Clock priority chain level systems and methods

A radio head component of a multihost unit distributed antenna system, the radio head component comprising:

• a plurality of ports for interfacing with a network of communication links, each of the communication links providing a medium for communicating data;
• an arbitration logic module responsive to the plurality of ports, wherein the arbitration logic module determines a highest priority Network Chain Level (NCL) value based on information received on the plurality of ports and selects a system clock reference port from the plurality of ports based on the highest priority NCL value, wherein the highest priority NCL value indicates a master clock priority level (MCPL) of a host unit providing a Master Clock and a chain level value indicating a chain depth;
• and
• a local system clock for maintaining an operating frequency for communicating via the plurality of ports, the local system clock locked to a reference clock signal received via the system clock reference port selected by the arbitration logic module.

A distributed antenna system, the system comprising:

• a plurality of host units, each host unit coupled to at least one base transceiver station (BTS);
• a plurality of remote units for wireless communication;
• and
• a communication link network comprising a plurality of point-to-point communication links;
• wherein a first host unit of the plurality of host units maintains a Master Clock and transmits a reference clock signal based on the Master Clock, wherein the reference clock signal based on the Master Clock is propagated through one or more of the plurality of point-to-point communication links to each of the plurality of remote units and each of the other host units of the plurality of host units;
• wherein a first remote unit of the plurality of remote units arbitrates to select a system clock reference port for synchronizing with a first instance of the reference clock signal received from the communication link network based on a first Network Chain Level (NCL) value indicative of the number of point-to-point communication links through which the first instance of the reference clock signal has propagated, and wherein the first remote unit transmits an incremented NCL value back to the communication link network;
• wherein a second unit of the plurality of host units arbitrates to select a system clock reference port for synchronizing with a second instance of the reference clock signal received from the communication link network based on a second Network Chain Level (NCL) value indicative of the number of point-to-point communication links through which the second instance of the reference clock signal has propagated, and wherein the second host unit transmits an incremented NCL value back to the communication link network.