Hybrid band radio with data direction determined by a link performance metric

• US 9,226,295 B2
• Filed: 11/24/2014
• Issued: 12/29/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: COMS IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: CBF Networks, Inc. (COMSovereign Holding Corp.)
• Inventors: Negus, Kevin J., Proctor, James A. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Chuong T
• Application Number:
  US14/552,431
• Publication Number:
  US 20150156777A1
• Time in Patent Office: 400 Days
• Field of Search: 370/329, 370/328, 370/338, 370/252, 370/252.253, 370/254, 370/310, 709/224, 709/228, 455/73, 455/461, 455/462.1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 1/00 Frequency-division multiplex systems H04J14/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/14 Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/52 based on load
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/045 between access point and backbone network device

Abstract

A hybrid band intelligent backhaul radio (HB-IBR) is disclosed that is a combination of two radios operating in different bands. Embodiments include a dual radio configuration wherein a first radio operates in a non-line of sight (NLOS) radio link configuration and a second ancillary radio operates in a near line of sight or line of sight configuration (n)LOS. For example, the HB-IBR may have an Intelligent Backhaul Radio (IBR) operating in the non-line of sight mode of operation within the 5.8 GHz unlicensed band, and have an ancillary radio link operating in the FCC part 101 E band of operation at 60 GHz. A common medium access control (MAC) block may be utilized between the dual radios.

Claims

1. A hybrid band radio for communicating outbound data comprising:

a first radio transceiver for communicating over a first wireless link with a third radio transceiver, wherein the first wireless link is a bi-directional communications link between the first radio transceiver and the third radio transceiver, the first radio transceiver comprising;

a first antenna assembly comprising one or more first antenna assembly elements;

a first transmitter for transmitting first information over a first frequency band to the third radio transceiver, the first information comprising at least first data, and the first transmitter coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more first antenna assembly elements; and

a first receiver for receiving third information over a third frequency band from the third radio transceiver, the first receiver comprising;

one or more first demodulator cores, each first demodulator core for demodulating one or more of one or more first receive symbol streams to produce one or more first receive data interface streams; and

one or more first receive RF chains, each first receive RF chain for converting from a respective one of one or more first receive RF signals to a respective one of one or more first receive chain output signals;

wherein each first receive data interface stream comprises at least a portion of the third information; and

wherein each of the one or more first receive RF chains is coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more first antenna assembly elements;

a second radio transceiver for communicating over a second wireless link with a fourth radio transceiver, wherein the second wireless link is a bi-directional communications link between the second radio transceiver and the fourth radio transceiver, the second radio transceiver comprising;

a second antenna assembly comprising one or more second antenna assembly elements; and

a second transmitter for transmitting second information over a second frequency band to the fourth radio transceiver, the second information comprising at least second data, and the second transmitter coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements;

and a controller at least for receiving the outbound data, for directing up to a first portion of the outbound data as first data for the first transmitter based at least upon a first performance metric associated with the first wireless link, and for directing up to a second portion of the outbound data as second data for the second transmitter based at least upon the first performance metric;

wherein the first frequency band is an upper band located above 10 GHz within a radio frequency (RF) spectrum range, the third frequency band is an upper band located above 10 GHz within a radio frequency (RF) spectrum range, and the second frequency band is a lower band located at or below 10 GHz within the radio frequency (RF) spectrum range;

and wherein a second antenna beamwidth associated with the second antenna assembly is wider than a first antenna beamwidth associated with the first antenna assembly.

2. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the upper band is an RF frequency band within the 71 to 95 GHz range.

3. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the upper band is an RF frequency band that includes any one of:

23 GHz, 38 GHz, 57 to 64 GHz, or 71 to 76 GHz.

4. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the upper band is an RF frequency band that includes a band that requires license approval from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) under 47 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) §

101 (Part

     101).

5. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the upper band is an RF frequency band at E band.

6. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the upper band is an unlicensed RF frequency band.

7. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the lower band is an RF frequency band that includes any one of:

2.4 GHz, 3.5 GHz, 5.2 GHz or 5.8 GHz.

8. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the lower band is an unlicensed RF frequency band.

9. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna assembly has an antenna gain of greater than 30 dBi.

10. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna assembly has an antenna gain of greater than 40 dBi.

11. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna beamwidth associated with the first antenna assembly is 0.5 degrees.

12. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna beamwidth associated with the first antenna assembly is 3 degrees.

13. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna assembly comprises a dish antenna.

14. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna assembly comprises a parabolic dish antenna.

15. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna assembly comprises an array of first directive gain antenna elements.

16. The hybrid band radio of claim 15 wherein the array of first directive gain antenna elements comprises a plurality of first patch antenna elements.

17. The hybrid band radio of claim 15 wherein the array of first directive gain antenna elements comprises a plurality of first sub-arrays.

18. The hybrid band radio of claim 17 wherein at least one of the plurality of first sub-arrays has an estimated gain of 21 dBi.

19. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second antenna assembly is an array of second directive gain antenna elements.

20. The hybrid band radio of claim 19 wherein the array of second directive gain antenna elements comprises a plurality of second patch antenna elements.

21. The hybrid band radio of claim 19 wherein the array of second directive gain antenna elements comprises a plurality of second antenna elements, each second antenna element being one of patch, helical, horn, slot, or dipole antennas.

22. The hybrid band radio of claim 19 wherein the array of second directive gain antenna elements comprises second directive gain antenna elements with nominally equal elevation and azimuth radiation patterns.

23. The hybrid band radio of claim 22 wherein the array of second directive gain antenna elements comprises second directive gain antenna elements with 40 degree beamwidth in each of the elevation and azimuth radiation patterns.

24. The hybrid band radio of claim 19 wherein the array of second directive gain antenna elements comprises second directive gain antenna elements with a beamwidth in an elevation radiation pattern that is considerably less than a beamwidth in an azimuth radiation pattern.

25. The hybrid band radio of claim 24 wherein the array of second directive gain antenna elements comprises second directive gain antenna elements with 20 degree beamwidth in the elevation radiation pattern and with 50 degree beamwidth in the azimuth radiation pattern.

26. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first wireless link utilizes frequency division duplexing (FDD).

27. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first transmitter is coupled or couplable to the at least one of the one or more first antenna assembly elements via at least a duplex filter.

28. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first wireless link utilizes time division duplexing (TDD).

29. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first transmitter is coupled or couplable to the at least one of the one or more first antenna assembly elements via at least one of a band-select filter or a single-pole, double-throw (SPDT) switch.

30. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second wireless link utilizes frequency division duplexing (FDD).

31. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second transmitter is coupled or couplable to the at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements via at least a duplex filter.

32. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second wireless link utilizes time division duplexing (TDD).

33. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second transmitter is coupled or couplable to the at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements via at least one of a band-select filter or a single-pole, double-throw (SPDT) switch.

34. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the third frequency band does not overlap with the first frequency band.

35. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the third frequency band overlaps with the first frequency band.

36. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein at least one or more first antenna assembly elements coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more first receive RF chains is also coupled or couplable to the first transmitter.

37. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the one or more first antenna assembly elements coupled or couplable to the one or more first receive RF chains are comprised within a first subset of first antenna assembly elements, the one or more first antenna assembly elements coupled or couplable to the first transmitter are comprised within a second subset of first antenna assembly elements, and the second subset of first antenna assembly elements does not comprise any of the first antenna assembly elements comprised within the first subset of first antenna assembly elements.

38. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second radio transceiver further comprises:

a second receiver for receiving fourth information over a fourth frequency band from the fourth radio transceiver;

wherein the fourth frequency band is also a lower band located at or below 10 GHz within the radio frequency (RF) spectrum range.

39. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the controller further comprises:

at least one layer 2 switch.

40. The hybrid band radio of claim 39 wherein the at least one layer 2 switch receives the outbound data at one or more Ethernet interfaces.

41. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the controller receives the outbound data at one or more Ethernet interfaces.

42. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first radio transceiver further comprises:

a first media access controller (MAC), wherein the first media access controller is capable of one or more of framing, scheduling, prioritizing, classifying, encrypting or error checking information exchanged with the third radio transceiver over the first wireless link.

43. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second radio transceiver further comprises:

a second media access controller (MAC), wherein the second media access controller is capable of one or more of framing, scheduling, prioritizing, classifying, encrypting or error checking information exchanged with the fourth radio transceiver over the second wireless link.

44. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first radio transceiver further comprises:

a first media access controller (MAC), wherein the first media access controller is capable of one or more of framing, scheduling, prioritizing, classifying, encrypting or error checking information exchanged with the third radio transceiver over the first wireless link and with the fourth radio transceiver over the second wireless link.

45. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second radio transceiver further comprises:

a second media access controller (MAC), wherein the second media access controller is capable of one or more of framing, scheduling, prioritizing, classifying, encrypting or error checking information exchanged with the third radio transceiver over the first wireless link and with the fourth radio transceiver over the second wireless link.

46. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the controller further comprises one or both of:

a first media access controller (MAC), wherein the first media access controller is capable of one or more of framing, scheduling, prioritizing, classifying, encrypting or error checking information exchanged with the third radio transceiver over the first wireless link; and

a second media access controller (MAC), wherein the second media access controller is capable of one or more of framing, scheduling, prioritizing, classifying, encrypting or error checking information exchanged with the fourth radio transceiver over the second wireless link.

47. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the controller further comprises:

a media access controller (MAC), wherein the media access controller is capable of one or more of framing, scheduling, prioritizing, classifying, encrypting or error checking information exchanged with the third radio transceiver over the first wireless link and with the fourth radio transceiver over the second wireless link.

48. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the controller further comprises:

a radio resource controller, wherein the radio resource controller is capable of setting or causing to be set one or more of an RF carrier frequency or a channel bandwidth.

49. The hybrid band radio of claim 48 wherein the controller further comprises:

a backhaul management system agent that is capable of setting or causing to be set certain policies relevant to the radio resource controller, wherein the backhaul management system agent is capable of exchanging information with other backhaul management system agents within other radios or with one or more backhaul management system servers.

50. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first radio transceiver is comprised within a first physical unit and the second radio transceiver is comprised within a second physical unit.

51. The hybrid band radio of claim 50 wherein the first physical unit and the second physical unit are coupled by at least an Ethernet cable.

52. The hybrid band radio of claim 51 wherein the Ethernet cable comprises at least one of:

copper twisted-pair, coax or optical fiber.

53. The hybrid band radio of claim 50 wherein the controller is comprised within the first physical unit.

54. The hybrid band radio of claim 50 wherein the controller is comprised within the second physical unit.

55. The hybrid band radio of claim 50 wherein a first portion of the controller is comprised within the first physical unit and a second portion of the controller is comprised within the second physical unit.

56. The hybrid band radio of claim 55 wherein the first portion of the controller comprises at least a layer 2 switch.

57. The hybrid band radio of claim 55 wherein the second portion of the controller comprises at least a layer 2 switch.

58. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first radio transceiver and the second radio transceiver are both comprised within a common physical unit.

59. The hybrid band radio of claim 58 wherein the controller is comprised within the common physical unit.

60. The hybrid band radio of claim 58 wherein the controller is not comprised within the common physical unit.

61. The hybrid band radio of claim 58 wherein a first portion of the controller is comprised within the common physical unit and a second portion of the controller is not comprised within the common physical unit.

62. The hybrid band radio of claim 61 wherein the first portion of the controller comprises at least a layer 2 switch.

63. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first transmitter comprises:

one or more first modulator cores, each first modulator core for modulating a respective first transmit data interface stream to produce one or more first transmit symbol streams; and

one or more first transmit RF chains, each first transmit RF chain for converting from a respective one of one or more first transmit chain input signals to a respective one of one or more first transmit RF signals;

wherein each first transmit data interface stream comprises at least a portion of the first information; and

wherein each of the one or more first transmit RF chains is coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more first antenna assembly elements.

64. The hybrid band radio of claim 63 wherein each respective one of the one or more first transmit chain input signals is derived from a respective one of each of the one or more first transmit symbol streams.

65. The hybrid band radio of claim 63 wherein the first transmitter further comprises:

a first transmit path channel multiplexer, interposed between the one or more first modulator cores and the one or more first transmit RF chains, for producing the one or more first transmit chain input signals provided to the one or more first transmit RF chains from the one or more first transmit symbol streams.

