Antenna for cellular repeater systems
A cellular repeater system is provided. The cellular repeater system includes an outdoor antenna communicatively coupled to a repeater. The outdoor antenna is configured to relay communications from the repeater to a cellular base station. The outdoor antenna includes a plurality of log-periodic antennas rotated relative to one another such that each of the plurality of log-periodic antennas is pointed in a different direction. The cellular repeater system includes a switching device configured to selectively couple one or more of the plurality of log-periodic antennas to a RF transceiver of the repeater in order to configure the outdoor antenna in a plurality of antenna modes. Each of the plurality of antenna modes have a distinct radiation pattern.
1. A cellular repeater system comprising:
an outdoor antenna communicatively coupled to a repeater, the outdoor antenna configured to relay communications from the repeater to a cellular base station, the outdoor antenna comprising a plurality of log-periodic antennas rotated relative to one another such that each of the plurality of log-periodic antennas is pointed in a different direction, each of the plurality of log-periodic antennas comprising a central conductive element and a plurality of driven antenna elements extending laterally from the central conductive element; and
a switching device configured to selectively couple one or more of the plurality of log-periodic antennas to a RE transceiver of the repeater in order to configure the outdoor antenna in a plurality of antenna modes, each of the plurality of antenna modes having a distinct radiation pattern,
wherein the outdoor antenna is configured to operate over a range of frequencies that spans from 600 Megahertz (MHz) to 6 Gigahertz (GHz).
2. The cellular repeater system of claim 1 , wherein:
when the outdoor antenna is configured in a first antenna mode of the plurality of antenna modes, the outdoor antenna has a directional radiation pattern; and
when the outdoor antenna is configured in a second antenna mode of the plurality of antenna modes, the outdoor antenna has an omni-directional radiation pattern.
3. The cellular repeater system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of log-periodic antennas comprise:
a first log-periodic antenna pointed in a first direction;
a second log-periodic antenna rotated relative to the first log-periodic antenna by about 90 degrees such that the second log-periodic antenna is pointed in a second direction;
a third log-periodic antenna rotated relative to the first log-periodic antenna by about 180 degrees such that the third log-periodic antenna is pointed in a third direction; and
a fourth log-periodic antenna rotated relative to the first log-periodic antenna by about 270 degrees such that the fourth log-periodic antenna is pointed in a fourth direction.
4. The cellular repeater system of claim 3 , wherein:
the first log-periodic antenna and the third log-periodic antenna are positioned within a first plane; and
the second log-periodic antenna and the fourth log-periodic antenna are positioned within a second plane that is substantially perpendicular to the first plane.
5. The cellular repeater system of claim 3 , wherein the switching device comprises a single pole, four throw switching device.
6. The cellular repeater system of claim 1 , wherein the central conductive element and the plurality of driven antenna elements are disposed on a substrate having a length dimension and a width dimension, the length dimension being longer than the width dimension.
7. The cellular repeater system of claim 6 , wherein the length dimension of the substrate ranges from about 180 millimeters to about 200 millimeters.
8. The cellular repeater system of claim 6 , wherein a shape of the substrate is trapezoidal.
9. The cellular repeater system of claim 1 , wherein
the switching device is disposed on a circuit board; and
the plurality of log-periodic antennas are spaced apart from the circuit board.
10. The cellular repeater system of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of log-periodic antennas is spaced apart from the circuit board by a distance ranging from about 40 millimeters to about 70 millimeters.
11. The cellular repeater system of claim 1 , wherein a width dimension of the outdoor antenna and a height dimension of the outdoor antenna each range from about 600 millimeters to about 630 millimeters.
12. The cellular repeater system of claim 11 , wherein a length dimension of the outdoor antenna ranges from about 220 millimeters to about 250 millimeters.
13. The cellular repeater system of claim 9 , wherein each of the plurality of log-periodic antennas is coupled to a ground plane of the circuit board.
14. The cellular repeater system of claim 9 , further comprising:
one or more control devices configured to:
configure, via the switching device, the outdoor antenna in each of the plurality of antenna modes;
obtain, via the repeater, data indicative of a channel quality indicator (CQI) associated with communications between the outdoor antenna and the cellular base station while the outdoor antenna is configured in each of the plurality of antenna modes;
determine one of the plurality of antenna modes as a selected antenna mode for the outdoor antenna based, at least in part, on the data indicative of the CQI for each of the plurality of antenna modes; and
configure, via the switching device, the outdoor antenna in the selected antenna mode.
15. The cellular repeater system of claim 14 , wherein the data indicative of the COI comprises at least one of a received signal strength indicator (RSSI), signal-to-noise radio (SNR) and signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINK).
16. The cellular repeater system of claim 1 , wherein the outdoor antenna is positioned outside of a space in which the repeater is located.
17. The cellular repeater system of claim 1 , wherein the range of frequencies span from 600 MHz to 3 GHz.