Backhaul radio with horizontally or vertically arranged receive antenna arrays

#1. Field

#The present disclosure relates generally to data networking and in particular to a backhaul radio for connecting remote edge access networks to core networks and an associated antenna system.

#2. Related Art

#The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more examples of embodiments and, together with the description of example embodiments, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the embodiments.

#FIG. 1 is an illustration of conventional point to point (PTP) radios deployed for cellular base station backhaul with unobstructed line of sight (LOS).

#FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional PTP radio for Time Division Duplex (TDD).

#FIG. 5 illustrates deployment of intelligent backhaul radios (IBRs) in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the IBRs 500 are deployable at street level with obstructions such as trees 504, hills 508, buildings 512, etc. between them. The IBRs 500 are also deployable in configurations that include point to multipoint (PMP), as shown in FIG. 5, as well as point to point (PTP). In other words, each IBR 500 may communicate with more than one other IBR 500.

#For 3G and especially for 4th Generation (4G), cellular network infrastructure is more commonly deployed using “microcells” or “picocells.” In this cellular network infrastructure, compact base stations (eNodeBs) 516 are situated outdoors at street level. When such eNodeBs 516 are unable to connect locally to optical fiber or a copper wireline of sufficient data bandwidth, then a wireless connection to a fiber “point of presence” (POP) requires obstructed LOS capabilities, as described herein.

#For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the IBRs 500 include an Aggregation End IBR (AE-IBR) and Remote End IBRs (RE-IBRs). The eNodeB 516 of the AE-IBR is typically connected locally to the core network via a fiber POP 520. The RE-IBRs and their associated eNodeBs 516 are typically not connected to the core network via a wireline connection; instead, the RE-IBRs are wirelessly connected to the core network via the AE-IBR. As shown in FIG. 5, the wireless connection between the IBRs include obstructions (i.e., there may be an obstructed LOS connection between the RE-IBRs and the AE-IBR).