Reverse powered wireless distribution point

Abstract

The example describes a method of operating a distribution point unit (DPU) with a wireless backhaul connection such as a 4G or 5G connection. The distribution point unit is back powered by the connected user line. The radio configuration (number of antennas, frequency, etc.) used by the wireless backhaul connection is switched based on the available power from the user line. Changes in available power can trigger a switch to a new radio configuration. If sufficient power is available, a switch to a higher power radio configuration can be made, which can achieve higher capacity (data rate). Similarly, when available power decreases, a switch to an appropriate low power radio configuration can be made.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a reverse powered wireless distribution point. Background Art

[0002] The provision of high-speed fixed broadband services such as VDSL2 and G.fast depends on minimizing the length of the copper wire pairs between the broadband customer premises equipment (CPE) and the distribution point unit (DPU), where the copper wire pairs terminate. The DPU is typically connected to the telephone exchange using fiber optic cables. As the length of the copper wires decreases, line speeds increase, so there is an incentive to locate the DPU closer to the customer, moving the DPU from a cabinet to, for example, a pole or even to an exterior wall of the customer's premises. However, installing new fiber to these locations is expensive and time consuming for network operators or infrastructure providers.

[0003] Reverse Power Feed (RPF) is a standardized technology (see ETSI TS 101548) that allows power to be sent from the CPE to the DPU in order to power the DPU. This simplifies deployment by removing the power dependency of the DPU. Nevertheless, optical fiber still needs to be installed from the switch to the DPU. Summary of the invention

[0004] An object of examples of the present invention is to provide a method of operating a distribution point with a high capacity wireless backhaul.

[0005] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operating a distribution point unit having a wireless backhaul connection and one or more wire access connections to corresponding customer premises equipment, the distribution point unit being powered by the one or more wire access connections, the method comprising the steps of:

[0006] determining available power accessible from the one or more electrical lines connected to a distribution point; and

[0007] Based on the determined available power, the wireless backhaul connection is switched from a first wireless configuration to a second wireless configuration, wherein the first wireless configuration and the second wireless configuration have different power utilizations.

[0008] The second wireless configuration may have a power utilization no greater than the available power. The second wireless configuration may have a higher power utilization than the first wireless configuration. The second wireless configuration may have a lower power utilization than the first wireless configuration.

[0009] The first wireless configuration and the second wireless configuration may have different data rates.

[0010] The distribution point unit may also include a wired backhaul connection, and the power available for the wireless backhaul connection may be reduced by the power required for the wired backhaul connection.

[0011] According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a distribution point unit having a wireless backhaul connection and one or more wire access connections to respective customer premises equipment, the distribution point unit being powered by the one or more wire access connections, and the distribution point unit being adapted to:

[0012] determining available power accessible from the one or more electrical lines connected to a distribution point; and

[0013] Based on the determined available power, the wireless backhaul connection is switched from a first wireless configuration to a second wireless configuration, wherein the first wireless configuration and the second wireless configuration have different power utilizations.

[0014] Examples of the present invention provide traditional fixed copper line broadband services (DSL, VDSL, G.fast, etc.) using fixed network distribution points, but the fixed network distribution points use high capacity cellular radio technology for backhaul to the core network. The backhaul capacity is scaled by scaling the radio transceiver capacity with the available power available from the reverse powered subscriber lines.

[0015] This solution can lead to more rapid deployment of faster fixed broadband services that might otherwise be limited by fixed backhaul circuits (e.g., the length of copper wire to the exchange or the economic expense of laying new fiber to the distribution point units). Utilizing reverse powering techniques from subscriber lines is particularly advantageous because no new power infrastructure is required to power the distribution point units, and no new fiber or expensive upgrades are required to increase broadband speeds delivered to end users. Fiber backhaul can be installed later to replace wireless backhaul as needed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to better understand the present invention, it will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0017] Figure 1 is a system diagram showing a DSL network having a plurality of customer premises connected to a distribution point unit in an example of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the major components of a distribution point unit of an example of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 3 is a flow chart summarizing the steps of an example of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 4is a table showing various radio transceiver configurations and their associated capacities and power requirements. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The present invention is described herein with reference to specific examples. However, the present invention is not limited to such examples.

[0022] An example of the present invention presents a method of operating a distribution point unit (DPU) with a wireless backhaul connection such as a 4G or 5G connection. The distribution point unit is reverse powered by the connected user line. The radio configuration (number of antennas, frequency, etc.) used by the wireless backhaul connection is switched based on the available power from the user line. Changes in available power can trigger a switch to a new radio configuration. If the available power is sufficient, a higher power radio configuration can be switched to, which can achieve higher capacity (data rate). Similarly, when the available power decreases, an appropriate low power radio configuration can be switched to.

[0023] Figure 1 A telecommunications network 100 including three customer premises 102a, 102b, and 102c is illustrated. Each of the customer premises 102a, 102b, and 102c is connected to a distribution point unit (DPU) 108 via a corresponding telephone line 104a, 104b, and 104c. Each circuit line in the telephone line is a copper twisted pair or an aluminum twisted pair. Specifically, a customer premises device 106a, 106b, or 106c is connected to the end of each of the lines at the customer premises end.

[0024] In this example, the DPU 108 is located on a utility pole, but may be located elsewhere, such as underground or in a street cabinet. The DPU 108 includes a wireless radio transceiver that provides a wireless backhaul connection to the telephone switch 112, for example, via 4G, 5G, or a combination of both. Note that for optimal placement, the physical antenna may be located separately from the DPU and connected to the DPU via an appropriate connection, such as a coaxial cable. The DPU 108 is reverse powered by one or more connection lines that are powered by their corresponding CPE. Similarly, the modem 212 and transceiver may be located separately from the rest of the DPU and connected via an appropriate Ethernet connection.

[0025] Telephone switch 112 includes a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) (not shown). The DSLAM provides digital subscriber line (DSL) services such as VDSL or G.fast to the connection lines and associated customer premises.

[0026] Figure 2The main components of the DPU 108 in the example of the present invention are shown. The DPU 108 includes: a DSL subscriber port 202, a power management module 204, a processor 206, a memory 208, an uplink interface 210, a cellular radio modem 212, and a plurality of radio transceivers 214, 216 and 218.

[0027] The DSL subscriber port 202 is the interface where the physical layer and lower protocol layer logical connection from the customer premises, which is typically a telephone twisted pair, is first aggregated.

[0028] The power management module 204 can determine the power requirements from all components of the solution and can monitor the available power delivered by the connected CPEs. The minimum operating power required for each port can be determined and the remaining power budget that can be provided to other circuits or components can be derived.

[0029] Processor 206 performs operational processing from all components and performs calculations to determine an optimal radio configuration based on information provided by power management module 204 .

[0030] Memory 208 stores persistent operating system / code and configuration files required by all components and is accessed by processor 206 .

[0031] The uplink interface 210 is where a fiber or copper connection is typically established for the backhaul to the core network. In an example of the present invention, the uplink interface 210 is routed to a cellular radio modem 212 (or shared with the cellular radio modem) for forwarding user traffic to the network via a wireless backhaul connection. The cellular radio modem 212 and associated radio transceivers 214, 216, and 218 (respectively) are responsible for processing the radio protocols and physical radio modulation necessary to establish a wireless radio connection to a larger area cellular base station site (e.g., switch 112) to connect back to the core network. The modem 212 can control multiple transceivers and their configuration for optimal use with a specific technology or radio frequency, as will be described in the following examples.

[0032] Figure 3 is a flow chart 300 outlining the steps for operating the DPU 108 .

[0033] Processing begins at step 302 .

