Monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within coverage areas of distributed antenna systems (dass)

A system for monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within a coverage area of a wireless system having head-end equipment and a plurality of remote units, comprising:

• a plurality of antennas configured to receive one or more electromagnetic signals;
• a listening module connected to at least one of the plurality of remote units connected to at least one of the plurality of antennas, the listening module comprising:
• at least one input configured to receive the electromagnetic signals from at least one of the antennas;
• at least one output configured to transmit the electromagnetic signals over at least one uplink path of the wireless system;
• and
• at least one listening path disposed between the at least one input and the at least one output and configured to pass a non-supported radio band different than a supported radio band of the wireless system to the at least one output, and to pass at least one supported radio band to the at least one output;
• and
• a monitoring module connected to the head-end equipment comprising at least one input configured to receive the non-supported radio band passed by the at least one listening path of the listening module.

A system for monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within a coverage area of a wireless system having head-end equipment and a plurality of remote units, comprising:

• head-end equipment comprising at least one optical interface module (OIM) and at least one radio interface module (RIM);
• a plurality of antennas configured to receive one or more electromagnetic signals;
• a listening module connected to at least one of the plurality of remote units, the listening module comprising:
• at least one input configured to receive the electromagnetic signals from the at least one antenna;
• at least one output configured to transmit the electromagnetic signals over at least one uplink path of the wireless system;
• and
• at least one listening path disposed between the at least one input and the at least one output and configured to pass a non-supported radio band different than a supported radio band of the wireless system to the at least one output, and to pass at least one supported radio band to the at least one output;
• and
• a monitoring module comprising at least one input configured to receive the non-supported radio band passed by the at least one listening path of the listening module from the at least one OIM.

A method of monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within a coverage area of a wireless system, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a plurality of antennas distributed throughout multiple floors of an infrastructure, one or more electromagnetic signals;
• receiving, at a listening module connected to at least one of a plurality of remote units, the one or more electromagnetic signals from at least one of the plurality of antennas;
• passing the one or more electromagnetic signals in a non-supported radio band different than a supported radio band of the wireless system to an output of the listening module;
• and
• transmitting the non-supported radio band from the output of the listening module over an optical communications medium of the wireless system.

An apparatus connected to at least one of a plurality of remote units of a distributed antenna system for monitoring non-supported wireless spectrum within a coverage area of the distributed antenna system, comprising:

• a plurality of remote units, at least one of the remote units comprising at least one antenna configured to receive one or more electromagnetic signals from a coverage area and to transmit electromagnetic signals into the coverage area;
• a listening module connected to the at least one antenna, the listening module comprising:
• at least one input configured to receive the electromagnetic signals from the at least one antenna;
• at least one output configured to transmit the electromagnetic signals over at least one uplink path of the DAS to head-end equipment of the DAS;
• and
• at least one listening path comprising at least one filter and at least one mixer disposed between the at least one input and the at least one output, and configured to pass a non-supported radio band different than a supported radio band of the DAS to the at least one output.