Systems and methods for reconfigurable repeaters for wireless telecommunications
In one embodiment, a RF signal repeater switchable between SISO and MIMO comprises: a controller; a first transmitter path switchably coupled to first donor and coverage antennas; a second transmitter path switchably coupled to second donor and coverage antennas; a first receiver path switchably coupled to the first donor and coverage antennas; a second receiver path switchably coupled to the second donor and coverage antennas. The controller configures the repeater for a MIMO TDD operating mode by: configuring the first transmitter path and the second receiver path to repeat at least a first MIMO channel of UE uplink RF signals and at least a first MIMO channel of base station downlink RF signals; and configuring the second transmitter path and the first receiver path to repeat at least a second MIMO channel of UE uplink RF signals and at least a second MIMO channel of base station downlink RF signals.
1. A reconfigurable radio frequency (RF) signal repeater switchable between single-input-single-output (SISO) and multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) operating modes, the repeater comprising:
a repeater controller;
a first bidirectional transmitter path coupled to the repeater controller, and switchably coupled to a first donor antenna and a first coverage antenna;
a second bidirectional transmitter path coupled to the repeater controller, and switchably coupled to a second donor antenna and a second coverage antenna;
a first bidirectional receiver path coupled to the repeater controller, and switchably coupled to the first donor antenna and the first coverage antenna; and
a second bidirectional receiver path coupled to the repeater controller, and switchably coupled to the second donor antenna and the second coverage antenna;
wherein the repeater controller is adapted to configure the repeater for a MIMO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode by:
configuring the first bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional receiver path to repeat at least a first MIMO channel of user equipment (UE) uplink RF signals and at least a first MIMO channel of base station downlink RF signals; and
configuring the second bidirectional transmitter path and the first bidirectional receiver path to repeat at least a second MIMO channel of user equipment (UE) uplink RF signals and at least a second MIMO channel of base station downlink RF signals.
2. The repeater of claim 1 , wherein the repeater controller is adapted to configure the first bidirectional transmitter path, the second bidirectional transmitter path, the first bidirectional receiver path and the second bidirectional receiver path for an extended bandwidth SISO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode for a SISO channel having a bandwidth of up to twice the bandwidth of a bidirectional MIMO signal path that carries either of the first or second MIMO channels.
3. The repeater of claim 2 , wherein the repeater controller is adapted to configure the repeater for the extended bandwidth SISO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode by utilizing both an analog-to-digital converter of the first bidirectional receiver path and an analog-to-digital converter of the second bidirectional receiver path to convert a received RF signal for input to the repeater controller, and by utilizing both a digital-to-analog converter of the first bidirectional transmitter path and a digital-to-analog converter of the second bidirectional transmitter path to convert a repeated signal output from the repeater controller to an analog RF signal for transmission.
4. The repeater of claim 1 , wherein to increase bandwidth in SISO operation, the repeater controller is adapted to configure the first bidirectional transmitter path, the second bidirectional transmitter path, the first bidirectional receiver path and the second bidirectional receiver path for a two-channel SISO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode for a first SISO channel having a bandwidth of up to the bandwidth of a bidirectional MIMO signal path that carries either of the first or second MIMO channels, and a second SISO channel having a bandwidth of up to the bandwidth of the bidirectional MIMO signal path that carries either of the first or second MIMO channels.
5. The repeater of claim 4 , wherein the repeater controller is adapted to configure the repeater for the two-channel SISO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode by configuring the first bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional receiver path to repeat a first SISO channel of user equipment (UE) uplink RF signals and a first SISO channel of base station downlink RF signals; and configuring the second bidirectional transmitter path and the first bidirectional receiver path to repeat a second SISO channel of user equipment (UE) uplink RF signals and a second SISO channel of base station downlink RF signals.
6. The repeater of claim 1 , where the repeater controller is configured to dynamically adjust system gains and system power of the first bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional transmitter path and dynamically adjust system gains and system power of the first bidirectional receiver path and the second bidirectional receiver path such that repeated uplink RF signals and repeated downlink RF signals are each transmitted by the repeater at respective pre-determined power levels.