[0034] In step 304, the power management module 204 determines the initial available power from the connecting lines 104a, 104b, and 104c. However, some customers may turn off their unused CPEs, or the CPEs may be turned off for some other reason. Power will only be available from the connecting lines for reverse powering, where the associated CPE is actually online (powered on). The ETSI specification (TS 101548) describes a protocol for signaling line resistivity at startup, which depends on the length and quality of the copper wire. The class verification function provides mutual identification of the DPU and CPE, giving a signature classification represented by a specific current level. The CPE can then output up to this maximum current level at an output voltage of up to 60V. The DPU 108 can draw as much power as needed, up to the maximum value that each line can support given by the output voltage and maximum current (for example, for this line, 60V DC and 250mA result in 15VA~=15W of supported power).

[0035] However, not all the supported power from each CPE is available for use by the DPU. Each of the user ports 202 connected to the active (online) user lines will draw power during operation. Therefore, the initial available power is equal to the sum of the power supported by each line (i.e., online) minus the power required to operate the online user ports.

[0036] In step 306, an initial radio configuration is selected based on the initial available power.

[0037] Figure 4 A table 400 is shown of examples of different radio transceiver configurations 402 supported by the DPU 108, and specifically by the radio transceivers 214, 216, and 218. The DPU 108 may select and use any of these configurations, with each configuration 402 having an associated peak capacity (bandwidth) 404 and operating power requirement 406. They range from a simple 4G single-band configuration with a 150Mbps peak capacity and 3W power requirement to more complex configurations (such as those consisting of a combination of 5G mmWave, 5G multi-band, and 4G multi-band) with well over 1Gbps peak capacity and 33W power requirement. Figure 2 , each radio configuration may involve using one or more of the radio transceivers 214, 216, and 218. Thus, switching between radio configurations may involve turning one or more of the transceivers on / off, or extending the operating bandwidth or frequency specified for a transceiver.

[0038] The selected initial wireless configuration needs to have a power requirement that is less than or equal to the initial available power. Therefore, if we take the initial available power on all connected xDSL ports to be 25W, the wireless configuration selected from the wireless configurations shown in Table 400 will be the 5G mmWave and 5G multi-band configurations, which have a power requirement of 20W and a peak capacity of 1Gbps. Although the initial available power can also support a lower power configuration, the configuration with the highest capacity is usually selected in the examples of the present invention.

[0039] Once the startup process is complete, whereby the DPU determines the detection, classification, and available power of the connected CPE, the DPU processor 206 reads the initial available power calculation available to the wireless modem 212 from the power management module 204. Based on this information, the processor 206 determines the best wireless transceiver configuration that can be supported. The processor 206 then writes the appropriate modem configuration file to the memory 208 and initiates the modem startup process. Here, the modem 212 is powered by the power management module 204 and proceeds to read in the modem's configuration file from the memory 208 to determine which radio configuration to use. This includes deciding which transceivers 214, 216, 218 and the associated radio technologies, frequencies, and bandwidths it should scan, and announce to the base station (e.g., at the switch 112) in the subsequent connection establishment.

[0040] Once the DPU 108 has the initial radio configuration selected and operational, there is then a continuous monitoring phase where the reverse available power from the line is determined in step 308 in the same manner as earlier in step 304. If there is no change in available power (step 310), then processing continues to determine available power in step 308 until there is a change in available power. Once there is a change in available power in step 310, processing moves to step 312.

[0041] At step 312, a check is made to determine if the available power (from step 308) is sufficient to support the current radio configuration. Sometimes it may be the case that the available power may have dropped since the DPU 108 was powered on and the initial radio configuration was selected, such that the available power may no longer be sufficient to support the initial radio configuration. This may occur if one or more of the CPEs are turned off after power-up, thereby depriving the DPU of some reverse power.

[0042] If there is no longer enough power available to support the current radio configuration, processing moves to step 314 .

[0043] In step 314, a new radio configuration based on the available power is determined. This is done by finding the highest capacity radio configuration with a power requirement less than or equal to the available power, as in step 306. The configuration details are written to an updated configuration file and stored in memory 208.

[0044] In step 316 , a switch is made to the new radio configuration before processing transfers back to the monitoring phase started in step 308 .