66. The hybrid band radio of claim 65 wherein the first transmit path channel multiplexer is capable of operating on one or more successive blocks of symbols from the one or more first transmit symbol streams.

67. The hybrid band radio of claim 66 wherein the first transmit path channel multiplexer comprises:

at least one first cyclic prefix adder that prepends a fraction of a block of first transmit chain time domain samples to be transmitted sequentially last in time to such block to produce a cyclically-extended block of first transmit chain time domain samples.

68. The hybrid band radio of claim 63 wherein each of the one or more first modulator cores comprises at least an encoder and a symbol mapper.

69. The hybrid band radio of claim 63 wherein each of the one or more first transmit RF chains comprises at least a vector modulator and two digital to analog converters that are capable of producing a respective first transmit RF signal from a respective one of the one or more first transmit chain input signals, each said respective one of the one or more first transmit chain input signals comprised of digital baseband quadrature signals.

70. The hybrid band radio of claim 63 wherein each of the one or more first transmit RF chains is coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more first antenna assembly elements via at least one of:

a switch, a band-select filter, a duplex filter, a coaxial cable, a circuit board trace, or a power amplifier.

71. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second transmitter comprises:

one or more second modulator cores, each second modulator core for modulating a respective second transmit data interface stream to produce one or more second transmit symbol streams; and

one or more second transmit RF chains, each second transmit RF chain for converting from a respective one of one or more second transmit chain input signals to a respective one of one or more second transmit RF signals;

wherein each second transmit data interface stream comprises at least a portion of the second information; and

wherein each of the one or more second transmit RF chains is coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements.

72. The hybrid band radio of claim 71 wherein each respective one of the one or more second transmit chain input signals is derived from a respective one of each of the one or more second transmit symbol streams.

73. The hybrid band radio of claim 71 wherein the second transmitter further comprises:

a second transmit path channel multiplexer, interposed between the one or more second modulator cores and the one or more second transmit RF chains, for producing the one or more second transmit chain input signals provided to the one or more second transmit RF chains from the one or more second transmit symbol streams.

74. The hybrid band radio of claim 73 wherein the second transmit path channel multiplexer is capable of operating on one or more successive blocks of symbols from the one or more second transmit symbol streams.

75. The hybrid band radio of claim 74 wherein the second transmit path channel multiplexer comprises:

at least one second cyclic prefix adder that prepends a fraction of a block of second transmit chain time domain samples to be transmitted sequentially last in time to such block to produce a cyclically-extended block of second transmit chain time domain samples.

76. The hybrid band radio of claim 71 wherein each of the one or more second modulator cores comprises at least an encoder and a symbol mapper.

77. The hybrid band radio of claim 71 wherein each of the one or more second transmit RF chains comprises at least a vector modulator and two digital to analog converters that are capable of producing a respective second transmit RF signal from a respective one of the one or more second transmit chain input signals, each said respective one of the one or more second transmit chain input signals comprised of digital baseband quadrature signals.

78. The hybrid band radio of claim 71 wherein each of the one or more second transmit RF chains is coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements via at least one of:

a switch, a band-select filter, a duplex filter, a coaxial cable, a circuit board trace, or a power amplifier.

79. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein each respective one of the one or more first receive symbol streams is derived from a respective one of each of the one or more first receive chain output signals.

80. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first receiver further comprises:

a first frequency selective receive path channel multiplexer, interposed between the one or more first demodulator cores and the one or more first receive RF chains, for generating the one or more first receive symbol streams from one or more of the one or more first receive chain output signals.

81. The backhaul radio of claim 80 wherein the first frequency selective receive path channel multiplexer comprises at least one of a Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) combiner or equalizer, a maximal ratio combining (MRC) combiner or equalizer, a minimum mean squared error (MMSE) combiner or equalizer, an Eigen Beam Forming (EBF) combiner or equalizer, a receive beam forming (BF) combiner or equalizer, a Zero Forcing (ZF) combiner or equalizer, a channel estimator, a Maximal Likelihood (DL) detector, an Interference Canceller (IC), a VBLAST combiner or equalizer, a Discrete Fourier Transformer (DFT), a Fast Fourier Transformer (FFT), or an Inverse Fast Fourier Transformer (IFFT).

82. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein each of the one or more first demodulator cores comprises at least a decoder and a soft decision symbol demapper.

83. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein each of the one or more first receive RF chains comprises at least a vector demodulator and two analog to digital converters that are capable of producing the respective one of the one or more first receive chain output signals, each said respective one of the one or more first receive chain output signals comprised of digital baseband quadrature signals.

84. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein each of the one or more first receive RF chains is coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more first antenna assembly elements via at least one of:

a switch, a band-select filter, a duplex filter, a coaxial cable, a circuit board trace, or a low noise amplifier.

85. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna assembly comprised within the first radio transceiver is capable of being aligned for communication over the first wireless link with the third radio transceiver, wherein the third radio transceiver is located at a first remote location;

and wherein the second antenna assembly comprised within the second radio transceiver is capable of being aligned for communication over the second wireless link with the fourth radio transceiver, wherein the fourth radio transceiver is located at a second remote location.

86. The hybrid band radio of claim 85 wherein the first remote location is at a common location with respect to the second remote location.

87. The hybrid band radio of claim 85 wherein the first remote location is at a different location with respect to the second remote location.

88. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna assembly within the first radio transceiver is capable of being aligned for communication over the first wireless link with the third radio transceiver via at least a motorized alignment mechanism.

89. The hybrid band radio of claim 88 wherein the motorized alignment mechanism comprises at least a servo motor.

90. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first antenna assembly within the first radio transceiver is capable of being aligned for communication over the first wireless link with the third radio transceiver via at least a beam steering approach at either or both of the first transmitter and the first receiver.

91. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first performance metric is derived from at least a first throughput associated with the first wireless link.

92. The hybrid band radio of claim 91 wherein the first throughput is an instantaneous supportable data rate associated with the first wireless link.

93. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first performance metric is derived from at least first channel state information associated with the first wireless link.

94. The hybrid band radio of claim 93 wherein the first channel state information comprises at least one of:

a signal to noise ratio, a signal to interference and noise ratio, a receive channel delay spread, an interference level, or a receive signal level.

95. The hybrid band radio of claim 93 wherein the first channel state information is determined at the first radio transceiver.

96. The hybrid band radio of claim 93 wherein the first channel state information is determined at the third radio transceiver and is communicated to the first radio transceiver over either of the first wireless link or the second wireless link.

97. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first performance metric accounts for a variation in an operating environment associated with the first wireless link.

98. The hybrid band radio of claim 97 wherein the variation in the operating environment associated with the first wireless link is caused by at least one of a structure vibration, a temperature change, or a rain fade.

99. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first performance metric is derived from at least a radio link failure condition associated with the first wireless link.

100. The hybrid band radio of claim 99 wherein the radio link failure condition associated with the first wireless link accounts for at least one of:

a physical failure of a component within the first radio transceiver, a degradation of the first wireless link due to either changing propagation environment or additional co-channel interference such that a first throughput associated with the first wireless link is less than a pre-determined throughput level, or a failure at the third radio transceiver that prevents connection to a destination of the first data.

101. The hybrid band radio of claim 100 wherein the degradation of the first wireless link due to changing propagation environment is caused by at least one of a structure vibration, a temperature change, or a rain fade.

102. The hybrid band radio of claim 100 wherein the pre-determined throughput level is a data rate necessary to support transmission of the first data over the first wireless link.

103. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first data does not comprise any of the outbound data comprised within the second data.

104. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first data comprises at least the outbound data comprised within the second data.

105. The hybrid band radio of claim 104 wherein the second data comprises certain of the outbound data corresponding to most critical traffic.

106. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second data comprises at least the outbound data comprised within the first data.

107. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first data is identical to the second data.

108. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first data comprises none of the outbound data.

109. The hybrid band radio of claim 108 wherein the second data comprises all of the outbound data.

110. The hybrid band radio of claim 108 wherein the second data comprises certain of the outbound data corresponding to most critical traffic.

111. The hybrid band radio of claim 110 wherein the second data excludes certain of the outbound data corresponding to less critical traffic.

