System and method for timing detector measurements in a wireless communication system

Abstract

A system that provides a wireless broadband connection between base stations and customer sites is described. The system includes indoor units within the base stations and customer sites and communicate across cables to outdoor units. The indoor units link to routers, switches and other devices and services. The outdoor units transmit and receive wireless data and send it to the indoor units. The indoor units control the timing of detector measurements in the outdoor unit by transmitting a regular, repeating control message at a predetermined time. Once the outdoor unit receives the control message, it samples its detectors and reports measurements back to the indoor unit.

1. A wireless communication system having a plurality of base stations and customer sites, wherein data is transferred between said  the base stations and said  the customer sites, and wherein said  the system comprises  uses preset downlink time segments for transmitting said  the data between the base stations and the customer sites, the system comprising:
 an indoor unit comprising a first modem configured to modulate/demodulate data transmitted between the base stations and the customer sites, wherein the indoor unit is adapted to transmit a control message at a predetermined time with respect to said  one of the preset downlink time segments;  
 an outdoor unit comprising a micro controller and a signal detector, said  the outdoor unit being adapted to receive the control message and, in response to receiving said  the control message, read said  the signal detector during the one of the preset downlink time segments; and  
 a broadband cable linking the indoor unit to the outdoor unit.  
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the outdoor unit comprises a buffer that stores said  the control message as it is being transmitted from said  the indoor unit. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 2 , wherein said  the micro controller polls said  the buffer to determine when a first byte of the control message has been received. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3 , wherein the micro controller is configured to instruct the signal detector to take a signal measurement in response to a determination that the buffer has received the first byte of the control message. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one of the preset downlink time segment  segments is within a time division duplex (TDD) frame. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 5 , wherein the one of the preset downlink time segment  segments comprises at least 16 microseconds of time. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 5 , wherein the TDD frame comprises a transition gap time adjacent said  to the one of preset downlink time segment  segments. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 7 , wherein said  the transition gap time is approximately 6 microseconds. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein said  the outdoor unit is configured to transmit a response message to the indoor unit. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9 , wherein said  the response message comprises a value derived from reading said  the signal detector. 
     
     
       11. A wireless communication system having a plurality of base stations and customer sites, wherein data is transferred between said  the base stations and said  the customer sites, and wherein said  the system comprises  uses preset downlink time segments for transmitting said  the data between the base stations and the customer sites, the system comprising:
 an indoor unit comprising a first modem configured to modulate/demodulate data transmitted between the base stations and the customer sites, said  the indoor unit further comprising a programmable memory adapted to transmit a control message at a predetermined time with respect to said  one of preset downlink time segments;  
 an outdoor unit comprising a micro controller and a signal detector, said  the outdoor unit being adapted to receive the control message and, in response to receiving said  the control message, read said  the signal detector during the one of the preset downlink time segments; and  
 a broadband cable linking the indoor unit to the outdoor unit.  
 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the outdoor unit comprises a buffer that stores said  the control message as it is being transmitted from said  the indoor unit. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 12 , wherein said  the micro controller polls said  the buffer to determine when a first byte of the control message has been received. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 13 , wherein the micro controller is configured to instruct the signal detector to take a signal measurement in response to a determination that the buffer has received the first byte of the control message. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the one of the preset downlink time segment  segments is within a time division duplex (TDD) frame. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the programmable memory is a field programmable gate array (FPGA). 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 11 , wherein said  the outdoor unit is configured to transmit a response message to the indoor unit. 
     
     
       18. A method for measuring the  a strength of a signal transmitted from a base station to a customer site in a wireless communication system, wherein said  the wireless communication system has  uses preset downlink time segments for transmitting data from the base station to the customer site, and wherein said  the customer site comprises an indoor unit and an outdoor unit, said  the method comprising:
 transmitting a message from said  the indoor unit to said  the outdoor unit, wherein said  the message is timed to arrive at said  the outdoor unit at a predetermined time relative to said  one of the preset downlink time segment  segments; and  
 reading a detector in said  the outdoor unit in response to receipt of said  the message so that said  the detector is read during said  the one of the preset downlink time segment  segments.  
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein said  the predetermined time is a time just prior to the one of the preset downlink time segment  segments. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 18 , wherein reading said  the detector comprises resetting said  the detector, measuring said  the detector for a predetermined time, and thereafter taking a power reading of said  the detector. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 18 , wherein said  the message is transmitted as a frequency shift key modulated message. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 18 , wherein transmitting said  the message comprises transmitting said  the message to a buffer in said  the outdoor unit. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 18 , comprising transmitting a response message comprising values read from said  the detector from said  the outdoor unit to said  the indoor unit. 
     
