SELECTIVE ACTIVATION OF COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES ON POWER-UP OF A REMOTE UNIT(S) IN A DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEM (DAS) BASED ON POWER CONSUMPTION
Selective activation of communications services on power-up of a remote unit in a distributed antenna system (DAS) based on power consumption is disclosed. To avoid a remote unit drawing more power than is allowed and risking shutting down all of its communications services, after a remote unit in the DAS is powered-up to start its operations, the remote unit selectively activates its different communications services. The remote unit selectively activates communications services based on the power consumption of the remote unit to avoid the remote unit drawing more power than is allowed. If activating a next communications service would cause the remote unit to draw more power than is allowed, the remote unit discontinues activating additional communications services. In this manner, the already activated communications services in the remote unit can remain operational without risking powering down of the remote unit and discontinuing all of its communications services.
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/IL2014/051012, filed Nov. 20, 2014, which claims the benefit of priority to Provisional Application No. 61/908,893, filed Nov. 26, 2013, the contents of which are relied upon and incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
BACKGROUNDThe disclosure relates generally to distributed antenna systems (DASs) and more particularly to selective activation of communications services during remote unit power-up in a DAS based on power consumption.
Wireless communication is rapidly growing, with ever-increasing demands for high-speed mobile data communication. As an example, local area wireless services (e.g., so-called “wireless fidelity” or “WiFi” systems) and wide area wireless services are being deployed in many different types of areas (e.g., coffee shops, airports, libraries, etc.). Distributed communications or antenna systems communicate with wireless devices called “clients,” “client devices,” or “wireless client devices,” which must reside within the wireless range or “cell coverage area” in order to communicate with an access point device. DASs are particularly useful to be deployed inside buildings or other indoor environments where client devices may not otherwise be able to effectively receive radio frequency (RF) signals from a source, such as a base station for example. Example applications where DASs can be used to provide or enhance coverage for wireless services include public safety, cellular telephony, wireless local access networks (LANs), location tracking, and medical telemetry inside buildings and over campuses.
One approach to deploying a DAS involves the use of RF antenna coverage areas, also referred to as “antenna coverage areas.” Antenna coverage areas can have a radius in the range from a few meters up to twenty meters as an example. One type of DAS for creating antenna coverage areas, called “Radio-over-Fiber” or “RoF,” utilizes RF communications signals sent over optical fibers. Both types of systems can include head-end equipment coupled to a plurality of remote antenna units (RAUs) that each provides antenna coverage areas. The RAUs can each include RF transceivers coupled to an antenna to transmit RF communications signals wirelessly, wherein the RAUs are coupled to the head-end equipment via the communication medium. The RAUs contain power-consuming components, such as the RF transceiver, to transmit and receive RF communications signals and thus require power to operate. Power may be provided to the RAUs from remote power supplies, such as at an intermediate distribution frame (IDF), or interconnect unit (ICU) closet at each floor of the building infrastructure.
In this regard,
The optical fiber-based DAS 10 has an antenna coverage area 20 that can be disposed about the RAU 14. The antenna coverage area 20 of the RAU 14 forms an RF coverage area 21. The HEE 12 is adapted to perform or to facilitate any one of a number of Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) applications, such as RF identification (RFID), wireless local-area network (WLAN) communication, or cellular phone service. Shown within the antenna coverage area 20 is a client device 24 in the form of a cellular telephone. The client device 24 can be any device that is capable of receiving RF communications signals. The client device 24 includes an antenna 26 (e.g., a wireless card) adapted to receive and/or send electromagnetic RF signals. To communicate the electrical RF signals over the downlink optical fiber 16D to the RAU 14, to in turn be communicated to the client device 24 in the antenna coverage area 20 formed by the RAU 14, the HEE 12 includes a radio interface in the form of an electrical-to-optical (E/O) converter 28. The E/O converter 28 converts the downlink electrical RF signals 18D to downlink optical RF signals 22D to be communicated over the downlink optical fiber 16D. The RAU 14 includes an optical-to-electrical (O/E) converter 30 to convert received downlink optical RF signals 22D back to electrical RF signals to be communicated wirelessly through an antenna 32 of the RAU 14 to client devices 24 located in the antenna coverage area 20. Similarly, the antenna 32 is also configured to receive wireless RF communications from client devices 24 in the antenna coverage area 20. In this regard, the antenna 32 receives wireless RF communications from client devices 24 and communicates electrical RF signals representing the wireless RF communications to an E/O converter 34 in the RAU 14. The E/O converter 34 converts the electrical RF signals into uplink optical RF signals 22U to be communicated over the uplink optical fiber 16U. An O/E converter 36 provided in the HEE 12 converts the uplink optical RF signals 22U into uplink electrical RF signals, which can then be communicated as uplink electrical RF signals 18U back to a network or other source.
