SUPPORTING AN ADD-ON REMOTE UNIT (RU) IN AN OPTICAL FIBER-BASED DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEM (DAS) OVER AN EXISTING OPTICAL FIBER COMMUNICATIONS MEDIUM USING RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) MULTIPLEXING

• US 20170163343A1
• Filed: 02/20/2017
• Published: 06/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2014
• Status: Active Application

• Current Assignee: Corning Optical Communications LLC (Corning Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Corning Optical Communications Wireless Ltd. (Corning Incorporated)
• Inventors: Abramov, Yury, Hendler, Hillel Akiva, Magnezi, Gavriel, Zinger, Yuval, Atias, Nissim, Harel, Dror
• Granted Patent: US 10,291,322 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25752 Optical arrangements for wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25753 Distribution optical network, e.g. between a base station and a plurality of remote units
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/25891 Transmission components H04B10/40 takes precedence

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed in the detailed description include supporting an add-on remote unit(s) (RU) in an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS) over existing optical fiber communications medium using radio frequency (RF) multiplexing. An existing DAS comprises at least one existing head end equipment (HEE) communicatively coupled to a plurality of existing RUs through an existing optical fiber communications medium. In aspects disclosed herein, an add-on RU is added to the existing DAS to support additional wireless communications. No new optical fibers are required to be deployed to support communications to the add-on RU in the existing DAS. Instead, the existing DAS is configured to support the add-on RU through the existing optical fiber communications medium using RF multiplexing. As a result, the add-on RU can be added to the existing optical fiber-based DAS without adding new optical fibers, thus leading to reduced service disruptions and deployment costs.

Claims

1. A head end equipment (HEE) in an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS), comprising:

an existing downlink communications signal path configured to receive at least one existing downlink electrical radio frequency (RF) communications signal;

an add-on downlink communications signal path configured to receive at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal different from the existing downlink electrical RF communications signal; and

a HEE frontend interface coupled to a downlink optical fiber, the HEE frontend interface configured to;

receive the at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal from the existing downlink communications signal path via at least one existing downlink RF signal interface;

receive the at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal from the add-on downlink communications signal path via at least one add-on downlink RF signal interface;

multiplex the at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal and the at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal to generate a downlink multiplexed RF signal;

convert the downlink multiplexed RF signal into a downlink multiplexed optical signal; and

provide the downlink multiplexed optical signal to the downlink optical fiber.

2. The HEE of claim 1, further comprising:

an existing uplink communications signal path configured to receive at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal;

an add-on uplink communications signal path configured to receive at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal; and

wherein the HEE frontend interface is further configured to;

receive an uplink multiplexed optical signal from an uplink optical fiber;

convert the uplink multiplexed optical signal into an uplink multiplexed RF signal;

de-multiplex the uplink multiplexed RF signal and generate the at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal and the at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal;

provide the at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal to the existing uplink communications signal path via at least one existing uplink RF signal interface; and

provide the at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal to the add-on uplink communications signal path via at least one add-on uplink RF signal interface.

3. The HEE of claim 2, wherein:

the existing downlink communications signal path comprises at least one existing radio interface configured to receive the at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal from at least one existing wireless communications service and provide the at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal to the at least one existing downlink RF signal interface; and

the add-on downlink communications signal path comprises at least one add-on radio interface configured to receive the at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal from at least one add-on wireless communications service and provide the at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal to the at least one add-on downlink RF signal interface.

4. The HEE of claim 3, further comprising:

an existing optical interface module (OIM) coupled to the existing downlink communications signal path and the add-on downlink communications signal path; and

wherein the existing OIM comprises the HEE frontend interface.

5. The HEE of claim 4, wherein:

the existing uplink communications signal path comprises the at least one existing radio interface configured to receive the at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal from the at least one existing uplink RF signal interface and provide the at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal to the at least one existing wireless communications service; and

the add-on uplink communications signal path comprises the at least one add-on radio interface configured to receive the at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal from the at least one add-on uplink RF signal interface and provide the at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal to the at least one add-on wireless communications service.

6. A remote unit (RU) system in an optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS), comprising:

an existing RU downlink communications signal path configured to convert at least one existing downlink optical radio frequency (RF) communications signal received from at least one existing RU downlink optical signal interface into at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal;

an add-on RU downlink communications signal path configured to convert at least one add-on downlink optical RF communications signal received from at least one add-on RU downlink optical signal interface into at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal different from the at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal; and

a RU frontend interface coupled to a downlink optical fiber, the RU frontend interface configured to;

receive a downlink multiplexed optical signal from the downlink optical fiber;

convert the downlink multiplexed optical signal into a downlink multiplexed RF signal;

de-multiplex the downlink multiplexed RF signal and generate the at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal and the at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal;

convert the at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal into the at least one existing downlink optical RF communications signal;

convert the at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal into the at least one add-on downlink optical RF communications signal;

provide the at least one existing downlink optical RF communications signal to the existing RU downlink communications signal path via the at least one existing RU downlink optical signal interface; and

provide the at least one add-on downlink optical RF communications signal to the add-on RU downlink communications signal path via the at least one add-on RU downlink optical signal interface.