112. The hybrid band radio of claim 111 wherein the controller is capable of classifying the outbound data into categories corresponding to at least the most critical traffic and the less critical traffic.

113. The hybrid band radio of claim 112 wherein the classifying of the outbound data into categories is based upon at least one of:

MPLS, 802.1p, 802.1q, DSRC, IntServ, DifServ, or other related Quality of Service (QOS) or Class of Service (COS) prioritization or classification schemes.

114. The hybrid band radio of claim 112 wherein the classifying of the outbound data into categories is based upon prioritization as indicated by a 3-bit Priority Code Point (PCP) field within a Ethernet frame header comprised within the outbound data.

115. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second data comprises none of the outbound data.

116. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first data comprises all of the outbound data.

117. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second data comprises all of the outbound data.

118. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the first information further comprises at least certain first control signaling information associated with the first wireless link.

119. The hybrid band radio of claim 1 wherein the second information further comprises at least certain second control signaling information associated with the second wireless link.

120. The hybrid band radio of claim 119 wherein the second information further comprises at least certain first control signaling information associated with the first wireless link based upon at least the first performance metric.

121. The hybrid band radio of claim 119 wherein the second information further comprises at least certain re-transmissions of the first data for the first transmitter based upon at least the first performance metric.

122. The hybrid band radio of claim 119 wherein the second information further comprises at least certain first control signaling information associated with the first wireless link if the first performance metric indicates a radio link failure condition associated with the first wireless link.

123. The hybrid band radio of claim 120 wherein the certain first control signaling information comprises at least one of:

a control frame, an acknowledgement frame, a negative acknowledgement frame, a modulation and coding scheme, an operational frequency, a coordination of retransmissions of data received in error, a coordination of adaptive transmitter beam forming, an antenna control message, a signaling of metrics or commands used to aid in an alignment of the first antenna assembly, or a signaling of channel state information.

124. A hybrid band radio for communicating outbound data comprising:

a first radio transceiver for communicating over a first wireless link with a third radio transceiver, wherein the first wireless link is a bi-directional communications link between the first radio transceiver

and the third radio transceiver, the first radio transceiver comprising;

a first antenna assembly comprising one or more first antenna assembly elements; and

a first transmitter for transmitting first information over a first frequency band to the third radio transceiver, the first information comprising at least first data, and the first transmitter coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more first antenna assembly elements;

a second radio transceiver for communicating over a second wireless link with a fourth radio transceiver, wherein the second wireless link is a bi-directional communications link between the second radio transceiver and the fourth radio transceiver, the second radio transceiver comprising;

a second antenna assembly comprising one or more second antenna assembly elemements;

a second transmitter for transmitting second information over a second frequency band to the fourth radio transceiver, the second information comprising at least second data, and the second transmitter coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements; and

a second receiving for receiving fourth information over a fourth frequency band from the fourth radio transceiver, the second transceiver comprising;

one or more second demodulator cores, each second demodulator core for demodulating one or more of one or more second receive symbol streams to produce one or more second receive data interface streams; and

,

a plurality of second receive RF chains, each second receive RF chain for converting from a respective one of a plurality of second receive RF signals to a respective one of a plurality of second receive chain output signals;

wherein each second receive data interface stream comprises at least a portion of the fourth information; and

wherein each of the plurality of second receive RF chains is coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements;

and a controller at least for receiving the outbound data, for directing up to a first portion of the outbound data as first data for the first transmitter based at least upon a first performance metric associated with the first wireless link, and for directing up to a second portion of the outbound data as second data for the second transmitter based at least upon the first performance metric;

wherein the first frequency band is an upper band located above 10 GHz within a radio frequency (RF) spectrum range, the second frequency band is a lower band located at or below 10 GHz within the radio frequency (RF) spectrum range, and the fourth frequency band is a lower band located at or below 10 GHz within the radio frequency (RF) spectrum range;

and wherein a second antenna beamwidth associated with the second antenna assembly is wider than a first antenna beamwidth associated with the first antenna assembly.

125. The hybrid band radio of claim 124 wherein the fourth frequency band does not overlap with the second frequency band.