In the DAS 10 in
If a RAU 14 in the DAS 10 attempts to draw power in excess of the allowed power, the power supply 38 can shut down thereby shutting down operation of the RAU 14 and its communications services. The power supply 38 may renew power only after the power consumption goes below the maximum allowable power. This condition might require replacement of cabling or the RAU 14.
No admission is made that any reference cited herein constitutes prior art. Applicant expressly reserves the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinency of any cited documents.
SUMMARYAspects disclosed herein include selective activation of communications services on power-up of a remote unit in a distributed antenna system (DAS) based on power consumption. Related methods and systems are also disclosed. The remote units can each support a plurality of different communications services for a DAS. One or more power supplies are provided in the DAS to provide power to the power-consuming components that provide communications services in the remote units. If the power drawn by a remote unit exceeds the maximum power than can be drawn without overloading its power supply, the power supply may shut down thereby shutting down all of the communications services of the remote unit until power can be reestablished. In this regard, to avoid the remote unit drawing more power than is allowed and risking shutting down all of its communications services, after a remote unit in the DAS is powered-up to start its operations, the remote unit selectively activates its different communications services. The remote unit selectively activates communications services based on the power consumption of the remote unit to avoid the remote unit drawing more power than is allowed. If activating a next communications service would cause the remote unit to draw more power than is allowed, the remote unit discontinues activating additional communications services. In this manner, the already activated communications services in the remote unit can remain operational without risking powering down of the remote unit and discontinuing all of its communications services.
As one non-limiting example, the selective activation of communication services by a remote unit may be based on the remote unit determining and storing the communications services that were successfully activated prior to the remote unit being powered down due to drawing more power than allowed. In another non-limiting example, the selective activation of communications services by a remote unit may be based on measuring actual power consumption of the remote as communications services are activated during a power-up process and not activating additional communications services that would cause the remote unit to draw more power than allowed.
One embodiment of the disclosure relates to a remote unit for a DAS. The remote unit comprises a plurality of communications service circuits. Each of the plurality of communications service circuits are configured to process received respective communications signals for a respective communications service in the DAS. The remote unit also comprises a power selection circuit. The power selection circuit is configured to draw power over a power input from a power supply. The power selection circuit is also configured to selectively provide the drawn power to each of the plurality of communications service circuits based on a control signal. The remote unit also comprises a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to determine power consumption of the remote unit based on the drawn power from over the power input from the power supply. The control circuit is also configured to determine if the power consumption of the remote unit exceeds a defined threshold power level for the remote unit. The control circuit is also configured to generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits in a sequence to activate the one or more plurality of communications service circuits, such that the power consumption of the remote unit does not exceed the defined threshold power level.
An additional embodiment of the disclosure relates to a method of controlling power consumption of a remote unit in a DAS. The method comprises drawing power from a power supply in response to a power-up condition. The method also comprises determining power consumption of a remote unit based on the drawn power from the power supply. The method also comprises determining if the power consumption of the remote unit exceeds a predetermined power threshold level for the remote unit. The method also comprises selectively providing the drawn power to one or more plurality of communications service circuits each configured to receive respective communications signal for a respective communications service in the DAS in a sequence, to activate the one or more plurality of communications service circuits, based on the determined power consumption of the remote unit.
