IP Library Granted Patent US 11,245,431
Granted Patent B2
US 11,245,431 · App. 16/917,039 · Granted Feb 8, 2022

Reducing uplink accumulated noise floor in a distributed communications system (DCS)

Inventor: Moshe Daniel (Gedera, IL)
Assignee: Corning Research & Development Corporation
H04B1/16H04W88/085
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,245,431
App. No.
16/917,039
Granted
Feb 8, 2022
Kind
B2
Abstract

Reducing an uplink accumulated noise floor in a distributed communications system (DCS) is disclosed. The DCS includes a number of remote units that communicate a number of uplink digital communications signals to a base station concurrently. In DCSs disclosed in certain aspects herein, a signal source, such as a digital baseband unit (BBU) for example, includes multiple receiver circuits each configured to receive and decode a respective one of the uplink digital communications signals. By individually receiving and decoding the uplink digital communications signals before combining the uplink digital communications signals, each of the receiver circuits can operate with a lowered noise floor. As a result, it is possible to improve received sensitivity of the receiver circuits, thus helping to improve coverage range, spectrum efficiency, and data throughput of the DCS.

Claims (81)

1. A distributed communications system (DCS), comprising:

a plurality of remote units coupled to a DRU and configured to generate a plurality of first uplink digital communications signals;

a digital routing unit (DRU) configured to:

receive the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of remote units; and

generate a plurality of second uplink digital communications signals comprising the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals; and

a baseband unit (BBU) comprising a plurality of receiver circuits coupled to the DRU via a plurality of communications mediums, respectively, and an uplink processing circuit coupled to the plurality of receiver circuits, the plurality of receiver circuits configured to:

receive the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals from the DRU;

decode the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to generate a plurality of uplink digital communications signals; and

decode the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to generate the plurality of uplink digital communications signals each comprising a plurality of transport blocks (TBs) corresponding to one or more user equipment identifications, wherein the uplink processing circuit is configured to:

receive the plurality of uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of receiver circuits, respectively; and

generate an uplink digital communications signal comprising the plurality of TBs in each of the plurality of uplink digital communications signals arranged in a predefined protocol format.

2. The DCS of claim 1 , wherein the DRU is configured to:

receive the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of remote units, respectively;

generate the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals comprising the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals; and

provide each of the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to a respective one of the plurality of receiver circuits via a respective one of the plurality of communications mediums.

3. The DCS of claim 1 , wherein the DRU is further configured to:

receive the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of remote units, respectively;

generate the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals each comprising a respective one of the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals; and

provide each of the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to a respective one of the plurality of receiver circuits via a respective one of the plurality of communications mediums.

4. The DCS of claim 1 , wherein the uplink processing circuit is further configured to process the plurality of TBs in each of the plurality of uplink digital communications signals to eliminate at least one duplicated TB associated with at least one user equipment identification.

5. The DCS of claim 1 , wherein the BBU further comprises:

a medium access control (MAC) circuit coupled to the uplink processing circuit and configured to receive and convert the uplink digital communications signal into an upper layer uplink communications signal; and

an upper layer interface coupled to a signal source and configured to provide the upper layer uplink communications signal to the signal source.

6. The DCS of claim 5 , wherein:

the upper layer interface is further configured to receive an upper layer downlink communications signal from the signal source;

the MAC circuit is further configured to convert the upper layer downlink communications signal into a downlink digital communications signal;

the BBU further comprises a transmitter circuit configured to provide the downlink digital communications signal to the DRU; and

the DRU comprises a splitter coupled to the plurality of remote units and is configured to:

split the downlink digital communications signal into a plurality of downlink digital communications signals each comprising the downlink digital communications signal; and

provide each of the plurality of downlink digital communications signals to a respective one of the plurality of remote units.

