Method of and system for one plus one protection for radio equipment

A system for use in providing reliable communications between a first communication site and a second communication site of a communication link, the system comprising:

• a receiver including a first receiver module and a second receiver module each selectively operable in active and standby modes of operation, wherein said standby mode of operation processes a received signal through at least a portion of one of said first and second receiver modules in said standby mode without outputting the processed signal as in the active mode;
• a transmitter;
• a receiver monitor providing an alert signal upon loss of reception of a received signal at said receiver;
• and
• a controller operable to control said first receiver module and said second receiver module to operate in said active and standby modes of operation in response to a signal from said receiver monitor, wherein said controller is operable to control said first receiver module and said second receiver module to maintain operation in a previous configuration of active and standby modes of operation in response to a signal from said receiver monitor which indicates a receive error at both said first and second receiver modules.

A radio transceiver for use as one of a pair of redundant radio transceivers at a first communication site which communication site is in communication with a second communication site of a communication system, the radio transceiver comprising:

• a radio transmitter selectively operating in active and standby modes of operation;
• a radio receiver;
• a receiver monitor responsive to said radio receiver providing an alert signal upon loss of reception of a radio signal;
• and
• a controller
• (i) controlling said radio transmitter to operate in said active and standby modes of operation in response to a pair of remote transceivers located at said second communication site detecting a failure of one of said pair of redundant transceivers at said first communication site, and
• (ii) responsive to said receiver monitor and to a signal from a receiver monitor of the other of the pair of redundant transceivers at said first communication site for supplying a transmitter failure signal to said pair of remote transceivers located at said second communication site.

A radio transceiver system for use at a communications node of a radio communication system, said redundant radio transceiver system comprising:

• first and second radio transceivers, each including
• (i) a transmitter selectively operable in standby and active modes of operation;
• (ii) a receiver;
• and
• (iii) a controller operative to (a) monitor said receiver and, in response, provide a receiver status indicator, (b) provide a remote transmitter failure signal responsive to said receiver status indicator and to the receiver status indicator of the other one of said first and second radio transceivers, and (c) control said transmitter to selectively operate in said standby and active modes in response to a remote transmitter failure signal of another redundant radio transceiver system.

A communication system for providing communication between a plurality of nodes, said system comprising:

• a first node pair of redundant radio units adapted to provide communication with a radio unit of a second node of said plurality of nodes;
• and
• each radio unit of said first node pair of redundant radio units including
• a radio frequency transducer selectively operable in standby and active modes of operation;
• and
• a controller operative in master and slave modes, wherein said master mode is operative to selectively monitor said transducers of said first node pair and in response control the operating modes of said transducers to selectively operate in said standby and active modes.

A communication system comprising a plurality of nodes, at least one of said nodes comprising:

• a first pair of redundant radio transceivers in radio communications with a prior one of said nodes;
• and
• a second pair of redundant radio transceivers in radio communications with a subsequent one of said nodes;
• each of said pair of redundant radio transceivers including
• (i) a transmitter selectively operable in standby and active modes of operation;
• (ii) a receiver;
• and
• (iii) a controller operative in master and slave modes to selectively (a) monitor said receiver and, in response, provide a receiver status indicator, (b) provide a remote transmitter failure signal responsive to said receiver status indicator and to the receiver status indicator of the other one of said pair of redundant radio transceivers, and (c) control the operating modes of said transmitters of said pair of redundant radio transceiver to selectively operate in said standby and active modes in response to a remote transmitter failure signal provided by an associated one of said previous and subsequent nodes.

A method of operating a radio communication network including a plurality of nodes, each node including first and second pairs of radio transceivers wherein one radio transceiver of each of said pair of radio transceivers is operated in an active mode and the other in a standby mode, said method comprising the steps of:

• identifying signals transmitted to each of the first and second pairs of radio transceivers;
• determining an operational status of a receiver portion of each of said radio transceivers of said first and second pairs of radio transceivers in response to a dissimilarity of signals identified by respective pairs of radio transceivers;
• determining an operational status of a remote node in response to a failure to receive a signal from said remote node by an associated one of said pairs of transceivers;
• and
• selectively changing the operating mode of ones of said pairs in response to said determining steps.

A method of operating a radio communication network including first and second terminal nodes and an intermediate relay node, said first and second terminal nodes each comprising a pair of radio transceivers and said relay node comprising two pairs of radio transceivers, one radio transceiver of each of said pairs being operated in an active mode while the other transceiver is operated in a standby mode, said first and second terminal nodes communicating with each other through said relay node, said method comprising the steps of:

• detecting an alarm condition caused by one radio transceiver of a subject pair of transceivers losing signal reception;
• interrogating the other transceiver of the subject pair to identify a corresponding loss of signal reception by the other transceiver;
• applying a predetermined rule to determine which of a receiver failure and a transmitter failure has most likely occurred;
• and
• switching operational modes of one of said pairs of transceivers in response to said determination.