Adaptable MIMO configuration based on wired parameters in wireless-wired physical convergence architecture

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, devices and methods for improving performance and range of wireless-wired communication systems. In some examples, the architecture configures a MIMO antenna array at a distributed transceiver based on one or more parameters of a wired section coupled to the distributed transceiver. In various embodiments, the MIMO antenna array is configured based on bandwidth characteristics of the wired segments such that system performance of the wireless-wired system is improved based on coordination of bandwidth parameters of each of the wireless segments and the wired segments.

Description

[0001] Cross - reference to related patent applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of priority of the following: non - provisional patent application No. 17 / 952,559 [Docket No. 20182 - 2566US] filed on September 26, 2022, entitled "ADAPTABLE MIMO CONFIGURATIONS BASED ON WIRELINE PARAMETERS IN WIRELESS - WIRELINE PHYSICALLY CONVERGED ARCHITECTURES" and listing Akula Aneesh Reddy, Jisung Oh, and Vinay Joseph as inventors. The above - mentioned patent document is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present invention generally relates to telecommunication systems and, more particularly, to wireless and wireline communication architectures that improve the performance of converged architectures by adjusting antenna array configurations for a wireless segment at least in part based on characteristics of an associated wireline segment. Background Art

[0004] Those skilled in the art will appreciate the importance of wireless communication systems (including LTE, 5G, and Wi - Fi architectures) and the complexity involved in building and maintaining these systems worldwide. As the complexity of these systems increases and resources available for them are allocated across higher and higher spectrums, the management of wireless channels becomes more challenging. For example, a cellular base station must manage a large number of channels for communicating with UE (user equipment) devices within its cell, while the characteristics of these channels are constantly changing. The term "base station" may or may not include a cellular tower. In densely populated cities, such channel management becomes even more challenging, where wireless signals must pass through various physical barriers to reach a UE, such as a mobile phone. Such channel quality and range issues are particularly problematic when the channel frequency increases and is more sensitive to interference, noise, and changing channel attributes.

[0005] Cellular subscriber lines (hereinafter referred to as "CSL") employ a novel concept of using existing wireline infrastructure (e.g., telephone lines, fiber optic cables, Ethernet cables, coaxial cables) in combination with wireless infrastructure to rapidly, inexpensively, and securely extend the coverage of wireless signals.

[0006] The architecture of a cloud-based CSL intermediate frequency (hereinafter referred to as "CSL-IF") and CSL radio frequency (hereinafter referred to as "CSL-RF") network implements units at each end of a wired connection: The CSL-IF unit performs IF modulation on a wireless baseband signal and sends the modulated signal to the CSL-RF unit at the other end of the line. The CSL-RF unit upconverts the signal for wireless transmission to nearby client devices such as IoT devices and smart phones. The CSL-IF unit is interfaced with a baseband unit (hereinafter referred to as "BBU") located at a cellular tower or the central office of a CSP. The CSL-IF unit outputs (downlink) a baseband digital stream generated from the BBU and converts the baseband digital stream into a specific O-RAN split signal for BBU input (uplink).

[0007] The wired medium or cable connecting the CSL-IF and CSL-RF units affects the performance of CSL. The cable is used to send the IF-modulated baseband signal to the CSL-RF and the CSL-IF sends the received downlink samples after downconverting the received downlink samples from the radio frequency range to the intermediate frequency. The CSL-RF can implement beamforming techniques to focus the wireless signal towards the receiving UE. This beamforming results in reduced interference within the cell (i.e., the CSL-RF service area) and improves the power characteristics by focusing the transmission power towards the UE. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the transmission characteristics of the wired and wireless segments of the CSL architecture can vary meaningfully.

[0008] Within this CSL architecture, managing bandwidth usage across various segments is an issue. When a signal propagates through a wireless-wired connection, interference and signal degradation occur within both the wired and wireless transmissions and can affect various performance parameters including segment bandwidth. Thus, the performance of one segment may adversely affect the performance of another segment within the architecture and may degrade the performance of the entire system.

[0009] Therefore, systems, devices, and methods are needed to address the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0010] The embodiments disclosed herein are systems, devices, and methods that can be used to achieve the optimal performance of a CSL architecture by jointly managing a wired section and a wireless section, thereby providing improved performance (e.g., bandwidth, data rate, quality of service, etc.) over a wireless-wired connection. In certain embodiments, the bandwidth characteristics of the wired section are derived and / or measured, and subsequently the bandwidth characteristics of the wired section are used to adapt the configurable MIMO settings at a CSL-RF unit. For example, the wired bandwidth can be used to at least partially define MIMO parameters to better align the wired bandwidth with the wireless bandwidth used by the CSL-RF unit in downlink transmissions to a UE. This coordination between the wired bandwidth and the wireless MIMO parameters (which correspond to the wireless bandwidth) results in improved performance across the wireless-wired connection within the CSL architecture.

[0011] In certain embodiments, the wired bandwidth is used to determine whether the antenna array at the corresponding CSL-RF unit is operating in a MIMO or SISO setting. If the wired bandwidth can support the optimal operation of MIMO wireless downlink transmissions at the CSL-RF, control information is sent to the CSL-RF to effectively enable MIMO operation. In additional embodiments, the configurable MIMO settings can be further enhanced to operate at one or more layers that the wired bandwidth can support. Adjustments to the MIMO parameters can be performed at initialization, intermittently during operation, in response to a bandwidth change within the wired section, or in real time.

[0012] Communications related to the MIMO configurable parameters between a base station, BBU, CSL-IF, and CSL-RF can be provided via the system control plane and / or embedded within control signals. It is important to note that, in the context of the various embodiments of the present invention, the term "base station" includes both base station installations that include a cellular tower and base station installations that do not include a cellular tower.

