Abstract:
Controlling a cellular radio frequency repeater amplifier and their gain factors. In preferred embodiments, the method is used in personal home repeaters that may be used by wireless services users. The repeaters are preferably configured to automatically control their setting without requiring supervision or control by the wireless service provider. The wireless provider also need not have knowledge of where the repeater devices are placed within the network. The preferred system and methods reduce potential problems that may arise when repeaters with fixed gain are placed within close proximity of a cell site. The preferred methods shut down the forward and reverse amplifiers based on the received signal level from the base station.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to telecommunications and, more particularly, to signal repeater devices used to extend or improve wireless coverage in specific areas. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In a cellular wireless communication system, such as a code division multiple access (CDMA) system for instance, base stations are positioned throughout a coverage area and emit radio frequency radiation patterns that define cells. Mobile stations operating in a given cell may then wirelessly communicate with the serving base station, and the base station may provide connectivity with further network components such as switches and gateways that connect with transport networks. 
     In a CDMA system, each cell is typically divided into a number of sectors, each of which is identified by a specific pseudo-noise offset (i.e., “PN offset”) of a specific spreading sequence that is used to encode communications with mobile stations operating in the cell. At any given instant, a mobile station may thus operate in a given sector, and may thereby communicate with the serving base station using the PN offset of that sector. (In practice, an idle mobile station may communicate on a single PN offset (i.e., in a single sector) at once; an active mobile, on the other hand, might communicate on multiple PN offsets (i.e., in multiple sectors) at once, although a dominant one of those active PN offsets might be the focus of communications at any given moment.) 
     Unfortunately, in some wireless networks, the cells may not seamlessly cover an entire area, so there may be a hole in coverage between cells. To solve this problem, a wireless carrier may install a repeater that functions to extend the range of a given cell or sector, so as to fill in the hole in coverage. Such a repeater may be able to receive a signal distorted by transmission losses and to regenerate or replicate the signal. The repeater typically includes a donor antenna that communicates with a base station, a coverage antenna that communicates with mobile stations, and an amplifier circuit that boosts communications from the base station to the mobile stations as well as from the mobile stations to the base stations. For example, the repeater may be positioned between a mobile station and a base station to intercept signals sent between them. The repeater amplifies the power of these intercepted signals and sends amplified versions of these signals to the mobile station or the base station. Therefore, the repeater effectively extends the range of a given cell by boosting communications between a mobile station and a base station. 
     In practice, the donor antenna of a repeater may receive signals from multiple base stations and multiple base station sectors (i.e., signals with multiple PN offsets) at once and boost all of those signals. In addition, the repeater receives signals from mobile stations, boosts the signals, and radiates the amplified signals to one or all nearby base stations. 
     However, radiating the amplified signals to the base stations can decrease the capacity of base stations because it raises the noise level received by the base station. The increase in noise levels reduces the signal-to-noise ratio of the signals received by the base station. The noise is typically thermal noise generated from active devices in the repeater, and if it reaches the receiver of a base station transceiver at a high enough power level, the receiver will be desensitized causing loss of coverage area. 
     SUMMARY 
     Described herein is a method and apparatus for controlling a repeater amplifier gain factors. In preferred embodiments, the method is used in personal home repeaters that may be used by wireless services users. The repeaters are preferably configured to automatically control their setting without requiring supervision or control by the wireless service provider. The wireless provider also need not have knowledge of where the repeater devices are placed within the network. The preferred system and methods reduce potential problems that may arise when repeaters with fixed gain are placed within close proximity of a cell site. The preferred methods shut down the forward and reverse amplifiers based on the received signal level from the base station. 
     In one preferred method, the cellular signal repeater measures a receive signal strength of a forward channel signal received from a base transceiver station, and then sets a gain value of the repeater&#39;s reverse channel amplifier to a first gain value when the received signal strength is below a first threshold. Additionally, it sets the gain value of the repeater&#39;s reverse channel amplifier to a gain factor of zero when the receive signal strength is above the first threshold. 