7. The repeater of claim 1 , where the repeater controller comprises:
a controller coupled to a memory, wherein the controller executes at least one of:
a mode configuration manager executed by the controller that manages reconfiguration of the first bidirectional transmitter path, the second bidirectional transmitter path, the first bidirectional receiver path, and the second bidirectional receiver path, for switching between 2×2 MIMO, extended bandwidth SISO, and two-channel SISO operating modes;
a TDD synchronizer comprising one or more algorithms for synchronizing the switching of the repeater between uplink and downlink operating with a TDD schedule of a base station; and
a signal processing function which performs at least one of: system gain control, system power control, filter configurations, crest factor reduction, and digital pre-distortion adjustments.
8. The repeater of claim 1 , wherein the first bidirectional transmitter path comprises:
a first digital-to-analog converter coupled to the repeater controller;
a first power amplifier;
a path configuration switch coupled between the digital-to-analog converter and the first power amplifier, wherein the path configuration switch is controlled by the repeater controller and configured to switch the output from the digital-to-analog converter to either the first power amplifier or to a signal combiner of the second bidirectional transmitter path; and
a first antenna select switch operated by the repeater controller, wherein the first antenna select switch couples an output from the first power amplifier to the first donor antenna when the repeater is repeating UE uplink RF signals, and to the first coverage antenna when the repeater is repeating base station downlink RF signals.
9. The repeater of claim 8 , wherein the second bidirectional transmitter path comprises:
a second digital-to-analog converter;
a second power amplifier;
wherein the signal combiner is coupled between the digital-to-analog converter and the second power amplifier, wherein the signal combiner is coupled to an output of the path configuration switch of the first bidirectional transmitter path and coupled to an output of the second digital-to-analog converter, and provide an analog input to the second power amplifier; and
a second antenna select switch operated by the repeater controller, wherein the second antenna select switch couples an output from the second power amplifier to the second donor antenna when the repeater is repeating the UE uplink RF signals, and to the second coverage antenna when the repeater is repeating the base station downlink RF signals.
10. The repeater of claim 1 , wherein the first bidirectional receiver path comprises:
a first analog-to-digital converter coupled to the repeater controller;
a first low-noise amplifier;
a path configuration switch coupled between the first analog-to-digital converter and the first low-noise amplifier, wherein the path configuration switch is controlled by the repeater controller and configured to switch the input to the first analog-to-digital converter to either an input from the first low-noise amplifier or to an input from a signal splitter of the second bidirectional receiver path; and
a first antenna select switch operated by the repeater controller, wherein the first antenna select switch couples the first low-noise amplifier to the first donor antenna when the repeater is repeating base station downlink RF signals, and to the first coverage antenna when the repeater is repeating UE uplink RF signals.
11. The repeater of claim 10 , wherein the second bidirectional receiver path comprises:
a second analog-to-digital converter coupled to the repeater controller;
a second low-noise amplifier;
wherein the signal splitter is coupled between the second analog-to-digital converter and the second low-noise amplifier, wherein the signal splitter splits a first portion of an output from the low-noise amplifier to the path configuration switch of the first bidirectional receiver path and a second portion of the output from the low-noise amplifier to the second analog-to-digital converter; and
a second antenna select switch operated by the repeater controller, wherein the second antenna select switch couples the second low-noise amplifier to the second donor antenna when the repeater is repeating the base station downlink RF signals, and to the second coverage antenna when the repeater is repeating the UE uplink RF signals.
12. The repeater of claim 1 , wherein the first donor antenna is coupled to both the first bidirectional transmitter path and the first bidirectional receiver path via a first antenna isolation circuit;
wherein the first coverage antenna is coupled to both the first bidirectional transmitter path and the first bidirectional receiver path via a second antenna isolation circuit;
wherein the second donor antenna is coupled to both the second bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional receiver path via a third antenna isolation circuit; and
wherein the second coverage antenna is coupled to both the second bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional receiver path via a fourth antenna isolation circuit.
13. The repeater of claim 12 , further comprising:
a time-division-duplex (TDD)/frequency-division-duplex (FDD) switching circuit configured to adjust the repeater to either TDD or FDD operation.
