Patent Application
20250210883
This disclosure generally relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to wireless communication networks capable of operating in the Wi-Fi microwave spectrums.
The 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz Wi-Fi microwave spectrums can be used for high-speed wireless communications as described by the latest IEEE 802.11ax and IEEE 802.11be standards. Regulatory authorities in many countries permit unlicensed operation in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz Wi-Fi bands.
A problem with wireless networks is the ability for wireless signals to penetrate obstructions, such as walls or floors within buildings or other barriers. Although microwave signals can pass through some obstructions, they are often degraded by doing so. Degradation may be due to attenuation (in various materials), reflections and other physical processes caused by the obstruction. As the frequency of transmission increases, attenuation by obstacles and free space also increases. The result is a reduction of received power, thereby limiting the signal range, data rates and the ability to penetrate obstructions.
It is desirable that high-speed wireless networks operate successfully within buildings and other environments where obstructions and free space distances may present potential limitations. It is also desirable that such networks operate reliably and securely.
Disclosed herein are one or more apparatuses, systems and methods that allow microwave communication signals to pass efficiently and reliably through lossy obstructions, such as concrete walls, concrete floors, bricks, glass, free space and other barriers, resulting in significantly improved performance of the wireless microwave communication within a building, through a building, buildings, or other structures or obstructions.
A disclosed exemplary apparatus capable of microwave wireless communications through one or more obstructions includes a wireless transceiver and a microwave-frequency multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna coupled to the wireless transceiver. The radio frequency (RF) transceiver is configured to process the wireless microwave signals transmitted and received by the MIMO antenna. The MIMO antenna is configured to transmit and receive wireless microwave signals through a physical obstruction. The obstruction includes one or more materials that attenuate the strength of wireless microwave signals passing through the obstruction, for example, concrete, rebar, a combination of concrete and rebar, or other lossy material(s) in the microwave spectrum, alone or in combination. The MIMO antenna and the transceiver are configured together to compensate for path loss experienced by the microwave signals passing through the physical obstruction so as to maintain a desired data rate of the wireless microwave signals.
A disclosed exemplary system capable of microwave wireless communications through one or more obstructions includes a first apparatus and a second apparatus located on an opposite side of a physical obstruction from the first apparatus. The obstruction includes one or more materials that reduce the strength of the wireless microwave signals passing through the obstruction. For example, the materials may include concrete, rebar, a combination of concrete and rebar, or other lossy material(s) in the microwave spectrum, alone or in combination. The first apparatus includes a first microwave-frequency MIMO antenna configured to transmit and receive wireless microwave signals through the obstruction and a first RF transceiver, coupled to the first MIMO antenna, configured to process the wireless microwave signals transmitted and received by the first MIMO antenna. The first MIMO antenna and the first RF transceiver are configured to compensate for path loss experienced by the microwave signals passing through the obstruction so as to maintain a desired data rate of the wireless microwave signals. The second apparatus includes a second microwave-frequency MIMO antenna configured to transmit and receive the wireless microwave signals through the obstruction and a second RF transceiver, coupled to the second MIMO antenna, configured to process the wireless microwave signals transmitted and received by the second MIMO antenna. The second MIMO antenna and the second RF transceiver are configured to compensate for the path loss experienced by the microwave signals passing through the obstruction so as to maintain the data rate of the wireless microwave signals.
An example method of wireless communication is also disclosed. The method includes configuring a first microwave-frequency MIMO antenna and a first RF transceiver, coupled to the first MIMO antenna, to compensate for path loss experienced by one or more microwave signals passing through a physical obstruction so as to maintain a desired data rate. The obstruction includes one or more materials that reduce the strength of the wireless microwave signals passing through the predetermined physical obstruction. For example, the materials may include concrete, rebar, a combination of concrete and rebar, or other lossy material(s) in the microwave spectrum, alone or in combination. The first MIMO antenna is positioned to transmit and receive the wireless microwave signals through the obstruction. A second microwave-frequency MIMO antenna is positioned on an opposite side of the obstruction from the first MIMO antenna. The second MIMO antenna is configured to transmit and receive the wireless microwave signals through the obstruction to and from the first MIMO antenna. The second MIMO antenna is coupled to a second RF transceiver and they are configured to compensate for the path loss experienced by the microwave signals passing through the obstruction so as to maintain the data rate. The wireless microwave signals are then transmitted through the obstruction from the first MIMO antenna to the second MIMO antenna.
The foregoing summary does not define the limits of the appended claims. Other aspects, embodiments, features and advantages will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional features, embodiments, aspects, and advantages be included within this description and be protected by the accompanying claims.
