US 11,902,220 B2Granted

Repeater methods and apparatus

AssigneeMixcomm, Inc.

InventorsHarish Krishnaswamy, Ashwin Sampath, Frank Lane

Life of this patent

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Abstract

Methods and apparatus for implementing a repeater are described. In various embodiments the repeater determines uplink/downlink timing information either from information broadcast from a base station or from monitoring received signals and/or gaps between received signals. In various embodiments while the repeater may decode control information to determine uplink/downlink time periods, user data is not decoded and re-encoded. In various embodiments interference between uplink and downlink circuitry is reduced or minimized by controlling gains, combining weights and/or power to amplifiers in the repeater based on the mode of operation. A stored information can include sets of different weights and/or parameters for the mode of operation and/or beam forming antenna pattern in use at a given time.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of operating a repeater comprising:

storing, in a storage device, a first set of control values for controlling repeater operation during an uplink mode of operation and a second set of control values for controlling repeater operation during a downlink mode of operation, said first set of control values including a first donor receive gain (DRG) control value for controlling the gain of a donor side receiver amplifier during the uplink mode of operation, said second set of control values including a second DRG control value for controlling the gain of the donor side receiver amplifier during the downlink mode of operation, said first DRG control value for controlling the gain of the donor side receiver amplifier controlling the gain of the donor side receiver amplifier to have a lower gain than when the second DRG control value is used for controlling the gain of the donor side receiver amplifier;
detecting a time division duplex (TDD) timing schedule including a plurality of times at which a switch is made between uplink and downlink communication;
in response to said TDD timing schedule indicating a change from a downlink mode of operation to an uplink mode of operation, switching between using the second set of control values for controlling repeater operation to using the first set of control values for controlling repeater operation, said switch in control values:
i) decreasing the gain of the donor side receiver amplifier;
and
ii) controlling a donor side switch to change from a receive position to a transmit position causing a signal to be transmitted from a donor side antenna.

3 more elements

A repeater comprising:

a memory, said memory storing a first set of control values for controlling repeater operation during an uplink mode of operation and a second set of control values for controlling repeater operation during a downlink mode of operation, said first set of control values including a first doner receive gain (DRG) control value for controlling the gain of a first donor side receiver amplifier during the uplink mode of operation, said second set of control values including a second DRG control value for controlling the gain of the first donor side receiver amplifier during the downlink mode of operation, said first DRG control value for controlling the gain of the donor side receiver amplifier controlling the gain of the donor side receiver amplifier to have a lower gain than when the second DRG control value is used for controlling the gain of the donor side receiver amplifier;
and
the donor side receiver amplifier;
a donor side switch;
a donor side antenna;
and
a processor coupled to said memory, the processor being configured to:
detect a time division duplex (TDD) timing schedule including a plurality of times at which a switch is made between uplink and downlink communication;
and
in response to said TDD timing schedule indicating a change from a downlink mode of operation to an uplink mode of operation, control the repeater to switch between using the second set of control values for controlling repeater operation to using the first set of control values for controlling repeater operation, said switch in control values:
i) decreasing the gain of the donor side receiver amplifier;
ii) controlling the donor side switch to change from a receive position to a transmit position causing a signal to be transmitted from the donor side antenna.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/723,456Filed 18 Apr 2022 · continuation
Priority: 30 Jun 2019
Published: US 2022/0239458 A128 Jul 2022
Granted: 13 Feb 2024
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification13 codes

H04B 7/15542
Control of operation parameters of a relay station to exploit the physical medium: selecting at relay station its transmit and receive resources
H04L 5/1461
Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex: suppression of signals in the return path, i.e. bidirectional control circuits
H04B 1/44
Circuits: transmit/receive switching
H04B 7/0617
Of weighted versions of same signal: for beam forming

Family

Application62/868,999Us provisional application · filed 30 Jun 2019
Application16/695,150Parent of this continuation · filed 25 Nov 2019
US 2022/0239458 A1Pre-grant publication · published 28 Jul 2022
US 11,310,024 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2020/0412519 A1Published application
US 11,902,220 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.