Systems and methods for communication link redundancy for distributed antenna systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10601505-B2
Application number	US-201916364413-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 26, 2019
Priority date	May 30, 2017
Publication date	Mar 24, 2020
Grant date	Mar 24, 2020

Abstract

In one embodiment, a distributed antenna system comprises: at least one master unit; at least one remote antenna unit communicatively coupled via a switch to the master unit by a primary cable and a secondary cable both coupled to the switch, the remote antenna unit comprising a compensating link check module that outputs a control signal to the switch, wherein the switch selects between the primary and secondary cable in response to the control signal; wherein the compensating link check module controls the switch to momentarily select the secondary cable to perform a link check during which the remote unit measures a quality metric of a downlink signal received via the secondary cable; and upon initiation of the link check, the compensating link check module adjusts an attenuation of the downlink signal received on the secondary cable by loading calibration settings for the secondary cable into a compensation attenuator.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A link redundancy verification system for a communication system, the system comprising:
a switch configured to switch between a first cable and a second cable
a compensating link check circuit that outputs a control signal to the switch, wherein the switch selects between the first cable and the second cable in response to the control signal;
wherein the compensating link check circuit is configured to control the switch to momentarily select the second cable to perform a link check of the second cable, wherein during the link check of the second cable at least one quality metric of a signal transported via the second cable is measured; and
wherein upon initiation of the link check of the second cable, the compensating link check circuit adjusts an attenuation of the signal received on the second cable based on a set of calibration setting for the second cable.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the compensating link check circuit adjusts the attenuation of the signal received on the second cable based on a set of calibration setting for the second cable by loading a set of calibration settings for the second cable into a compensation attenuator.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein upon completion of the link check, the compensating link check circuit loads a set of calibration settings for the first cable into the downlink compensation attenuator and controls the switch to reselect the first cable.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first cable and the second cable are coupled to a master unit of a distributed antenna system.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first cable is coupled to a first master unit of a distributed antenna system, and the second cable are coupled a second master unit of the distributed antenna system.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or both of the switch and the compensating link check circuit are components within a master unit of a distributed antenna system.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein one or both of the switch and the compensating link check circuit are components within a remote antenna unit of a distributed antenna system.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein upon completion of the link check, the compensating link check circuit reports a result of measuring the at least one quality metric via the first cable.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first cable comprises an uplink cable for uplink communication, and a downlink cable for downlink communication.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second cable comprises an uplink cable for uplink communication, and a downlink cable for downlink communication.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a memory coupled to the compensating link check circuit;
wherein data received via the second cable during the line check is stored in the memory and communicated via the first cable after the line check is complete.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the compensating link check circuit initiates the link check based on a recurring schedule.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the compensating link check circuit receives management data and initiates the link check in response to the management data.

14. A link redundancy verification method for a communication system, the method comprising:
generating a control signal to a switch, wherein the switch selects between a first cable and a second cable in response to the control signal, wherein the control signal is configured to control the switch to momentarily select the second cable to perform a link check of the second cable;
performing the link check of the second cable by measuring at least one quality metric of a signal transported via the second cable is measured; and
upon initiation of the link check of the second cable, adjusting an attenuation of the signal received on the second cable based on a set of calibration setting for the second cable.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein adjusting an attenuation of the signal received on the second cable comprises loading a set of calibration settings for the second cable into a compensation attenuator.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
upon completion of the link check, loading a set of calibration settings for the first cable into the downlink compensation attenuator; and
controlling the switch to reselect the first cable.

17. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
upon completion of the link check, reporting via the first cable a result of measuring the at least one quality metric of the signal transported via the second cable.

18. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
initiating the link check based on a recurring schedule; or
initiates the link check in response to received management data.

19. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
storing data received via the second cable during the line check in a memory; and
communicating the data via the first cable after the line check is complete.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein communicating the data via the first cable after the line check is complete is performed in response to receiving a polling signal.

Assignees

• Andrew Wireless Systems Gmbh

Inventors

• Hoffmann Jaroslav
• Starek Peter

Classifications

• H04B10/0795

  Performance monitoring; Measurement of transmission parameters · CPC title

• G01M11/00

  Testing of optical apparatus; Testing structures by optical methods not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• H04B10/25758

  between a central unit and a single remote unit by means of an optical fibre · CPC title

• H04B17/00

  Monitoring; Testing (of line transmission systems H04B3/46; arrangements for monitoring or testing transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio waves H04B10/07) · CPC title

• G01R31/58

  Testing of lines, cables or conductors (testing of electric windings G01R31/72) · CPC title