126. The hybrid band radio of claim 124 wherein the fourth frequency band overlaps with the second frequency band.

127. The hybrid band radio of claim 124 wherein at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements coupled or couplable to at least one of the plurality of second receive RF chains is also coupled or couplable to the second transmitter.

128. The hybrid band radio of claim 124 wherein the one or more second antenna assembly elements coupled or couplable to the plurality of second receive RF chains are comprised within a first subset of second antenna assembly elements, the one or more second antenna assembly elements coupled or couplable to the second transmitter are comprised within a second subset of second antenna assembly elements, and the second subset of second antenna assembly elements does not comprise any of the second antenna assembly elements comprised within the first subset of second antenna assembly elements.

129. The hybrid band radio of claim 124 wherein the second receiver further comprises:

a second frequency selective receive path channel multiplexer, interposed between the one or more second demodulator cores and at least two of the plurality of second receive RF chains, for generating the one or more second receive symbol streams from at least two of the plurality of second receive chain output signals.

130. The backhaul radio of claim 129 wherein the second frequency selective receive path channel multiplexer comprises at least one of a Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) combiner or equalizer, a maximal ratio combining (MRC) combiner or equalizer, a minimum mean squared error (MMSE) combiner or equalizer, an Eigen Beam Forming (EBF) combiner or equalizer, a receive beam forming (BF) combiner or equalizer, a Zero Forcing (ZF) combiner or equalizer, a channel estimator, a Maximal Likelihood (DL) detector, an Interference Canceller (IC), a VBLAST combiner or equalizer, a Discrete Fourier Transformer (DFT), a Fast Fourier Transformer (FFT), or an Inverse Fast Fourier Transformer (IFFT).

131. The hybrid band radio of claim 124 wherein each of the one or more second demodulator cores comprises at least a decoder and a soft decision symbol demapper.

132. The hybrid band radio of claim 124 wherein each of the plurality of second receive RF chains comprises at least a vector demodulator and two analog to digital converters that are capable of producing the respective one of the plurality of second receive chain output signals, each said respective one of the plurality of second receive chain output signals comprised of digital baseband quadrature signals.

133. The hybrid band radio of claim 124 wherein each of the plurality of second receive RF chains is coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements via at least one of:

a switch, a band-select filter, a duplex filter, a coaxial cable, a circuit board trace, or a low noise amplifier.

134. The hybrid band radio of claim 124 wherein the second antenna assembly within the second radio transceiver is capable of being aligned for communication over the second wireless link with the fourth radio transceiver via at least a beam steering approach at either or both of the second transmitter and the second receiver.

135. A hybrid band radio for communicating outbound data comprising:

a first radio transceiver for communicating over a first wireless link with a third radio transceiver, wherein the first wireless link is a bi-directional communications link between the first radio transceiver and the third radio transceiver, the first radio transceiver comprising;

a first antenna assembly comprising one or more first antenna assembly elements; and

a first transmitter for transmitting first information over a first frequency band to the third radio transceiver, the first information comprising at least first data, and the first transmitter coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more first antenna assembly elements;

a second radio transceiver for communicating over a second wireless link with a fourth radio transceiver, wherein the second wireless link is a bi-directional communications link between the second radio transceiver and the fourth radio transceiver, the second radio transceiver comprising;

a second antenna assembly comprising one or more second antenna assembly elements; and

a second transmitter for transmitting second information over a second frequency band to the fourth radio transceiver, the second information comprising at least second data, and the second transmitter coupled or couplable to at least one of the one or more second antenna assembly elements;

and a controller at least for receiving the outbound data, for directing up to a first portion of the outbound data as first data for the first transmitter based at least upon a first performance metric associated with the first wireless link, and upon a second performance matric associated with the second wireless link, and for directing up to a second portion of the outbound data as second data for the second transmitter based at lease upon the first performance metric and the second performance metric;

wherein the first frequency band is an upper band located above 10 GHz within a radio frequency (RF) spectrum range, and the second frequency band is a lower band located at or below 10 GHz within the radio frequency (RF) spectrum range;

and wherein a second antenna beamwidth associated with the second antenna assembly is wider than a first antenna beamwidth associated with the first antenna assembly.