[0013] In this document, the disclosure is presented in the context of applications using a Cellular Subscriber Line (CSL), but is not limited to applications using a Cellular Subscriber Line (CSL). Concepts related to CSL are described in "Wireless-wireline physically converged architectures", U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021 / 0099277A1, and "Wireless-wireline physically converged architectures" by J.M. Cioffi et al. (WIPO Patent Publication No. WO2021 / 062311), both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. CSL systems use existing wired infrastructure (such as telephone lines, fiber optic cables, Ethernet cables, coaxial cables, etc.) in combination with wireless infrastructure to quickly, inexpensively, and securely extend the coverage of wireless signals. CSL systems can include hardware and / or software components for transmitting and / or processing signals at various frequencies, including RF and IF.

[0014] Certain features and advantages of the present invention have generally been described in the Summary section; however, additional features, advantages, and embodiments are presented herein, or will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the accompanying drawings, description, and claims herein. Accordingly, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention should not be limited by the specific embodiments disclosed in this Summary section. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Embodiments of the present invention will be referred to, examples of which may be illustrated in the drawings. These drawings are intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Although the present invention is generally described in the context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to these specific embodiments.

[0016] Fig. 1 shows a CSL cloud-based architecture according to various embodiments of the present invention, which includes CSL-IF and CSL-RF units coupled to each other via a wired cable (e.g., twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.).

[0017] Figure 2 is an exemplary graph comparing the attenuation of 10-meter, 100-meter, and 400-meter CAT5e and coaxial cables.

[0018] Figure 3 shows an example of the downlink throughput of the CSL portion of a system using a CAT5e cable with a 5G bandwidth of 20 MHz ( Figure 3 ).

[0019] Figure 4Shows an example of the downlink throughput of the CSL section of a system using a CAT5e cable with a 5G bandwidth of 100 MHz according to various embodiments of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 5 Shows an additional example of the downlink throughput of the CSL section of a system using a coaxial cable with a relevant signal bandwidth of 20 MHz according to various embodiments of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 6 Shows a further example of the downlink throughput of the CSL section of a system using a coaxial cable with a 5G relevant signal bandwidth of 100 MHz according to various embodiments of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 7 Shows an example of how the MIMO configuration of the wireless part of a network can be adapted at least in part based on wired parameters or characteristics according to various embodiments of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 8 Shows an example according to various embodiments of the present invention in which a single CSL-IF unit is coupled to four CSL-RF units.

[0024] Figure 9 Shows an exemplary CSL-IF unit according to various embodiments of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 10 Shows an exemplary CSL-IF unit and CSL-RF unit according to various embodiments of the present invention. Detailed Description

[0026] Embodiments of the present invention provide systems, devices, and methods for configuring MIMO parameters of multi-antenna radio transmitters within wireless and wired architectures. In certain examples, the architecture utilizes pre-existing wired connectivity within a building to allow signals to pass through physical barriers (such as walls) on the wired section while using the wireless part of the channel to transmit signals both outside and inside the building. The characteristics of the wired section will affect the way the signals propagate, including bandwidth and attenuation constraints. The determination of the multi-antenna radio transmitter located at the end of the wired section can be configured or adjusted based on the wired attributes and / or wireless attributes within the wireless-wired architecture. An appropriate MIMO configuration results in improved bandwidth utilization of the architecture and the overall performance of channel transmission within the architecture.

[0027] In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide an understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these details. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that embodiments of the present invention (some of which will be described below) may be incorporated into a variety of different electrical components, circuits, devices, and systems. Embodiments of the present invention may operate in a variety of different environments where channel sensitivity and range are adversely affected by physical barriers within the signal path. Additionally, the connections between components in the figures are not limited to direct connections. Instead, the connections between these components may be modified, reformatted, or otherwise changed by intermediate components.

[0028] References in the specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that a particular feature, structure, characteristic, or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. The appearances of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

[0029] Figure 1 A CSL cloud-based architecture in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention is shown, which includes CSL-IF and CSL-RF units coupled to each other via a wired cable (e.g., twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.). The CSL-IF unit 130, which may be considered an intermediate transceiver, is interfaced with a baseband unit ("BBU") 120 (or more generally, a base station) 110, such as located at a cellular tower or a central office of a cellular service provider ("CSP"). For the purposes of this application, the term "BBU" should be interpreted to cover a base station, a central office, a baseband unit, or any other component operable within a cellular tower or a cellular tower system. In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, the connection between the BBU 120 and the CSL-IF unit 130 may be a wired connection.

[0030] The CSL-IF unit 130 receives a baseband digital stream from the BBU output (downlink direction), and converts the baseband digital stream into a specific O-RAN split signal for BBU input (uplink direction). As previously mentioned, these O-RAN signals can be transmitted via a cable or a wireless channel. In the downlink direction, the CSL-IF unit 130 modulates the wireless baseband signal into an intermediate frequency (IF) signal, and sends the IF modulated signal to the CSL-RF unit 160 at the other end of the wired cable 150 through the wired cable 150. The CSL-RF unit 160, which can be considered a distributed transceiver in some embodiments, upconverts the received signal into an RF signal, and sends the RF signal to one or more UEs (e.g., IoT devices, smart phones, etc.). Similarly, in the uplink direction, the CSL-RF unit 160 receives RF signals from the UEs, downconverts these signals to IF, and sends the IF modulated signal to the CSL-IF unit 130 through the wired cable 150.

[0031] The wired cable 150 that couples the CSL-IF 130 and the CSL-RF unit 160 allows the CSL-IF 130 to send an IF modulated baseband signal to the CSL-RF unit 160. The CSL-IF unit 130 receives the uplink samples that have been downconverted from the radio frequency range to the intermediate frequency by the CSL-RF unit 160 from the CSL-RF unit 160. The wired cable 150 has an impact on the performance of the CSL system. For example, wired communication (through a cable) may be significantly affected by cable attenuation and other types of signal degradation, which may be a function of cable length and frequency.

[0032] In some embodiments, the CSL radio-wired architecture can be managed or partially managed by a cloud-based system or server 140. For example, the IF-API and RF-API provide connections to the cloud to enable remote management of system performance and integrity.

