Radio-over-fiber (RoF) wireless picocellular system with combined picocells
First Claim
1. A centralized optical-fiber-based wireless picocellular system for wirelessly communicating with at least one client device, comprising:
- a central head-end station adapted to provide radio-frequency (RF) signals;
two or more transponders optically coupled to the central head-end station via one or more optical fiber RF communication links, with the two or more transponders adapted to convert electrical signals to optical signals and vice versa and having an antenna system that forms a corresponding picocell based on said RF signals, wherein adjacent picocells formed from RF signals having different frequencies do not substantially overlap; and
wherein the central head-end station is adapted to provide one or more groups of two or more transponders with said RF signals having a common frequency within the transponder group so as to form corresponding one or more combined picocells.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A radio-over-fiber (RoF) wireless picocellular system adapted to form an array of substantially non-overlapping individual picocells by operating adjacent picocells at different frequencies is operated to form one or more combined picocells. The combined picocells are formed from two or more neighboring picocells by the central head-end station operating neighboring picocells at a common frequency. Communication between the central head-end station and a client device residing within a combined picocell is enhanced by the availability of two or more transponder antenna systems. Thus, enhanced communication techniques such as antenna diversity, phased-array antenna networks and multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) methods can be implemented to provide the system with enhanced performance capability. These techniques are preferably implemented at the central head-end station to avoid having to make substantial changes to the wireless picocellular system infrastructure.
229 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A centralized optical-fiber-based wireless picocellular system for wirelessly communicating with at least one client device, comprising:
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a central head-end station adapted to provide radio-frequency (RF) signals; two or more transponders optically coupled to the central head-end station via one or more optical fiber RF communication links, with the two or more transponders adapted to convert electrical signals to optical signals and vice versa and having an antenna system that forms a corresponding picocell based on said RF signals, wherein adjacent picocells formed from RF signals having different frequencies do not substantially overlap; and wherein the central head-end station is adapted to provide one or more groups of two or more transponders with said RF signals having a common frequency within the transponder group so as to form corresponding one or more combined picocells. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. In a centralized optical-fiber-based wireless picocellular system having a central head-end station, a method of combining two or more picocells that are substantially non-overlapping when operated at different radio-frequency (RF) frequencies, comprising:
operating a group of two or more neighboring picocells at a common RF frequency provided by the central head-end station to provide substantial overlap of said two or more neighboring picocells so as to form a combined picocell. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of forming a combined picocell in a wireless picocellular system adapted to form individual picocells that do not substantially overlap when operated at different frequencies, with the individual picocells associated with a transponder optically coupled to a central head-end station and having an antenna system, the method comprising:
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a) providing at the central head-end station a downlink radio-frequency (RF) signal; and b) either simultaneously or non-simultaneously sending the downlink RF signal to corresponding two or more neighboring transponders at a common frequency so that said two or more neighboring transponders substantially overlap to form a combined picocell. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification