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WO2021081431A1 - Système d'antenne à relais actif à gain élevé - Google Patents

Système d'antenne à relais actif à gain élevé Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2021081431A1
WO2021081431A1 PCT/US2020/057199 US2020057199W WO2021081431A1 WO 2021081431 A1 WO2021081431 A1 WO 2021081431A1 US 2020057199 W US2020057199 W US 2020057199W WO 2021081431 A1 WO2021081431 A1 WO 2021081431A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
antenna system
active relay
donor
service unit
module
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
PCT/US2020/057199
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English (en)
Inventor
Jun Fang
Qitang LU
Hratchia Tom ZARIAN
Maha Achour
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Metawave Corp
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Metawave Corp
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Metawave Corp filed Critical Metawave Corp
Publication of WO2021081431A1 publication Critical patent/WO2021081431A1/fr
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
    • H04B7/14—Relay systems
    • H04B7/15—Active relay systems
    • H04B7/155—Ground-based stations
    • H04B7/15507—Relay station based processing for cell extension or control of coverage area
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04B—TRANSMISSION
    • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
    • H04B7/14—Relay systems
    • H04B7/15—Active relay systems
    • H04B7/155—Ground-based stations
    • H04B7/15528—Control of operation parameters of a relay station to exploit the physical medium
    • H04B7/15535—Control of relay amplifier gain

Definitions

  • New generation wireless networks are increasingly becoming a necessity to accommodate user demands.
  • Mobile data traffic continues to grow every year, challenging the wireless networks to provide greater speed, connect more devices, have lower latency, and transmit more and more data at once.
  • Users now expect instant wireless connectivity regardless of the environment and circumstances, whether it is in an office building, a public space, an open preserve, or a vehicle.
  • a new wireless standard known as 5G has been designed for deployment in the near future.
  • the 5G standards extend operations to millimeter-wave bands, which covers frequencies between beyond 6 GHz, and to planned 24 GHz, 26 GHz, 28 GHz, and 39 GHz, and up to 300 GHz, all over the world.
  • the millimeter-wave spectrum provides narrow wavelengths in the range of approximately 1 to 10 millimeters that are susceptible to high atmospheric attenuation and have to operate at short ranges (e.g., just over a kilometer).
  • array antennas present several advantages in high gain, narrow beams, and beam steerability. For dense-scattering areas, for example, street canyon, in-building and shopping malls, due to multipath, shadowing and geographical obstructions, blind spots may exist. For remote areas where the ranges are larger and extreme climatic conditions with heavy precipitation may occur, operators may be prevented from using large array antennas due to strong winds and storms.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a high gain active relay antenna system in an example environment and configuration
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a high gain active relay antenna system in another example environment and configuration
  • FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a high gain active relay antenna system and example implementations of its antennas and active relays;
  • FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an active relay for use in a high gain active relay antenna system in accordance with various examples
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another active relay for use in a high gain active relay antenna system in accordance with various examples
  • FIGs. 6A-6C are other example implementations in which an active relay is split into two separate functionalities, including a receive architecture and a transmit architecture;
  • FIG. 7 illustrates an active relay circuit implementation in accordance with various examples
  • FIG. 8 illustrates another active relay circuit implementation in accordance with various examples
  • FIG. 9 illustrates an example active relay architecture for use in various applications
  • FIG. 10 illustrates an active relay section for use with the active relay architecture of FIG. 9 in accordance with various examples
  • FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic diagram of a network environment using active relay antennas in accordance with various examples
  • FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic diagram of an active relay antenna system with a modular architecture in accordance with various examples
  • FIG. 13 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example of an active relay antenna system with an integrated architecture in accordance with various examples
  • FIG. 14 illustrates a schematic diagram of another example of an active relay antenna system with an integrated architecture in accordance with various examples.
  • FIG. 15 illustrates a flow chart of an example process of deploying an active relay antenna system in accordance with various examples.
  • a high gain active relay antenna system is disclosed.
  • the high gain active relay antenna system is suitable for many different millimeter-wave (mm-wave) applications and can be deployed in a variety of different environments and configurations. Millimeter-wave applications are those operating with frequencies between 24 and 300 GHz or a portion thereof, including 5G applications in the 24, 26, 28, 39, and 60 GHz range, among others.
  • the high gain active relay antenna system provides a high gain amplification of a wireless signal to connect with wireless devices and user equipment (“UE”) that are operational in complex environments, including outdoors with obstructing structures (e.g., skyscrapers, buildings, trees, etc.) and non-line-of-sight areas and indoors with walls and constructs.
  • the high gain active relay antenna system has an active amplification subsystem that is made of amplifiers in several stages. Non-limiting examples of stages include low noise amplifier stages, variable gain amplifier stages, and power amplifier stages.
  • the high gain active relay antenna system as described herein, optional functionalities, such as filtering and phase shifting, beamsteering, beamforming networks, and matching networks (“MNs”) may also be implemented.
  • the high gain active relay antenna system can be configured in different configurations. For example, network layer processing, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion, together with digital channelization filtering and other physical layer processing, in both analog and digital domains, can be implemented for relay solutions involving higher layers, such as the Media Access Control (“MAC”) layer.
  • MAC Media Access Control
  • Frequency conversion operations in both up-conversion and down- conversion may also be implemented in the high gain active relay antenna system, for additional functional requirements.
  • the main applications supported by the proposed high gain active relay antenna system include general wireless communication network optimization in various scenarios, planned or temporary, for example, range extension of relay links, availability enhancements of radio links in extreme conditions, and all possible solutions for mission critical applications.
  • the high gain active relay antenna system described hereinbelow provides a way for a network operator to provide ubiquitous coverage, and vastly improve coverage performance.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram showing a high gain active relay antenna system 100 in an example environment and configuration.
  • High gain active relay antenna system 100 or simply relay 100 for description purposes, is a robust and low-cost relay solution that is positioned as illustrated between a base station (“BS”) 102 and a user equipment (“UE”) 104 to optimize network coverage.
  • Relay 100 can be a fixed or mobile relay positioned in different elements across a network environment, including, for example, buildings, vehicles, lifters, remote areas, underground, off-shore on the sea, airliners, and so on.
  • relay 100 can be used for wireless communications from BS 102 to UE 104 and vice-versa, from UE 104 to BS 102.
  • high gain active relay antenna system 100 provides a high gain to compensate for any propagation loss that occurs in the environment, which can be as high as 120 dB to 130 dB in a 28 GHz 5G network.
  • the link from BS 102 to UE 104 is referred to herein as the forward link (“FWD link”) and involves a backhaul section from BS 102 to relay 100 and an access section from relay 100 to UE 104.
  • the link from UE 104 to BS 102 is referred to herein as the return link (“RTN link”) and involves an access section from UE 104 to relay 100 and a backhaul section from relay 100 to BS 102.
  • RTN link return link
  • relay 100 can be implemented with high gain array antennas.
  • relay 100 includes two pairs of antennas, one pair for the FWD link, and the other pair for the RTN link.
  • the FWD link antenna pair includes FWD receive antenna 108 to receive signals transmitted from BS 102 to UE 104 via relay 100, and FWD transmit antenna 110 to relay the signals to UE 104.
  • the RTN link antenna pair includes RTN receive antenna 112 to receive signals transmitted from the UE 104 to BS 102 via relay 100 and RTN transmit antenna 114 to relay the signals to the BS 102.
  • the antennas between relay 100 and UE 104, i.e., FWD transmit antenna 110 and RTN receive antenna 112 are referred to as access link antennas, while the antennas between relay 100 and BS 102, i.e., FWD receive antenna 108 and RTN transmit antenna 114, are referred to as backhaul link antennas.
  • Each pair of relay antennas includes an active relay in between: FWD active relay 116 between FWD receive antenna 108 and FWD transmit antenna 110, and RTN active relay 118 between RTN receive antenna 112 and RTN transmit antenna 114.
  • Active relays 116 and 118 are designed to provide a high power gain, boosting a weak signal plagued by propagation loss from the receive antenna to a specific gain level to drive the transmit antenna.
  • Relay 100 also includes support mounts such as mount 120 to serve as support members of the relay 100 antennas and active relays.
  • the proposed architecture of relay 100 with two antenna pairs and one active relay in between the receive and transmit antennas in each antenna pair is particularly suitable for millimeter-wave relay applications where the backhaul link is typically a point-to-point link and the access link is a point-to-multipoint link.
  • the architecture of relay 100 allows a separation of access and backhaul antennas so that they are optimized in an independent way without any constraint from each other, i.e., the access link antennas can be designed for a wide, and/or shaped coverage to provide optimized connectivity with the UEs, while the backhaul antennas can be implemented with high directivity designs with narrow beams to compensate for the high path loss in the millimeter-wave band, alleviating the interference of other cells.
  • the backhaul antennas can be optimally pointed to the BS 102, and the access link antennas can point to the coverage area of UEs 104 at the best orientation angle.
  • the access link antennas can be designed to form shaped beams, i.e., beams with specific shapes to cover an area in which most of the subareas are covered and some of the areas can be masked without radio signals reached. This is a unique feature with the proposed two-antenna architecture for relay 100. Note also that an active solution becomes necessary and even indispensable in millimeter- wave wireless applications.
  • the power amplification functionality provided by active relays 116 and 118 enables a power gain from some tens of dB up to over hundreds of dB to boost the relayed signal in both downlink and uplink, meeting the connectivity requirements in the access links.
  • a high gain active relay antenna system 200 is mounted on a mobile van 202 between a BS 204 and a UE 206. As shown with the dotted arrows, the path between BS 204 and UE 206 is blocked by obstructing objects 208, which may include infrastructure (e.g., high rise buildings), vegetation, and so on.
  • the BS 204, relay 200 and UE 206 are positioned in a coaxial turning angle ⁇ ABC. The positioning of relay 200 in van 202 enables the BS 204 to provide wireless coverage to UE 206 at a high gain and therefore achieve the desired performance and wireless experience to users.
  • FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a high gain active relay antenna system 300 and example implementations of its antennas and active relays.
  • High gain active relay antenna system or relay 300 is implemented as described above with reference to FIGs. 1 and 2.
  • Relay 300 can either be fixed in an infrastructure (e.g., building, wall, etc.) or mobile as mounted in a vehicle. In either configuration, relay 300 includes two pairs of antennas, one pair for the FWD link and another for the RTN link. Each antenna pair has an active relay to provide a high power gain for the wireless signal received at the receive antenna and to drive the transmit antenna.
  • active relay 302 An example implementation of an active relay is active relay 302, which as described in more detail below, is implemented with a modular analog signal processing and amplification architecture that may be designed to be suited for different relay applications where various trade-offs are possible between antennas and radio.
  • the active relay 302 includes coaxial connectors, e.g., coaxial connector 304, for connecting to the antenna pairs in relay 300.
  • the antennas in relay 300 may be array antennas designed for the specific application, environment (e.g., whether in a city, remote area, etc.) and associated conditions (e.g., weather, population, etc.).
  • the antennas can be based on metastructures, which are specially designed structures that manipulate electromagnetic signals to suite various applications.
  • Each antenna can be made 3D maneuverable in roll, pitch and yaw using a suitable mechanical structure, as illustrated with antenna 306. Note that the yaw rotation adjusts the antenna in azimuth, the pitch rotation corresponds to elevation, and the roll rotation can be used to adapt to a specific linear polarization.
  • phased array antennas such as antenna 306 are lighter and without separate feed structures for better aerodynamics.
  • the feed network for antenna 306 is embedded in the phased array PCB.
  • FIG. 4 illustrates an example implementation of an active relay 400 for use in a high gain active relay antenna system.
  • Active relay 400 includes wideband stages without passband filtering for use with Frequency Selective Surface (“FSS”) arrays that provide frequency selectivity.
  • the stages in active relay 400 include a Low-Noise Amplifier (“LNA”) stage of two LNAs, LNA 402 and switchable LNA 404, a Linear Amplifier (“LA”) stage of LA 406 and LA 408, both with gain regulation, and a Power Amplifier (“PA”) stage of PA 410.
  • LNA Low-Noise Amplifier
  • LA Linear Amplifier
  • PA Power Amplifier
  • These amplifier stages 402, 404, 406, 408, and 410 are able to generate an adjustable power gain to boost wireless signals in a 5G wireless network and improve overall coverage and network performance to the network users.
  • Active relay architecture 500 includes an LNA stage with switchable LNAs 502, 504, 506, and 508, a first step-adjustable attenuation stage 510, a PA stage 512 and a second step- adjustable attenuation stage 514. Similar to active relay architecture 400 in FIG. 4, active relay architecture 500 also provides an adjustable power gain to boost wireless signals and optimize the performance in a 5G wireless network.
  • another example implementation is to split the active relay architecture into two separate functionalities, including a receive architecture 602 and a transmit architecture 600, as shown in FIGs. 6A-6C.
  • Several advantages of this architectural arrangement are present in more flexible implementations and applications.
  • One of the advantages is in design consideration, where the transmit architecture 600 is designed with thermal precautions as it works in a higher regime of power handling, whereas the receive architecture 602 is designed in coaxial signal regime and thus a low noise design methodology is applied.
  • a further advantage is a high flexibility to meet various different system level requirements for different applications. For example, frequency filtering and conversions, digital processors, and L2 switching, and L3 routing, can all be accommodated as the functional blocks in the middle, between the receive and transmit antennas, as shown in FIG. 6C with architecture 604.
  • AGC Automatic Gain Control
  • RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator
  • the AGC function is also separated and distributed to separate transmit and receive sections, so that the FWD link and RTN links are controlled and maintained independently.
  • FIG. 7 illustrates an implementation of an active relay circuit 700 in accordance with various examples.
  • Active relay circuit 700 has active relay stages 702, 704, 706, 708, and 710 implemented as in FIG. 4 and between two coaxial connectors 712 and 714.
  • Active relay circuit 700 also includes other circuit components in a flexible configuration suitable for different 5G applications at 28 GHz, including an autonomous DC power supply 716, an external digital control interface in an SPI bus 718, a phase shifter 720, filters 722 and 724, a temperature sensor 726, and an IoT circuit 728 coupled to the SPI bus 718 and an SNMP circuit 730 for IoT applications.
  • Additional circuit components may be included in architecture 700 as desired to boost the gain from a receive antenna to a transmit antenna.
  • the transmit and receive antennas coupled to an active relay such as relay 700 may be optimally and separately designed per coverage requirements.
  • a beam forming antenna design for example, can be implemented and used in 5G applications without constraints while achieving both high performance and low cost.
  • the active relay circuit 700 provides an adjustable power gain, so that active relay solutions can be applied universally to almost any wireless communications scenario, both indoors and outdoors. Further, in active relay solutions with separate antennas and transceivers, interference is mitigated.
  • FIG. 8 Another example of an implementation of an active relay circuit 800 is illustrated in FIG. 8.
  • Active relay circuit 800 is designed with integrated LNAs 802 and 804, and Variable Gain Amplifiers (“VGAs”) 806 and 808. These amplifiers, in addition to other LAs and PAs, e.g., PA 810, can be integrated into a single MMIC for market scalability. Additional features such as phase shifter 812 for beam steering, filter 814, switches 816 and 818, temperature sensor 820, attenuator 822, AGC 824, mixers (not shown) for up and down conversion, and so on, can all be included in active relay circuit 800.
  • phase shifter 812 for beam steering filter 814, switches 816 and 818, temperature sensor 820, attenuator 822, AGC 824, mixers (not shown) for up and down conversion, and so on, can all be included in active relay circuit 800.
  • Functionalities such as signal interfaces with both differential or single-ended options, SPI slave transceiver, IoT radio for control, alarm, and update, power supply, clocks and other protections, and testing/monitoring components (e.g., SNMPv2, and/or SNMPv3) over SPI or IoT can be external and via dedicated pins.
  • SPI slave transceiver for control, alarm, and update, power supply, clocks and other protections
  • testing/monitoring components e.g., SNMPv2, and/or SNMPv3
  • the active relay architectures described herein can be applied in various use cases with system level solutions. Examples include partial power combining and dividing in beamforming and steering, active relay solutions based on subarray configurations, active power bootstrapping with separated MMRA antennas, active relay solutions for TDD operations, and many others.
  • An example solution is illustrated in FIG. 9, where active relays can be used to realize better design trade-offs in partial power dividing and partial power combining networks.
  • an active relay architecture 900 multiple active relay sections 902 are implemented to drive transmission signals from phase array receive antennas 904 and partial power combining network 906 to partial power dividing network 908 and ultimately phase array transmit antennas 910.
  • the number of elements can be very large.
  • a “one- element-one -PA” configuration could be very difficult to implement, and in addition, DC power consumption could be prohibitive.
  • the signals received at various elements can be combined with power combiners.
  • Once amplified by the PAs at the active relay sections 902, these amplified signals can be all combined, divided, and redistributed for transmission.
  • the active relay architecture 900 is scalable and adaptable to both variable and fixed scenarios for the phase alignments between the two independent receive and transmit phase arrays. Almost any 5G relay scenario can be supported with this universal architecture configuration for highly flexible and active relay solutions with trade-offs done between antenna cost and coverage performance.
  • FIG. 10 illustrates an example active relay section 1000 for use with the active relay architecture of FIG. 9.
  • Active section 1000 is composed of an input line, LNAs, VGAs, MNs, PAs, and a post line, with the VGA having an adjustable gain. Two such active sections 1000 can be combined with two switches for TDD full-duplex operation. Active section 1000 can be implemented as a single subsystem or as a separate device for a flexible use in a relay antenna system, using suitable connections including cables.
  • FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic diagram of a network environment 1100 using active relay antennas in accordance with various examples.
  • the network environment 1100 includes a source 1102 (e.g., a base station) providing downlink signaling to a coverage area 1108.
  • a source 1102 e.g., a base station
  • active relay antennas 1104 and 1106 serving as repeaters to increase the signal strength of the downlink signaling, thereby improving the coverage of the downlink signaling to zones 1108-1, 1108-2, 1108-3, 1108-4.
  • the zones 1108-1, 1108- 2, 1108-3, 1108-4 may be in non-line-of-sight areas from the source 1102 or regions outside of the coverage range of the source 1102.
  • the active relay antennas 1104 and 1106 may be deployed in a manner that radiates the enhanced downlink signaling in a specified direction toward a target coverage area.
  • the active relay antennas 1104 and 1106 include a modular architecture (FIG. 12) or integrated architectures (FIGs. 13 and 14).
  • FIG. 12 illustrates a schematic diagram of an active relay antenna system 1200 with a modular architecture in accordance with various examples.
  • the active relay antenna system 1200 includes a donor unit module 1202, an intermediate frequency (IF) module 1204, and service unit modules 1206 (depicted as “Service Unit 1”), 1208 (depicted as “Service Unit 2”), and 1210 (depicted as “Service Unit 3”).
  • the donor unit module 1202 can interface with a base station, such as a next-generation NodeB (or gNB) to distribute the downlink signaling from the base station to the service units 1206, 1208, 1210.
  • the donor unit module 1202 may be configured to receive downlink signaling from the base station and to transmit uplink signaling to the base station.
  • the intermediate frequency module 1204 can be coupled to the donor unit module 1202 and can be configured to apply amplification to the downlink signaling from the donor unit module 1202 at an intermediate frequency.
  • the service unit modules 1206, 1208, 1210 are associated with User Equipment (UE) 1, 2, 3, respectively.
  • the service unit modules 1206, 1208, 1210 can be coupled to the intermediate frequency module 1204 and can be configured to convert the downlink signaling from the intermediate frequency module 1204 to a radio frequency and relay the downlink signaling at the radio frequency to one or more user equipment 1, 2, and 3.
  • the gNB and UEs may operate at 28 GHz in some implementations or may operate at 39 GHz in other implementations.
  • the service unit modules 1206, 1208, 1210 include active relay antennas. In other implementations, the service unit modules 1206, 1208, 1210 may be implemented as passive relay antennas.
  • a passive reflectarray antenna 1212 (depicted as “Passive Reflectarray Antenna 1”) may be implemented in lieu of the service unit module 1206 and a passive reflectarray antenna 1214 (depicted as “Passive Reflectarray Antenna 2”) may be implemented in lieu of the service unit module 1208, for relaying the signaling from the donor unit module 1202 to the intended coverage areas.
  • each of the donor unit module 1202 and service unit modules 1206, 1208 and 1210 includes a power amplifier (PA), a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a mixer (e.g., up-converter, down-converter).
  • the mixer in the donor unit module 1202 may be configured to down-convert the Radio Frequency (RF) signaling to an IF frequency.
  • the mixers in the service unit modules 1206, 1208, 1210 may be configured to up-convert the IF signaling to RF frequency (e.g., 28 GHz, 39 GHz).
  • the downlink signal is being received by the donor unit module 1202 and after amplification it is down converted in frequency to an IF frequency.
  • the IF frequency may be set to 5 GHz.
  • the downlink signal is being further amplified by the IF module 1204 and sent to the service unit modules 1206, 1208, 1210 through cables.
  • the downlink signal is being up-converted back to the original frequency.
  • the downlink signal is sent to the user equipment.
  • the same mechanism can be utilized with the exception that the dataflow is in reverse direction.
  • the modular architecture of FIG. 12 has advantages over traditional active relay antenna architectures. For example, the downlink signal is sent to different modules in IF frequency. In this respect, only cables that are rated for IF frequency can be used, which are significantly less in cost. Since each module can be installed and oriented separately, there is more flexibility to use this modular architecture. The modular architecture also allows integration of all the circuitry to the antenna board for each module. A broader gain range is achievable using this modular architecture. In some implementations, the modular architecture of FIG. 12 may require synchronization of the local oscillator in different modules, which may limit the cable distance between modules to not exceed a certain length (e.g., less than 1 meter).
