Abstract:
A temperature and humidity controlled building houses sensitive telecommunications equipment in operation. A secure outdoor shelter within a closed perimeter abutting the building utilizes the exterior of one wall of the building as a portion of its perimeter. The outdoor shelter contains outdoor-hardened telecommunications equipment, also in operation, which dissipates large quantities of heat to the atmosphere. There are coax cable and waveguide operative interconnections between the sensitive telecommunications equipment and the outdoor-hardened telecommunications equipment, the interconnection being made through the one wall without affecting control of the temperature and humidity in the building. There is a further coax cable and waveguide connection from the outdoor equipment to a cell tower where wireless transmission takes place. The outdoor shelter can be expanded modularly.

Description:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
       [0001]    Cellular or wireless telecommunication systems typically use tall cell towers which are widely deployed. They can be easily seen, for example, as one drives along the U.S. Interstate highway system. Cellular-system equipment, such as amplifiers, filters, and/or power supplies, etc., used for generating the signals radiated from a tower&#39;s antennae may be positioned on top of that tower if that equipment is outdoors-hardened. Outdoors-hardened equipment can withstand wide temperature variations such as, e.g., from minus 20 to plus 55 degrees Centigrade, with high humidity. Alternatively, such equipment, with or without outdoor-hardening, may be located inside a building alongside other more sensitive operating cellular-system equipment that needs a temperature/humidity-controlled environment. Both of these locations are problematic for different reasons. 
         [0002]    For equipment atop a tower that has malfunctioned, any servicing of that equipment must be handled by specially-trained, “certified riggers” who are capable of climbing tall towers and repairing that equipment under hazardous conditions. Not only must these people perform intricate repair and replacement tasks on top of these tall towers, but when severe weather conditions intervene, which may have contributed to the malfunction in the first place, this can make their tasks even more dangerous. When these repairs must be made on a priority or emergency basis, they cannot wait for better weather conditions. Therefore, these specialized personnel are paid very well for their services which are very costly for the telecommunications company needing them. 
         [0003]    In the other case, for equipment that is outdoor-hardened but housed in an environmentally-controlled building, that equipment causes the telecommunications company to build a larger building than they would otherwise have to build. A larger building, based on local zoning or property-line setback requirements, may require a larger lot size, costing more, as compared with a lot for a smaller building. Of course, there are higher costs of construction for a bigger building. Further, because of the building&#39;s larger size and because of the heat-contribution from the unnecessarily housed equipment, there are much higher costs of installation and maintenance of the air conditioning and humidity control systems. There is a need, therefore, to locate outdoor-hardened operating equipment outdoors, in a safe and secure place which is easily accessed by cellular system technicians who are not certified riggers, and which does not require a larger than necessary, environmentally-controlled, building with its higher costs and inefficiency. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment; 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  is a top view, in schematic format, of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  is a side view, in schematic format, of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0007]      FIG. 4  is a top view, in schematic format, of an exemplary alternative embodiment, offering modularity; 
           [0008]      FIG. 5  is a rear view, in schematic format, of the exemplary alternative embodiment of  FIG. 4 ; and 
           [0009]      FIG. 6  is a schematic drawing of a visual barrier system, showing operational cellular-system equipment positioned in a floor-boltable equipment rack and configured to be enclosed by an enveloping equipment cabinet having openings to permit air circulation. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0010]    In this description, the same reference numeral in different Figs. refers to the same entity. Otherwise, reference numerals of each Fig. start with the same number as the number of that Fig. For example,  FIG. 3  has numerals in the “300” category and  FIG. 4  has numerals in the “400” category, etc. 
         [0011]    In overview, exemplary apparatus, methodology and system embodiments provide an outdoor shelter for Base Station Subsystem (BTS) or cellular equipment which is operating. The outdoor shelter is constructed adjacent to, and abutting, a pre-existing building, using the exterior of one of the building&#39;s walls as one of its walls. Equipment located and operating in the building is operatively coupled, using feed-throughs, through that one of the building&#39;s walls to equipment located and operating in the outdoor shelter. 