[0033] Figure 2 It is an example diagram comparing the attenuation of 10-meter, 100-meter, and 400-meter CAT5e and coaxial cables. This figure 210 shows that (1) higher frequencies experience more attenuation, (2) longer cables introduce more attenuation than shorter cables, and (3) trends (1) and (2) are affected by the cable type (e.g., CAT5e, coaxial, etc.).

[0034] When at Figure 1When using MIMO on the wireless section in the system shown, the CSL-IF unit 130 can send a downlink baseband input to the CSL-RF unit 160, which will be mapped into the transmit antenna array for subsequent transmission to one or more UEs. Similarly, the CSL-RF unit 160 can send signals received at the receive antenna array from one or more UEs to the CSL-IF unit 130. The use of the MIMO antenna array increases the bandwidth at the CSL-RF unit 160 in both the uplink and downlink directions. Therefore, compared to the single-input single-output (SISO) method, using MIMO on the wireless section translates into sending more samples (corresponding to each of multiple transmitters and multiple receivers) over the wired medium 150 during the same duration. Support for MIMO on the wireless section translates into an increased wired bandwidth required for the signals sent between the CSL-IF unit 130 and the CSL-RF unit 160. Therefore, the bandwidth across the entire wireless-wired link may be limited by the section part (wired or wireless) with lower bandwidth capabilities. In many cases, the bandwidth across the wired section 150 may become a bottleneck within the wireless-wired link. In the case of the bandwidth across the wireless section, the bandwidth depends at least in part on the MIMO configuration (e.g., the number of spatial streams used in the downlink and uplink directions). Therefore, the MIMO configuration at the CSL-RF unit 160 can be adapted relative to the bandwidth across the wired section in order to align the bandwidth across each section and improve the overall performance of the CSL system.

[0035] can be shown Figure 1 The downlink throughput performance of an example system for transmitting 5G signals using time-division duplexing (TDD) on both the wireless and wired sections. The performance may be affected by the characteristics of the wireless and wired parts of the system (such as, for example, the cable type and cable length of the wired part of the system) and the MIMO configuration and Doppler spread of the wireless part of the system. To illustrate these performance characteristics, several frames (each frame with a 10 ms duration) transmitted on the downlink with a 30 kHz subcarrier spacing (numerology 1) are provided below.

[0036] Analyze the TDL-A wireless channel using a bandwidth of 20 MHz or 100 MHz, a delay spread of 35 ns, and Doppler spread values of 5 Hz or 15 Hz. The throughput in each case is evaluated as the maximum throughput achieved using the 28 modulation and coding schemes (MCS) listed in Table 5.1.3.1-2 for PDSCH in 3GPP specification TS38.214 v.15.3.0 (2018). The following three MIMO setups are considered: (a) 1 layer, 1 transmitter and 1 receiver (1x1); (b) 1 layer, 2 transmitters and 2 receivers (2x2); and (c) 2 layers, 2 transmitters and 2 receivers (2x2).

[0037] For the wired part of the transmission, assume a transmit power of 10 dBm and a noise power spectral density of -130 dBm / Hz, as well as the cable attenuation model described above in Figure 2 the discussion. Those skilled in the art will recognize that these exemplary analyses are for illustrative purposes and should not limit the scope of the claimed invention.

[0038] Figure 3 and Figure 4 show an example of the downlink throughput of the CSL part of a system using a CAT5e cable. Figure 3 Curve 310 in Figure 4 shows the downlink throughput of a CAT5e cable with a 5G-related signal bandwidth of 20 MHz.

[0039] Figure 5 and Figure 6 show other examples of the downlink throughput of the CSL part of a system using a coaxial cable. Figure 5 Curve 510 in Figure 6 shows the downlink throughput of a coaxial cable with a 5G-related signal bandwidth of 20 MHz. Curve 610 in

[0040] When Figure 1 the wireless part of the example system uses an MIMO configuration, the throughput on the fading wireless channel is typically higher than that of a comparable SISO configuration because MIMO can provide spatial diversity gain and / or spatial multiplexing gain. Figures 3 - 6The wired throughput simulation results shown and discussed above indicate that the bandwidth across the wired section 130 can decay relative to certain parameters and create a bandwidth mismatch between the relatively high wireless section and the relatively low wired section. Such a bandwidth mismatch can lead to a performance degradation on the wireless-wired link. Figures 3 - 6 The simulation results also indicate that the gain or loss (e.g., performance improvement or degradation) using MIMO may be constrained due to bandwidth bottlenecks across the wired section caused by cable type, cable length, bandwidth used, portion of the spectrum used, etc. In other words, whether using MIMO on the wireless channel results in an overall performance improvement or degradation depends not only on the wireless section but also on the wired section. This counterintuitive result means that new methods are desired to determine how to use MIMO on the wireless-wired link. Such methods are disclosed in this specification.

[0041] Those skilled in the art will recognize that Figures 3 - 6 the results shown indicate that if MIMO is used with a longer wired cable, the performance of the system is worse than that of using a SISO configuration. In other words, although the MIMO configuration provides better throughput when the cable used in the wired part of the system is short, there are some cable lengths at which the throughput provided by the MIMO configuration drops below the throughput provided by the SISO configuration.

[0042] Figure 4 shows that for a CSL cable length of 10 meters, a 2×2 MIMO (2-layer) configuration provides almost 1.8 times the throughput relative to a 1x1 SISO configuration according to various embodiments of the present invention. However, for a wired cable length of 200 meters, the throughputs of these two configurations are comparable. For a wired cable length longer than 200 meters, the SISO configuration is superior to the MIMO configuration. For example, at a cable length of 400 meters, the SISO configuration provides more than 3 times the throughput of the MIMO configuration. Figure 3 and Figure 6 shows similar performance data for the cable length at which the performance of the MIMO configuration starts to become worse than that of the SISO configuration, and at lengths longer than the crossover length, the performance of at least one of the MIMO configurations is lower than that of the SISO configuration.

