Autoconfigured backhaul transceiver

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9894538-B2
Application number	US-201715582910-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 1, 2017
Priority date	Jan 22, 2014
Publication date	Feb 13, 2018
Grant date	Feb 13, 2018

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 microwave backhaul transceiver operably coupled to a plurality of antenna arrays, each of the plurality of antenna arrays being oriented in a different direction, wherein in response to loss of a microwave backhaul link, the microwave backhaul transceiver is operable to, at least:
listen, using each of a plurality of radiation patterns for each of the 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 conventional microwave tower;
select one of the possible link partners for establishing a new microwave backhaul link based on the beacon signals;
establish the new microwave backhaul link using a selected one of the antenna arrays; and
dynamically compensate for a misalignment of the selected one of the antenna arrays.

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

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the microwave backhaul transceiver comprises a modem circuit operable to:
generate a modulated signal for output to one of the plurality of front-end circuits during a transmit operation; and
demodulate a signal received from one of the plurality of front-end circuits during a receive operation.

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the microwave backhaul transceiver is operable to establish a backup microwave backhaul link with a link partner other than the selected link partner.

11. A method comprising:
in a microwave backhaul transceiver comprising a plurality of antenna arrays, each of the plurality of antenna arrays being oriented in a different direction, automatically performing at least the following in response to loss of a microwave backhaul link:
scanning 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 conventional microwave tower;
selecting, based on beacon signals received during the scanning, one of the possible link partners for establishing a new microwave backhaul link;
automatically selecting which one of the antenna arrays to use for establishing the new microwave backhaul link;
establishing the new microwave backhaul link via the selected one of the plurality of antenna arrays; and
dynamically compensating for a misalignment of the selected one of the plurality of antenna arrays.

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

13. The method of claim 11 , comprising:
generating a modulated signal for output to one of the plurality of front-end circuits; and
demodulating a signal received from one of the plurality of front-end circuits.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein each of the front-end circuits is coupled to a modem via a serial bus.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein each of the antenna arrays is mounted to a different one of a plurality of surfaces of a housing of the microwave backhaul transceiver.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the housing of the microwave backhaul transceiver forms a polyhedron.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the automatic selecting which one of the antenna arrays to use for establishing the new microwave backhaul link with the selected link partner comprises determining a location of the selected link partner.

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

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the determining the location of the selected link partner comprises measuring signal strength of a signal received via a particular one of the plurality of antenna arrays over a plurality of radiation patterns for the particular one of the plurality of antenna arrays.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises establishing a backup microwave backhaul link with a link partner other than the selected link partner.

Assignees

• Maxlinear Inc

Inventors

• Ling Curtis

Classifications

• H04W24/02

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04W16/28 Primary

  using beam steering · CPC title

• H04W24/08

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

• H04W84/045

  using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B · CPC title

• H04W64/003

  locating network equipment · CPC title