  • FIG. 13 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example of an active relay antenna system 1300 with an integrated architecture in accordance with various examples.
  • the active relay antenna system 1300 includes a donor unit 1302 and service unit modules 1306 (depicted as “Service Unit 1”), 1308 (depicted as “Service Unit 2”), 1310 (depicted as “Service Unit 3”).
  • the active relay antenna system 1300 includes an IF module (not shown) coupled to the donor unit 1302 and the service unit modules 1306, 1308, 1310.
  • the only difference between the integrated architecture of FIG. 13 and the modular architecture 1200 is that the entire framework is arranged inside the same enclosure.
  • the advantage of this architecture over traditional active relay antenna architectures is that since the entire framework is arranged inside the same enclosure that there is no concern of having to synchronize the Uos for different modules. Also, there is no need to use cables, but rather the interconnections may be made with waveguide transmission lines in some implementations.
  • the different modules in the active relay antenna system 1300 may be implemented as individual blades (or boards) that are interconnected by coupling to a backplane.
  • the integrated architecture of the active relay antenna system 1300 may not be as flexible compared to the modular architecture of FIG. 12, so the active relay antenna system 1300 may include a separate antenna unit (not shown).
  • FIG. 14 illustrates a schematic diagram of another example of an active relay antenna system 1400 with an integrated architecture in accordance with various examples. This configuration is applicable to any one-to-multiple cases while FIG. 14 presents a one-to-three case.
  • the UNA is placed near to the phased array antenna for optimized noise figure.
  • the active relay antenna system 1400 utilizes a direct repeater concept, where no frequency translation is performed compared to the architectures of FIGs. 12 and 13.
  • the active relay antenna system 1400 includes a donor antenna 1402, amplifier stage 1404, power splitter network 1406, and service unit antennas 1408-1, 1408-2, 1408-3.
  • the donor antenna 1402 may represent the antenna at a donor unit.
  • the service unit antennas 1408-1, 1408-2, 1408-3 may represent the antennas at service unit modules.
  • the active relay antenna system 1400 includes a downlink path with signaling traveling from the donor antenna 1402 to the service unit antennas 1408-1, 1408-2, 1408-3, and an uplink path with signaling traveling from the service unit antennas 1408-1, 1408-2, 1408-3 to the donor antenna 1402.
  • the downlink signal that is received from a base station via the receiver array in the donor antenna 1402 is first amplified by the amplifier stage 1404 and then split to multiple transmit signals by the power splitter network 1406.
  • the power splitter network 1406 includes a three-way power splitter in each of the downlink path and the uplink path.
  • the three-way power splitters are fixed in value, and can be equal or unequal, depending on implementation.
  • the power splitter network can have an insertion loss of about 6dB-8dB at each terminal with equal split power at the terminals.
  • Each split downlink signal is fed to the transmit arrays of respective ones of the service unit antennas 1408-1, 1408-2, 1408-3 for transmission to corresponding user equipment.
  • the uplink signals received via receive arrays of respective ones of the service unit antennas 1408-1, 1408-2, 1408-3 are combined by the power splitter network 1406, and then amplified by the amplifier stage 1404. After amplification, the combined uplink link is transmitted to the base station via the transmit array of the donor antenna 1402.
  • the uplink signals are received from different directions that may be significantly different from one another.
  • the uplink path may include an isolator or an attenuator between a low-noise amplifier coupled to the receive array of the service unit antennas 1408-1, 1408-2, 1408-3 and the power splitter network 1406.
  • the advantages of the integrated architecture of FIG. 14 over traditional active relay antenna architectures is that there is no frequency translation architecture, which makes the integrated architecture simpler and more cost effective.
  • the likelihood of signal distortion in the integrated architecture of FIG. 14 is significantly reduced so long as the signaling remains in the linear region.
  • the active relay antenna system 1400 may include additional amplification components to compensate for any additional insertion loss that may be inherent in the integrated architecture, which may limit the gain range of the architecture.
  • FIG. 15 illustrates a flow chart of an example process 1500 of deploying an active relay antenna system in accordance with various examples.
  • the example process 1500 is primarily described herein with reference to FIGs. 11-14; however, the example process 1500 is not limited to the active relay antenna systems of FIGs. 11-14.
  • the blocks of the example process 1500 are described herein as occurring in serial, or linearly. However, multiple blocks of the example process 1500 can occur in parallel.
