Cascaded redundancy architectures for communication systems
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsKyle T. Marsh, Stephen A. MacAnlis
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Abstract
An example redundancy architecture is described that includes a plurality of nominal RF paths, a plurality of spare input RF paths, a controllable input switching system, a plurality of spare output RF paths, and a controllable output switching system. The controllable input switching system is configured to selectively link any one of the plurality of spare input RF paths to any one of the plurality of nominal RF paths while avoiding disruption of service on the other nominal RF paths. In addition, the controllable output switching system is configured to selectively link any one of the plurality of nominal RF paths to any one of the plurality of spare output RF paths while avoiding disruption of service on the other nominal RF paths.
Claims20
A redundancy architecture (300, 400) for a communications system, comprising:
- a plurality of nominal radio frequency “RF” paths (302, 402), each of the plurality of nominal RF paths configured to carry a respective primary RF signal from a respective primary input port (304, 404) to a respective primary output port (306, 406);
- a plurality of spare input RF paths (308, 408), each of the plurality of spare input RF paths configured to receive a respective spare RF signal from a respective spare input port (316, 416);
- a controllable input switching system (312, 412, 502, 602, 702, 802) configured to selectively link any one of the plurality of spare input RF paths to any one of the plurality of nominal RF paths while avoiding disruption of service on the other nominal RF paths;
- a plurality of spare output RF paths (310, 410), each of the plurality of spare output RF paths linked to a respective spare output port (320, 420);
- and
- a controllable output switching system (314, 414, 504, 604, 704, 804) configured to selectively link any one of the plurality of nominal RF paths to any one of the plurality of spare output RF paths while avoiding disruption of service on the other nominal RF paths.
A method (900) for injecting a spare input path signal into a nominal radio frequency (RF) path of a communications system, wherein the communications system comprises a plurality of nominal radio frequency “RF” paths configured to carry a respective primary RF signal from a respective primary input port to a respective primary output port, the method comprising:
- receiving (902), by a controllable switching system (312, 412, 500, 600, 700, 800), a reconfiguration command, wherein the controllable switching system is configured to selectively link any one of a plurality of spare input RF paths to any one of the plurality of nominal RF paths, and wherein the reconfiguration command is a command to link a particular one of the plurality of spare input RF paths to a particular one of the plurality of nominal RF paths;
- and
- responsive to receiving the reconfiguration command, linking (904), by the controllable switching system, the particular spare input RF path to the particular nominal RF path without disrupting service on the other nominal RF paths.
A method (1100) for accessing a spare output radio frequency “RF” path in a communications system, wherein the communications system comprises a plurality of nominal RF paths configured to carry a respective primary RF signal from a respective primary input port to a respective primary output port, the method comprising:
- receiving (1102), by a controllable switching system (314, 414, 500, 600, 700, 800), a reconfiguration command, wherein the controllable switching system is configured to selectively link any one of the plurality of nominal RF paths to any one of a plurality of spare output RF paths, and wherein the reconfiguration command is a command to link a particular one of the plurality of nominal RF paths to a particular one of the plurality of spare output RF paths;
- and
- responsive to receiving the reconfiguration command, linking (1104), by the controllable switching system, the particular nominal RF path to the particular spare output RF path without disrupting service on the other nominal RF paths.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.