         [0012]    In further detail, the outdoor shelter apparatus includes a foundation made, e.g., from concrete. Three walls are supported by the foundation, only one of the three walls connecting to the other two walls to partially define an operating-equipment space which can be viewed as a storage space, although powered equipment, in operation, is included therein. The three walls are constructed from material that is designed to facilitate air flow through them such as, e.g., a steel mesh fence. A dual layer roof is supported by the three walls or lally-columns or fence-posts associated with those walls/fence, and a solar-powered exhaust fan is installed within the roof to draw air from outside the three walls, through the storage space and out through the roof to cool the BTS and/or cellular equipment contained therein. 
         [0013]    A fourth wall of the outdoor shelter, namely, the exterior of one of the building&#39;s walls noted above, is the exterior of one wall of a controlled-environment building. That building houses other more sensitive cellular equipment, in operation, which needs to operate only in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. The building&#39;s exterior wall is connected to the other two walls to completely define an outdoor storage space. The completely defined outdoor storage space is peripherally-bounded by that exterior wall and the three walls supported by the foundation, is upper-bounded by the roof and is lower-bounded by the foundation. 
         [0014]    The outdoor shelter methodology includes the positioning of outdoors-hardened operational cellular telecommunications equipment outside, but inside a closed perimeter. The perimeter is defined by a fence, e.g., a steel mesh fence, and the exterior of one wall of a permanent building. The fence includes a lockable door and is supported by a foundation, e.g., made of concrete. The fence&#39;s fence-posts are also made of steel and can support a roof. The fence can extend from the foundation to the roof whereby the closed perimeter can be accessed only by someone who has a key to the door. 
         [0015]    The methodology further includes installing an equipment rack which is boltable to the concrete foundation. The rack holds the outdoor-hardened equipment above the foundation by a predetermined distance or distances. The equipment can be positioned centrally within the perimeter by bolting the rack to the concrete foundation at that position. A manually operable visual-barrier can be installed inside the perimeter, surrounding the equipment to prevent a clear view of the equipment while not blocking air flow to and through the equipment. The visual barrier can be one of a variety of items such as, e.g., a set of outdoor-compatible vertical blinds positioned completely around the equipment and located inside the perimeter, or an equipment cabinet with air-holes formed therethrough that fits over the equipment rack and the equipment, etc. 
         [0016]    The indoor/outdoor “green” shelter system includes the combination of a pre-existing, climate-controlled, building using the exterior of one of its walls as a fourth wall for an external equipment shelter constructed on a concrete slab and peripherally bounded by a steel-mesh cage extending from the concrete slab to a roof supported by the cage, solar powered exhaust fans being located in the roof. Cables connecting cellular equipment in operation inside the building pass through feedthroughs embedded within the one wall to cellular equipment in operation outside of the building and located in the external equipment shelter. Processed signals are forwarded on cables and waveguides from the outdoors cellular equipment to antennae on one or more towers for wireless transmission to intended receivers in accordance with standard wireless protocol. 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment. Indoor/Outdoor telecommunications equipment shelter system  100  includes permanent building  101  abutting outdoor shelter  103 . Building  101  is in operative communication with outdoor shelter  103  via cable and waveguide feedthroughs (not shown in this Fig.) inserted through wall  109  of building  101 . Building  101  is accessed by lockable door  102  and attached outdoor shelter  103  is accessed by lockable door  104 . Building  101  is temperature and humidity controlled to provide the proper operating environment for indoor telecommunications equipment, such as: cellular base station systems, telecommunication network devices, microwave radio systems, alarm systems and power supply and battery systems. In particular, standby DC batteries must be maintained inside building  101  in a controlled environment to achieve maximum battery life. Outdoor shelter  103  has a dual-surface roof  105  providing a sufficient thickness or space between surfaces to allow solar-powered exhaust fans  106  and  107  to be embedded therein. These fans, powered by sunlight, aid in cooling the area under the roof where heat-generating, outdoors-hardened operating telecommunications equipment, such as outdoor-hardened power supply systems and radio frequency (RF) components such as power amplifiers and low-noise amplifiers, etc., of base station systems and microwave radio systems can be sheltered, while operating, without requiring air-conditioning or humidity control, making this a “Green” shelter. The indoor equipment and outdoor equipment are operationally connected together via the feedthroughs, discussed below. 