14. The repeater of claim 13 , wherein the TDD/FDD switching circuit comprises:
a first switchable filter set comprising an FDD downlink band filter and a TDD band filter, the first filter set coupled to the first antenna isolation circuit;
a second switchable filter set comprising an FDD downlink band filter and a TDD band filter, the second filter set coupled to the second antenna isolation circuit;
a third switchable filter set comprising an FDD uplink band filter and a TDD band filter, the third filter set coupled to the third antenna isolation circuit; and
a fourth switchable filter set comprising an FDD uplink band filter and a TDD band filter, the fourth filter set coupled to the fourth antenna isolation circuit.
15. A wireless radio frequency (RF) communication system, the system comprising:
one or more wireless communications network base station; and
an RF signal repeater switchable between single-input-single-output (SISO) and multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) operating modes, wherein the RF signal repeater comprises a first donor antenna and a second donor antenna for communicating with the one or more wireless communications network base station, and a first coverage antenna and a second coverage antenna for communicating with one or more user equipment (UE) within a coverage area;
wherein the RF signal repeater further comprises:
a repeater controller;
a first bidirectional transmitter path coupled to the repeater controller, and switchably coupled to a first donor antenna and a first coverage antenna;
a second bidirectional transmitter path coupled to the repeater controller, and switchably coupled to a second donor antenna and a second coverage antenna;
a first bidirectional receiver path coupled to the repeater controller, and switchably coupled to the first donor antenna and the first coverage antenna; and
a second bidirectional receiver path coupled to the repeater controller, and switchably coupled to the second donor antenna and the second coverage antenna;
wherein the repeater controller is adapted to configure the repeater for a MIMO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode by:
configuring the first bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional receiver path to repeat at least a first MIMO channel of user equipment (UE) uplink RF signals and at least a first MIMO channel of base station downlink RF signals; and
configuring the second bidirectional transmitter path and the first bidirectional receiver path to repeat at least a second MIMO channel of user equipment (UE) uplink RF signals and at least a second MIMO channel of base station downlink RF signals.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the repeater controller is adapted to configure the first bidirectional transmitter path, the second bidirectional transmitter path, the first bidirectional receiver path and the second bidirectional receiver path for an extended bandwidth SISO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode for a SISO channel having a bandwidth of up to twice the bandwidth of a bidirectional MIMO signal path that carries either of the first or second MIMO channels.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the repeater controller is adapted to configure the repeater for the extended bandwidth SISO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode by utilizing both an analog-to-digital converter of the first bidirectional receiver path and an analog-to-digital converter of the second bidirectional receiver path to convert a received RF signal for input to the repeater controller, and by utilizing both a digital-to-analog converter of the first bidirectional transmitter path and a digital-to-analog converter of the second bidirectional transmitter path to convert a repeated signal output from the repeater controller to an analog RF signal for transmission.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein to increase bandwidth in SISO operation, the repeater controller is adapted to configure the first bidirectional transmitter path, the second bidirectional transmitter path, the first bidirectional receiver path and the second bidirectional receiver path for a two-channel SISO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode for a first SISO channel having a bandwidth of up to the bandwidth of a bidirectional MIMO signal path that carries either of the first or second MIMO channels, and a second SISO channel having a bandwidth of up to the bandwidth of the bidirectional MIMO signal path that carries either of the first or second MIMO channels.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the repeater controller is adapted to configure the repeater for the two-channel SISO time-division-duplex (TDD) operating mode by configuring the first bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional receiver path to repeat a first SISO channel of user equipment (UE) uplink RF signals and a first SISO channel of base station downlink RF signals; and configuring the second bidirectional transmitter path and the first bidirectional receiver path to repeat a second SISO channel of user equipment (UE) uplink RF signals and a second SISO channel of base station downlink RF signals.
20. The system of claim 15 , where the repeater controller is configured to dynamically adjust system gains and system power of the first bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional transmitter path, and the first bidirectional receiver path and the second bidirectional receiver path, such that repeated uplink RF signals and repeated downlink RF signals are each transmitted by the repeater at respective pre-determined power levels.
21. The system of claim 15 , where the repeater controller comprises:
a controller coupled to a memory, wherein the controller executes at least one of:
a mode configuration manager executed by the controller that manages reconfiguration of the first bidirectional transmitter path, the second bidirectional transmitter path, the first bidirectional receiver path, and the second bidirectional receiver path, for switching between 2×2 MIMO, extended bandwidth SISO, and two-channel SISO operating modes;
a TDD synchronizer comprising one or more algorithms for synchronizing the switching of the repeater between uplink and downlink operating with a TDD schedule of the one or more wireless communications network base stations; and
a signal processing function which performs at least one of: system gain control, system power control, filter configurations, crest factor reduction, and digital pre-distortion adjustments.
22. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first bidirectional transmitter path comprises:
a first digital-to-analog converter coupled to the repeater controller;
a first power amplifier;
a path configuration switch coupled between the digital-to-analog converter and the first power amplifier, wherein the path configuration switch is controlled by the repeater controller and configured to switch the output from the digital-to-analog converter to either the first power amplifier or to a signal combiner of the second bidirectional transmitter path; and
a first antenna select switch operated by the repeater controller, wherein the first antenna select switch couples an output from the first power amplifier to the first donor antenna when the repeater is repeating UE uplink RF signals, and to the first coverage antenna when the repeater is repeating base station downlink RF signals.
23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the second bidirectional transmitter path comprises:
a second digital-to-analog converter;
a second power amplifier;
wherein the signal combiner is coupled between the digital-to-analog converter and the second power amplifier, wherein the signal combiner is coupled to an output of the path configuration switch of the first bidirectional transmitter path and coupled to an output of the second digital-to-analog converter, and provide an analog input to the second power amplifier; and
a second antenna select switch operated by the repeater controller, wherein the second antenna select switch couples an output from the second power amplifier to the second donor antenna when the repeater is repeating the UE uplink RF signals, and to the second coverage antenna when the repeater is repeating the base station downlink RF signals.
24. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first bidirectional receiver path comprises:
a first analog-to-digital converter coupled to the repeater controller;
a first low-noise amplifier;
a path configuration switch coupled between the first analog-to-digital converter and the first low-noise amplifier, wherein the path configuration switch is controlled by the repeater controller and configured to switch the input to the first analog-to-digital converter to either an input from the first low-noise amplifier or to an input from a signal splitter of the second bidirectional receiver path; and
a first antenna select switch operated by the repeater controller, wherein the first antenna select switch couples the first low-noise amplifier to the first donor antenna when the repeater is repeating base station downlink RF signals, and to the first coverage antenna when the repeater is repeating UE uplink RF signals.
25. The system of claim 24 , wherein the second bidirectional receiver path comprises:
a second analog-to-digital converter coupled to the repeater controller;
a second low-noise amplifier;
wherein the signal splitter is coupled between the second analog-to-digital converter and the second low-noise amplifier, wherein the signal splitter splits a first portion of an output from the low-noise amplifier to the path configuration switch of the first bidirectional receiver path and a second portion of the output from the low-noise amplifier to the second analog-to-digital converter; and
a second antenna select switch operated by the repeater controller, wherein the second antenna select switch couples the second low-noise amplifier to the second donor antenna when the repeater is repeating the base station downlink RF signals, and to the second coverage antenna when the repeater is repeating the UE uplink RF signals.
26. The system of claim 15 , wherein the first donor antenna is couple to both the first bidirectional transmitter path and the first bidirectional receiver path via a first antenna isolation circuit;
wherein the first coverage antenna is coupled to both the first bidirectional transmitter path and the first bidirectional receiver path via a second antenna isolation circuit;
wherein the second donor antenna is coupled to both the second bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional receiver path via a third antenna isolation circuit; and
wherein the second coverage antenna is coupled to both the second bidirectional transmitter path and the second bidirectional receiver path via a fourth antenna isolation circuit.
27. The system of claim 26 , further comprising:
a time-division-duplex (TDD)/frequency-division-duplex (FDD) switching circuit configured to adjust the repeater to either TDD or FDD operation.
28. The system of claim 27 , wherein the TDD/FDD switching circuit comprises:
a first switchable filter set comprising an FDD downlink band filter and a TDD band filter, the first filter set coupled to the first antenna isolation circuit;
a second switchable filter set comprising an FDD downlink band filter and a TDD band filter, the second filter set coupled to the second antenna isolation circuit;
a third switchable filter set comprising an FDD uplink band filter and a TDD band filter, the third filter set coupled to the third antenna isolation circuit; and
a fourth switchable filter set comprising an FDD uplink band filter and a TDD band filter, the fourth filter set coupled to the fourth antenna isolation circuit.