System and methods for centralized network node digitization
An access network includes a first local network node configured to serve one or more first client devices according to a first network protocol, a second local network node configured to serve one or more second client devices according to a second network protocol different than the first network protocol, and a hub in operable communication with the first and second local network nodes over respective transport media. The hub contains a centralized network node configured to generate a first digitized radio frequency (RF) stream to the first local network node and a second digitized RF stream to the second local network node. The first digitized RF stream corresponds to the first network protocol and the second digitized RF stream corresponds to the second network protocol.
1. An access network, comprising:
a first local network node configured to serve one or more first client devices according to a first network protocol;
a second local network node configured to serve one or more second client devices according to a second network protocol different than the first network protocol; and
a hub in operable communication with the first and second local network nodes over respective transport media, the hub containing a centralized network node configured to generate a first digitized radio frequency (RF) stream to the first local network node and a second digitized RF stream to the second local network node,
wherein the first digitized RF stream corresponds to the first network protocol and the second digitized RF stream corresponds to the second network protocol.
2. The access network of claim 1 , wherein the centralized network node is further configured to implement at least one of network function virtualization and software defined radio to generate the first and second digitized RF streams.
3. The access network of claim 2 , wherein the centralized network node comprises at least one of a network function virtualization layer, a media access control (MAC) layer, a physical (PHY) layer, and a digitization layer.
4. The access network of claim 3 , wherein the MAC layer is a software defined MAC layer.
5. The access network of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the first and second network protocols corresponds to an optical network comprising one or more of a WAN, an Ethernet passive optical network (EPON), and a gigabit Ethernet network (GEth).
6. The access network of claim 3 , wherein the PHY layer is an SDR PHY layer.
7. The access network of claim 6 , wherein at least one of the first and second network protocols comprises a data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS), long term evolution (LTE), multimedia over coaxial alliance (MoCA), Wi-Fi, and 5G.
8. The access network of claim 3 , wherein the digitization layer comprises an analog-to-digital converter.
9. The access network of claim 1 , comprising an optical communication system, and wherein the transport media comprise optical fibers.
10. The access network of claim 9 , wherein the optical communication system comprises a radio frequency over glass (RFoG) network.
11. The access network of claim 9 , wherein the optical communication system comprises a hybrid fiber coaxial (HFC) network.
12. The access network of claim 9 , wherein the optical communication system comprises a point-to-multipoint network.
13. The access network of claim 9 , wherein the optical communication system further comprises in at least one cellular base station.
14. The access network of claim 9 , wherein the optical communication system comprises a passive optical network configured to implement coherent dense wavelength division multiplexing.
15. The access network of claim 14 , wherein the first digitized RF stream comprises one of a quadrature signal transmission having at least two polarizations, a quadrature component, and then in-phase component.
16. The access network of claim 1 , wherein the first digitized RF stream comprises a control channel and a set of frequency-multiplexed channels.
17. The access network of claim 16 , wherein the set of frequency-multiplexed channels includes a first subset of channels and a second subset of channels different from the first subset of channels.
18. The access network of claim 17 , wherein the first subset of channels comprises a plurality of (i) DOCSIS channels, (ii) LTE channels, or (iii) Wi-Fi channels.
19. The access network of claim 1 , further comprising a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) antenna system in operable communication with at least one of an upstream channel processor and a downstream channel processor.
20. A network node for an access communication network, the network node comprising:
a network function virtualization layer;
a media access control layer;
a physical layer;
a digitization layer; and
a plurality of digital optical interfaces in operable communication with a plurality of optical fibers of the access communication network,
wherein the network node is configured to generate digitized RF signal streams for transport over the plurality of optical fibers to a respective plurality of distributed nodes each disposed proximate to one or more subscribers of the access communication network.