         [0018]    The walls  108  of outdoor shelter can be constructed of any strong material which serves to keep trespassers out of the shelter, which can withstand an outdoor environment and which allows air flow there-through. In a particular embodiment, walls  108  can be made from steel-mesh fencing attached to vertical steel fence posts or lally-columns  110  positioned at the two corners of the fence-walls and at the two ends of the steel mesh fencing where they abut wall  109  of building  101 . The lally-columns or fence posts are supported by a foundation, such as a concrete slab foundation (not shown in this Fig.) which underlies the area of outdoor shelter  108  and abuts the foundation of building  101 , and the steel-mesh fencing extends from foundation to roof to prevent unauthorized access. The outside of wall  109  of building  101  forms the fourth wall of outside shelter  103 . Roof  105  can be pitched away from building  101  to facilitate drainage. Typical size of outdoor shelter  103  can be 12 ft. by 20 ft. floor area by 9 ft high, larger or smaller, and is not restricted to any particular size, and building  101  is at least as large as shelter  103 . 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  is a top view, in schematic format, of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 1 . 
         [0020]    In this Fig. indoor equipment  201  is shown inside building  101  and outdoor equipment  206  is shown outside, in outdoor shelter  103 . Feedthroughs  202  and  203  are weatherproofed rubber gaskets or the like, which are tightly-fitted into and through holes in wall  109 , thereby connecting the inside of building  101  to the inside of shelter  103 . Cables such as waveguide, coax and power cables can be tightly-fitted through those feedthroughs which allows indoor equipment  201  to be operatively connected to outdoor equipment  206 , while maintaining the temperature/humidity integrity inside building  101 . Cable  205  connects electrical power from indoor equipment  201  to outdoor equipment  206  through feedthrough  203 . Cable(s)  204  connects information and/or data signals from indoor equipment  201  to outdoor equipment  206  through feedthrough  202 . 
         [0021]    Feedthrough  208  is affixed to outdoor shelter wall  208  or, alternatively, can be inserted through outdoor shelter roof  105 . In either case, feedthrough  208  is used only to support cable  207  which conducts the information and/or data signals, after they have been processed (e.g., amplified, filtered, etc.) by equipment  206  and does not contribute to controlling ambient temperature and humidity as feedthroughs  202 / 203  do with respect to building  101 . These processed signals are conducted to a cellular tower (not shown) where they are radiated, or wirelessly transmitted, in accordance with cellular transmission protocols. A perimeter fence  209  (a fragment being shown in  FIG. 2 ) can enclose both the outdoor shelter  103  and the pre-existing building  101 , and it can also be gated with a lockable door. 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is a side view, in schematic format, of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 1 . In this view, foundation  301  is shown in cross-section. Typically it is a concrete slab, which has a sloped surface  302  to encourage drainage in a particular direction. In this embodiment, drainage is away from building  101 ; this is not a major problem because building  101  can also be constructed on a concrete slab, such as slab  303  and, without a basement, drainage is less of an issue than otherwise. Gutter  304  is provided to catch rainfall from roof  105 . Fan  107  is shown embedded in the roof, as hidden lines. 
         [0023]      FIG. 4  is a top view, in schematic format, of an alternative embodiment  400 , offering modularity. Building  101  is shown at the right of the Fig. A first outdoor shelter space, or closed perimeter,  401  is shown affixed to the exterior of wall  109  of building  101  similarly to how shelter space  103  was affixed to the exterior of wall  109  of building  101  in  FIGS. 1-3 . However, in this alternative embodiment, door  407  is located in a different position from location of door  104  to facilitate modularization. 
         [0024]    A second outdoor shelter space, or closed perimeter,  404  is shown abutting the first outdoor space, and this second outdoor space sits on its own foundation (not shown in this Fig.) This second outdoor space uses one wall, or one steel-meshed fencing section, of outdoor space  401  as its own fourth wall and has its own entry door  408 . As can be seen, if one has a key to only entry door  408  to the second outdoor space he/she cannot open locked door  407  to the first outdoor space. But, if a technician has keys to both doors, both outdoor spaces are accessible to that technician. 
