Abstract:
A test device includes a microprocessor and a switching network comprising a plurality of coaxial switches. The test device includes a signal booster, an uplink antenna and a downlink antenna, and a diagnostic device. A power source supplies power to the signal booster and the diagnostic device. The microprocessor controls the switching network which, in turn, controls the interconnection of the power source, the signal booster, the uplink and downlink antennas, and the diagnostic device.

Description:
[0001]    This invention claims priority to, and specifically incorporates U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61165,501, filed Mar. 31, 2009, herein by reference hereto, and specifically incorporates U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/697,289, filed Jan. 31, 2010, herein by reference hereto. Both applications are available in the USPTO&#39;s image file wrapper system. 
     
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention is an In-Building Communications (IBC) system. The IBC system is used to overcome two-way radio coverage deficits arising from signal attenuation created by buildings or other structures, either man-made or naturally occurring. The deficits arise when a portable two-way radio operating in a duplex radio system cannot communicate through the attenuating structure with the radio infrastructure such as a radio tower or repeater. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) report entitled “Best Practices for In-Building Communications” published Nov. 12, 2007 describes the IBC problem as well as the general characteristics of various IBC systems useful to overcome the problem. The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council (NPSTC) report entitled “Best Practices for In-Building Communications” published Nov. 12, 2007 is specifically incorporated herein by reference hereto. A copy of the NPSTC report can be found in the image wrapper file of this patent application as filed as it forms part of provisional application Ser. No. 61165,501, filed Mar. 31, 2009, supra. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    The test device includes a microprocessor and a switching network comprising a plurality of switches. The test device may be configured in many ways depending on the position or state of the switches. The test device further includes a signal booster, an uplink antenna, a downlink antenna, and a diagnostic device. The test device includes a power source for the signal booster and the diagnostic device. The microprocessor controls the switching network which, in turn, controls the interconnection of the power source, and the components of the device, including, but not limited to the signal booster, the uplink and downlink antennas, and the diagnostic device. The diagnostic device measures different parameters depending on the configuration of the test device. 
         [0005]    A first exemplary configuration of the test device may include a first 50 ohm load and a second 50 ohm load. The diagnostic device includes an analyzer port and the signal booster includes an uplink port and a downlink port, and wherein: the uplink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the first 50 ohm load, the downlink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the second 50 ohm load, the analyzer port is in electrical communication with the uplink antenna, and, the diagnostic device is measuring the efficiency of the uplink antenna. 
         [0006]    A second exemplary configuration of the test device may include a first 50 ohm load, a second 50 ohm load, and, the diagnostic device includes an analyzer port, and, and the signal booster includes an uplink port and a downlink port, and wherein: the uplink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the first 50 ohm load, the downlink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the second 50 ohm load, the analyzer port is in electrical communication with the downlink antenna, and, the diagnostic device is measuring the efficiency of the downlink antenna. 
         [0007]    A third exemplary configuration of the test device may include a first 50 ohm load, a second 50 ohm load, and, the diagnostic device includes an analyzer port and a generator port, and the signal booster includes an uplink port and a downlink port, and, wherein: the uplink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the first 50 ohm load, said downlink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the second 50 ohm load, said analyzer port is in electrical communication with said downlink antenna, said generator port is in electrical communication with the uplink antenna, and the diagnostic device is measuring the efficiency of the uplink antenna to the downlink antenna. 
         [0008]    A fourth exemplary configuration of the test device may include a first 50 ohm load, a second 50 ohm load, and, the diagnostic device includes an analyzer port and a generator port, and the signal booster includes an uplink port and a downlink port, and, wherein: the uplink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the first 50 ohm load, the downlink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the second 50 ohm load, the analyzer port is in electrical communication with the uplink antenna, and the generator port is in electrical communication with the downlink antenna; and the diagnostic device is measuring the efficiency of the downlink antenna to the uplink antenna. 