7. A distributed communications system (DCS), comprising:

a plurality of remote units coupled to a DRU and configured to generate a plurality of first uplink digital communications signals;

a digital routing unit (DRU) configured to:

receive the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of remote units; and

generate a plurality of second uplink digital communications signals comprising the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals; and

a baseband unit (BBU) comprising a plurality of receiver circuits coupled to the DRU via a plurality of communications mediums, respectively, the plurality of receiver circuits configured to:

receive the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals from the DRU; and

decode the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to generate a plurality of uplink digital communications signals;

wherein the DRU is further configured to:

receive the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of remote units, respectively;

generate the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals each comprising one or more of the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals; and

provide each of the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to a respective one of the plurality of receiver circuits via a respective one of the plurality of communications mediums; and

a plurality of remote unit clusters each comprising one or more of the plurality of remote units and configured to communicate the one or more of the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals to the DRU,

wherein the DRU comprises a plurality of combiners each coupled to a respective one of the plurality of remote unit clusters and configured to combine the one or more of the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals received from the respective one of the plurality of remote unit clusters into a respective one of the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals.

8. A method for reducing an uplink accumulated noise floor in a distributed communications system (DCS), comprising:

receiving, in a digital routing unit (DRU), a plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from a plurality of remote units;

generating, in the DRU, a plurality of second uplink digital communications signals comprising the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals;

receiving, from the DRU, the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals by a plurality of receiver circuits in a baseband unit (BBU); and

decoding the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to generate a plurality of uplink digital communications signals;

in the DRU:

receiving the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of remote units, respectively;

generating the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals each comprising one or more of the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals; and

providing each of the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to a respective one of the plurality of receiver circuits;

organizing the plurality of remote units into a plurality of remote unit clusters each comprising one or more of the plurality of remote units and configured to communicate the one or more of the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals to the DRU; and

in the DRU, combining the one or more of the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals received from the respective one of the plurality of remote unit clusters into a respective one of the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising, in the DRU:

receiving the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of remote units, respectively;

generating the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals comprising the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals; and

providing each of the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to a respective one of the plurality of receiver circuits.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising, in the DRU:

receiving the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of remote units, respectively;

generating the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals each comprising a respective one of the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals; and

providing each of the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to a respective one of the plurality of receiver circuits.

11. A method for reducing an uplink accumulated noise floor in a distributed communications system (DCS), comprising:

receiving, in a digital routing unit (DRU), a plurality of first uplink digital communications signals from a plurality of remote units;

generating, in the DRU, a plurality of second uplink digital communications signals comprising the plurality of first uplink digital communications signals;

receiving, from the DRU, the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals by a plurality of receiver circuits in a baseband unit (BBU);

decoding the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to generate a plurality of uplink digital communications signals;

decoding the plurality of second uplink digital communications signals to generate the plurality of uplink digital communications signals each comprising a plurality of transport blocks (TBs) corresponding to one or more user equipment identifications;

receiving the plurality of uplink digital communications signals from the plurality of receiver circuits, respectively; and

generating an uplink digital communications signal comprising the plurality of TBs in each of the plurality of uplink digital communications signals arranged in a predefined protocol format.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising processing the plurality of TBs in each of the plurality of uplink digital communications signals to eliminate at least one duplicated TB associated with at least one user equipment identification.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

receiving and converting the uplink digital communications signal into an upper layer uplink communications signal; and

providing the upper layer uplink communications signal to a signal source.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

receiving an upper layer downlink communications signal from the signal source;

converting the upper layer downlink communications signal into a downlink digital communications signal;

providing the downlink digital communications signal to the DRU;

splitting the downlink digital communications signal into a plurality of downlink digital communications signals each comprising the downlink digital communications signal; and

providing each of the plurality of downlink digital communications signals to a respective one of the plurality of remote units.

Assignments (4)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 12, 2025
From: CORNING OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC
To: ANI ACQUISITION SUB, LLC
Reel/Frame 071270/0328 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 13, 2025
From: CORNING RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
To: CORNING OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC
Reel/Frame 070629/0125 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 7, 2025
From: MOSHE, DANIEL
To: CORNING RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 070141/0100 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 22, 2021
From: DANIEL, MOSHE
To: CORNING RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 058456/0911 →