System, device, and method for high-frequency millimeter-wave wireless communication using interface points

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016134356-A1
Application number	US-201514934327-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Nov 6, 2015
Priority date	Nov 7, 2014
Publication date	May 12, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments include a communication system comprising a portal between radio-frequency propagation environments; one or more of interface points disposed in the plurality of propagation environment and configured to communicate with each other via the portal; and one or more access points disposed in one of the propagation environments, at least a portion being configured to communicate with a particular interface point. Other embodiments include apparatus for communicating across radio-frequency propagation environments comprising at least one antenna array, a computer arrangement, and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that configure an adaptive antenna array to receive expected signals from a device or system disposed in a first propagation environment and to reject interfering signals originating in the same environment; and transmit the received expected signals to a compatible apparatus in a second propagation environment via a portal that is relatively permeable with respect to a particular frequency.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A communication system comprising:
a portal between a plurality of radio-frequency propagation environments; one or more interface points disposed in the plurality of propagation environments, wherein each of the interface points is configured to communicate with one or more other interface points via the portal; and one or more access points disposed in a particular one of the propagation environments, wherein at least a portion of the one or more access points are configured to relay one or more transmissions to one or more destinations outside of the particular propagation environment via communication with an interface point disposed in the particular propagation environment.

2 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one portion of the one or more access points are further configured to relay one or more transmissions to destinations within the particular one of the propagation environments without communication with at least the particular one of the interface points.

3 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the portal comprises a material that is relatively permeable to a predetermined range of radio frequencies compared to one or more other materials in proximity to the portal.

4 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the propagation environments comprise an indoor environment and an outdoor environment.

5 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the propagation environments comprise a plurality of indoor environments.

6 . The communication system of claim 3 , wherein the predetermined range of frequencies comprises one or more bands of millimeter-wave (mmW) frequencies.

7 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one portion of the one or more access points comprise adaptive antenna arrays configurable to communicate with the at least a particular one of the interface points.

8 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the at least a particular one of the interface points comprise adaptive antenna arrays configurable to communicate with the at least one portion of the one or more access points.

9 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one portion of the one or more access points is further configured to relay the one or more transmissions to one or more destinations outside of the particular propagation environment based on at least one of:
i) user-specific information associated with the one or more transmissions; ii) device-specific information associated with the one or more transmissions; or iii) location-specific information associated with the one or more transmissions.

10 . The communication system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more interface points are further configured to communicate with the one or more other interface points via the portal based on at least one of:
i) user-specific information associated with the one or more transmissions; ii) device-specific information associated with the one or more transmissions; or iii) location-specific information associated with the one or more transmissions.

11 . An apparatus for communicating across a plurality of radio-frequency propagation environments, comprising:
an antenna array; a computer arrangement; and a non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the computer arrangement, cause the apparatus to:
configure the antenna array to receive expected signals transmitted by one or more devices or systems disposed in a first propagation environment and to reject interfering signals originating from the first propagation environment, and
transmit the received expected signals using a particular radio frequency to a device or system disposed in a second propagation environment via a portal that is relatively permeable with respect to at least the particular radio frequency.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the computer arrangement, further cause the apparatus to selectively transmit the received expected signals using a particular radio frequency based on at least one of:
i) user-specific information associated with the received expected signals; ii) device-specific information associated with the received expected signals; or iii) location-specific information associated with the received expected signals.

13 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the computer arrangement, further cause the apparatus to:
receive signals using a further radio frequency from the device or system disposed in the second propagation environment via the portal, wherein the portal is relatively permeable with respect to the further radio frequency; and configure the antenna array to transmit the received signals to the one or more devices or systems disposed in the first propagation environment.

14 . The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising:
a second antenna array; and computer-executable instructions stored in the non-transitory, computer-readable medium that, when executed by the computer arrangement, cause the apparatus to configure the second antenna array to at least one of transmit signals to or receive signals from the device or system disposed in the second propagation environment, via the portal.

15 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the computer arrangement, cause the apparatus to configure the spatial selectivity of the antenna array.

16 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein one of the first and second propagation environments comprises an indoor environment and another one of the first and second propagation environments comprises an outdoor environment.

17 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first and second propagation environments comprise indoor environments.

18 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the first propagation environment or the second propagation environment comprises an in-vehicle environment.

19 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the particular radio frequency comprises a millimeter-wave (mmW) frequency.

20 . A method for configuring a communication system for at least one operation in a propagation environment, comprising:
(a) selecting initial locations for a plurality of components of the communication system and values for one or more operating parameters for a communication between the components; (b) determining propagation models for each of expected signals and interfering signals received by a particular one of the components; (c) for at least one of the components, determine adaptive antenna settings that result in a substantially optimum value of a metric with respect to the expected and interfering signals based on the determined propagation models; and (d) if the substantially optimum value of the metric is sufficient, select different values for at least one of the one or more of operating parameters or a further location of at least one of the components, and repeat operations (a) through (c).

21 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the one or more operating parameters are selected from among a group including radio frequency, antenna polarization, modulation scheme, processing gain, signal bandwidth, forward error correction (FEC) scheme, and retransmission scheme.

22 . The method of claim 20 , wherein the metric is a combination of one or

Assignees

• Univ New York

Inventors

• Rappaport Theodore S
• Shasha Dennis

Classifications

• H04B7/2606

  Arrangements for base station coverage control, e.g. by using relays in tunnels · CPC title

• H04W16/26 Primary

  Cell enhancers {or enhancement}, e.g. for tunnels, building shadow · CPC title

• H04B7/15 Primary

  Active relay systems · CPC title

• H04B7/15507

  Relay station based processing for cell extension or control of coverage area, (network planning with network coordinated processing with regard to cell extension H04W16/26; network topologies using dedicated repeater stations H04W84/047; terminal devices adapted for relaying to or from an other terminal H04W88/04) · CPC title