SATELLITE RECEIVER MODULE FOR TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT

• US 20140219163A1
• Filed: 02/05/2014
• Published: 08/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Coriant Oy (Infinera Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Tellabs Oy (Infinera Corp.)
• Inventors: PARKKONEN, Pertti
• Granted Patent: US 9,325,408 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/316
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/35 Constructional details or hardware or software details of the signal processing chain
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3805 with built-in auxiliary receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18517 Transmission equipment in earth stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18519 Operations control, administration or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0644 External master-clock
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0685 Clock or time synchronisation in a node; Intranode synchronisation

Abstract

A satellite receiver module (101) for telecommunication equipment includes circuitries (102, 103) configured to receive timing information from one or more satellites and to form timing messages based on a clock signal in accordance with the received timing information. The clock signal is a stream of temporally successive clock pulses and the pulse-rate of the clock signal is accordant with a pace indicating signal received from a body device (110) of the telecommunication equipment. The satellite receiver module further includes a data interface (105) including a connector (106) for detachably attaching to the body device and for transferring the timing messages to the body device. Because the pulse-rate, i.e. the frequency, of the clock signal is accordant with the pace indicating signal received from the body device, a high-quality local oscillator is not necessary in the satellite receiver module.

Claims

1. A satellite receiver module for telecommunication equipment, the satellite receiver module comprising:

a first circuitry for receiving timing information from one or more satellites,

a second circuitry for forming timing messages based on a first clock signal in accordance with the received timing information, the first clock signal being a stream of temporally successive first clock pulses,

a data interface comprising a connector for detachably attaching to a body device of the telecommunication equipment and for transferring the timing messages to the body device of the telecommunication equipment, and

a third circuitry for receiving a pace indicating signal from the body device of the telecommunication equipment and for delivering the first clock signal to the second circuitry so that a pulse-rate of the first clock signal is accordant with the pace indicating signal.

2. A satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the pace indicating signal is a bit stream received from the body device of the telecommunication equipment and the third circuitry is configured to extract the clock signal from the bit stream.

3. A satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the pace indicating signal is a second clock signal received from the body device of the telecommunication equipment and being a stream of temporally successive second clock pulses, and the third circuitry is configured to generate the first clock signal with a phase-locked loop on the basis of the second clock signal.

4. A satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the the third circuitry is configured receive the first clock signal from the body device of the telecommunication equipment.

5. A satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the satellite receiver module further comprises a local oscillator and a controllable selector for selecting whether the third circuitry is used for delivering the first clock signal to the second circuitry or whether the local oscillator is used as a source of the first clock signal.

6. A satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the data interface comprises an electrical connector comprising connector poles for providing galvanic couplings with corresponding connector poles of the body device.

7. A satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the data interface comprises an optical interface for generating an optical signal carrying the timing messages.

8. A satellite receiver module according to claim 1, wherein the satellite receiver module is a plug-in unit connectable to the body device of the telecommunication equipment.

9. Telecommunication equipment comprising a satellite receiver module and a body device, wherein the satellite receiver module comprises:

a first circuitry for receiving timing information from one or more satellites,

a second circuitry for forming timing messages based on a first clock signal in accordance with the received timing information, the first clock signal being a stream of temporally successive first clock pulses,

a data interface comprising a connector for detachably attaching to the body device and for transferring the timing messages to the body device, and

a third circuitry for receiving a pace indicating signal from the body device and for delivering the first clock signal to the second circuitry so that a pulse-rate of the first clock signal is accordant with the pace indicating signal, and

wherein the body device comprises;

a data interface comprising a connector for detachably attaching to the connector of the data interface of the satellite receiver module, and

a fourth circuitry for delivering the pace indicating signal to the satellite receiver module and for receiving the timing messages from the satellite receiver module.

10. Telecommunication equipment according to claim 9, wherein the fourth circuitry is configured to deliver, to the satellite receiver module, a bit stream that represents the pace indicating signal, the bit stream being transmitted from the body device in accordance with a clock signal available in the body device.

11. Telecommunication equipment according to claim 9, wherein the fourth circuitry is configured to deliver, to the satellite receiver module, a second clock signal being a stream of temporally successive second clock pulses and representing the pace indicating signal.

12. Telecommunication equipment according to claim 11, wherein the second clock signal is at least one of the following:

a transmission clock of the telecommunication equipment, a reception clock of the telecommunication equipment, an output signal of an oscillator of the body device.

13. Telecommunication equipment according to claim 11, wherein the body device comprises a phase-locked loop circuit for generating the first clock signal to represent the pace indicating signal on the basis of at least one of the following:

a transmission clock of the telecommunication equipment, a reception clock of the telecommunication equipment, an output signal of an oscillator of the body device.

14. Telecommunication equipment according to claim 9, wherein the body device is at least one of the following:

an internet protocol “

IP”

router, an Ethernet switch, an Asynchronous Transfer Mode “

ATM”

switch, a MultiProtocol Label Switching “

MPLS”

switch.

15. A method comprising:

receiving, at a satellite receiver module of telecommunication equipment, timing information from one or more satellites, the satellite receiver module being detachably attached to a body device of the telecommunication equipment,

receiving, at the satellite receiver module, a pace indicating signal from the body device of the telecommunication equipment,

forming timing messages based on a first clock signal in accordance with the received timing information, the first clock signal being a stream of temporally successive first clock pulses and a pulse-rate of the first clock signal being accordant with the pace indicating signal, and

transferring, from the satellite receiver module, the timing messages to the body device of the telecommunication equipment.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the computer program comprising computer executable instructions for controlling a programmable processor of a satellite receiver module of telecommunication equipment to:

form timing messages based on a first clock signal in accordance with timing information received from one or more satellites, the first clock signal being a stream of temporally successive first clock pulses and a pulse-rate of the first clock signal being accordant with a pace indicating signal received from a body device of the telecommunication equipment, and

control a data interface of the satellite receiver module to transfer the timing messages to the body device of the telecommunication equipment.