  • the blocks of the example process 1500 can be performed in a different order than the order shown and/or one or more of the blocks of the example process 1500 are not performed.
  • the proposed procedure is generic which encompasses 5G NR system procedures such as SS/PBCH and RACH.
  • process 1500 begins at step 1502, where blind spots in a coverage area are identified.
  • the main reason is for filling one or several “blind spots” in the coverage area.
  • the “blind spots” are to be characterized in a formatted data, so that a suitable tool can handle them efficiently. These data can include 3D coordinates of the centers and ranges, shapes, etc., of the “blind spots.”
  • the process 1500 can include determining the number, locations, and antenna angles, of the RN’s, that will be used to optimize the coverage, by feeling the identified “blind spots.”
  • a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanning and AI-based deployment tool can be performed to efficiently plan, install, test and validate large scale relay node deployment.
  • a laser range finder and a laser angle finder may be used for the LiDAR scanning.
  • a link budget analysis is performed to validate the relay node parameters.
  • the link budget analysis can be performed to validate the temporary planning done at step 1504.
  • a determination is made as to whether the link budget analysis is validated. This step can be supplemented further by a 3D ray-tracing simulation, if necessary, to confirm the high-level system level link budget results. If the link budget analysis is validated, then the process 1500 proceeds to step 1512. Otherwise, the process 1500 proceeds back to step 1504. In other implementations, the process 1500 may proceed back to step 1502. [0054] Next, at step 1512, a number of relay nodes are deployed in a field.
  • step 1514 an Intemet-of-Things (IoT) test is conducted.
  • step 1516 a determination is made as to whether the IoT test was satisfactory (or passed). If the test passed, then the process 1500 terminates. Otherwise, the process 1500 proceeds back to step 1504. In other implementations, the process 1500 may proceed back to step 1502.
  • IoT Intemet-of-Things
  • a global coordinate system is calibrated to the field with a reference point, such that local coordinate systems for each site where an active relay node is targeted for installation can be established.
  • the laser range finder can be utilized to determine the distances to the blind spots, provided that the blind spots are all identified with their 3D coordinates.
  • the laser angle finder can be utilized to determine the antenna orientation angles. The gathered information from the laser range finder and laser angle finder, the parameters for the relay node can be determined.
  • an active relay antenna system includes a donor unit module configured for receiving downlink signaling from a base station and for transmitting uplink signaling to the base station, an intermediate frequency module coupled to the donor unit module and configured for applying the downlink signaling from the donor unit module at an intermediate frequency, and a plurality of service unit modules coupled to the intermediate frequency module and configured for converting the downlink signaling from the intermediate frequency module to a radio frequency and for relaying the downlink signaling at the radio frequency to one or more user equipment.
  • each of the plurality of service unit modules comprises a mixer stage and one or more amplification stages coupled to the mixer stage.
  • the one or more amplification stages comprises a low-noise amplifier (LNA) stage and a power amplifier (PA) stage.
  • LNA low-noise amplifier
  • PA power amplifier
  • the donor unit module, the intermediate frequency module, and the plurality of service unit modules are modular components fabricated on separate semiconductor dies.
  • the donor unit module, the intermediate frequency module, and the plurality of service unit modules are interconnected by physical cables.
  • the donor unit module, the intermediate frequency module, and the plurality of service unit modules are arranged in a same enclosure.
  • the donor unit module, the intermediate frequency module, and the plurality of service unit modules are interconnected by a backplane.
  • an active relay antenna system includes a donor antenna configured for receiving downlink signals from a base station and for transmitting uplink signals to the base station, a power splitter network coupled to the donor antenna, the power splitter network configured for dividing the downlink signals into separate downlink transmit signals and for combining the uplink signals into a combined uplink signal, and a plurality of service unit modules coupled to the power splitter network and configured for transmitting the downlink transmit signals to separate user equipment and for receiving the uplink signals from different incident directions.
  • the donor antenna, the power splitter network, and the plurality of service unit modules are arranged in a same enclosure.
  • the power splitter network includes a three-way power splitter.
  • the active relay antenna system further includes a low -noise amplifier (LNA) stage coupled to a receive array in the donor antenna and to receive arrays in the plurality of service unit modules, and a power amplifier (PA) stage coupled to a transmit array in the donor antenna and to transmit arrays in the plurality of service unit modules.
  • LNA low -noise amplifier
  • PA power amplifier
  • each of the plurality of service unit modules comprises a mixer stage and one or more amplification stages coupled to the mixer stage.