         [0009]    A fifth exemplary configuration of the test device may include a diagnostic device having an analyzer port and a generator port, and the signal booster includes an uplink port and a downlink port, and the analyzer port is in electrical communication with the uplink port of the signal booster, the generator port is in electrical communication with the downlink port of the signal booster, and the diagnostic device is measuring the efficiency of the downlink port to the uplink port of the signal booster. 
         [0010]    A sixth exemplary configuration of the device may include includes an analyzer port and a generator port, and said bi-directional amplifier includes an uplink port and a downlink port, and, the analyzer port is in electrical communication with the downlink port of the signal booster, the generator port is in electrical communication with the uplink port of the signal booster, and the diagnostic device is measuring the efficiency of the uplink port to the downlink port of the signal booster. 
         [0011]    The diagnostic device may be a radio frequency test device. The microprocessor controls the signal booster and the diagnostic device as to signal magnitude and frequency. The diagnostic device measures the voltage standing wave ratio/return loss versus frequency, insertion loss and/or amplifier gain depending on its configuration. 
         [0012]    Each of the switches may be a single pole double throw coaxial switch and includes a single pole, first coaxial contact, and each switch includes second and third coaxial contacts. Each of the switches alternately positionable between: a first position wherein the single pole, first coaxial contact, and the second coaxial contact are electrically connected, or, a second position wherein said single pole, first coaxial contact, and third coaxial contact are electrically connected. Alternatively, the switches ay be single pole single throw coaxial contact switches. 
         [0013]    The diagnostic device measures and analyzes intended and interfering radio signals. The radio signals may be received by the uplink antenna or the downlink antenna. 
         [0014]    A control device in combination with a signal booster, an uplink antenna and a downlink antenna is disclosed. The control device comprises: a microprocessor and a switching network having a plurality of switches. The control device further includes a signal booster; an uplink antenna and a downlink antenna. The signal booster includes an uplink port and a downlink port. The uplink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the uplink antenna and the downlink port of the signal booster is in electrical communication with the downlink antenna. A power source provides power for the signal booster. The microprocessor controls the switching network which, in turn, controls the power source, the signal booster, and, the uplink and downlink antennas to control operation of the signal booster. 
         [0015]    Section 6 of the NPSTC report entitled “Best Practices for In-Building Communications” describes “Engineering an In-Building System” including various test procedures. It is one object of this invention to implement an automated version of the battery of tests described in NPSTC report section 6. 
         [0016]    It is an object of the instant invention to configure the test device to: 
         [0017]    Test Uplink Antenna; Test Downlink Antenna; Test Isolation Uplink to Downlink; Test Isolation Downlink to Uplink; Test Uplink Amplifier; and, Test Downlink Amplifier. 
         [0018]    It is an object of the instant invention to configure the control device to operate a signal booster with uplink and downlink antennas including supplying power to the control device. 
         [0019]    These and other objects will be best understood when reference is made to the following drawings and description which follow hereinbelow. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a schematic of a test device interconnecting a controller, a bidirectional amplifier, an uplink antenna, a downlink antenna, and, a diagnostic unit. 
           [0021]      FIG. 2  is a schematic illustrating switch configurations which implement several operating and test conditions. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , reference numeral  100  refers to an IBC system comprising a signal booster  129 . Signal booster  129  may be any type of applicable radio equipment including broadband bidirectional amplifiers such as those manufactured by Cellular Specialties of Manchester, N.H., channelized bidirectional amplifiers, repeaters, or any other radio amplification or signal relay system. 
         [0023]    All of the devices schematically illustrated in  FIG. 1  may be located in a portable bidirectional device as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12697,289, filed Jan. 31, 2010, which is specifically incorporated herein by reference hereto. The measurements made and the control performed by the device disclosed herein may be made in the field where the signal booster is located. 
