REMOTELY RECONFIGURABLE DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEM AND METHODS
The present disclosure is a novel utility of a software defined radio (SDR) based Distributed Antenna System (DAS) that is field reconfigurable and support multi-modulation schemes (modulation-independent), multi-carriers, multi-frequency bands and multi-channels. The present disclosure enables a high degree of flexibility to manage, control, enhance, facilitate the usage and performance of a distributed wireless network such as flexible simulcast, automatic traffic load-balancing, network and radio resource optimization, network calibration, autonomous/assisted commissioning, carrier pooling, automatic frequency selection, frequency carrier placement, traffic monitoring, traffic tagging, pilot beacon, etc.
1 . A radio access network comprising:
a plurality of radio points configured to:
transmit wireless communications to one or more wireless subscriber devices, and
receive wireless communications from the one or more wireless subscriber devices;
a network switch coupled to a first radio point and a second radio point included in the plurality of radio points; and
a baseband controller coupled to the network switch via an Ethernet network connection, wherein the baseband controller:
receives wireless communications from a network of a cellular operator, wherein the baseband controller appears as a single cell to the network of the cellular operator;
receives, from a first wireless subscriber device, at least two communications, via:
a first communication path that includes the first radio point, and
a second communication path that includes the second radio point; and
combines the at least two communications into a single communication using a combining algorithm.
2 . The radio access network of claim 1 , wherein:
the network of the cellular operator transmits quadrature signals; and
the baseband controller uses the combining algorithm to combine the quadrature signals.
3 . The radio access network of claim 1 , wherein the network of the cellular operator transmits Internet Protocol (IP) data that is associated with data received by the baseband controller from a global positioning system (GPS).
4 . The radio access network of claim 3 , wherein the baseband controller synchronizes, based on the data received from the GPS, the at least two communications.
5 . The radio access network of claim 1 , wherein:
the baseband controller receives a number of radio resources to the network of the cellular operator;
the first communications path includes a first subset of the number of radio resources to the first radio point; and
the second communications path includes a second subset of the number of radio resources to the second radio point.
6 . The radio access network of claim 5 , wherein the network of the cellular operator uses a Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) protocol.
7 . The radio access network of claim 5 , wherein the network switch, in response to a change in capacity needed by the one or more wireless subscriber devices, assigns additional radio resources to the first communications path or the second communications path.
8 . The radio access network of claim 1 , wherein the network switch comprises an Ethernet switch.
9 . The radio access network of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless subscriber device comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) device.
10 . The radio access network of claim 1 , wherein a transmission power provided by at least one radio point in the plurality of radio points is configurable via software.
11 . A method comprising:
receiving, by a baseband controller coupled to a network switch via an Ethernet network connection, wireless communications from a network of a cellular operator, wherein:
the baseband controller appears as a single cell to the network of the cellular operator,
the network switch is coupled to a first radio point and a second radio point included in a plurality of radio points;
receiving, by the baseband controller from a first wireless subscriber device, at least two communications, wherein the first wireless subscriber device transmits the at least two communications via:
a first communication path that includes the first radio point, and
a second communication path that includes the second radio point; and
combining, by the baseband controller, the at least two communications into a single communication using a combining algorithm.
12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
receiving, by the baseband controller from the network of the cellular operator, a set of quadrature signals; and
combining, by the baseband controller, the quadrature signals using the combining algorithm.
13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising receiving, by the baseband controller from the network of the cellular operator, Internet Protocol (IP) data, wherein the IP data is associated with data received by the baseband controller from a global positioning system (GPS).
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising synchronizing, by the baseband controller and based on the data received from the GPS, the at least two communications.
15 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising receiving, by the baseband controller, a number of radio resources to the network of the cellular operator, wherein:
the first communications path includes a first subset of the number of radio resources to the first radio point;
the second communications path includes a second subset of the number of radio resources to the second radio point; and
the network switch, in response to a change in capacity needed by one or more wireless subscriber devices, assigns additional radio resources to the first communications path or the second communications path.
16 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:
receiving, by a baseband controller coupled to a network switch via an Ethernet network connection, wireless communications from a network of a cellular operator, wherein:
the baseband controller appears as a single cell to the network of the cellular operator,
the network switch is coupled to a first radio point and a second radio point included in a plurality of radio points;
receiving, by the baseband controller from a first wireless subscriber device, at least two communications, wherein the first wireless subscriber device transmits the at least two communications via:
a first communication path that includes the first radio point, and
a second communication path that includes the second radio point; and
combining, by the baseband controller, the at least two communications into a single communication using a combining algorithm.
17 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:
receiving, by the baseband controller from the network of the cellular operator, a set of quadrature signals; and
combining, by the baseband controller, the quadrature signals using the combining algorithm.
18 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform the step of receiving, by the baseband controller from the network of the cellular operator, Internet Protocol (IP) data, wherein the IP data is associated with data received by the baseband controller from a global positioning system (GPS).
19 . The one or more non-transitory media computer-readable media of claim 18 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform the step of synchronizing, by the baseband controller and based on the data received from the GPS, the at least two communications.
20 . The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform the step of receiving, by the baseband controller, a number of radio resources to the network of the cellular operator, wherein:
the first communications path includes a first subset of the number of radio resources to the first radio point;
the second communications path includes a second subset of the number of radio resources to the second radio point; and
the network switch, in response to a change in capacity needed by one or more wireless subscriber devices, assigns additional radio resources.