Millimeter-wave surface-wave communications
AssigneeAT&T Intellectual Property I, L.P.
InventorsRobert Bennett, Donald J. Barnickel, Farhad Barzegar, Irwin Gerszberg, Paul Shala Henry, Thomas M. Willis, III
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Abstract
A millimeter-wave surface-wave communications system to provide network connectivity for a backhaul network and a distributed antenna system. Rather than building new structures, and installing additional fiber and cable, embodiments described herein disclose using high-bandwidth, millimeter-wave communications propagating over existing power line infrastructure. The wavelength of the transmission is comparable in size or smaller than the circumference of the power lines.
Claims24
A system, comprising:
- a memory that stores executable instructions;
- and
- a processor, coupled to the memory, to facilitate execution of the executable instructions to perform operations, comprising:
- facilitating receipt of a signal;
- modulating a carrier-wave signal with the signal resulting in a modulated signal, wherein the carrier-wave signal is a millimeter-wave signal;
- generating a transmission of the modulated signal;
- and
- inducing the transmission as an electromagnetic wave guided by an outer surface of a wire, wherein the electromagnetic wave propagates longitudinally along the outer surface of the wire and at least partially around the outer surface of the wire via a coupling device that is not coaxially aligned with the wire.
A method, comprising:
- receiving, by a device comprising a processor, a signal;
- modulating, by the device, a carrier-wave signal with the signal to generate a modulated signal;
- generating, by the device, a transmission based on the modulated signal, wherein the transmission is a millimeter-wave transmission;
- and
- inducing, by the device, the transmission as an electromagnetic surface-wave guided by an outer surface of a wire, wherein the electromagnetic surface-wave propagates longitudinally along the outer surface of the wire and at least partially around the outer surface of the wire, wherein an axis of the wire is not aligned with an axis of the device.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a frequency mixer that combines a signal and a carrier wave to form a combined signal;
- a transmitter that generates a transmission based on the combined signal, wherein the transmission has a wavelength corresponding to a millimeter-wave band;
- and
- a coupling device that emits the transmission as an electromagnetic wave guided by an outer surface of a wire, wherein the electromagnetic wave propagates longitudinally along the surface of the wire and at least partially around the surface of the wire, wherein the coupling device is positioned such that the wire is outside a cross-sectional area of the coupling device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.