Beamforming communication system with crossbar switch

1. A beamforming communication system comprising:

an antenna array partitioned into a plurality of sub-arrays;

a plurality of front-end channels each operatively associated with one of the sub-arrays;

a plurality of data conversion channels; and

a crossbar switch configured to receive a plurality of analog transmit signals from the plurality of data conversion channels and to provide a plurality of gain-controlled analog transmit signals to the plurality of front-end channels, the crossbar switch including a plurality of controllable gain elements each configured to separately control a gain of a respective one of the plurality of analog transmit signals.

2. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein the crossbar switch is configured to connect one of the plurality of front-end channels to two or more of the plurality of data conversion channels.

3. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein the crossbar switch is configured to connect two or more of the plurality of front-end channels to one of the plurality of data conversion channels.

4. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein the number of the plurality of data conversion channels is greater than the plurality of front-end channels.

5. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of data conversion channels includes at least one redundant data conversion channel.

6. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of sub-arrays includes two or more antennas.

7. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of data conversion channels includes at least one digital-to-analog converter for generating an analog transmit signal, and at least one analog-to-digital converter for processing an analog receive signal.

8. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of data conversion channels includes at least one upconverting mixer for upconverting an analog transmit signal and at least one downconverting mixer for downconverting a radio frequency receive signal.

9. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of mixers positioned between the crossbar switch and the plurality of front-end channels.

10. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of front-end channels includes a radio frequency splitter coupled to a plurality of radio frequency signal conditioning circuits.

11. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of front-end channels includes a radio frequency combiner coupled to a plurality of radio frequency signal conditioning circuits.

12. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of front-end channels includes a radio frequency splitter/combiner coupled to a plurality of radio frequency signal conditioning circuits.

13. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein the crossbar switch is configured to connect two or more of the plurality of data conversion channels to a common front-end channel of the plurality of front-end channels.

14. The beamforming communication system of claim 13 wherein the two or more of the plurality of data conversion channels includes a first data conversion channel configured to process a first data stream associated with a first signal polarization, and a second data conversion channel configured to process a second data stream associated with a second signal polarization.

15. The beamforming communication system of claim 13 wherein the two or more of the plurality of data conversion channels includes a first data conversion channel configured to process a first data stream associated with a first carrier frequency, and a second data conversion channel configured to process a second data stream associated with a second carrier frequency.

16. The beamforming communication system of claim 1 wherein at least one of a fan out of the crossbar switch or a fan in of the crossbar switch is not equal to one.

17. A mobile device comprising:

an antenna array partitioned into a plurality of sub-arrays;

a front-end system comprising a plurality of front-end channels each operatively associated with one of the sub-arrays; and

a transceiver comprising a plurality of data conversion channels and a crossbar switch configured to receive a plurality of analog transmit signals from the plurality of data conversion channels and to provide a plurality of gain-controlled analog transmit signals to the plurality of front-end channels, the crossbar switch including a plurality of controllable gain elements each configured to separately control a gain of a respective one of the plurality of analog transmit signal.

18. A method of beamforming, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of gain-controlled analog transmit signals from a crossbar switch to a plurality of front-end channels that are coupled to an antenna array, the antenna array partitioned into a plurality of sub-arrays each operative associated with one of the plurality of front-end channels;

providing a plurality of analog transmit signals from a plurality of data conversion channels to the crossbar switch;

separately controlling a gain of each of the plurality of analog transmit signals using a corresponding controllable gain element of a plurality of controllable gain elements of the crossbar switch; and

beamforming a radio wave using the plurality of data conversion channels and the plurality of front-end channels.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising using the crossbar switch to connect two or more of the plurality of data conversion channels to a common front-end channel of the plurality of front-end channels.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising using the two or more of the plurality of data conversion channels to process a first data stream associated with a first carrier frequency and a second data stream associated with a second carrier frequency.