     The threshold is preferably −78 dBm, although it may also be selected from the range of approximately −82 dBm to −75 dBm. The gain value is preferably a fixed value in the range of 50 dB to 105 dB, and more preferably is set to approximately 80 dB. The threshold may also include hysteresis such that the threshold is incrementally higher when the receive signal strength is increasing. The presence of hysteresis avoids rapid or repeated toggling of the amplifier when the received signal level varies around the threshold. The hysteresis preferably provides for an incremental range around a desired threshold, and the incremental range may be 1 dB, or as much as 5 db or 10 dB. 
     The repeater includes a forward channel amplifier, and in some preferred embodiments, the method includes setting a gain value of the repeater&#39;s forward channel amplifier to be equal to the gain value of the repeater&#39;s reverse channel amplifier. In addition, some embodiments may use thresholds to turn on and off the forward channel amplifier. In particular, it may set the gain value of the repeater&#39;s forward channel amplifier to a first gain value when the received signal strength is below a second threshold, and set the gain value of the repeater&#39;s forward channel amplifier to a gain factor of zero when the receive signal strength is above the second threshold. Preferably, the threshold for the forward channel is higher than the reverse channel threshold, such as between approximately −82 dBm and −78 dBm. In an alternative embodiment, the method may include powering down the repeater when the received signal strength is above a threshold. 
     These as well as other aspects, advantages, and alternatives will become apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a simplified block diagram of a wireless communication system. 
         FIG. 2  is a simplified block diagram of a wireless repeater. 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram depicting amplifier control as a function of received signal strength. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow diagram of a preferred method of controlling a repeater. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Wireless Communication System 
     Referring to the drawings,  FIG. 1  is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary wireless communication system  100 . It should be understood, however, that this and other arrangements and processes described herein are set forth for purposes of example only, and other arrangements and elements (e.g., machines, interfaces, functions, orders of elements, etc.) can be added or used instead and some elements may be omitted altogether. Further, as in most telecommunications applications, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many of the elements described herein are functional entities that may be implemented as discrete components or in conjunction with other components, in any suitable combination and location, and by hardware, firmware, and/or software (e.g., one or more processors programmed with machine language instructions to carry out the functions described). 
     Exemplary system  100  includes at its core a radio access network (RAN)  110 , which provides connectivity between one or more mobile stations and one or more transport networks. RAN  110  includes base transceiver stations (BTS)  110   a ,  110   b  and  110   c  (e.g., a Motorola SC4812, SC611, SC614 or SC4850, or the like) that radiate radio frequency energy to produce a cellular air interface coverage area in which mobile stations can operate. (As used herein, the term “cellular” contemplates WWAN technology such as CDMA, TDMA, AMPS, GSM, WiMAX or other such technologies now known or later developed.) 
     As shown in the example arrangement of  FIG. 1 , network  100  includes a mobile station (MS)  102  coupled via link  104  to a repeater  106 . In turn, repeater  106  is coupled via link  108  to a base station  110   b . Base station  110   b  and other base stations  110   a  and  110   c  are coupled to a switch  112 , which is in communication with a wireless network  114 , an Internet protocol (IP) network  116 , and a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)  118 . Switch  112  may also be in communication with other transport networks as well. 
     The network  100  may be divided geographically into a number of cell sites (or simply “cells”), which are defined by the coverage areas of respective base stations. Each base station transceives with a number of mobile stations that reside within its radio coverage area. In practice, base stations are deployed so that each cell partially overlaps with other cells in the vicinities of their boundaries. The overlapping of cells permits mobile stations to maintain continuous (or near continuous) communications with the called party while moving between cells. 