[0043] The degradation of the relative performance of MIMO configurations is attributed to the higher wired bandwidth required by MIMO and the reduction in the amount of available bandwidth on the wired segment as the cable length increases. Since a 2x2 MIMO configuration uses two antennas while a SISO configuration uses only one antenna, the 2x2 MIMO configuration uses twice the bandwidth of the SISO configuration to transmit the downlink / uplink signals corresponding to the two antennas used (instead of just the signal of the single antenna transmitted in the case of SISO). Therefore, MIMO signals experience more attenuation on the wired medium because they span a larger bandwidth.

[0044] The performance difference between MIMO and SISO depends on factors including, for example, cable length and type as well as the wireless bandwidth. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other factors can affect the bandwidth and other performance characteristics across the wired segment, all of which can be considered in various embodiments of the present invention. In some cases, there is no cable length at which MIMO is worse than SISO. For example, as Figure 5 shown, when the 5G-related signal bandwidth is 20 MHz, the MIMO configuration provides higher performance than the SISO configuration for all simulated lengths of coaxial cable.

[0045] Figures 3 - 6 The simulation results of show that, unlike a purely wireless architecture in which the system switches from a SISO configuration to a MIMO configuration to increase throughput, in a wireless-wired CSL architecture, the system may not switch to a MIMO configuration without a potential performance degradation. In such a CSL architecture, the BBU should consider the cable length of the wired segment and consider using a MIMO configuration that utilizes less wired bandwidth (e.g., provides fewer baseband streams) for longer CSL cable lengths. In some embodiments, the BBU may implement one or more rules when determining whether to switch from a SISO configuration to a MIMO configuration. For example, a 2x2 MIMO configuration can only be used when the cable length of the wired segment is less than a specified threshold length.

[0046] Figure 4 and Figure 6 The comparison of and shows that the relative performance of MIMO also depends on the type of cable used in the CSL part of the system when compared to SISO. Although the overall trends for both CAT5e and coaxial cables are the same (e.g., throughput generally decreases as cable length increases), the length at which SISO starts to outperform MIMO (referred to as the crossover cable length) can be different. For example, Figures 3 - 6It indicates that when the wireless bandwidth is 100 MHz, the cross - cable length of a CAT5e cable is less than 200 meters, but the cross - cable length of a coaxial cable is greater than 700 meters. Therefore, compared with a CAT5e cable, a MIMO configuration may be beneficial for a longer coaxial cable. Thus, in addition to considering the cable length, CSL - IF should also consider the type of cable used in the CSL part of the system when determining whether to use a SISO or MIMO configuration, and which MIMO configuration to use in the case of MIMO.

[0047] Figure 3 and Figure 4 The comparison with Figure 4 shows that when compared with SISO, the relative performance of MIMO also depends on other parameters of the bandwidth that affect the wireless channel. In particular, the figures show that for a CAT5e cable, when the wireless bandwidth is 100 MHz, the cross - cable length is less than 200 meters, while when the wireless bandwidth is 20 MHz, the cross - cable length is greater than 500 meters. The difference in the cross - cable length when the wireless bandwidth is 100 MHz compared to when it is 20 MHz is due to a much larger increase in the wired bandwidth consumption through the MIMO configuration. Therefore, the BBU should also consider the wireless channel bandwidth when determining whether to use a SISO or MIMO configuration, and in the case of MIMO, which MIMO configuration to use.

[0048] Those skilled in the art will also recognize that the spectral allocation of the bandwidth occupied by the wired signal in the cable may also affect performance. The frequency band occupied by the wired signal can vary depending on whether other technologies (such as DSL, DOCSIS, etc.) are using the cable for wired transmission. For example, if one or more other technologies have occupied the 0 - 100 MHz frequency range of the cable, the performance degradation relative to SISO due to using a MIMO configuration may be even greater because using MIMO will result in the placement of the CSL signal at even higher frequencies in the wired spectrum, which suffers even higher attenuation (see, for example Figure 2 ). As a result, the relative performance of the MIMO configuration may be worse than that indicated by Figures 3 - 6 . In another example, the cross - cable length can be shorter than that indicated in Figures 3 - 6 , and / or the throughput can be lower than the throughput shown for a specific cable length. Therefore, when determining whether to use a SISO or MIMO configuration, CSL - IF can consider the use of the wired cable by other technologies / services, and in the case of MIMO, which MIMO configuration to use.

[0049] Based on the foregoing, in a wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture, it is desirable to adapt the wireless segment MIMO configuration based on the characteristics of the wired segment in order to improve the overall performance of the aggregated wireless-wired system. The performance of the system can be measured by metrics such as throughput, SNR, quality of service, latency, etc., for example. It may be desirable to be able to achieve the adaptation without significantly affecting an existing system (e.g., a system that already uses CSL cables). The MIMO configuration can be set at initialization, intermittently during operation, in response to one or more performance parameters dropping below a threshold, or in real time.

[0050] In various embodiments, systems, devices, and methods are disclosed herein for improving the performance of a wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture by adapting the wireless segment configuration at least in part based on the characteristics of the wired segment. These characteristics can include, for example, cable type, cable length, cable wire diameter, other services / technologies using the cable, etc. The adaptation can include, for example, a change in the configuration of one or more wireless segments (e.g., switching from SISO to MIMO, changing the MIMO configuration, etc.). The adaptation can be, for example, the configuration of the wireless segment between a base station and an intermediate transceiver, and / or the configuration of the wireless segment (or segments) between a distributed transceiver and a user transceiver (e.g., a UE).

[0051] In some embodiments, a method of adapting the configuration of a wireless portion of a wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture includes: obtaining an indication of at least one characteristic of the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture, and configuring at least one setting of the wireless portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture at least in part based on the obtained indication of the at least one characteristic of the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture. The at least one characteristic can be, for example, the type, size, or length of a cable of the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture. As another example, the at least one characteristic can be the amount of unavailable (or available) bandwidth of a cable of the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture. As yet another example, the at least one characteristic can be (or can be based on) the attenuation profile of a cable in the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture.

[0052] At least one setting of the wireless portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture can be any setting that affects performance. For example, the setting can include or define a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration (e.g., one or more of bandwidth, number of layers, number of transmitters, number of receivers, etc.) applied to the downlink direction, the uplink direction, or both.