An additional embodiment of the disclosure relates to a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions. The computer executable instructions, when executed, cause a processor in a remote unit in a DAS, to determine power consumption of a remote unit based on drawn power from a power supply. The computer executable instructions, when executed, also cause the processor in the remote unit to determine if the power consumption of the remote unit exceeds a predetermined power threshold level for the remote unit. The computer executable instructions, when executed, also cause the processor in the remote unit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more plurality of communications service circuits each configured to receive respective communications signal for a respective communications service in the DAS in a sequence, to activate the one or more plurality of communications service circuits, based on the determined power consumption of the remote unit.
An additional embodiment of the disclosure relates to a method of powering remote units in a distributed communications system comprising a plurality of remote units, at least one power supply, head-end equipment configured to receive downlink radio frequency (RF) communications services signals and to communicate RF communications to the remote units, wherein at least one remote unit comprises a memory that maintains records related to service scenarios for the distributed communications system. The method comprises, in at least one remote unit, setting a first flag, corresponding to a first state of a first powering attempt and a second state for at least one subsequent powering attempt. The method also comprises setting a second flag, corresponding to a service scenario numerator flag, encompassing a service scenario number that is under evaluation. The method also comprises setting a third flag, corresponding to an approved service scenario flag.
Additional features and advantages will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description or recognized by practicing the embodiments as described in the written description and claims hereof, as well as the appended drawings.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary, and are intended to provide an overview or framework to understand the nature and character of the claims.
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate one or more embodiment(s), and together with the description serve to explain principles and operation of the various embodiments. [If there are no appended drawings, amend accordingly.
Various embodiments will be further clarified by the following examples.
Aspects disclosed herein include selective activation of communications services on power-up of a remote unit in a distributed antenna system (DAS) based on power consumption. Related methods and systems are also disclosed. The remote units can each support a plurality of different communications services for a DAS. One or more power supplies are provided in the DAS to provide power to the power-consuming components that provide communications services in the remote units. If the power drawn by a remote unit exceeds the maximum power than can be drawn without overloading its power supply, the power supply may shut down thereby shutting down all of the communications services of the remote unit until power can be reestablished. In this regard, to avoid the remote unit drawing more power than is allowed and risking shutting down all of its communications services, after a remote unit in the DAS is powered-up to start its operations, the remote unit selectively activates its different communications services. The remote unit selectively activates communications services based on the power consumption of the remote unit to avoid the remote unit drawing more power than is allowed. If activating a next communications service would cause the remote unit to draw more power than is allowed, the remote unit discontinues activating additional communications services. In this manner, the already activated communications services in the remote unit can remain operational without risking powering down of the remote unit and discontinuing all of its communications services.
In this regard,
With continuing reference to
In this example, the remote units 52 may be provided that support any frequency bands desired, including but not limited to the US Cellular band, Personal Communication Services (PCS) band, Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) band, 700 MHz band, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) 900, GSM 1800, and Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). The remote units 52 may also be provided in the DAS that support any wireless technologies desired, including but not limited to Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), CDMA200, 1×RTT, Evolution-Data Only (EV-DO), UMTS, High-speed Packet Access (HSPA), GSM, General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), iDEN, and Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD). The remote units 52 may be provided that support any frequencies desired, including but not limited to US FCC and Industry Canada frequencies (824-849 MHz on uplink and 869-894 MHz on downlink), US FCC and Industry Canada frequencies (1850-1915 MHz on uplink and 1930-1995 MHz on downlink), US FCC and Industry Canada frequencies (1710-1755 MHz on uplink and 2110-2155 MHz on downlink), US FCC frequencies (698-716 MHz and 776-787 MHz on uplink and 728-746 MHz on downlink), EU R & TTE frequencies (880-915 MHz on uplink and 925-960 MHz on downlink), EU R & TTE frequencies (1710-1785 MHz on uplink and 1805-1880 MHz on downlink), EU R & TTE frequencies (1920-1980 MHz on uplink and 2110-2170 MHz on downlink), US FCC frequencies (806-824 MHz on uplink and 851-869 MHz on downlink), US FCC frequencies (896-901 MHz on uplink and 929-941 MHz on downlink), US FCC frequencies (793-805 MHz on uplink and 763-775 MHz on downlink), and US FCC frequencies (2495-2690 MHz on uplink and downlink).
