US 6,801,767 B1Granted

Method and system for distributing multiband wireless communications signals

AssigneeLGC Wireless, Inc.

InventorsAdam L. Schwartz, David Hart, John Eisenberg, Peter Forth

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Abstract

This invention provides a method and system for distributing multiband wireless communications signals. Downlink RF signals in a plurality of downlink frequency bands are received and then combined into a combined downlink RF signal at the main unit. The combined downlink RF signal is subsequently split into multiple downlink RF-parts, which are converted to multiple downlink optical signals and optically transmitted to the remote units. At each remote unit, a delivered downlink optical signal is first converted back to a downlink RF-part which is subsequently separated into a plurality of downlink RF-groups by frequency band. Each downlink RF-group is individually conditioned (e.g., filtered and amplified). The individual-conditioned downlink RF-groups are then combined and transmitted to a dedicated downlink antenna.

Claims56

Dependent claims

A method of distributing multiband radio frequency (RF) signals in a wireless communications system, comprising:

a) receiving at a main unit a plurality of downlink RF-sets in a plurality of downlink frequency bands, wherein each of said downlink RF-sets contains downlink RF signals in one of said downlink frequency bands;
b) combining said downlink RF-sets into a multiband combined downlink RF signal;
c) splitting said multiband combined downlink RF signal into multiple multiband downlink RF-parts;
d) converting said multiple multiband downlink RF-parts to multiple downlink optical signals;
e) optically transmitting said downlink optical signals to multiple remote units;
f) receiving a delivered downlink optical signal at each of said remote units;
g) converting said delivered downlink optical signal to a multiband delivered downlink RF-part;
h) separating said multiband delivered downlink RF-part into a plurality of downlink RF-groups by frequency band;
i) performing individual downlink-signal-conditioning on each of said downlink RF-groups, including one or more steps of RF-amplifying, gain-adjusting, and RF-filtering;
j) combining said individual-conditioned downlink RF groups into a multiband downlink RF transmit signal;
and
k) transmitting said multiband downlink RF transmit signal to at least one dedicated downlink antenna;
wherein said at least one dedicated downlink antenna is not used for uplink reception.

10 more elements

A multiband distributed wireless communications system comprising:

(a) a main unit comprising:
(1) a downlink-RF-interface for receiving a plurality of downlink RF-sets in a plurality of downlink frequency bands, wherein each of said downlink RF-sets contains downlink RF signals in one of said downlink frequency bands;
(2) a downlink RF-combining means for combining said downlink RF-sets into a multiband combined downlink RF signal;
(3) a downlink RF-splitting means for splitting said multiband combined downlink RF signal into multiple multiband downlink RF-parts;
and
(4) multiple RF-to-optical converters for converting said multiple multiband downlink RF-parts to multiple downlink optical signals;
(b) multiple remote units optically coupled to said main unit, each comprising:
(5) a remote optical-to-RF converter for converting a delivered downlink optical signal to a multiband delivered downlink RF-part;
(6) a downlink splitting-filtering means for separating said multiband delivered downlink RF-part into a plurality of downlink RF-groups by frequency band;
(7) a plurality of downlink-signal-conditioning assemblies for performing individual downlink-signal-conditioning on each of said downlink RF-groups;
and
(8) a downlink filtering-combining means for combining said individual-conditioned downlink RF-groups into a multiband downlink RF-transmit signal;
(c) multiple dedicated downlink antennae, wherein each of said remote units is in RF-communication with at least one of said dedicated downlink antennae, whereby said multiband downlink RF-transmit signal is transmitted to said at least one of said dedicated downlink antennae;
wherein said dedicated downlink antennae are not used for uplink reception.

11 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.