     Cells are arranged in clusters, and usually each cluster uses the entire allocated frequency spectrum. Clusters are designed in a fashion so that the limited spectrum is repeatedly used over large geographic areas, with each cluster supporting a substantially same numbers of users. Co-channel interference results from cells that are assigned the same frequency being spaced too close together. As the traffic increases on these cells, the interference rises as the amount of forward link communications (e.g., base station to the mobile) increases. 
     A cellular network should be designed to maximize the carrier-to-cochannel interference (C/I) ratio (or referred to as the Chip Energy to total Interference ratio (E C /I O ), e.g., where I=I SC +I OC , and where SC is same cell interference and OC is other cell interference). The carrier-to-cochannel interference ratio is a ratio of the energy of a pilot signal to the total power in the channel. The total power in the channel includes the pilot signal, pilots from other base stations, traffic, and other channels and noise. One way to maximize the carrier to interference ratio is to increase the frequency re-use distance, i.e., increase the distance between cells using the same set of transmission frequencies. For example, in an advanced mobile phone system (AMPS) system, C/I is equal to about 18 dB and the minimum required separation of cells, based on C/I=18 dB, is about 4.6R, where R is the radius of the cell. This means that the signal from the communicating cell is 18 dB larger than the interfering signal coming from a neighboring cell (or cells). When the network is loaded with calls to its capacity, the received C/I is just sufficient to meet link requirements, but will not meet the requirements if another user is added to the link. Therefore, the C/I is also a measure of capacity of the cells. 
     Most cell sites are usually further divided geographically into a number of sectors and each sector is defined respectively by radio frequency (RF) radiation patterns from antenna components of the respective base station.  FIG. 1  illustrates three base stations  110   a - c , which comprise three cells. The size and shape of each cell may vary due to location of the cell (e.g., urban vs. rural area) or other network design factors. Furthermore, network  100  may include more or fewer base stations, or the existing base stations can be arranged in an entirely different manner as well. 
     The RF radiation pattern from the antenna components of a respective base station produces an air interface, such as link  108 , which provides a communication path between repeater  106  and the base station  110   b . Similarly, repeater  106  communicates with MS  102  through link  104 . MS  102  can then communicate with base station  110   b  through repeater  106 . MS  102  can communicate through this path with entities on network  100 , such as IP network  116 , or with other mobile stations. 
     Wireless Communications 
     Wireless signaling between MS  102  and base station  110   b  may operate according to any wireless network protocol, such as global system for mobile communications (GSM), time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), or that defined by IEEE 802.16 (known also by WiMAX), for example. The specific protocol depends upon how voice or data signals are transferred between the MSs and base stations, as well as the utilization of transmission frequencies, considering available bandwidth and the network&#39;s capacity constraints. 
     In a CDMA network, cell sites may operate with multiple carrier frequencies. On a given frequency in a CDMA system, multiple communication channels exist, each distinguished by a “Walsh code.” Walsh code is a term used for a digital modulation code that distinguishes individual signals on the RF carrier frequency being transmitted. 
     Repeating Wireless Signals 
       FIG. 2  illustrates one embodiment of a repeater  200  that may operate according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Repeater  200  is preferably an analog repeater that may only be able to amplify the signal, and includes a coverage antenna  202  that communicates with mobile stations, a donor antenna  204  that communicates with a base station, a forward channel amplifier  206  that boosts communications from the base station to mobile stations, and a reverse channel amplifier  208  that boosts communications from the mobile stations to the base station. 
     Coverage and donor antennas  202  and  204  may be any type of antenna or antenna array, and can be configured in any desired manner. For example, coverage and/or donor antennas  202  and  204  may be omni-directional antennas or directional antennas. In addition, coverage and/or donor antennas  202  and  204  may include more than one antenna element. For example, coverage and/or donor antennas  202  and  204  may include multiple antennas each positioned to transmit wireless signals in a respective direction. In addition, to provide directional antenna capabilities without using directional antennas, antennas or antenna elements could also be mounted on a stepper motor, which could incrementally change the direction in which the antennas transmit wireless signals. 