It is to be understood that the drawings are solely for purpose of illustration and do not define the limits of the appended claims. Furthermore, the components in the figures are not necessarily to scale. In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.
The following detailed description, which references to and incorporates the drawings, describes and illustrates one or more examples of a wireless communication network and method, as well as exemplary components of such wireless communication network(s). These examples, offered not to limit, but only to exemplify and teach embodiments of the components, apparatuses, systems, networks, and methods, are shown and described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice what is claimed. Thus, where appropriate to avoid obscuring the invention, the description may omit certain information known to those of skill in the art. The disclosures herein are examples that should not be read to unduly limit the scope of any patent claims that may eventually be granted based on this application.
The word “exemplary” is used throughout this application to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any system, apparatus, method, device, technique, feature or the like described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other features.
As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
Also, the use of “or” means “and/or” unless stated otherwise. Similarly, “comprise,” “comprises,” “comprising” “include,” “includes,” and “including” are interchangeable and not intended to be limiting.
Common building materials such as concrete, rebar, and structures using a combination of rebar and concrete generally present severe barriers to wireless microwave communications because they do not allow wireless microwave frequency communication signals to effectively pass through them. The measured loss of a typical concrete wall is around 6 dB/inch with no rebar and around 7 dB/inch with rebar at 5.9 GHz to 7 GHz. In some conventional wireless networks using microwave and higher frequency spectrums, optical or wire communications cables are routed through penetrations in the concrete structures to allow communications through the concrete obstruction. However, forming these penetrations and installing cabling may be expensive and time consuming. The system 100 may eliminate the need for barrier penetrations and cabling in many applications.
The system 100 includes a first panel 101 with a wireless radio-frequency (RF) transceiver module 140 mounted to the first panel 101, and an antenna 120, 130 mounted to the first panel 101, operatively coupled to the wireless transceiver 140. The system 100 also includes a second separate panel 102, not attached to the first panel 101, which may be locatable behind an obstruction 106 relative to the first panel 101. The second panel 102 may include at least some of the same components as the first panel 101 (e.g. an RF transceiver module 180, interface 190, controller 165, and antenna 160, 170), and it may provide transmit and receive operations for a wireless communications link 111, 112, 113, 114 to the first panel 101.
In some embodiments, the panels 101, 102 include substantially planar or flat structures for mounting electrical components such as the RF transceivers 140, 180, antennas 120, 130, 160, 170, respectively, as well as other components. For example, the panels 101, 102 may include printed circuit boards (PCBs) or other substrates of suitable materials, such as a glass-reinforced epoxy resin laminate, ceramic material, or the like. In other embodiments, panels 101, 102 may include the flexible structures for mounting components, such as flexible PCBs. The thicknesses of the panels 101, 102 may vary depending on the components used. In some embodiments, the panels 101, 102 are not flat or planar and may take other shapes. Also, the panels 101, 102 may each be enclosed in separate housings (not shown), or incorporated into other devices.
In the example of
The first panel 101 includes a first set of antennas 120, directed toward the wall 106. The first panel 101 also includes a second set of antennas 130, directed toward the wall 106. Two antennas 121 and 122 within the first set 120 and the two antennas 131 and 132 within the second set 130 operate as the elements for a 4×4 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna. Each antenna 121, 122, 131, and 132, may operate at one of four polarizations, 0°, +45°, +90°, and −45°, respectively. MIMO operation increases the data rate or throughput (in this case by 4×) without increasing the required spectrum bandwidth.
The second panel 102 includes a first set of antennas 170, directed toward the wall 106. The second panel 102 also includes a second set of antennas 160, directed toward the wall 106. Two antennas 171 and 172 within the first set 170 and the two antennas 161 and 162 within the second set 160 operate as the elements for a 4×4 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna. Each antenna 171, 172, 161, and 162, may operate at one of four polarizations, 0°, +45°, +90°, and −45°, respectively. MIMO operation increases the data bandwidth (in this case by 4×) without increasing the required spectrum bandwidth.
The example system 100 shown in
Each of the 4×4 MIMO antennas 120,130 and 160,170 may have a gain selected to adequately and effectively penetrate the obstruction 106 so as to maintain a desired data rate of the wireless communication signals 111, 112, 113, 114 passing between the panels 101, 102. In some configurations, the 4×4 MIMO antennas 120,130 and 160,170 may each have a gain of about 16 dBi or more. Antennas with gains less than 16 dBi may be used in other configurations. In some embodiments, the MIMO antennas 120,130 and 160,170 may be commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices.