If a remote unit 52 in the DAS 42 in
In this regard,
With continuing reference to
With continuing reference to
With continuing reference to
The control circuit 54 in the remote unit 52 in
In this regard,
In this regard, the process starts by the power 48 being provided to the control circuit 54 of the remote unit 52 on power-up (block 102). The control circuit 54 checks to determine if a phase flag (P flag) stored in NVM 82 is set to P=3 at the beginning of the attempt to activate all communications service circuits 56(1)-56(J) without any pre-checking (block 104). When the phase flag P=3 is determined by the power process, it indicates that a power shutdown occurred during the first attempt by the control circuit 54 to activate all communications service circuits 56(1)-56(J) for all communications service scenarios at one time. In this scenario, the control circuit 54 sets the communications service scenario to k=0 (block 120) and sets the phase flag to P=2 (block 122). At this phase (marked in block 122 by P=2), the power shutdown may be a result of a faulty service scenario that consumes significantly more power than expected, the last added communications service scenario is operating normally, but the maximum power consumption level for the remote unit 52 was reached. The control circuit 54 then sets the service scenario to k=k+1 (block 124) to begin to activate the different communications service circuits 56(1)-56(J) one at a time. The control circuit 54 then determines if the number of communications service circuits 56(1)-56(J) activated is greater than the maximum number of communications service circuits 56(1)-56(J) that can be activated without drawing more power 48 than allowed (block 126). If not, the control circuit 54 activates by providing power to k communications services circuits 56(1)-56(J) (block 128) and stores the communications service scenario of activated communications service circuits 56(1)-56(J) to k (block 130). Thus, the phase flag being set to P=2 when the control circuit 54 enters the loop of activation of the service scenarios from being set in block 122 is an indication that a power shutdown occurred to the remote unit 52 during the activation of a service scenario k in block 128.
With continuing reference to
With continuing reference to
The service unit 154 is electrically coupled to the E/O converter 159 that receives the downlink electrical RF signals 162D from the service unit 154 and converts them to corresponding downlink optical RF signals 161D. The E/O converter 159 includes a laser suitable for delivering sufficient dynamic range for the RoF applications described herein, and optionally includes a laser driver/amplifier electrically coupled to the laser. The HEE 152 also includes the O/E converter 160, which is electrically coupled to the service unit 154. The O/E converter 160 receives uplink optical RF signals 161U and converts them to corresponding uplink electrical RF signals 162U. The E/O converter 159 and the O/E converter 160 constitute a “converter pair” 164, as illustrated in
The service unit 154 in the HEE 152 can include an RF signal conditioner unit 166 for conditioning the downlink electrical RF signals 162D and the uplink electrical RF signals 162U, respectively. The service unit 154 can include a digital signal processing unit 168 for providing to the RF signal conditioner unit 166 an electrical signal that is modulated onto an RF carrier to generate a desired downlink electrical RF signal 162D. The digital signal processing unit 168 is also configured to process a demodulation signal provided by the demodulation of the uplink electrical RF signal 162U by the RF signal conditioner unit 166. The HEE 152 can also include an optional central processing unit (CPU) 170 for processing data and otherwise performing logic and computing operations, and a memory unit 172 for storing data, such as data to be transmitted over a WLAN or other network for example.
The remote unit 52 also includes a converter pair 174 comprising the O/E converter 176 and the E/O converter 178. The O/E converter 176 converts the received downlink optical RF signals 161D from the HEE 152 back into downlink electrical RF signals 180D. The E/O converter 178 converts uplink electrical RF signals 180U received from a client device 182 into the uplink optical RF signals 161U to be communicated to the HEE 152. The O/E converter 176 and the E/O converter 178 are electrically coupled to an antenna 184 via an RF signal-directing element 186. The RF signal-directing element 186 serves to direct the downlink electrical RF signals 180D and the uplink electrical RF signals 180U, as discussed below.
