Autoconfigured backhaul transceiver

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9668147-B2
Application number	US-201514602809-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 22, 2015
Priority date	Jan 22, 2014
Publication date	May 30, 2017
Grant date	May 30, 2017

Abstract

A microwave transceiver comprises a plurality of antenna arrays, each of which is oriented in a different direction, and circuitry operable to automatically select which of the antenna arrays to use for establishing a microwave backhaul link with a link partner. The circuitry may comprise a plurality of front-ends, each of which may be operable to perform beamforming of signals transmitted and received via a respective one of the antenna arrays. The circuitry may comprise a modem circuit. For transmit operations, the modem may generate a modulated signal for output to one of the plurality of front-end circuits. For receive operations, the modem may demodulate a signal received from one of the plurality of front-end circuits. Each of the antenna arrays may be mounted to a different one of a plurality of surfaces of a housing of the microwave transceiver. The housing of the microwave transceiver may form a polyhedron.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:
a first small-cell microwave backhaul transceiver comprising:
a plurality of antenna arrays, each of said plurality of antenna arrays oriented in a different direction; and
circuitry operable to, in response to loss of a microwave backhaul link, automatically:
listen, using each of a plurality of radiation patterns for each of said plurality of antenna arrays, for beacon signals transmitted by one or more possible link partners, wherein the one or more possible link partners comprises a second small-cell microwave backhaul transceiver and a conventional microwave tower;
select one of said possible link partners for establishing a new microwave backhaul link based on said beacon signals;
select which one of said antenna arrays to use for establishing a new microwave backhaul link with said selected one of said possible link partners based on said beacon signals;
establish said new microwave backhaul link via said selected one of said antenna arrays; and
dynamically compensate for a misalignment of said selected one of said antenna arrays.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said circuitry comprises a plurality of front-end circuits, each of said front-end circuits operable to perform beamforming of signals transmitted and received via a respective one of said antenna arrays.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein said circuitry comprises a modem circuit operable to:
for transmit operations, generate a modulated signal for output to one of said plurality of front-end circuits; and
for receive operations, demodulate a signal received from one of said plurality of front-end circuits.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein each of said front-end circuits is coupled to said modem circuit via a serial bus.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of said antenna arrays is mounted to a different one of a plurality of surfaces of a housing of said microwave transceiver.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein said housing of said microwave transceiver forms a polyhedron.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein said automatic selection of which one of said antenna arrays to use for establishing said new microwave backhaul link with said selected link partner comprises a determination of a location of said selected link partner.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein said determination of said location of said selected link partner comprises a measurement of signal strength of a signal received via said plurality of antenna arrays.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein said determination of said location of said selected link partner comprises measurement of signal strength of a signal received via a particular one of said plurality of antenna arrays over a plurality of radiation patterns for said particular one of said plurality of antenna arrays.

10. A method comprising:
in a small-cell microwave backhaul transceiver comprising a plurality of antenna arrays, each of said plurality of antenna arrays oriented in a different direction, automatically performing the following in response to loss of a microwave backhaul link:
scanning, by circuitry of said microwave transceiver, a plurality of radiation patterns to listen for beacon signals from one or more possible link partners that are within communication range, wherein the one or more possible link partners comprises a second small-cell microwave backhaul transceiver and a conventional microwave tower;
selecting, by said circuitry of said microwave transceiver based on beacon signals received during said scanning, one of said possible link partners for establishing a new microwave backhaul link;
automatically selecting, by said circuitry of said microwave transceiver based on said beacon signals received during said scanning, which one of said antenna arrays to use for establishing a new microwave backhaul link with said selected one of said possible link partners;
establishing said new microwave backhaul link via said selected one of said plurality of antenna arrays; and
dynamically compensating for a misalignment of said selected one of said plurality of antenna arrays.

11. The method of claim 10 , comprising controlling a radiation pattern of each of said antenna arrays with a respective one of a plurality of front-end circuits.

12. The method of claim 11 , comprising:
generating, by a modem circuit of said microwave transceiver, a modulated signal for output to one of said plurality of front-end circuits; and
demodulating, by said modem circuit of said microwave transceiver, a signal received from one of said plurality of front-end circuits.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein each of said front-end circuits is coupled to said modem circuit via a serial bus.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein each of said antenna arrays is mounted to a different one of a plurality of surfaces of a housing of said microwave transceiver.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein said housing of said microwave transceiver forms a polyhedron.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein said automatic selecting which one of said antenna arrays to use for establishing said new microwave backhaul link with said selected link partner comprises determining a location of said selected link partner.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein said determining said location of said selected link partner comprises measuring signal strength of a signal received via said plurality of antenna arrays.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein said determining said location of said selected link partner comprises measuring signal strength of a signal received via a particular one of said plurality of antenna arrays over a plurality of radiation patterns for said particular one of said plurality of antenna arrays.

Assignees

• Maxlinear Inc

Inventors

• Ling Curtis

Classifications

• H04W24/02 Primary

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04W16/28 Primary

  using beam steering · CPC title

• H04W64/003

  locating network equipment · CPC title

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04W24/08

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title