Radio with spatially-offset directional antenna sub-arrays
A radio that has an advanced antenna system for providing a significant diversity benefit over the prior art. The advanced antenna system includes a first directional array and a second directional array that each include antenna sub-arrays. A sub-array in each of the directional arrays is offset to another sub-array.
1. A radio comprising:
a first directional antenna array comprising a plurality of first directional antenna sub-arrays, wherein each first directional antenna sub-array comprises a plurality of first directional antenna elements; and
a second directional antenna array comprising a plurality of second directional antenna sub-arrays, wherein each second directional antenna sub-array comprises a plurality of second directional antenna elements,
wherein at least one first directional antenna sub-array is spatially offset relative to at least one other first directional antenna sub-array, and
wherein said at least one first directional antenna sub-array is spatially offset relative to at least one second directional antenna sub-array.
2. The radio of claim 1 , further comprising one or more demodulator cores, wherein each demodulator core is configured to demodulate at least one receive symbol stream, the one or more demodulator cores indirectly coupled to the first directional antenna array.
3. The radio of claim 2 , wherein each one of the one or more demodulator cores comprises at least a decoder and a soft decision symbol demapper.
4. The radio of claim 2 , wherein each one of the one or more demodulator cores comprises at least one of a descrambler or a deinterleaver.
5. The radio of claim 1 , wherein a total number of the first directional antenna sub-arrays exceeds a number of receive symbol streams.
6. The radio of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of receive radio frequency (RF) chains, wherein each receive RF chain is configured to convert from a receive RF signal to a receive chain output signal, and wherein each first directional antenna sub-array is coupled to at least one of the plurality of receive RF chains.
7. The radio of claim 6 , further comprising:
a plurality of low noise amplifiers, wherein each low noise amplifier is configured to amplify at least one receive RF signal, and wherein each low noise amplifier is coupled to at least one receive RF chain and to at least one first directional antenna sub-array.
8. The radio of claim 6 , wherein a total number of the first directional antenna sub-arrays exceeds a number of receive chain output signals.
9. The radio of claim 6 , wherein at least two receive RF chains have respective receive chain output signals used to derive a single receive symbol stream.
10. The radio of claim 1 , further comprising one or more modulator cores, wherein each modulator core is configured to produce at least one transmit symbol stream, the one or more modulator cores indirectly coupled to the second directional antenna array.
11. The radio of claim 10 , wherein each one of the one or more modulator cores comprises at least an encoder, a symbol mapper and at least one of a scrambler or an interleaver.
12. The radio of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of transmit radio frequency (RF) chains, wherein each transmit RF chain is configured to convert from a transmit chain input signal to a transmit RF signal, and wherein each second directional antenna sub-array is coupled to at least one of the plurality of transmit RF chains.
13. The radio of claim 12 , further comprising:
a plurality of power amplifiers, wherein each power amplifier is configured to amplify at least one transmit RF signal, and wherein each power amplifier is coupled to at least one transmit RF chain and to at least one second directional antenna sub-array.
14. The radio of claim 12 , wherein at least two transmit RF chains have respective transmit chain input signals derived from a single transmit symbol stream.
15. The radio of claim 1 , wherein the radio is configured to transmit and receive coincident in time for at least a period of time.
16. The radio of claim 1 , further comprising:
a frequency selective receive path channel multiplexer, wherein the frequency selective receive path channel multiplexer is configured to generate one or more receive symbol streams from at least a plurality of receive chain output signals, the frequency selective receive path channel multiplexer indirectly coupled to the first directional antenna array; and
a transmit path channel multiplexer, wherein the transmit path channel multiplexer is configured to generate a plurality of transmit chain input signals from at least one or more transmit symbol streams, the transmit path channel multiplexer indirectly coupled to the second directional antenna array.
17. The radio of claim 1 , wherein the radio is configured to operate within a frequency range of between 2 GHz and 6 GHz.
18. The radio of claim 1 , wherein the radio is configured to use at least a Single-Carrier Frequency Domain Equalization (SC-FDE) modulation format.
19. The radio of claim 1 , wherein the radio is configured to use at least an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation format.
20. The radio of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of first directional antenna elements and each of the plurality of second directional antenna elements comprise one of a patch antenna element, a slot antenna element, or a printed dipole antenna element.
21. The radio of claim 1 , wherein the first directional antenna array comprises at least a first one of the plurality of first directional antenna sub-arrays, said first one comprising a first number of the plurality of first directional antenna elements, and at least a second one of the plurality of first directional antenna sub-arrays, said second one comprising a second number of the plurality of first directional antenna elements, and wherein the first number is different than the second number.