The DAS 150 in
To provide further illustration of how a DAS can be deployed indoors,
The building infrastructure 210 includes a first (ground) floor 216, a second floor 218, and a third floor 220. The floors 216, 218, 220 are serviced by the HEE 214 through a main distribution frame 222 to provide antenna coverage areas 224 in the building infrastructure 210. Only the ceilings of the floors 216, 218, 220 are shown in
The riser cable 228 may be routed through a power unit 232. The power unit 232 may also be configured to provide power to the remote units 52 via the electrical power line 234, as illustrated in
The main cable 226 enables multiple optical fiber cables to be distributed throughout the building infrastructure 210 (e.g., fixed to the ceilings or other support surfaces of each floor 216, 218, 220) to provide the antenna coverage areas 224 for the first, second, and third floors 216, 218, and 220. The HEE 214 may be located within the building infrastructure 210 (e.g., in a closet or control room), or located outside of the building infrastructure 210 at a remote location. A base transceiver station (BTS) 238, which may be provided by a second party such as a cellular service provider, is connected to the HEE 214, and can be co-located or located remotely from the HEE 214. A BTS is any station or signal source that provides an input signal to the HEE 214 and can receive a return signal from the HEE 214. In a typical cellular system, for example, a plurality of BTSs is deployed at a plurality of remote locations to provide wireless telephone coverage. Each BTS serves a corresponding cell and when a mobile client device enters the cell, the BTS communicates with the mobile client device. With reference to
In this regard, the computer system 240 in
The exemplary computer system 240 in this embodiment includes a processing device or processor 242, a main memory 244 (e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM), such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), etc.), and a static memory 246 (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), which may communicate with each other via a data bus 248. The main memory 244 may include instructions that can be executed by the processor 242. Alternatively, the processor 242 may be connected to the main memory 244 and/or static memory 246 directly or via some other connectivity means. The processor 242 may be a controller, and the main memory 244 or static memory 246 may be any type of memory. The static memory 246 can be the NVM 82 previously described with regard to
The processor 242 represents one or more general-purpose processing devices, such as a microprocessor, central processing unit, or the like. More particularly, the processor 242 may be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, a very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, a processor implementing other instruction sets, or other processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. The processor 242 is configured to execute processing logic in instructions for performing the operations and steps discussed herein.
The computer system 240 may further include a network interface device 250. The computer system 240 also may or may not include an input 252, configured to receive input and selections to be communicated to the computer system 240 when executing instructions. The computer system 240 also may or may not include an output 254, including but not limited to a display, a video display unit (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)), an alphanumeric input device (e.g., a keyboard), and/or a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse).
The computer system 240 may or may not include a data storage device that includes instructions 258 stored in a computer-readable medium 260. The instructions 258 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 244 and/or within the processor 242 during execution thereof by the computer system 240, the main memory 244 and the processor 242 also constituting computer-readable medium. The instructions 258 may further be transmitted or received over a network 262 via the network interface device 250. The instructions 258 may include instructions that can be executed by the control circuit 54 in the remote unit 52 of
While the computer-readable medium 260 is shown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “computer-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the processing device and that cause the processing device to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the embodiments disclosed herein. The term “computer-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical medium, and magnetic medium.
The embodiments disclosed herein include various steps. The steps of the embodiments disclosed herein may be formed by hardware components or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, which may be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processor programmed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively, the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware and software.
The embodiments disclosed herein may be provided as a computer program product, or software, that may include a machine-readable medium (or computer-readable medium) having stored thereon instructions, which may be used to program a computer system (or other electronic devices) to perform a process according to the embodiments disclosed herein. A machine-readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium includes: a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., ROM, random access memory (“RAM”), a magnetic disk storage medium, an optical storage medium, flash memory devices, etc.); and the like.
Unless specifically stated otherwise and as apparent from the previous discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing,” “computing,” “determining,” “displaying,” or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data and memories represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission, or display devices.