     Thus, in one preferred embodiment, the CDMA repeater device comprises a donor antenna  204  for communicating with a base station; a coverage antenna  202  for communicating with a mobile station; an adjustable gain reverse channel amplifier  208  having an adjustable gain value. The adjustable gain reverse channel amplifier  208  has an input connected to the coverage antenna  202  and an output connected to the donor antenna  204 , wherein the adjustable gain value is set in response to received signal power from the base transceiver station as determined by RSSI measurement device  214 . The repeater may also include a control communication interface circuit for receiving gain adjustment controls or data needed to make the gain determination from a remote location. 
     Furthermore, the phase of radiating components can be varied electronically to produce a moving radiation pattern with no moving parts. For example, coverage and/or donor antennas  202  and  204  may be phased array (PA) antennas. A PA antenna comprises many radiating elements each with a phase shifter. The radiating elements may be spaced such that together they can radiate wireless signals to a desired direction. Each element can produce a signal with a fixed amplitude and phase angle for a certain drive voltage. By assembling a number of antenna elements to form the PA antenna, the direction of a main beam (its directivity) can be controlled through the adjustment of the signal amplitude and phase of each antenna element in the array. Beams are formed by shifting the phase of the signal emitted from each radiating element, to provide constructive/destructive interference so as to steer the beams in a desired direction. The signal can be amplified by constructive interference in the main direction. The beam sharpness or directivity can be improved by the destructive interference. The use of the PA antenna has the effect of summing the signal at points in space where it is desirable with constructive inference and taking advantage of destructive interference to cancel out the signal in space where the signal is not desired. 
     Amplifier circuits  206 ,  208  operate to amplify signals received from the mobile station and base station. The amplified signals can then be transmitted by coverage antenna  202  or donor antenna  204 . The amplifier circuits  206 ,  208  may include a number of amplifiers and filters in any type of desired arrangement, for example. 
     In one embodiment, the repeater includes (i) a donor antenna  204  for receiving radio frequency signals from a base transceiver station (BTS) and for transmitting radio frequency (RF) signals to the BTS; (ii) a receive signal strength measurement device  214  to measure signal strength received from the BTS; (iii) a coverage antenna  202  for receiving RF signals from a wireless subscriber device; (iv) a reverse channel amplifier  208  connected to the coverage antenna  202  to receive RF signals from the coverage antenna  202 , amplify the RF signals, and provide the amplified RF signals to the donor antenna  204  for transmission to the BTS, the reverse channel amplifier including a gain control input  207 ; (v) a gain setting module  212  that receives an indication of signal strength measurements obtained from the receive signal strength measurement device  214 , and connected to the reverse channel amplifier gain control input  207  to control the reverse channel amplifier  208  gain factor. 
     In another embodiment, the cellular signal repeater device  200  comprises (i) a donor antenna  204  to receive radio frequency signals from a base transceiver station; (ii) a forward channel amplifier  206  having an input connected to the donor antenna  204  and an output providing amplified RF signals received from the donor antenna  204 , wherein the forward channel amplifier also includes a gain control input  205 ; (iii) a coverage antenna  202  connected to the forward channel amplifier  206  output, the coverage antenna  202  transmitting the amplified RF signals for reception by a wireless subscriber device; (iv) a receive signal strength indicator (RSSI) measurement device  214  to measure signal strength received from the BTS; and (v) a gain setting module  212  that receives an indication of signal strength measurements obtained from the receive signal strength measurement device  214 , and connected to the forward channel amplifier gain control input  205  to control the forward channel amplifier  205  gain factor. 
