Beam steering antenna transmitter, multi-user antenna mimo transmitter and related methods of communication
AssigneePhase Sensitive Innovations, Inc.
InventorJanusz Murakowski
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An transmitter to be used in wireless multi-user MIMO has been described above. The system combines the virtues of digital, analog and optical processing to arrive at a solution for scalable, non-blocking, simultaneous transmission to multiple UE-s. The system architecture is independent of the RF carrier frequency, and different frequency bands can be accessed easily and rapidly by tuning the optical source (TOPS). The data channels are established in the digital domain and the RF beam-forming accuracy is only limited by the available resolution of DAC, which can be as high as 16 bits for 2.8 GSPS in off-the-shelf components.
Claims18
A An antenna array transmitter, comprising:
- a first a tunable optical paired source configured to generate a first optical beam having a first wavelength, and a second optical beam having a second wavelength, and configured to combine the first optical beam and the second optical beam into a combined orthogonally polarized optical beam comprising the first optical beam polarized along a first axis and the second optical beam polarized along a second axis, perpendicular to the first axis;
- M vector modulators, where M is an integer a positive integer greater than one, each vector modulator having an optical input and an optical signal output, the M vector modulators including a first vector modulator, the first vector modulator comprising:
- an electro-optical phase modulator having an input to receive the combined orthogonally polarized optical beam, the electro-optical phase modulator configured to phase modulate the combined orthogonally polarized optical beam in response to a first analog electrical signal;
- a polarizer configured to receive the phase modulated combined orthogonally polarized optical beam and to project the first optical beam and the second optical beam components of the combined orthogonally polarized optical beam onto the same axis to form a combined linearly polarized optical beam;
- an electro-optical amplitude modulator having an input to receive the combined linearly polarized optical beam in response to a second analog electrical signal;
- M photodetectors coupled to receive an optical input from a corresponding one of the M vector modulators and output a corresponding electrical signal, the M photodetectors including a first photodetector coupled to receive the amplitude modulated linearly polarized optical beam from the electro-optical amplitude modulator of the first vector modulator;
- and
- M antennas each electrically coupled to a respective one of the photodetectors to receive a driving signal corresponding to the electrical signal output by the respective photodetector.
A method of transmitting information, comprising:
- generating M combined orthogonally polarized optical beams, where M is an integer a positive integer greater than one and the M combined orthogonally polarized optical beams comprise a first optical beam polarized along a first axis and a second optical beam polarized along a second axis, perpendicular to the first axis, the first optical beam having a first wavelength and the second optical beam having a second optical beam perpendicular to the first optical beam;
- phase modulating each of the M combined orthogonally polarized optical beams;
- converting each of the M phase modulated combined orthogonally polarized optical beams to corresponding M linearly polarized optical beams by including projecting the first optical beam and the second optical beam components of each of the phase modulated combined orthogonally polarized optical beams onto a corresponding same axis;
- amplitude modulating each of the M linearly polarized optical beams;
- driving M photodetectors with a corresponding one of the amplitude modulated M linearly polarized optical beams;
- driving M antennas with a corresponding electrical output of a corresponding one of the M photodetectors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.