US 11,916,596 B2
Distributed radio access networks (RANs) supporting coordinated amplifier gain optimization
Kalle Ahmavaara, Los Angeles, CA (US); Shirish Nagaraj, Pleasanton, CA (US); and Deepak Pengoria, Milpitas, CA (US)
Assigned to CORNING OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS LLC, Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed by Corning Optical Communications LLC, Charlotte, NC (US)
Filed on Aug. 5, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/395,099.
Application 17/395,099 is a continuation of application No. PCT/US2020/013478, filed on Jan. 14, 2020.
Application PCT/US2020/013478 is a continuation of application No. 16/268,780, filed on Feb. 6, 2019, granted, now 10,790,903, issued on Sep. 29, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2021/0367673 A1, Nov. 25, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. H04B 10/2575 (2013.01); H04B 1/40 (2015.01); H04B 17/00 (2015.01); H04L 25/02 (2006.01); H03G 3/30 (2006.01); H04L 27/36 (2006.01); H04W 24/02 (2009.01); H04W 52/24 (2009.01); H04W 72/12 (2023.01)
CPC H04B 10/25752 (2013.01) [H04B 1/40 (2013.01); H04B 17/0085 (2013.01); H04L 25/025 (2013.01); H03G 3/30 (2013.01); H04L 27/36 (2013.01); H04W 24/02 (2013.01); H04W 52/24 (2013.01); H04W 72/12 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A distributed radio access network (RAN), comprising:
a communication medium;
a server apparatus comprising:
a server communication interface coupled to the communication medium; and
a control circuit communicatively coupled to the server communication interface; and
a plurality of wireless transceiver nodes coupled to the server apparatus via the communication medium, each of the plurality of wireless transceiver nodes comprising:
a communication interface coupled to the communication medium;
a receive circuit comprising an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) having a defined dynamic range in which signals can be processed without causing distortion, the receive circuit coupled to the communication interface; and
a controller communicatively coupled to the communication interface and the receive circuit;
wherein in a maintenance mode:
one or more selected receive circuits in one or more selected wireless transceiver nodes among the plurality of wireless transceiver nodes are each configured to receive at least one radio frequency (RF) test signal in a selected receive band;
one or more controllers in the one or more selected wireless transceiver nodes are each configured to:
determine a predefined characteristic of the at least one RF test signal;
determine an effective gain value based on the predefined characteristic, wherein the effective gain value is operable with one or more variable gain amplifiers (VGA) to amplify received signals to levels within the defined dynamic range of the ADC in the respective receive circuit;
cause the receive circuit to convert the at least one RF test signal into a digital test signal based on the effective gain value and communicate the digital test signal to the server apparatus via the communication interface; and
communicate a gain descriptor comprising the effective gain value to the server apparatus via the communication interface;
the control circuit in the server apparatus is configured to:
receive one or more digital test signals in association with one or more gain descriptors from the one or more selected wireless transceiver nodes among the plurality of wireless transceiver nodes via the server communication interface;
determine a common gain value for the one or more selected wireless transceiver nodes based on the one or more gain descriptors, wherein the common gain value represents gain to be applied by the respective VGAs to allow operation in the defined dynamic range of the respective ADCs; and
communicate the common gain value to the one or more selected wireless transceiver nodes via the server communication interface; and
the one or more controllers in the one or more selected wireless transceiver nodes are each further configured to:
receive the common gain value via the communication interface; and
cause the receive circuit to convert the at least one RF test signal into the digital test signal based on the common gain value.