The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatuses to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description above. In addition, the embodiments described herein are not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the embodiments as described herein.
Those of skill in the art will further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithms described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, instructions stored in memory or in another computer-readable medium and executed by a processor or other processing device, or combinations of both. The components of the distributed antenna systems described herein may be employed in any circuit, hardware component, integrated circuit (IC), or IC chip, as examples. Memory disclosed herein may be any type and size of memory and may be configured to store any type of information desired. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. How such functionality is implemented depends on the particular application, design choices, and/or design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present embodiments.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. Furthermore, a controller may be a processor. A processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).
The embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied in hardware and in instructions that are stored in hardware, and may reside, for example, in RAM, flash memory, ROM, Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of computer-readable medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a remote station. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a remote station, base station, or server.
It is also noted that the operational steps described in any of the exemplary embodiments herein are described to provide examples and discussion. The operations described may be performed in numerous different sequences other than the illustrated sequences. Furthermore, operations described in a single operational step may actually be performed in a number of different steps. Additionally, one or more operational steps discussed in the exemplary embodiments may be combined. Those of skill in the art will also understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips, that may be references throughout the above description, may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields, or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
As used herein, it is intended that terms “fiber optic cables” and/or “optical fibers” include all types of single mode and multi-mode light waveguides, including one or more optical fibers that may be upcoated, colored, buffered, ribbonized and/or have other organizing or protective structure in a cable such as one or more tubes, strength members, jackets or the like. The distributed antenna systems herein can include any type or number of communications mediums, including but not limited to electrical conductors, optical fiber, and air (i.e., wireless transmission).
Unless otherwise expressly stated, it is in no way intended that any method set forth herein be construed as requiring that its steps be performed in a specific order. Accordingly, where a method claim does not actually recite an order to be followed by its steps or it is not otherwise specifically stated in the claims or descriptions that the steps are to be limited to a specific order, it is no way intended that any particular order be inferred.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Since modifications combinations, sub-combinations and variations of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A remote unit for a distributed antenna system (DAS), comprising:
- a plurality of communications service circuits each configured to process received respective communications signals for a respective communications service in the DAS;
- a power selection circuit configured to draw power over a power input from a power supply and selectively provide the drawn power to each of the plurality of communications service circuits based on a control signal; and
- a control circuit configured to: determine power consumption of the remote unit based on the drawn power from over the power input from the power supply; determine if the power consumption of the remote unit exceeds a defined threshold power level for the remote unit; generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits in a sequence to activate the one or more plurality of communications service circuits, such that the power consumption of the remote unit does not exceed the defined threshold power level.
2. The remote unit of claim 1, wherein the defined threshold power level is based on a maximum power draw level from the power supply.
3. The remote unit of claim 2, wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to not provide the drawn power to an additional communications service circuit among the plurality of communications service circuits if power consumption exceeds the defined threshold power level.
4. The remote unit of claim 3, wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits during a power-up process of the remote unit.
5. The remote unit of claim 3, wherein the control circuit is configured to repeatedly:
- determine the power consumption of the remote unit based on at least one communications service circuit among the plurality of communications service circuits drawing power from the power selection circuit;
- determine if the power consumption of the remote unit exceeds the defined threshold power level for the remote unit; and
- generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to a next communications service circuit among the plurality of communications service circuits, if the power consumption does not exceed the defined threshold power level.
6. The remote unit of claim 5, wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to the next communications service circuit based on a priority communications service power-up list for the plurality of communications service circuits.
7. The remote unit of claim 3, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
- store a communications service indicia indicating the one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits drawing power from the power selection circuit such that the power consumption of the remote unit does not exceed the defined threshold power level; and
- determine the power consumption of the remote unit based on the communications service indicia.
8. The remote unit of claim 7, further comprising a non-volatile memory, wherein the control circuit is configured to store the communications service indicia in the non-volatile memory.
9. The remote unit of claim 7, wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits during a subsequent power-up process of the remote unit, based on the communications service indicia indicating the one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits drawing power during a previous power-up process of the remote unit.