[0053] An indication of at least one characteristic can be obtained in any suitable manner, such as, for example, by accessing a look-up table, or by measuring or observing at least one characteristic (e.g., via an intermediate transceiver that cooperates with an assignment transceiver to determine or measure at least one characteristic, such as during an initialization process).

[0054] As further discussed below, one or more preferred configurations of the wireless portion of a wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture can be determined at least in part based on at least one characteristic of the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture, and these one or more preferred configurations can be an obtained indication of (or can be included in or identified by) at least one characteristic of the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture. If one or more preferred configurations are identified or determined, the identification or determination can be performed, for example, by an intermediate transceiver, by an assignment transceiver, by another entity (e.g., an external server), or by some combination of the foregoing. One or more preferred configurations can be provided to (or obtained by) a base station (e.g., by sending a message to the base station in an overhead channel via an intermediate transceiver), and the base station can then implement a selected one of the one or more preferred configurations by configuring at least one setting of the wireless portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture such that the selected preferred configuration is implemented.

[0055] One or more preferred configurations can be determined according to any suitable one or more selection criteria, such as by prioritizing configurations based on one or more of the following: (a) the bandwidth they use (e.g., preferring configurations that use less bandwidth over those that use more bandwidth, and vice versa); (b) the length and / or type of cables in the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture (e.g., whether the cable length exceeds a threshold length, or whether a cable type is known to have high attenuation, etc.); (c) whether a cable in the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture is used (or can be used) by another technology (thereby reducing the amount of available bandwidth); and / or (d) whether the amount of bandwidth available (or unavailable) on the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture exceeds a threshold bandwidth. The preferred configurations can be identified by table look-up (e.g., indexed by one or more of cable length, cable type, cable bandwidth, frequency bands available or unavailable on the cable, etc.).

[0056] In some embodiments, when determining a preferred configuration for a wireless section, a higher preference is given to one or more MIMO configurations that use less wired bandwidth (e.g., have fewer baseband streams) when (a) the length of the CSL cable is above a threshold, and / or (b) the CSL cable type has a relatively high attenuation (e.g., considering common cable types), and / or (c) the CSL cable is used by one or more other wired technologies or systems (e.g., using at least some portion of the available spectrum). In some embodiments, a CSL entity (e.g., a CSL-IF unit) determines the preferred MIMO configuration and provides it to the BBU, which can then set the MIMO configuration to be directional or consider the preferred MIMO configuration when determining the wireless configuration.

[0057] There are multiple ways in which a preferred configuration can be determined. In some embodiments, the preferred configuration is determined as needed and / or is updated automatically / dynamically during system operation (e.g., based on measurements made by the CSL unit, whether during the initialization process or when transmitting UE data).

[0058] In some embodiments, the preferred configuration is stored (e.g., at the CSL-IF or CSL-RF unit). As an example, a CSL system (e.g., a CSL-IF unit) can access a locally stored, cloud device- and server-stored, or otherwise available data store that defines the preferred configuration (e.g., MIMO configuration) for combinations of cable type, cable length, wireless bandwidth, and / or bandwidth utilization by other technologies. For example, the preferred configuration can be defined by one or more tables that can be preconfigured or determined / adjusted on the fly during system operation. For example, separate tables can be for different wireless bandwidths (e.g., one table defines the preferred configuration for a 20 MHz wireless bandwidth and a separate table defines the preferred configuration for a 100 MHz wireless bandwidth), and / or for different cable types (e.g., Table A for CAT5e, Table B for a specific coaxial cable or a general coaxial cable, etc.). In some embodiments, the preferred configuration is defined by a preconfigured table (e.g., based on measurements, service provider records, etc.). In some embodiments, the preferred configuration is defined by a table that is automatically and / or dynamically generated and / or updated based on measurements made by the CSL-IF unit and / or the CSL-RF unit.

[0059] As described above, in some embodiments, a CSL entity (e.g., a CSL-IF unit, which alone or in cooperation with a CSL-RF unit) determines a preferred MIMO configuration and provides it to the BBU. In some such embodiments, the BBU implements the configuration. The CSL radio-wired system can suggest to the BBU to avoid using a MIMO configuration by sending an explicit instruction to the BBU. Alternatively or additionally, the CSL system can send a list of authorized or approved configurations to the BBU, and the list can exclude non-preferred MIMO configurations that the BBU might otherwise be able to support. The CSL radio-wired system (e.g., via one or more messages from the CSL-IF to the BBU) can indicate its preferred configurations (e.g., by sending multiple configuration options in order of preference). The CSL radio-wired system can guide the BBU to select or use a preferred configuration (or avoid a non-preferred configuration) by using the signaling interface between the CSL radio-wired system and the BBU. The signaling interface can be an existing signaling interface, or it can be a new signaling interface implemented to support a converged radio-wired architecture. Additionally, the signaling can occur over wireless and / or wired connections, and can occur in the control plane and / or data plane.

[0060] It should be understood that the communication path that allows the CSL system to indicate to the BBU one or more of its preferred configurations (or one or more non-preferred configurations) does not need to be provided through a direct connection, for example, between the CSL-IF and the BBU. For example, the CSL-IF and the BBU can communicate through an intermediary such as a server in the cloud.

[0061] Figure 7 An example is shown of how to adapt the MIMO configuration of the wireless part of a network based at least in part on wired parameters or characteristics. In a first example, a CSL-IF unit 710 (“CSL-IF1”) is coupled to a BBU 705, receives signals from the BBU 705 in the downlink direction and sends signals to the BBU 705 in the uplink direction. The CSL-IF unit 710 is coupled to a CSL-RF unit 715 (“CSL-RF1”) by an 80-meter length of CAT5e cable. The CSL-RF1 715 uses a configurable antenna array to send and receive signals from a UE720. Refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that a 2×2 MIMO configuration provides optimal performance. In a second example, a CSL-IF unit 730 (“CSL-IF2”) is coupled to a BBU 725, receiving signals from the BBU 725 in the downlink direction and transmitting signals to the BBU 725 in the uplink direction. The CSL-IF unit 730 is coupled to a CSL-RF unit 735 (“CSL-RF2”) via a 300-meter length of CAT5e cable. The CSL-RF2 735 transmits and receives signals from the UE740 using a configurable antenna array. Figure 3 indicates that for this length of cable and a 5G bandwidth of 20 MHz, a 2x2 MIMO configuration also provides optimal performance, but Figure 4 indicates that if the 5G bandwidth is 100 MHz, a SISO configuration (1x1 MIMO) provides better performance than a 2x2 MIMO configuration.