         [0024]    The signal booster has two antenna connection ports, port  130  for connection to an outdoor antenna also called a donor or uplink antenna, and port  131  for connection to an indoor antenna or downlink antenna, to a distributed antenna system (DAS), or to radiating cable also called leaky coaxial cable serving as the downlink antenna. In the present invention, rather than connecting ports  130  and  131  directly to their respective antenna systems, these ports are routed through an array of coaxial switches  113  through  118 . An exemplary coaxial switch is manufactured by Teledyne Technologies of Thousand Oaks, Calif., model number CCR3 Miniature DC-18 GHz SPDT Switch. Controller unit  144  can program the state of switches  113  through  115  via switch control interface  147  to enable connection of  130  to one of four possible destinations including 50-ohm termination load  112 , bus  110 , bus  108 , or bus  104 . Controller unit  144  can program the state of switches  116  through  118  also via switch control interface  147  to enable connection of  131  to one of four possible destinations including  50 -ohm termination load  111 , bus  109 , bus  107 , or bus  103 . Switch  132  controlled by controller  144  via switch control interface  147  is used to enable power  133  to be connected to energize signal booster  129 . Controller  144  also communicates with signal booster  129  via control connection  145  to retrieve status information from  129  or to transmit commands to  129 . Connection  145  may be any type of cabling or wiring such as discrete wires, Ethernet connections, other serial or parallel protocol connection such as RS-232 or USB, or may represent a wireless network connection using protocols such as WiFi or Bluetooth. Controller  144  may be implemented using a microcontroller such as Texas Instruments MSP430 series microcontrollers assembled on a printed circuit module including buffer circuits to provide the control connections  147  to the aforementioned switches. 
         [0025]    The uplink or donor antenna port  134  and downlink or indoor antenna system port  135  is connected to an array of switches  119  through  122 . Controller unit  144  can program the state of switches  119  and  120  via switch control interface  147  to enable connection of  134  to one of three possible destinations including bus  110 , bus  106 , or bus  102 . Controller unit  144  can program the state of switches  121  and  122  also via switch control interface  147  to enable connection of  135  to one of three possible destinations including bus  108 , bus  105 , or bus  101 . Port  134  is connected via conductor  137  to the donor uplink antenna (not shown). Port  135  is connected via conductor  138  to the indoor antenna system. Conductors  137  and  138  are typically low loss coaxial cable such as the type known as RG8/U. Alternatively, conductors  137  and  138  may be detached from ports  134  and  135  respectively and a jumper conductor  136  may be placed to connect or loop port  134  to port  135 . 
         [0026]    RF test unit  141  may be any type of RF test system such as Anritsu model LMR Master S412D supplied by Anritsu Company of Morgan Hill, Calif., or Bird Electronics model SH-362S supplied by Bird Technologies Group of Solon, Ohio. The RF test unit in the most general case has two connection ports, analyzer port  142  and generator port  143 . Ports  142  and  143  are routed through an array of coaxial switches  123  through  128 . Controller unit  144  can program the state of switches  123  through  125  via switch control interface  147  to enable connection of  142  to one of four possible destinations including bus  108 , bus  107 , bus  106 , or bus  105 . Controller unit  144  can program the state of switches  126  through  128  also via switch control interface  147  to enable connection of  143  to one of four possible destinations including port  104 , bus  103 , bus  102 , or bus  101 . Switch  139  controlled by controller  144  via switch control interface  147  is used to enable power  140  to be connected to energize RF test unit  141 . Controller  144  also communicates with RF test unit  141  via control connection  146  to retrieve status information from  141  or to transmit commands to  141 . Connection  146  may be any type of cabling or wiring such as discrete wires, Ethernet connections, other serial or parallel protocol connection such as RS-232 or USB, or may represent a wireless network connection using protocols such as WiFi or Bluetooth. 