7. The RU system of claim 6, further comprising:

an existing RU uplink communications signal path configured to;

receive and convert at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal into at least one existing uplink optical RF communications signal; and

provide the at least one existing uplink optical RF communications signal to at least one existing RU uplink optical signal interface;

an add-on RU uplink communications signal path configured to;

receive and convert at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal different from the at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal into at least one add-on uplink optical RF communications signal; and

provide the at least one add-on uplink optical RF communications signal to at least one add-on RU uplink optical signal interface; and

wherein the RU frontend interface is coupled to an uplink optical fiber, the RU frontend interface configured to;

receive the at least one existing uplink optical RF communications signal from the existing RU uplink communications signal path via the at least one existing RU uplink optical signal interface;

convert the at least one existing uplink optical RF communications signal into the at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal;

receive the at least one add-on uplink optical RF communications signal from the add-on RU uplink communications signal path via the at least one add-on RU uplink optical signal interface;

convert the at least one add-on uplink optical RF communications signal into the at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal;

multiplex the at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal and the at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal and generate an uplink multiplexed RF signal;

convert the uplink multiplexed RF signal into an uplink multiplexed optical signal; and

provide the uplink multiplexed optical signal to the uplink optical fiber.

8. The RU system of claim 7, wherein:

the existing RU downlink communications signal path comprises at least one existing RU, the at least one existing RU configured to;

receive the at least one existing downlink optical RF communications signal from the at least one existing RU downlink optical signal interface;

convert the at least one existing downlink optical RF communications signal to the at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal; and

provide the at least one existing downlink electrical RF communications signal to at least one existing antenna; and

the add-on RU downlink communications signal path comprises at least one add-on RU, the at least one add-on RU configured to;

receive the at least one add-on downlink optical RF communications signal from the at least one add-on RU downlink optical signal interface;

convert the at least one add-on downlink optical RF communications signal to the at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal; and

provide the at least one add-on downlink electrical RF communications signal to the at least one add-on antenna.

9. The RU system of claim 8, wherein:

the existing RU uplink communications signal path comprises the at least one existing RU, the at least one existing RU configured to;

receive the at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal via the at least one existing antenna;

convert the at least one existing uplink electrical RF communications signal to the at least one existing uplink optical RF communications signal; and

provide the at least one existing uplink optical RF communications signal to the at least one existing RU uplink optical signal interface; and

the add-on RU uplink communications signal path comprises the at least one add-on RU, the at least one add-on RU configured to;

receive the at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal via the at least one add-on antenna;

convert the at least one add-on uplink electrical RF communications signal to the at least one add-on uplink optical RF communications signal; and

provide the at least one add-on uplink optical RF communications signal to the at least one add-on RU uplink optical signal interface.

10. An optical fiber-based distributed antenna system (DAS), comprising:

a head end equipment (HEE), comprising;

at least one existing radio interface;

at least one add-on radio interface;

at least one existing optical interface module (OIM) coupled to the at least one existing radio interface and the at least one add-on radio interface; and

wherein the at least one existing OIM comprises a HEE frontend interface;

a remote unit (RU) system, further comprising;

at least one existing RU;

at least one add-on RU; and

a RU frontend interface coupled to the at least one existing RU and the at least one add-on RU;

at least one downlink optical fiber connecting the HEE frontend interface to the RU frontend interface; and

at least one uplink optical fiber connecting the RU frontend interface to the HEE frontend interface.

11. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 10, wherein the HEE frontend interface comprises:

a radio frequency (RF) multiplexer coupled to the at least one existing radio interface and the at least one add-on radio interface;

an electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter coupled to the RF multiplexer and the at least one downlink optical fiber;

a RF de-multiplexer coupled to the at least one existing radio interface and the at least one add-on radio interface; and

an optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter coupled to the at least one uplink optical fiber and the RF de-multiplexer.

12. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 11, wherein:

the RF multiplexer is a time-division multiplexer; and

the RF de-multiplexer is a time-division de-multiplexer.

13. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 11, wherein:

the RF multiplexer is a frequency-division multiplexer; and

the RF de-multiplexer is a frequency-division de-multiplexer.

14. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 11, wherein:

the at least one existing radio interface is provided by at least one existing radio interface module (RIM); and

the at least one add-on radio interface is provided by at least one add-on RIM.

15. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 11, wherein the RU frontend interface comprises:

a first optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter coupled to the at least one downlink optical fiber;

a radio frequency (RF) de-multiplexer coupled to the first O/E converter;

a first electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter coupled to the RF de-multiplexer and the at least one existing RU;

a second O/E converter coupled to the at least one existing RU;

a RF multiplexer coupled to the second O/E converter and the third O/E converter;

a second E/O converter coupled to the at least one uplink optical fiber and the RF multiplexer.

a third E/O converter coupled to the RF de-multiplexer and the at least one add-on RU; and

a third O/E converter coupled to the at least one add-on RU;

16. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 10, wherein the RU frontend interface further comprises:

a first optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter coupled to the at least one downlink optical fiber;

a radio frequency (RF) de-multiplexer coupled to the first O/E converter and the at least one add-on RU;

a first electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter coupled to the RF de-multiplexer and the at least one existing RU;

a second O/E converter coupled to the at least one existing RU;

a RF multiplexer coupled to the second O/E converter and the at least one add-on RU; and

a second E/O converter coupled to the RF multiplexer and the at least one uplink optical fiber.

17. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 16, wherein the RU frontend interface is integrated with the at least one add-on RU to form at least one combined add-on RU.

18. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 17, wherein the at least one combined add-on RU comprises:

a downlink optical signal port;

an uplink optical signal port;

a downlink optical RF communications signal port;

an uplink optical RF communications signal port; and

an antenna port.

19. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 10, wherein the at least one add-on RU comprises at least one add-on antenna, wherein the at least one existing RU is configured to share the at least one add-on antenna associated with the at least one add-on RU.

20. The optical fiber-based DAS of claim 10, wherein the at least one existing RU comprises at least one existing antenna, wherein the at least one add-on RU is configured to share the at least one existing antenna associated with the at least one existing RU.

21-23. -23. (canceled)