[0062] Reference Figure 7 , a CSL-IF unit 750 (“CSL-IF3”) is coupled to a BBU 745, receiving signals from the BBU745 in the downlink direction and transmitting signals to the BBU 745 in the uplink direction. The CSL-IF unit 750 is coupled to a CSL-RF unit 755 via a 300-meter length of coaxial cable. The CSL-RF1 735 transmits and receives signals from the UE 740 using a configurable antenna array. Consistent with the above process, Figure 5 and Figure 6 indicates that for this length of coaxial cable, a 2x2 MIMO configuration provides better performance (e.g., throughput). The last example shows how the correlation between the type and length of the cable can generally be applied to determine the preferred MIMO configuration. In this last example, a CSL-IF unit 770 (“CSL-IF4”) is coupled to a BBU 765, receiving signals from the BBU 765 in the downlink direction and transmitting signals to the BBU 765 in the uplink direction. The CSL-IF unit 770 is coupled to a CSL-RF unit 775 (“CSL-RF4”) via a wired cable of any other type and length. The CSL-RF4 775 transmits and receives signals from the UE 780 using a configurable antenna array. In this example, the use of a SISO configuration (1x1 MIMO) provides better performance than any 2x2 MIMO configuration and is identified by a process similar to that shown above. The conclusion that the SISO configuration provides better performance can be determined as described above (e.g., through simulation results, based on experience or measurements, etc.).

[0063] Thus, in some embodiments, a wireless-wired physical convergence system has a wired portion and a wireless portion. The wired portion includes an intermediate transceiver (e.g., a CSL-IF unit), a distributed transceiver (e.g., a CSL-RF unit), and a cable coupling the intermediate transceiver to the distributed transceiver. The wireless portion includes at least one wireless section communicatively coupling the distributed transceiver to at least one user transceiver (e.g., a UE). The base station is configured to (i) obtain an indication of at least one characteristic of the wired portion, and (ii) adjust at least one setting of the wireless portion at least in part based on the obtained indication of at least one characteristic of the wired portion. The setting can affect any aspect of the wireless portion of the system, including, for example, the bandwidth, data rate, decoding, or modulation of transmissions on a first wireless section or on at least one second wireless section. As previously explained, at least one setting of the wireless portion can be a MIMO setting (e.g., bandwidth, number of layers, number of transmitters, and / or number of receivers) for the first wireless section or for the second wireless section (or both). The MIMO setting can be applied to the downlink direction and / or the uplink direction.

[0064] Also as described above, at least one characteristic can include the type, size, or length of the cable, the unavailable (or available) bandwidth of the cable, the attenuation profile of the cable (e.g., providing attenuation, insertion loss / gain, etc. as a graph, function, or table as a function of frequency or at a set of frequencies or within certain frequency bands, etc.), or any other suitable characteristic.

[0065] The intermediate transceiver can be configured to send an indication of at least one characteristic of the wired portion to the base station (e.g., via an overhead channel, via a server in the cloud, etc.). Similarly, the base station can be configured to retrieve an indication of at least one characteristic of the wired portion directly from the intermediate transceiver or from a server located within the cloud. As another example, the base station can be configured to obtain an indication of at least one characteristic of the wired portion from a lookup table.

[0066] As explained above, the intermediate transceiver and / or the distributed transceiver may be able to determine (e.g., observe, measure, etc.) at least one characteristic of the wired portion (e.g., during an initialization process or at some other time or times).

[0067] In some embodiments, a single CSL-IF unit can be connected to multiple (i.e., two or more) CSL-RF units. In such embodiments, different CSL-IF / CSL-RF segments can have different preferred MIMO configurations. For example, Figure 8An example is shown where a single CSL-IF unit 810 is coupled to a BBU 805 and coupled to four CSL-RF units 820, 830, 840, 850. Specifically, the CSL-IF unit 810 is coupled to CSL-RF1 820 via an 80-meter CAT5e cable, to CSL-RF2 830 via a 300-meter CAT5e cable, to CLS-RF3 840 via a 300-meter coaxial cable, and to CSL-RF4 850 via a 300-meter coaxial cable shared with other technologies / services that occupy a 100 MHz bandwidth (e.g., between 0 and 100 MHz). As Figure 8 shown, a common baseband is sent between the BBU 805 and the CSL-IF unit 810, but different signals are sent between the CSL-IF unit 810 and the various CSL-RF units 820, 830, 840, 850. The connections between the CSL-IF unit 810 and the various CSL-RF units 820, 830, 840, 850 can be different, resulting in different bandwidths and other transmission parameters, which may lead to different preferred MIMO configurations being identified and implemented on each antenna array of the CSL-RF units 820, 830, 840, 850.

[0068] As shown in this example, a 2x2 MIMO configuration is preferred for the connections (a) between the CSL-IF unit 810 and CSL-RF1 820 and (b) between the CSL-IF unit 810 and CSL-RF3 840, while a SISO configuration is preferred for the connections (i) between the CSL-IF unit 810 and CSL-RF2 830 and (ii) between the CSL-IF unit 810 and CSL-RF4 850. Note that the preferred MIMO configuration for a section between CSL-IF and a selected CSL-RF depends largely on the corresponding wired medium connecting the CSL-RF to the (common) CSL-IF.

