Power attenuator with coupling port
View Patent ↗A power attenuator with at least one coupling port. The coupling port may be provided to monitor input power levels, out put power levels, or other operations of the power attenuator. One or more coupling ports may be located on the power attenuator input part to monitor input power levels and/or on the power attenuator output part to monitor output power levels. The coupling port(s) may be coupled to the main RF path by resistive coupling or reactive coupling. The coupling port(s) allow monitoring of the RF signal passing through the power attenuator to detect for incipient failures.
1. A power attenuator, comprising:
an output connector for enabling the propagation of one or more RF signals along a main RF path through an input connector, a body, and said output connector; and
at least one coupling port, coupled to the main RF path, for sampling the one or more RF signals.
2. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said at least one coupling port includes at least one coupling input port for monitoring an input power level.
3. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said at least one coupling port includes at least one coupling output port for monitoring an output power level.
4. The power attenuator of claim 2 , wherein said at least one coupling port further includes at least one coupling output port for monitoring an output power level.
5. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said at least one coupling port has an attenuation value of at least −50 dB.
6. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said at least one coupling port is coupled to the main RF path by resistive coupling or reactive coupling.
7. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said input connector connects said power attenuator to an upstream device.
8. The power attenuator of claim 7 , wherein said at least one coupling port samples the one or more RF signals to monitor for incipient failures in the upstream device.
9. The power attenuator of claim 7 , wherein the upstream device is a mobile system base station, a transmitter, or a broadcasting station.
10. The power attenuator of claim 9 , wherein said at least one coupling port samples the one or more RF signals to monitor for incipient output power failures in the mobile system base station, transmitter, or broadcasting station.
11. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said output connector connects said power attenuator to an RF distribution system or an antenna.
12. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said power attenuator is a variable value power attenuator.
13. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said body is cylindrical in shape.
14. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said power attenuator may operate as a directional coupler or a power divider.
15. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said power attenuator may operate in a frequency range of 800-2500 mHz.
16. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said power attenuator has an impedance in the range of 50-75 ohms.
17. The power attenuator of claim 16 , wherein said power attenuator has an impedance of 50 ohms.
18. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said power attenuator has a power rating of 10-1000 watts.
19. The power attenuator of claim 18 , wherein said power attenuator has a power rating of 100 watts average and 1000 watts peak.
20. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said at least one coupling port has a coupling value from −6 to −50 dB.
21. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said input and output coaxial connectors may be of any type and either sex.
22. The power attenuator of claim 1 , wherein said at least one coupling port may be of any type and either sex coaxial connector.
23. A method of detecting an incipient failure, comprising:
receiving one or more RF signals;
sampling the one or more RF signals using at least one coupling port; and
monitoring the samples for the incipient failure.