capable sensor devices disposed within the housing, the one or more IoT-capable sensor devices each comprising;

one or more first sensors;

one or more first transceivers;

at least one first processor; and

a first non-transitory computer readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one first processor, the first non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer software comprising a first set of instructions that, when executed by the at least one first processor, causes the IoT-capable sensor device to;

monitor, using the one or more first sensors, one or more environmental conditions within the apparatus and external to the apparatus;

determine whether one or more sensor data corresponding to the monitored one or more environmental conditions exceed one or more corresponding predetermined thresholds; and

based on a determination that the one or more sensor data corresponding to the monitored one or more environmental conditions exceed one or more corresponding predetermined thresholds, autonomously send, with the one or more first transceivers and via machine-to-machine communications, the one or more sensor data to one or more nodes.

18. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the signal distribution system comprises:

the wireless transceiver;

at least one second processor; and

a second non-transitory computer readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one second processor, the second non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer software comprising a second set of instructions that, when executed by the at least one second processor, causes the signal distribution system to;

receive a first communications signal; and

send, using the wireless transceiver, the first communications signal to the one or more devices external to the housing via the one or more wireless communications channels.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the second set of instructions, when executed by the at least one second processor, further causes the signal distribution system to:

configure the at least one of the one or more first antennas disposed within the housing or the one or more second antennas embedded in the housing material of the housing to direct the first communications signal along one or more directions in order to send the first communications signal to the one or more devices.