     
       24. A method for tuning a wireless communication system, wherein said  the wireless communication system has  uses preset downlink time segments for transmitting data from a base station to a customer site, and wherein said  the customer site comprises an indoor unit having a processor and an outdoor unit having tunable attenuators, said  the method comprising:
 transmitting a control message from said  the indoor unit to said  the outdoor unit, wherein said  the message is timed to arrive at said  the outdoor unit at a predetermined time relative to said  one of the preset downlink time segment  segments;  
 reading a detector in said  the outdoor unit in response to receipt of said  the message so that said  the detector will be read during said predetermined  the one of the preset downlink time segment  segments;  
 transmitting a response message comprising values from said  the detector to said  the indoor unit;  
 determining the appropriate settings said  for the attenuators in said outdoor unit;  
 transmitting a second control message comprising updated attenuator settings to said  the outdoor unit; and  
 tuning said  the outdoor unit based on said  the updated attenuator settings.  
 
     
     
       25. The method of  claim 18 , wherein said  the predetermined time is a time just prior to the one of the preset downlink time segment  segments. 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 18 , wherein reading said  the detector comprises resetting said  the detector, measuring said  the detector for a predetermined time, and thereafter taking a power reading of said  the detector. 
     
     
       27. The method of  claim 18 , wherein said  the message is transmitted as a frequency shift key modulated message. 
     
     
       28. The method of  claim 18 , wherein transmitting said  the message comprises transmitting said  the message to a buffer in said  the outdoor unit. 
     
     
       29. A communication node, comprising:
   a first modem configured to modulate and demodulate signals to be transmitted to and from a base station via an outdoor unit; and        a second modem configured to transmit a control message to the outdoor unit at a predetermined time prior to a preset downlink time segment, the control message instructing the outdoor unit to read a signal detector during the preset downlink time segment.     
     
     
       30. The communication node of  claim 29 , further comprising the outdoor unit, and wherein the outdoor unit comprises a buffer adapted to store at least a portion of the control message as it is being transmitted from an indoor unit linked to the outdoor unit. 
     
     
       31. The communication of node of  claim 30 , wherein the outdoor unit is further adapted to poll the buffer to detect receipt of a first byte of the control message. 
     
     
       32. The communication node of  claim 31 , wherein the outdoor unit is further adapted to instruct the signal detector to take a signal measurement in response to detection of receipt of the first byte in the buffer. 
     
     
       33. The communication node of  claim 29 , wherein the preset downlink time segment is within a time division duplex ( TDD )  frame.   
     
     
       34. The communication node of  claim 33 , wherein a duration of the preset downlink time segment comprises at least  16  microseconds of time. 
     
     
       35. The communication node of  claim 33 , wherein the TDD frame comprises a transition gap time adjacent to the preset downlink time segment. 
     
     
       36. The communication node of  claim 35 , wherein the transition gap time is approximately  6  microseconds. 
     
     
       37. The communication node of  claim 30 , wherein the outdoor unit is adapted to transmit a response message to an indoor unit linked to the outdoor unit. 
     
     
       38. The communication node of  claim 37 , wherein the response message comprises a value derived from the signal detector. 
     
     
       39. A wireless communication system, comprising:
   an indoor unit comprising a modem configured to modulate and demodulate signals transmitted between the wireless system and a remote wireless device, wherein the indoor unit is configured to transmit a control message at a predetermined time with respect to a preset downlink time segment; and        an outdoor unit comprising a signal detector, the outdoor unit being configured to read the signal detector during the present downlink time segment in response to receipt of the control message.     
     
     
       40. The system of  claim 39 , further comprising a video server configured to provide a video service to the remote wireless device. 
     
     
       41. The system of  claim 39 , further comprising at least one ATM switch configured to provide at least one ATM service to the remote wireless device. 
     
     
       42. The system of  claim 41 , wherein the ATM switch is configured to provide at least one service to the remote wireless device, the at least one service selected from a group of services consisting of a video service, a voice service and a data service. 
     
     
       43. The system of  claim 39 , further comprising a sectored active antenna array. 
     
     
       44. The system of  claim 39  wherein the predetermined time to transmit the control message by the indoor unit is before the preset downlink time segment such that the outdoor unit receives a bit of the control message at a start of the preset downlink time segment. 
     
     
       45. A method to operate a communication node, the method comprising:
   modulating and demodulating, by a first modem, signals to be transmitted to and from a base station via an outdoor unit; and        transmitting, by a second modem, a control message to the outdoor unit at a predetermined time prior to a preset downlink time segment, the control message instructing the outdoor unit to read a signal detector during the preset downlink time segment.     
     
     
       46. The method of  claim 45  wherein said transmitting the control message includes:
   transmitting, at the predetermined time, the control message by an indoor unit linked to the outdoor unit.   
 
     
     
       47. The method of  claim 46  wherein the predetermined time to transmit the control message by the indoor unit is before the preset downlink time segment such that the outdoor unit receives a bit of the control message at a start of the preset downlink time segment.