10. The remote unit of claim 9, wherein the communications service indicia is comprised of a phase indicia, and wherein the control circuit is further configured to:
- set the phase indicia to an initial phase before generating the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits;
- if the phase indicia is set, generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits such that the power consumption of the remote unit does not exceed the defined threshold power level; and
- set the phase indicia based on each of the one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits drawing power from the power selection circuit.
11. The remote unit of claim 10, wherein the control circuit is configured to reset the phase indicia to the initial phase if the power selection circuit selectively providing the drawn power to all communications service circuits among the plurality of communications service circuits did not cause the power consumption of the remote unit to exceed the defined threshold power level.
12. The remote unit of claim 11, wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to the one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits such that the power consumption of the remote unit does not exceed the defined threshold power level based on the phase indicia.
13. The remote unit of claim 2, further comprising a power measurement circuit configured to measure the power consumed by the remote unit and generate a power measurement signal indicating a power consumption level indicating the power consumption by the remote unit, wherein the control circuit is configured to:
- receive the power measurement signal; and
- generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to the one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits such that the power consumption of the remote unit does not exceed the defined threshold power level based on the power consumption level.
14. The remote unit of claim 13, wherein the control circuit is configured to store a communications service indicia indicating the one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits drawing power from the power selection circuit such that the power consumption of the remote unit does not exceed the defined threshold power level.
15. The remote unit of claim 14, further comprising a non-volatile memory, wherein the control circuit is configured to store the communications service indicia in the non-volatile memory.
16. The remote unit of claim 14, wherein the control circuit is configured to generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits during a subsequent power-up process of the remote unit, based on the communications service indicia indicating the one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits drawing power during a previous power-up process of the remote unit.
17. The remote unit of claim 16, wherein the communications service indicia is comprised of a phase indicia, and wherein the control circuit is configured to:
- set the phase indicia to an initial phase before generating the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits;
- if the phase indicia is set, generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits such that the power consumption of the remote unit does not exceed the defined threshold power level; and
- set the phase indicia based on each of the one or more of the plurality of communications service circuits drawing power from the power selection circuit.
18. The remote unit of claim 17, wherein the control circuit is configured to reset the phase indicia to the initial phase if the power selection circuit selectively providing the drawn power to all communications service circuits among the plurality of communications service circuits did not cause the power consumption of the remote unit to exceed the defined threshold power level.
19. The remote unit of claim 16, wherein the control circuit is configured to, if the phase indicia is not set, generate the control signal to direct the power selection circuit to selectively provide the drawn power to each of the plurality of communications service circuits.
20. The remote unit of claim 19, wherein the power selection circuit is configured to draw the power over the power input from an external power supply.
21. The remote unit of claim 4, wherein the power supply is comprised of an internal power supply, and wherein the power selection circuit is configured to draw the power over the power input from the internal power supply.
22. The remote unit of claim 3, wherein the power selection circuit is comprised of a plurality of switches each configured to direct the drawn power to a respective communications service circuit among the plurality of communications service circuits based on the control signal.
23. The remote unit of claim 22, wherein the power selection circuit is configured to draw power over a power input from at least one electrical conductor.
24. The remote unit of claim 23, where at least one of the plurality of communications service circuits comprises an Ethernet connectivity service.
25. A method of controlling power consumption of a remote unit in a distributed antenna system (DAS), comprising:
- drawing power from a power supply in response to a power-up condition;
- determining power consumption of a remote unit based on the drawn power from the power supply;
- determining if the power consumption of the remote unit exceeds a predetermined power threshold level for the remote unit; and
- selectively providing the drawn power to one or more plurality of communications service circuits each configured to receive a respective communications signal for a respective communications service in the DAS in a sequence, to activate the one or more plurality of communications service circuits, based on the determined power consumption of the remote unit.
26.-55. (canceled)
Type: Application
Filed: May 17, 2016
Publication Date: Feb 23, 2017
Inventors: Ron Hagage (Tel Aviv), Dror Harel (Hod Hasharon)
Application Number: 15/156,556