Patent ID: 7603093

Claim:
A system to monitor gain in a broadband radio frequency transport system, the system comprising: at least one radio frequency antenna that receives a radio frequency signal; at least one remote unit, each remote unit communicable with a respective one of the radio frequency antennae, each remote unit comprising, a pilot tone generator adapted to generate at least one single-frequency tone having a known power level, a summing circuit operably associated with the pilot tone generator adapted to sum the at least one single-frequency tone with the respective received radio frequency signal, at least one amplifier in communication with the summing circuit, wherein the at least one amplifier amplifies the summed signal, sends the signal to a remote pilot tone receiver, and transmits the signal over a respective transmission link; the remote pilot tone receiver adapted to detect the at least one single-frequency tone in the signal; a controller communicatively coupled with the remote pilot tone receiver to determine a gain within the remote unit based on the detected single-frequency tone; and at least one host unit adapted to receive the signal transmitted over the transmission link from a respective one of the remote units, each host unit comprising: a host pilot tone generator adapted to generate at least one single-frequency tone having a known power level, wherein the at least one single-frequency tone generated at the host pilot tone generator is distinguished, by frequency or timing, from the at least one single-frequency tone generated at the pilot tone generator in the remote unit; a signal summing circuit operably associated with the host pilot tone generator adapted to add the at least one single-frequency tone from the host pilot tone generator to the received signal; a pilot tone receiver circuit adapted to receive the transmitted signal and the at least one single-frequency tone from the host pilot tone generator, adapted to detect the at least one single-frequency tone transmitted over the transmission link from the received signal, and adapted to detect the at least one single-frequency tone from the host pilot tone generator; and a controller adapted to determine a gain within the transmission links, adapted to determine a gain within the host unit based on the detection of the single-frequency tone from the host pilot tone generator, and adapted to determine if the gains are each in a preset range of gains based on the power level of the received pilot tones.