Radio frequency signal boosters serving as outdoor infrastructure in high frequency cellular networks
Radio frequency signal boosters serving as outdoor cellular infrastructure are provided. In certain embodiments, a signal booster system for a high frequency cellular network includes a parabolic base station antenna configured to receive a downlink signal of a frequency band higher than 20 gigahertz and to transmit an amplified uplink signal of the frequency band, booster circuitry configured to amplify an uplink signal to generate the amplified uplink signal and to amplify the downlink signal to generate an amplified downlink signal, and a mobile station antenna configured to receive the uplink signal and to transmit the amplified downlink signal.
1. A signal booster system for a high frequency cellular network, the signal booster system comprising:
a base station antenna configured to receive a downlink signal of a frequency band and to transmit an amplified uplink signal of the frequency band, wherein the frequency band is higher than 20 gigahertz (GHz), and wherein the base station antenna comprises a parabolic antenna;
booster circuitry configured to amplify an uplink signal to generate the amplified uplink signal, and to amplify the downlink signal to generate an amplified downlink signal, wherein the booster circuitry includes a downlink amplification circuit configured to boost two or more frequency channels of the frequency band without channelization of the two or more frequency channels; and
a mobile station antenna configured to receive the uplink signal and to transmit the amplified downlink signal.
2. The signal booster system of claim 1 , wherein the downlink amplification circuit includes at least one bandpass filter and at least one amplifier connected along a signal path, the at least one bandpass filter operable to pass a frequency range including the two or more frequency channels.
3. The signal booster system of claim 2 , wherein the frequency range covers at least 400 MHz.
4. The signal booster system of claim 2 , wherein the frequency range covers all of the frequency band.
5. The signal booster system of claim 1 , wherein the booster circuitry further includes an uplink amplification circuit configured to boost the two or more frequency channels of the frequency band without channelization.
6. The signal booster system of claim 1 , wherein the two or more frequency channels are separately licensable to two or more cellular carriers.
7. The signal booster system of claim 1 , installed in a cellular network, wherein the two or more frequency channels include a first frequency channel locally operated by a first cellular carrier and a second frequency channel locally operated by a second cellular carrier.
8. The signal booster system of claim 1 , installed in a cellular network, wherein the base station antenna is pointed such that the downlink signal amplified by the booster circuitry is associated with only one cellular carrier.
9. The signal booster system of claim 1 , wherein the frequency band is higher than 30 GHz.
10. The signal booster system of claim 1 , wherein the frequency band is a fifth generation (5G) frequency band, and the uplink signal and the downlink signal are 5G signals.
11. The signal booster system of claim 10 , wherein the frequency band is n261, n257, n258, or n260.
12. The signal booster system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile station antenna comprises a sector antenna.
13. The signal booster system of claim 1 , further comprising a housing including the booster circuitry therein, a first cable connecting the base station antenna to the booster circuitry, and a second cable connecting the mobile station antenna to the booster circuitry, wherein the first cable and the second cable each have a length of 5 feet or less.
14. The signal booster system of claim 13 , wherein the housing is waterproofed.
15. The signal booster system of claim 1 , installed outdoors in a cellular network.
16. The signal booster system of claim 15 , wherein the base station antenna and the mobile station antenna are installed on a pole.
17. The signal booster system of claim 16 , wherein the base station antenna and the mobile station antenna are vertically displaced by an offset.
18. The signal booster system of claim 1 , wherein the booster circuitry is configured to operate at least in part using time division duplexing (TDD).
19. The signal booster system of claim 1 , wherein the booster circuitry comprises an uplink amplification circuit configured to amplify the uplink signal and a downlink amplification circuit configured to amplify the downlink signal, wherein neither the uplink amplification circuit nor the downlink amplification circuit operates with any frequency conversion.