The RF modules 140, 180 in each panel 101, 102 process wireless microwave signals received and transmitted between the panels 101, 102 by the 4×4 MIMO antennas 120,130 and 160,170. In operation, the signals 111, 112, 113, 114 of the wireless links are received/transmitted by RF components 141, 142, 143, 144 within the RF module 140 of the first panel 101. Similarly, the signals 111, 112, 113, 114 are received/transmitted by the RF components 181, 182, 183, 184 within the RF module 180 of the second panel 102. In some embodiments, the RF modules 140, 180 and their respective components 141, 142, 143, 144, 145 and 181, 182, 183, 184, 185 may be COTS Wi-Fi modules.
Signals received at the first panel 101 are amplified by LNAs (low noise amplifiers) (not shown), down converted to baseband (BB) frequencies and demodulated by a baseband processor 145 to recover the data transmitted over the wireless links 111,112, 113, 114. Conversely, data transmitted across each wireless link by the first panel 101 are first modulated by the baseband processor 145, upconverted to a specified RF frequency, amplified by PAs (power amplifiers) (not shown) and routed to the antennas 121, 122, 131, 132 within the antenna modules 120 and 130 of the first panel 101. The same procedure is used by the second panel 102, using RF components 181, 182, 183, 184 and baseband processor 185 within the RF module 180, for transmitting and receiving wireless data over the wireless links 111, 112, 113, 114.
The modulation, coding scheme and channels used by the transceiver modules 140,180 to generate wireless signals 111, 112, 113, 114 may be specifically configured and set to improve the penetration of the signals 111, 112, 113, 114 through the obstruction 106 and to meet other requirements. For example, the modulation, coding scheme and channels of the signals 111, 112, 113, 114 may be set to a predefined configuration that supports or maintains a certain desired data rate of the wireless signals 111, 112, 113, 114. In some embodiments, the transceiver modules 140,180 are configured so that the signals 111, 112, 113, 114 are in the 5 GHz (Wi-Fi 6) and/or 6 GHz (Wi-Fi 7 or Wi-Fi 6E) bands and are modulated and coded using certain QAM modulation(s) and channel bandwidths (e.g., 80 MHz, 160 MHz, 320 MHZ or the like). For example, a QAM64 2/3 scheme using 160 MHz channels may be used. In addition, specific Wi-Fi channels may be selected, for example, channel 161 of Wi-Fi 6 at 5.805 GHz may be selected. The foregoing selections may achieve a desired data rate of about 2.3 Gbps (±10%) through concrete block(s) of about 10 inches thickness. Other coding schemes from BPSK up to 4096 QAM and channel sizes from 40 MHz up to 320 MHz, may be used in some configurations.
Additionally/alternatively, the modulation, coding scheme and channels used by the transceiver modules 140,180 may be selected to modify or limit the EIRP (effective isotropic radiated power) of the panels 101, 102. For example, the aforementioned QAM64 2/3 scheme using 160 MHz channels scheme may be used to limit the EIRP to less than 33 dBm, and in some configurations less than 30 dBm, at the 6 GHz Wi-Fi band.
Although the signals 111, 112, 113, 114 of the wireless links passing through the wall 106 may be any suitable frequency band, in the example shown, the signals are typically operated in the 5 GHz (Wi-Fi 6) and/or 6 GHz (Wi-Fi 7 or Wi-Fi 6E) bands in accordance with industry standards, for example, IEEE 802.11ax and IEEE 802.11be. Within the bands, multiple systems operating in different channels have advantages in that they may increase available bandwidth (higher data rates) and improve the reliability and compatibility of multiple systems operating within the same location. Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) may be used to mitigate the effects of severe frequency attenuation within the signal bandwidth. In some embodiments, single carrier transmission may alternatively/additionally be used by the panels 101, 102.
Each of the panels 101, 102 may also include local wireless and/or cable interfaces 150, 190 that include, for example, access control units (ACUs) 151, 191, respectively, for communicating with one or more terminal networked devices (not shown) or other network nodes (refer to
The ACUs 151, 191 may each include certain functions and components that serve to manage and deliver data packets, e.g., Ethernet packets, of information transferred by the wireless communication links 111, 112, 113, 114. For example, the components of each ACU 151, 191 may include an Ethernet packet manager and one or more access modules, e.g., a wireless access module and/or a cable access module. Software/firmware may be used to control communications between the modules and the packet manager in each ACU 151, 191. The Ethernet packet managers may each be a commercially-available Ethernet switch, and the access modules may each include commercially-available chipsets and/or software/firmware that implement standards-based local communication protocols, such as one or more of the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standards or IEEE 802.3 Ethernet cable standards. Each of the ACUs 151, 191 may also include one or more antennas and/or cable ports (not shown).