     The receive signal strength measurement device  214  preferably measures a signal power level in a cellular carrier frequency band. It may be implemented with a cascaded bandpass filter, rectifier and low pass filter, or with other circuits or structures known to those of skill in the art. The gain setting module  212  is preferably a microprocessor or microcontroller, and it sets the forward channel amplifier gain factor to a first value when the receive signal strength is below a threshold, and sets the amplifier gain factor to zero when the receive signal strength is above the threshold. In preferred embodiments, the threshold is selected from the range of approximately −75 dBm to −78 dBm. 
     With respect to status lines  302 ,  304 ,  306 , and  308  of  FIG. 3 , the operation of the repeater so as to control the gain factors of the forward and reverse channel amplifiers will be described. The status lines depict whether the amplifier (forward or reverse channel amplifier) is “on” or “off”. In the “off state, the amplifier will have a gain factor of zero. In the “on” state, the amplifier will have a predetermined gain value, preferably in the range of 50 dB to 105 dB, and in one embodiment is set to 80 dB of gain. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the forward channel amplifier is enabled, or turned on, as indicated by line  304  when the RSSI is below a threshold, which is depicted as −78 dBm for purposes of illustration. This threshold may be set at any value, but in particular, the range of −75 dBm to −82 dBm is preferred. In another embodiment, the reverse channel amplifier is similarly enabled for RSSI levels below a threshold, which is chosen for exemplary purposes to be −82 dBm as shown by status line  302 . 
     In an alternative embodiment, the gain setting module may further include hysteresis to prevent rapid toggling of the amplifier gain factor setting. Thus, in status line  306 ,  308  the amplifiers are turned on at a higher threshold than where they were turned off. For example, as the RSSI decreases on status line  308 , the forward channel amplifier is turned on at a threshold of −78.5 dBm as shown by arrow  312 . However, as the RSSI increases, the forward channel amplifier is not turned off again until the RSSI reaches −77.5 dBm. Thus, the hysteresis provides an incremental change in the threshold depending on whether the signal power is increasing or decreasing. The presence of hysteresis avoids rapid or repeated toggling of the amplifier when the received signal level varies around the threshold. The hysteresis preferably provides for an incremental range around a desired threshold, and the incremental range may be 1 dB, or as much as 5 dB or 10 dB. 
     In a further alternative embodiment, the entire repeater may be put in a standby state if the RSSI is sufficiently high. That is, gain setting module  212  may provide a power down control signal to the repeater when the receive signal strength is above a threshold. This threshold is selected from the range of −78 dBm to −70 dBm. 
     A preferred method  400  will now be described with respect to  FIG. 4 . At step  402 , the cellular signal repeater measures a receive signal strength of a forward channel signal received from a base transceiver station. At step  404 , the repeater sets a gain value of the repeater&#39;s reverse channel amplifier to a first gain value when the received signal strength is below a first threshold as shown by step  404 . It sets the gain value of the repeater&#39;s reverse channel amplifier to a gain factor of zero when the receive signal strength is above the first threshold as shown by step  406 . The threshold is preferably −78 dBm, although it may also be selected from the range of approximately −82 dBm to −75 dBm. The gain value is preferably a fixed value in the range of 50 dB to 105 dB, and more preferably is set to approximately 80 dB. 
     While the control of the reverse channel amplifier is important so as to reduce noise interference seen by the BTS, it is also desirable to control the forward channel amplifier. Thus, as described above, some embodiments may use thresholds to turn on and off the forward channel amplifier. In particular, it may set the gain value of the repeater&#39;s forward channel amplifier to a first gain value when the received signal strength is below a second threshold, and set the gain value of the repeater&#39;s forward channel amplifier to a gain factor of zero when the receive signal strength is above the second threshold. Preferably, the threshold for the forward channel is higher than the reverse channel threshold, such as between approximately −82 dBm and −78 dBm. In an alternative embodiment, the method may include powering down the repeater when the received signal strength is above a threshold. 
     An exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described above. Those skilled in the art will understand, however, that changes and modifications may be made to this embodiment without departing from the true scope and spirit of the present invention, which is defined by the claims.