[0069] In the case where different CSL-RF units 820, 830, 840, 850 are coupled to a common CSL-IF 810 unit in a CSL radio-wired system with different preferred MIMO configurations, the system can select or identify a set of one or more preferred MIMO configurations by jointly considering the preferred MIMO configurations associated with each of the multiple CSL-RFs 820, 830, 840, 850. As described above, the set of preferred MIMO configurations can be sent to the BBU as a recommendation (which the BBU can ignore) or an instruction (which the BBU cannot ignore).

[0070] In some embodiments, the set of preferred MIMO configurations may include only MIMO configurations selected from the preferred MIMO configurations of CSL-RF that require (a) the least wired bandwidth consumption, or (b) the least number of uplink spatial streams, or (c) the least number of downlink spatial streams, or (d) the lowest number of the sum of the number of uplink and downlink spatial streams. In some other embodiments, the set of preferred MIMO configurations may include only MIMO configurations selected from the preferred MIMO configurations of CSL-RF that require (i) the maximum wired bandwidth consumption, or (ii) the largest number of uplink spatial streams, or (iii) the largest number of downlink spatial streams, or (iv) the largest number of the sum of the number of uplink and downlink spatial streams. In still some other embodiments, the set of one or more preferred MIMO configurations may include only MIMO configurations that are the most commonly preferred MIMO configurations among the MIMO configurations in CSL-RF (e.g., the "majority vote" MIMO configuration).

[0071] Accordingly, the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation system may include a first distributed transceiver coupled to an intermediate transceiver via a first cable and a second distributed transceiver coupled to the intermediate transceiver via a second cable. In such a case, an indication of at least one characteristic of the wired portion conveys information about (a) at least one configuration suitable for the first cable, (b) at least one configuration suitable for the second cable, or (c) both (a) and (b). The at least one configuration suitable for the first cable or the at least one configuration suitable for the second cable may be based, for example, at least in part on the cable type, the cable length, or the cable bandwidth used by or available for another technology.

[0072] In some embodiments, the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation system includes a first distributed transceiver coupled to an intermediate transceiver via a first cable and a second distributed transceiver coupled to the intermediate transceiver via a second cable, where the first cable and the second cable may have different lengths and / or types. The intermediate transceiver may determine a set of one or more preferred configurations based at least in part on one or more of the first length, the second length, the first type, or the second type. The set of one or more preferred configurations may include at least one configuration suitable for both the first cable and the second cable. The first cable and the second cable may have different available bandwidths, and the set of one or more preferred configurations may include configurations according to the smaller available bandwidth amount.

[0073] When an intermediate transceiver is coupled to multiple distributed transceivers, the intermediate transceiver can be configured to send a first baseband stream to a first distributed transceiver via a first cable and a second baseband stream to a second distributed transceiver via a second cable. The first baseband stream and the second baseband stream can be the same, or they can be different in some aspects (e.g., they can have different numbers of spatial streams). In the uplink direction, the intermediate transceiver can combine different upstream spatial streams received from the first distributed transceiver and the second distributed transceiver into a combined upstream spatial stream and send the combined upstream spatial stream to the base station.

[0074] In some embodiments, the wired portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture includes an intermediate transceiver connected to multiple distributed transceivers via respective multiple cables, and the process of determining one or more preferred configurations of the wireless portion of the wireless-wired physical aggregation architecture can include determining a respective at least one preferred MIMO configuration for each of the multiple cables. The determination of the at least one preferred MIMO configuration for each of the multiple cables can include, for example, selecting a MIMO configuration from all entries in the respective at least one preferred MIMO configuration and based on at least one criterion, which (1) achieves the highest throughput across the entire wireless-wired link, (2) uses the least amount of wired bandwidth or the maximum amount of wired bandwidth, (3) uses the fewest number of uplink spatial streams or the largest number of uplink spatial streams, (4) uses the fewest number of downlink spatial streams or the largest number of downlink spatial streams, (5) uses the fewest total number of uplink and downlink spatial streams or the largest total number of uplink and downlink spatial streams, (6) uses less than a threshold amount of wired bandwidth or more than a threshold amount of wired bandwidth, (7) uses fewer than a threshold number of uplink spatial streams or more than a threshold number of uplink spatial streams, (8) uses fewer than a threshold number of downlink spatial streams or more than a threshold number of downlink spatial streams, (9) uses fewer than a threshold total number of uplink and downlink spatial streams or more than a threshold total number of uplink and downlink spatial streams, and / or (10) the most preferred MIMO configuration.

[0075] As explained above and in Figure 8In the example of, in an embodiment where a single CSL-IF unit 810 is coupled to multiple CSL-RFs 820, 830, 840, 850 having different preferred MIMO configurations, the CSL-IF unit 810 can receive downlink baseband streams from the BBU 805, and can send uplink baseband streams to the BBU 805. In such an embodiment, the CSL-IF unit 810 that receives the common downlink baseband stream can send the same baseband stream to each of the CSL-RF units 820, 830, 840, 850 coupled thereto, or it can send different baseband streams to different CSL-RF units 820, 830, 840, 850 coupled thereto. Referring to Figure 8 the example of, the CSL-IF unit 810 can receive two spatial streams from the BBU 805 in the downlink direction, and can send two spatial streams to the CSL-RF1 820, while it can send only one spatial stream to the CSL-RF2 830 (for the CSL-RF2 830, the preferred MIMO configuration is 1x1). As another example, referring to Figure 8 , the CSL-IF unit 810 can receive uplink signals having one and two spatial streams from the CSL-RF1 820 and the CSL-RF2 830 respectively, and can send all the spatial streams to the BBU 805 (after combining all the spatial streams received from all four CSL-RF units 820, 830, 840, 850 into a single uplink signal).

[0076] Figure 9 FIG. shows an exemplary CSL-IF unit according to various embodiments of the present invention. As shown, the CSL-IF unit 910 is coupled to the baseband unit 905 and receives downlink data / control information and sends uplink data / control information. One or more transmission paths are defined within the CSL-IF unit 910. As shown, the exemplary transmission path includes an inverse fast Fourier transform block (IFFT) 920 that converts the received signal from a frequency-domain vector signal to a time-domain vector signal. The CSL control block 930 processes various control information related to the operations of the CSL-IF unit, the CSL-RF unit, the baseband unit, or other devices related to the CSL radio-wired system.