  • the one or more amplification stages comprises a low-noise amplifier (LNA) stage and a power amplifier (PA) stage.
  • LNA low-noise amplifier
  • PA power amplifier
  • a method for deploying an active relay antenna system in a network environment includes identifying a blind spot in a coverage area of the network environment, determining relay node parameters used for optimizing the coverage area, and performing a link budget analysis for optimization.
  • the method includes validating the relay node parameters based on the link budget analysis, deploying a plurality of relay nodes in the network environment, and/or conducting an Intemet-of-Things (IoT) test via the plurality of relay nodes.
  • IoT Intemet-of-Things
  • the blind spot in the coverage area includes a three-dimensional (3D) coordinate of a center, a range, and a shape for the blind spot, and is encoded in formatted data.
  • determining relay node parameters used for optimizing the coverage area comprises determining a number, a location, and an antenna angle of one or more relay nodes in the network environment.
  • the method further includes performing a range and angle finding via a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scanner configured for the range finding and angle finding.
  • the method also includes performing artificial- intelligence (Al)-based analysis on scanned measurements from the LiDAR scanner.
  • Al artificial- intelligence
  • the link budget analysis for optimization uses a 3D ray-tracing simulation.
  • the active relay antenna system includes a donor unit module, and an intermediate frequency module coupled to the donor unit module, and a plurality of service unit modules coupled to the intermediate frequency module.
  • the active relay antenna system includes a donor antenna configured for receiving downlink signaling from a base station and for transmitting uplink signaling to the base station, a power splitter network coupled to the donor antenna, and a plurality of service unit modules coupled to the power splitter network.
  • the active relay antenna system deployed using the method includes a donor unit module configured for receiving downlink signaling from a base station and for transmitting uplink signaling to the base station, an intermediate frequency module coupled to the donor unit module and configured for applying the downlink signaling from the donor unit module at an intermediate frequency, and a plurality of service unit modules coupled to the intermediate frequency module and configured for converting the downlink signaling from the intermediate frequency module to a radio frequency and for relaying the downlink signaling at the radio frequency to one or more user equipment.
  • the active relay antenna system deployed using the method includes a donor antenna configured for receiving downlink signals from a base station and for transmitting uplink signals to the base station, a power splitter network coupled to the donor antenna, the power splitter network configured for dividing the downlink signals into separate downlink transmit signals and for combining the uplink signals into a combined uplink signal, and a plurality of service unit modules coupled to the power splitter network and configured for transmitting the downlink transmit signals to separate user equipment and for receiving the uplink signals from different incident directions.
  • the phrase “at least one of’ preceding a series of items, with the terms “and” or “or” to separate any of the items, modifies the list as a whole, rather than each member of the list (i.e., each item).
  • the phrase “at least one of’ does not require selection of at least one item; rather, the phrase allows a meaning that includes at least one of any one of the items, and/or at least one of any combination of the items, and/or at least one of each of the items.
  • phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” or “at least one of A, B, or C” each refer to only A, only B, or only C; any combination of A, B, and C; and/or at least one of each of A, B, and C.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Radio Relay Systems (AREA)
  • Variable-Direction Aerials And Aerial Arrays (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

Les technologies selon l'invention se rapportent à un système d'antenne à relais actif. Le système d'antenne à relais actif comprend un module d'unité donneuse conçu pour recevoir une signalisation de liaison descendante en provenance d'une station de base et pour transmettre une signalisation de liaison montante à la station de base. Selon divers modes de réalisation, un module de fréquence intermédiaire (IF) est conçu pour appliquer une amplification à la signalisation de liaison descendante à partir de l'unité donneuse à une fréquence IF. Les modules d'une pluralité de modules d'unité de service sont couplés au module d'IF et sont conçus pour convertir la signalisation de liaison descendante du module d'IF à une radiofréquence et pour relayer la signalisation de liaison descendante à la RF pour séparer l'équipement d'utilisateur. D'autres exemples de l'invention concernent une antenne à relais actif qui comprend un réseau diviseur de puissance à la place du module d'IF et qui est conçue pour diviser des signaux de liaison descendante en signaux de transmission de liaison descendante distincts et pour combiner des signaux de liaison montante individuels en un signal de liaison montante combiné.
PCT/US2020/057199 2019-10-26 2020-10-23 Système d'antenne à relais actif à gain élevé Ceased WO2021081431A1 (fr)

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US62/926,425 2019-10-26

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