System and method for virtual sector provisioning and network configuration

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods wherein communication link redundancy may be provided which is optimized to the primary links. Specifically, a redundant link portion of a communication system may be deployed to provide redundant links for a primary link portion of the communication system having substantially greater information communication capacity. However, through the use of isolation of portions of the primary link capacity, such as through the preferred embodiment sectors, sufficient redundant link capacity may be maintained economically. According to a preferred embodiment, a single redundant sector may be coextensive with a plurality of primary sectors and, thus, be relied upon for providing redundant links for any such primary sector. Preferred embodiments allow for the subsectoring of primary sectors while maintaining the configuration of a redundant sector corresponding thereto.

1 . A point to multipoint communication system with a hub, a plurality of nodes geographically spaced apart from the hub and capable of wireless communication with the hub, wherein communication links between the nodes and the hub are a plurality of port to port connections distinguished by trunk type and are capable of being distinguished by path, beam or virtual sector, the improvement comprising a plurality of hierarchically arranged look up tables relating entries in port slots to entries in circuit pack slots.  
   
   
       2 . The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of look up tables are individually reconfigurable.  
   
   
       3 . The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein said communications system operates in the millimeter wave frequency.  
   
   
       4 . The communication system of  claim 3 , wherein said communications system is a time division duplex system  
   
   
       5 . The communication system of  claim 4 , wherein said communications system is an adaptive time division duplex system  
   
   
       6 . The communication system of  claim 5 , wherein the data density within each frame is dynamically variable.  
   
   
       7 . The communication system of  claim 5 , wherein the adaptive time division duplexing is dynamically adjustable as a function of the forward and reverse data traffic on the communication system.  
   
   
       8 . The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein said look up tables are adapted to facilitate rapid field replacement.  
   
   
       9 . In a point to multipoint communication system with a hub, a plurality of nodes geographically spaced apart from the hub and capable of wireless communication with the hub, wherein communication links between the nodes and the hub are a plurality of port to port connections distinguished by trunk type and are capable of being distinguished by path, beam or virtual sector, a method of establishing a port to port connection, the improvement comprising the step of using a plurality of look up tables heirarchically arranged to relate entries in port slots to entries in circuit pack slots.  
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of look up tables are individually reconfigurable.  
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said communications system operates in the millimeter wave frequency.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein said communication system is a time division duplex system.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein said communication system is an adaptive time division duplex system.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the data density within each frame is dynamically variable.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the adaptive time division duplexing is dynamically adjustable as a function of the forward and reverse data traffic on the communication system.  
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein said look up tables are adapted to facilitate rapid field replacement.