The panels 101, 102 may be configured to operate in either Time Division Duplexing (TDD) or Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) modes. For example, in some implementations, the four antennas 121, 122, 131, and 132, transmit concurrently for a period of time. This is followed by a period of time in which the four antennas 121, 122, 131, and 132, receive concurrently. The antennas 161, 162, 171, and 172 of the second panel 102 may be configured in the same manner. Essentially, each of the antennas 121, 122, 131, 132, 161, 162, 171, 172 is adapted to emit a microwave signal to a specified channel within a frequency band. The same antenna is adapted to receive a microwave signal within the specified channel of the frequency band. Thus, the emitted signal and the received signal may share the same specified channel and operate in half-duplex to reduce the spectrum bandwidth. This type of bi-directional operation is known as Time Division Duplexing (TDD). This reduces the complexity of the radio frequency (RF) circuitry in the panels 101, 102.
In other implementations the four antennas 121, 122, 131, and 132 may transmit and receive simultaneously to the four antennas 161, 162, 171, and 172 within the first set of antennas 170 and the second set of antennas 160 of the second panel 102. The antennas may emit and receive signals simultaneously on separate channels and operate in full-duplex to increase the data rate compared to using a shared channel. This type of bi-directional operation is known as Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD).
Each of the panels 101,102 includes a controller 155, 165, respectively. Each of the controllers 155, 165 may be coupled to other components (e.g., transceivers, 140, 180 and interfaces 150, 190) within its respective panel by way of busses (not shown). The controllers 155, 165 included in each of the panels 101, 102 may be any suitable means for controlling the operation of the respectively panel, as well as the system 100. For example, each controller 155, 165 may include one or more processors for executing instructions or code, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general purpose microprocessors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry. The controllers 155, 165 may also include memory. The memory and processor may be combined as a single chip. In some embodiments, the controllers 155, 165 may be commercially-available cores, such as the ARM Cortex a53 or a72.
The functions of the controller may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any suitable combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium (e.g., memory) and executed by a hardware-based processing unit (e.g., a processor). Computer-readable media may include any computer-readable storage media, including data storage media, which may be any available media that can be accessed by one or more computers or one or more processors to retrieve instructions, code and/or data structures for implementation of the techniques described in this disclosure. A computer program product may include a computer-readable medium.
By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable storage media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.
In some embodiments, the controllers 155, 165 in each panel 101, 102 may be configured so that fully-duplexed wireless communication paths 111, 112, 113, and 114 are available through the wall 106 by way of the antennas 121, 122, 131, 132, 161, 162, 171, and 172 and the transceivers 140 and 180. In other embodiments, the controllers 155, 165 in each panel 101, 102 may be configured so that half-duplexed wireless communication paths 111, 112, 113, and 114 are available through the wall 106 by way of the antennas 121, 122, 131, 132, 161, 162, 171, and 172 and the transceivers 140 and 180. In some embodiments, the controllers 155, 165 allow the panels 101, 102 to be selectively operated in a half-duplex mode or a full-duplex mode.
The controllers 155, 165 may be configured to manage data transfer and flow between the interfaces 150, 190 and the transceivers 140, 180, respectively. In certain modes of operation, the controllers in each panel 101, 102 may be configured so that the system 100 acts as a wireless repeater, capable of wirelessly passing information between rooms 1 and 2 through wall 106.
In operation, data may flow from the first panel 101 to the second panel 102 in the following manner. Digital data is received at the interface 150. The data from the interface 150 may be transferred from interface 150 to the wireless transceiver 140 by the controller 155. The transceiver 140 converts the digital baseband signal to a microwave signal and emits the microwave signal through the antenna 120, 130. The emitted microwave signal is received by the antenna 160, 170 in the second panel 102 and after passing through wall obstruction 106 between the first and second panels 101, 102. The microwave signals received at the antenna 160, 170 of the second panel 102 is coupled to the transceiver 180. The transceiver 180 converts the microwave signal back to a digital baseband signal. The digital baseband is transmitted to the interface 190 within the second panel 102.
Digital data from the local interface 190 within the second panel 102 may be transferred to the local interface 150 of the first panel 101 though the same obstruction(s) (e.g., wall or floor 106) in the same manner as the data transfer from the first panel 101 to the second panel 102. The network may be extended or cascaded by connecting the local interfaces 150, 190 of the panels 101, 102 to the local interface of other panels (not shown). An example of extending the network in shown in
In some circumstances, one or both of the panels 101, 102 may be located a certain minimum distance from the obstruction 106 to avoid near field interference from the antennas 120, 130, 160, 170. For example, the antenna-to-antenna distance between the antenna 120, 130 and antenna 160, 170 may be one foot or more to avoid near field interference.
