Radio system for long-range high speed wireless communication
One embodiment of the present invention provides a radio assembly. The radio assembly includes an antenna housing unit that houses a pair of reflectors which are situated on a front side of the antenna housing unit, a printed circuit board (PCB) that includes at least a transmitter and a receiver, and a backside cover. The PCB is situated within a cavity at a backside of the antenna housing unit and the backside cover covers the cavity, thereby enclosing the PCB within the antenna housing unit. One embodiment of the present invention provides a user interface for configuring a radio. The user interface includes a display and a number of selectable tabs presented on the display. A selection of a respective tab results in a number of user-editable fields being displayed, thereby facilitating a user in configuring and monitoring operations of the radio.
1. A radio assembly, comprising:
an antenna housing unit that houses a pair of parabolic reflectors, wherein the pair of reflectors are situated on a front side of the antenna housing unit, wherein the pair of reflectors include a transmitting reflector having a circular rim that overlaps and truncates a portion of an adjacent receiving reflector which consequently has a partially circular rim;
wherein the partially circular rim of the receiving reflector has an outer diameter that is larger than that of the circular rim of the transmitting reflector;
a printed circuit board (PCB) comprising at least a transmitter coupled to the transmitting reflector and a receiver coupled to the receiving reflector, wherein the PCB is situated within a cavity at a backside of the antenna housing unit; and
a backside cover that covers the cavity, thereby enclosing the PCB within the antenna housing unit.
2. The radio assembly of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter is electronically isolated from the receiver.
3. The radio assembly of claim 2 , wherein the transmitter and the receiver can be configured to operate in one of:
a full-duplex mode; and
a half-duple mode.
4. The radio assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pair of reflectors are formed using a single mold.
5. The radio assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a pair of feed antennas that are coupled to the transmitter and the receiver.
6. The radio assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a mounting unit for mounting the radio assembly onto a pole, wherein the mounting unit is coupled to the backside of the antenna housing unit.
7. The radio assembly of claim 6 , wherein the mounting unit includes:
an azimuth-adjustment mechanism for adjusting the reflectors' azimuth; and
an elevation-adjustment mechanism for adjusting the reflectors' elevation.
8. The radio assembly of claim 1 , wherein the PCB further comprises a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip coupled to the transmitter and the receiver.
9. The radio assembly of claim 8 , wherein the PCB further comprises a central processing unit (CPU) coupled to the FPGA chip.
10. The radio assembly of claim 8 , wherein the PCB further comprises an Ethernet transceiver coupled to the FPGA chip.
11. The radio assembly of claim 1 , wherein the PCB further comprises a GPS receiver.
12. The radio assembly of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter further comprises a quadrature modulator for modulating transmitted signals.
13. The radio assembly of claim 12 , wherein the transmitter further comprises an IQ alignment module for automatic alignment of inphase and quadrature components of transmitted signals.
14. The radio assembly of claim 1 , wherein the transmitter and the receiver are configured to operate in a license-free 24 GHz frequency band.
15. A method for forming a radio, comprising:
placing a pair of parabolic reflectors on a front side of an antenna housing unit, wherein the pair of reflectors include a transmitting reflector having a circular rim that overlaps and truncates a portion of an adjacent receiving reflector which consequently has a partially circular rim, and wherein the partially circular rim of the receiving reflector has an outer diameter that is larger than that of the circular rim of the transmitting reflector;
placing a printed circuit board (PCB) comprising at least a transmitter coupled to the transmitting reflector and a receiver coupled to the receiving reflector within a cavity at a backside of the antenna housing unit; and
placing a backside cover over the cavity, thereby enclosing the PCB within the antenna housing unit.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the transmitter and the receiver are electronically isolated from each other.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising configuring the transmitter and the receiver to operate in one of:
a full-duplex mode; and
a half-duple mode.
18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the pair of reflectors are formed using a single mold.
19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the transmitter further comprises a quadrature modulator for modulating transmitted signals.
20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the transmitter further comprises an IQ alignment module for automatic alignment of inphase and quadrature components of transmitted signals.