Sixty gigahertz wireless communication system
An example communication system includes a distributed unit of a fronthaul communication system architecture, wherein the distributed unit is in communication with a core network of the communication system, a radio unit of the fronthaul communication system architecture, wherein the radio unit is electrically coupled with at least one cellular antenna, and the radio unit is configured to transmit and receive wireless cellular signals, and a wireless communication link between the distributed unit and the radio unit. The wireless communication link includes a first system-on-chip (SoC) device electrically coupled with the radio unit, and a second SoC device electrically coupled with the distributed unit, wherein the first SoC device and the second SoC device are configured to wirelessly transmit communication signals between the radio unit and the distributed unit at a frequency of at least sixty Gigahertz.
1 . A communication system comprising:
a distributed unit of a fronthaul communication system architecture, wherein the distributed unit is in communication with a core network of the communication system;
a radio unit of the fronthaul communication system architecture, wherein the radio unit is electrically coupled with at least one cellular antenna, and the radio unit is configured to transmit and receive wireless cellular signals; and
a wireless communication link between the distributed unit and the radio unit, wherein the wireless communication link includes:
a first system-on-chip (SoC) device;
a first field-programmable gate array (FPGA) electrically coupled between the radio unit and the first SoC device;
a second SoC device;
a second FPGA electrically coupled between the distributed unit and the second SoC device, wherein the first SoC device and the second SoC device are configured to wirelessly transmit communication signals between the radio unit and the distributed unit, and the second SoC device includes a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface;
first and second beamforming chips electrically coupled with the first SoC device; and
third and fourth beamforming chips electrically coupled with the second SoC device, wherein the first and second beamforming chips are configured to wireless transmit communication signals with the first and second beamforming chips.
2 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the first SoC device and the second SoC device are configured to wirelessly transmit communication signals between the radio unit and the distributed unit at a frequency of at least sixty Gigahertz.
3 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the second FPGA is a backhaul enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) FPGA.
4 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the second SoC device is configured to receive enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI) Radio over Ethernet (RoE) data from a backhaul eCPRI field-programmable gate array (FPGA).
5 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication link includes an antenna array configured to transmit signals using beamforming, and the antenna array includes the first, second, third and fourth beamforming chips.
6 . The communication system of claim 5 , wherein the antenna array includes at least eight antenna elements.
7 . The communication system of claim 5 , wherein the antenna array is configured to operate according to a multiple input, multiple output communication arrangement.
8 . The communication system of claim 5 , wherein the antenna array is configured to transmit signals between the radio unit and the distributed unit according to at least one of an IEEE 802.11ay communication protocol or an IEEE 802.11ad communication protocol.
9 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication link is configured to transmit signals between the radio unit and the distributed unit with a latency of less than fifty microseconds.
10 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication link is configured to transmit data at a rate of at least 25 Gbps.
11 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the radio unit is configured to transmit and receive 5G cellular network signals.
12 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the distributed unit is not connected with the radio unit via a physical wire connection.
13 . The communication system of claim 1 , further comprising at least one fiber cable coupled between the distributed unit and the core network to transmit communication signals between the distributed unit and the core network.
14 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication link is configured to transmit signals between the radio unit and the distributed unit using time-division multiple access (TDMA) and carrier sense multiple access collisional avoidance (CSMA/CD) communication protocols.
15 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the wireless communication link is configured to transmit signals between the radio unit and the distributed unit at a distance of at least one kilometer.
16 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein:
the first SoC device is electrically coupled with the radio unit via a first enhanced common public radio interface (eCPRI); and
the first SoC device is electrically coupled with the distributed unit via a second eCPRI.
17 . The communication system of claim 1 , further comprising:
a third SoC device electrically coupled with the radio unit; and
a fourth SoC device electrically coupled with the distributed unit, wherein the third SoC device and the fourth SoC device are configured to wirelessly transmit communication signals between the radio unit and the distributed unit at a frequency of at least sixty Gigahertz.
18 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein:
the first SoC device is electrically connected with four beamforming integrated circuits including the first and second beamforming chips; and
the second SoC device is electrically connected with four beamforming integrated circuits including the third and fourth beamforming chips.
19 . A method of operating a communication system including a distributed unit of a fronthaul communication system architecture, and a radio unit of the fronthaul communication system architecture, wherein the radio unit electrically is coupled with at least one cellular antenna, the method comprising:
receiving, by the radio unit, wireless cellular signals via the at least one cellular antenna;
wirelessly transmitting, via a first system-on-chip (SoC) device, a communication signal at a frequency of at least sixty Gigahertz, wherein a first field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is electrically coupled between the radio unit and the first SoC device; and
receiving, by a second SoC device electrically, the communication signal transmitted by the first SoC device, wherein,
a second FPGA is electrically coupled between the distributed unit and the second SoC device,
the second SoC device includes a peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface,
first and second beamforming chips are electrically coupled with the first SoC device,
third and fourth beamforming chips are electrically coupled with the second SoC device, and
the first and second beamforming chips are configured to wireless transmit communication signals with the first and second beamforming chips.
20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the communication signal is a first communication signal, and the method further comprises:
wirelessly transmitting, via the second SoC device, a second communication signal at a frequency of at least sixty Gigahertz; and
receiving, by the first SoC device, the second communication signal transmitted by the second SoC device.