[0045] Switching to a new radio configuration involves the cellular radio modem 212 releasing the connection to the cellular base station to which it is connected and restarting its connection establishment process using the updated configuration file. In practice, the DPU 108 may also include a battery backup, which can maintain sufficient power to support any given radio configuration for a period of time after the available power drops and before the switch to the new radio configuration is completed. This provides a more graceful switch to the new radio configuration. In the absence of similar battery backup, the DPU 108 would be forced to immediately shut down one or more of the radio transceivers to reduce power consumption. In this case, some traffic will be temporarily lost until the upper layer protocol stabilizes the connection over the remaining available resources.

[0046] However, if it is determined in step 312 that the available power is sufficient to support the current radio configuration, then processing moves to step 318 .

[0047] In step 318, a check is made to determine if there is a higher rate (compared to the current rate) radio configuration that can be supported by the available power. This may occur if the available power increases, for example if a previously offline CPE comes back online, providing additional reverse power.

[0048] If a higher rate can be supported, processing passes to step 314 which determines which higher rate radio configuration can be supported before switching in step 316. These steps are as described earlier above. Processing then passes back to the monitoring phase of step 308.

[0049] To illustrate, if the available power changes from 25W to 35W, there is enough power to support the highest rate radio configurations of 5G mmWave, 5G multi-band, and 4G multi-band, which have peak capacities of over 1 Gbps.

[0050] In step 318 , if it is determined that the higher rate cannot be supported, then processing returns to continuous monitoring beginning in step 308 .

[0051] In another example of the present invention, the backhaul connection is provided by a hybrid wired and wireless backhaul connection. The wired connection can be, for example, fiber or copper, as in a typical ADSL or VDSL / G.fast arrangement. However, as described above, a wireless backhaul is also provided. The wireless backhaul can be used for load sharing or as a failover option if the wired backhaul connection fails.

[0052] In such a hybrid arrangement, the available power from the reverse powering will need to be shared between the wired backhaul connection and the wireless backhaul connection. Therefore, before the wireless radio configuration can be determined (in step 314), instead, the available power of the wireless radio configuration is reduced by the power required by the wired connection.

[0053] The exemplary embodiments of the present invention are implemented at least in part by executable computer program codes that can be embodied in application data. When such computer program codes are loaded into the memory 208 of the DPU 108, they provide a computer program code structure capable of executing at least a portion of the method according to the above exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

[0054] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the computer program structure referred to may correspond to Figure 3 The flowchart shown, wherein each step of the flowchart may correspond to at least one line of computer program code, and thus combined with the processor 206 in the DPU 108 to provide a device for implementing the process.

[0055] Generally, it should be noted herein that although examples of the present invention are described above, there are many variations and modifications that can be made to the above examples without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims. Those skilled in the art will recognize modifications to the described examples.

Claims

1. A method of operating a distribution point unit having a wireless backhaul connection and one or more telephone lines to corresponding customer premises equipment, the distribution point unit being powered by the one or more telephone lines, the method comprising: determining available power from the one or more telephone lines to the distribution point; as well as Based on the determined available power, the wireless backhaul connection is switched from a first radio configuration to a second radio configuration, wherein the first radio configuration and the second radio configuration have different power utilizations.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The second radio configuration has a power utilization no greater than the determined available power.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The second radio configuration has a higher power utilization than the first radio configuration.

4. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The second radio configuration has lower power utilization than the first radio configuration.

5. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first radio configuration and the second radio configuration have different data rates.

6. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The distribution point unit also includes a wired backhaul connection, and the determined power available for the wireless backhaul connection is reduced by a power required by the wired backhaul connection.

7. A distribution point unit having a wireless backhaul connection and one or more telephone lines to respective customer premises equipment, the distribution point unit being powered by the one or more telephone lines, and the distribution point unit being adapted to: determining available power from the one or more telephone lines to the distribution point; and Based on the determined available power, the wireless backhaul connection is switched from a first radio configuration to a second radio configuration, wherein: The first radio configuration and the second radio configuration have different power utilizations.

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