         [0025]    This is a technique in modularization of outdoor shelter spaces. Each additional space can be tacked-on to the last most previous shelter space, in modular fashion, as additional shelter is needed for outdoors-hardened operational cellular telecommunications equipment. This modular expansion is limited only by the land size. 
         [0026]    Inside first outdoor space  401 , outdoors-hardened operational cellular telecommunications equipment  402  is shown centrally located inside first closed perimeter  401 . A manually operable visual-barrier  403  is shown, schematically, inside of the first closed perimeter, surrounding equipment  402  and configured to prevent anyone standing outside perimeter  401  from clearly viewing equipment  402  while simultaneously not blocking air flow from reaching the equipment. Inside second outdoor space  404 , outdoors-hardened operational cellular telecommunications equipment  405  is shown centrally located inside this second closed perimeter  404 . A manually operable visual-barrier  406  is shown inside of the second closed perimeter, surrounding equipment  405  and configured to prevent anyone standing outside perimeter  404  from clearly viewing the equipment while simultaneously not blocking air flow from reaching the equipment. These visual barriers can be, e.g., sets of vertical blinds, controllable by a technician to be partially opened or completely open or closed 
         [0027]      FIG. 5  is a rear view, in schematic format, of the alternative embodiment of  FIG. 4 . In this view building  101  is shown located behind outdoor shelter spaces  401  and  404 . This shows roof  105 ′ sloping from right to left for purposes of facilitating modular construction, the roof containing embedded fans  106 ′ and  107 ′, rather than roof  105  sloping away from building  101  as shown in  FIG. 3 . Gutter  503  is positioned to catch rainfall runoff from the roof Foundation  501  has a sloped floor  502  sloping in the same direction as the slope of the roof. Foundation  303  of the building  101  is shown behind slab  501 . 
         [0028]    Using this alternate roof-slope and floor-slope configuration as modules are added, the roof can be maintained at this consistent elevation from the ground and the foundation can likewise be maintained at this consistent elevation upon, or in, the ground and modules can be extended to the limits of the land parcel. Otherwise, if using the direction of roof slope and direction of concrete floor slope of  FIG. 3 , as outdoor shelter spaces are modularly added, the decreasing height of the roof would be a limiting factor, as well as requiring more complex excavation for the concrete slab. In addition, this design permits drainage on the left side of the outdoor shelter, where gutter  503  would drain, and side drainage is out of the way of further modular expansion. 
         [0029]      FIG. 6  is a schematic drawing of visual barrier system  600 , showing operational cellular-system equipment positioned in a floor-boltable equipment rack and configured to be enclosed by an enveloping equipment cabinet having openings to permit air circulation. Concrete floor  501 , depicted horizontal in this Fig. for clarity of illustration, is shown supporting equipment rack  601  which can be bolted to the floor by way of bolts penetrating the floor through flanges  602  and  603 . Outdoor hardened operational telecommunication equipment  604  and  605  is shown supported in equipment rack  601  and located at pre-determined positions above the floor. Equipment cabinet  606 , shown schematically above equipment rack  601 , fits over equipment rack  601  and its included equipment  604  and  605  in a manner to completely hide the equipment from view. Cabinet  606  moves in downward direction  607  until it rests on the concrete floor and hides the equipment. There are doors  608  and  609  allowing easy access by service personnel to the equipment. There are holes  610  in doors  608  and  609  and throughout the cabinet to promote good heat transfer from the equipment into the environment under influence of the outside air circulated around the equipment by operation of the exhaust fans in the ceiling. 
         [0030]    In the preceding specification, various preferred embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto, and additional embodiments may be implemented, without departing from the broader scope of the invention as set forth in the claims that follow. For example the steel wire-mesh fencing or walls of the outdoor shelter spaces can be augmented on a seasonal basis with fiberglass, aluminum or steel barriers if the outdoor environment is too cold, as, for example, in Alaska during the winter months. For another example, if the heat is too extreme, additional solar-powered fans can be positioned inside the closed perimeter and pointed directly at the equipment as augmented cooling, in addition to the ceiling fans. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than restrictive sense.