A first wireless link 228 connects the first panel 213 to the second panel 223 for routing data to/from Level 1 and Level 2 in the building 200. Local LANs or WLANs may be attached to either of the panels 213, 223 by way of their local interfaces. This extends the WLAN to additional floors or levels in the building 200 that would otherwise require physical penetration of the floors 221, 231, 241 and ceilings 212, 222, 232 to route wire or optical cables between the levels. The connection between the second panel 223 and the third panel 224 on level 2 may be a wired connection 227 using the panels' local interfaces since no penetration of the floors and ceilings is required. Alternatively, the connection 227 may be a wireless link using local interfaces of the panels 223, 224.
A second wireless link 238 connects the third panel 224 to a fourth panel 234 on the third level. The fourth panel 234 may be attached to the ceiling 232. This extends the WLAN to the third level of the building 200. Although not shown, the WLAN can be extended further with additional panels.
Frequency and power planning is performed to minimize interference between the panels. For example, the total link attenuation for first wireless link 228 is determined by the combining the wireless signal attenuation caused by the ceiling 212 and floor 221 and free-space path losses (FSPLs) 226 from the panel 213 to the ceiling 212 and the FSPL 236 from the floor 221 to the panel 223. The large gain of the antennas within the panels may allow the ability to penetrate concrete floors up to 16 inches and at least 10 inches. Floors and ceiling with corrugated metal construction may be penetrated. The total link attenuation may be similarly determined for the second wireless link 238, where the total link attenuation consists of the attenuation of the ceiling 222, the floor 231 and the FSPLs 225, 235. The frequencies for the first and second wireless links 228, 238 may be different to avoid interference and degradation between the wireless links 228, 238.
In order to provide a compact implementation and reduce phase distortion at close separation between panels 101, 102, the first set 310 and the second set 320 are formed on substrates that are stacked substantially parallel to each other so that the second set 320 radiates through the substrate (e.g., a printed circuit board (PCB)) of the first set 310 of antennas. Likewise, the first set 370 and the second set 360 are each formed on substrates that are stacked substantially parallel to each other so that the second set 360 radiates through the substrate (e.g., a PCB) of the first set 370 of antennas. The material for the antenna substrates may be selected to reduce the signal loss to a negligible amount for a wireless signal passing to/from the set second 320 through the first set 310 (and set 360 through set 370). Each substrate may be substantially flat or planar (does not deviate more than 10% of the longest width/height dimension). The antenna design may not include a ground plane on the PCB. An example of such an antenna is a patch antenna. Each antenna 311, 312, 321, and 322 within the first panel 102 radiates at different polarizations to provide the spatial diversity required in the MIMO implementation. For example, each antenna 311, 312, 321, and 322 may operate at one of four polarizations, 0°, +45°, +90°, and −45°, respectively. Similarly, each antenna, 361, 362, 371, and 372 within the second panel receives/transmits at the corresponding polarizations. The example MIMO implementation illustrated in
The millimeter wave nodes 402, 404 may be any wireless millimeter wave network node, such as any of those described in the '850 patent, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. The millimeter wave nodes 402, 404 may be configured to communicate with one or more other network nodes (not shown) using wireless millimeter wave links 418, 420.
The panels 406, 408 may be configured so that the data rate of the wireless microwave signals 414 may substantially be the same as a data rate of the wireless millimeter wave signals 418, 420. For example, the panels 406, 408 may be configured to support a data rate of about 2.3 Gbps passing through the obstruction 416.
It should be understood that, depending on the example, certain acts or events of any of the methods described herein can be performed in a different sequence, may be added, merged, or left out altogether (e.g., not all described acts or events are necessary for the practice of the method). Moreover, in certain examples, acts or events may be performed concurrently, rather than sequentially. In addition, while certain aspects of this disclosure are described as being performed by a single module or component for purposes of clarity, it should be understood that the functions described in this disclosure may be performed by any suitable combination of components or modules associated with a wireless data communication network or system.
The foregoing description is illustrative and not restrictive. Although certain exemplary embodiment(s) have been described, other embodiments, combinations and modifications involving the invention will occur readily to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the foregoing teachings. Therefore, the invention is to be limited only by the following claims, which cover one or more of the disclosed embodiments, as well as all other such embodiments and modifications when viewed in conjunction with the above specification and accompanying drawings.
This Application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/613,401, filed on Dec. 21, 2023, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This application is also related to U.S. Pat. No. 11,784,850 (‘'850 patent”), entitled “High-Speed Wireless Multi-Path Data Network,” which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63613401 | Dec 2023 | US |