         [0027]    The overall interconnection of signal booster ports  130 ,  131 , antenna ports  134 ,  135 , and RF test unit ports  142 ,  143  can be selected by controller  144  programming all of switches  113  through  126  via switch control interface  147 . As mentioned earlier, the power state of signal booster  129  may be controlled by  144  via  147  and switch  132 . Likewise, the power state of RF test unit  141  may be controlled by  144  via  147  and switch  139 . Switches  137  and  139  may be a standard (not coaxial type) SPST type switch such as a relay or solid state device such as a field effect transistor (FET) device properly sized to switch the voltage and current necessary for the signal booster and RF test unit respectively. When power-enabled, the operative state of signal booster  129  may be configured by controller  144  via control interface connection  145 . Likewise, when power-enabled, the operative state of RF test unit  141  may be configured by controller  144  via control interface connection  146 . Selectively programming the foregoing states including the states of switches  113  through  126 , switches  132  and  139 , configuration of signal booster  129  and RF test unit  141 , selects one of many operating states. Once the operating state is selectively programmed, information regarding the status of signal booster  129  may be retrieved via control connection  145  and information regarding the status of RF test unit  141  may be retrieved via control connection  146  by controller  144 . The combination of a selectively programmed state in conjunction with the corresponding status information is a measurement. Many measurements are possible. 
         [0028]    The type of information available from the signal booster  129  to controller  144  via connection  145  may include uplink or downlink power levels, uplink or downlink gain settings including manual and automatic gain contributions, RF filter settings, various fault conditions, and other status information. Likewise the controller may control or program the operation of the signal booster via the same connection  145  including setting of uplink or downlink gains or transmit powers, as well as RF filter settings and other control settings. 
         [0029]    The type of information and control exchanged by controller  144  with RF test unit  141  via connection  146  may include power, signal level, and frequency measurements as well as power, signal level, and frequency settings. 
         [0030]      FIG. 2  shows by way of example several selective programming regimes for switches S 1  through S 18  where the following correspondence is understood: S 1 - 113 , S 2 - 114 , . . . , S 16 - 128 , S 17 - 132 , S 18 - 139 . For SPDT switches S 1  through S 16 , setting A represents connection via terminal A, setting B represents connection switched to terminal B, and “-” represents that the setting is immaterial and could be either A or B without differential effect. 
         [0031]    Section 6 of the NPSTC report entitled “Best Practices for In-Building Communications” describes “Engineering an In-Building System” including various test procedures. It is one object of this invention to implement an automated version of the battery of tests described in section 6. 
         [0032]    It is a particular object of the instant invention to enable configurations corresponding to the testing or operating various functions shown in  FIG. 2 , including: 
       Table 1: 
       [0000]    
       
         1. Normal Operation 
         2. Test Uplink Antenna 
         3. Test Downlink Antenna 
         4. Test Isolation Uplink to Downlink 
         5. Test Isolation Downlink to Uplink 
         6. Test Uplink Amplifier 
         7. Test Downlink Amplifier 
       
     
         [0040]    Calibration of RF test unit  144  may be accomplished by connecting a calibration short circuit device, calibration open circuit device, or calibration load device in place of antenna connection  135  and or in place of antenna connection  134  and programming switch configuration as case 2, 3, 4, or 5 from table 1 above. 
         [0041]    A cable  136  may be connected in place of connections  134  and  135  allowing RF test unit ports  142  and  143  to be connected together whenever switch configuration  4  or  5  from table 1 is selected. 
         [0042]    Once the switch configuration is selected and programmed, controller  144  can draw on any of the operating modes of signal booster  129  in any combination with any of the operating modes of RF test unit  141  to implement any test or operating mode thereby enabled. 
         [0043]    The number of switches and the way those switches are interconnected may be varied in many ways and it is the intent of the invention that any useful pattern of switches and interconnections of switches be included as part of this invention. 
         [0044]    It is also the object of this invention to include any kind of amplifier or signal equipment at  129 , any type of test unit at  141 , and any type of antennas such as dipole, Yagi, patch, or other antennas or loads at ports  134  and  135 . A typical Yagi antenna is one manufactured by Larsen of Vancouver, Wash., model YA5800W. An omnidirectional antenna useful for the indoor antenna is one such as Laird Technologies model S8060B. 
         [0045]    The invention described herein has been set forth by way of example only. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that changes may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the text and figures of this disclosure.