[0077] The MIMO configuration control 940 is coupled within the signal path of the CSL-IF unit 910. The MIMO configuration control 940 can receive one or more inputs of the cable length corresponding to the wired section, the cable type corresponding to the wired section, the bandwidth information of the baseband channel, and other wired channel characteristics that can be used to align the wired bandwidth and parameters with the configurable MIMO antenna array at the CSL-RF unit 960. The MIMO configuration control receives this information and calculates the SIMO / MIMO configuration based on the analysis to better align the configuration with the parameters of the wired parameters. In some embodiments, the configuration information is transmitted to the CSL-RF unit 960 for further processing and / or implementation within the antenna array. In these embodiments, the configuration information is converted into an IF signal at the baseband-to-IF converter 950, either as a discrete control signal or as information embedded within a control or data field. In other embodiments, the configuration information is sent in the uplink signal to the BBU 905 for analysis at the base station. In these embodiments, the base station / BBU determines the MIMO configuration at least in part based on the configuration information received from the MIMO configuration control 940.

[0078] According to various embodiments, the SIMO / MIMO configuration information is generated using one or more of the above processes. In other embodiments, the system performance is directly measured across various different configurations, and the SIMO / MIMO configuration information is identified by performing a series of test / initialization processes, where different SIMO / MIMO configurations are analyzed and a preferred configuration is selected.

[0079] Figure 10 An exemplary CSL-RF block according to various embodiments of the present invention is shown. As shown, the CSL-RF block 1010 is coupled to transmit and receive data / control information with the CSL-IF block 910. As previously described, this communication can occur in the control plane or the data plane. In some embodiments, the SIMO / MIMO configuration information is sent from the MIMO configuration control 940 to the MIMO control and precoder 1020 within the CSL-RF 1010. The MIMO control and precoder 1020 receives this information and generates control information applied to the MIMO antenna 1030, which includes possible precoder weights applied to the antenna array.

[0080] In other embodiments, the MIMO configuration information is generated at the base station (at least in part based on the SIMO / MIMO configuration information generated at the MIMO configuration control 940), and the MIMO configuration information is sent to the MIMO control and precoder 1020. The MIMO control and precoder applies this information to the MIMO antenna 1030.

[0081] The coordination between the CSL-IF 910 and the CSL-RF 1010 allows the configurable SIMO / MIMO antennas to be configured at least in part based on the wired performance characteristics to better align the bandwidth (and other parameters) across the wired and wireless segments.

[0082] It should be understood that although the disclosure herein is primarily in the context of CSL and radio-wired convergence architectures, the disclosure is not limited to the described environments or applications. Additionally, although certain 3GPP / cellular terms and acronyms or initials are used herein (e.g., RB, BBU, RAN, MCS, UE, etc.), those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that other terms may be used in other contexts (e.g., Wi-Fi, IEEE802.11 standards, etc.). For example, in a multi-carrier system (such as a multi-carrier system using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing or discrete multi-tone modulation), a resource block (which may also be referred to as a resource element) is merely an amount of time and frequency that can be assigned to a device. It should be understood that the resources allocated for communication over a channel may be described in other ways.

[0083] In the foregoing description and in the drawings, specific terms are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. In some instances, the terms or the drawings may imply specific details that are not required to practice the invention.

[0084] The term "intermediate transceiver" is a device that couples the BBU to the wired segment and facilitates the measurement of parameters on the wired segment related to bandwidth by transmitting test signals on the wired segment for measuring and / or calculating these parameters. The CSL-IF unit is an example of an intermediate transceiver. The term "distribution transceiver" is a device that couples the wired segment to the wireless segment and has configurable MIMO antennas for transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals from at least one device. The CSL-RF unit is an example of a distribution transceiver.

[0085] To avoid unnecessarily obscuring the disclosure, well-known components are shown in block diagram form and / or not discussed in detail, or in some instances not discussed at all.

[0086] Unless specifically defined otherwise herein, all terms will be given their broadest possible interpretation, including meanings implied from the specification and drawings and as understood by those of ordinary skill in the art and / or as defined in dictionaries, treatises, etc. As expressly set forth herein, some terms may not conform to their ordinary or customary meanings.

[0087] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" do not exclude plural referents. Unless otherwise specified, the word "or" shall be construed in an inclusive sense. Thus, the phrase "A or B" shall be construed to mean any of the following: "both A and B", "A but not B", and "B but not A". Any use of "and / or" herein does not mean that the word "or" alone implies exclusivity.

[0088] The terms "exemplary" and "embodiment" are used to denote examples, rather than preferences or requirements. The term "coupled" is used herein to denote both direct connection / attachment and connection / attachment through one or more intermediate elements or structures.

[0089] Although specific embodiments have been disclosed, it will be apparent that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the disclosure. For example, at least where feasible, the features or aspects of any embodiment can be applied in combination with any other embodiment or in place of its corresponding features or aspects. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

[0090] For purposes of clarity and understanding, the foregoing description of the invention has been presented. This is not intended to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Various modifications are possible within the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

[0091] It will be understood that the described method has been shown as individual steps performed in a particular order. However, those skilled in the art will understand that these steps can be combined or performed in a different order while still achieving the desired result.

[0092] It should be understood that embodiments of the present invention can be implemented using a variety of different information processing systems. In particular, although the accompanying drawings and their discussion provide exemplary computing systems and methods, these are presented only to provide a useful reference when discussing various aspects of the present invention. Embodiments of the present invention can be executed on any suitable data processing device, such as a personal computer, laptop computer, personal digital assistant, mobile phone, set-top box, television, server computer, etc. Of course, for purposes of discussion, the description of the systems and methods has been simplified, and they are only one of many different types of systems and methods that can be used for embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood that the boundaries between the logical blocks are merely illustrative, and alternative embodiments may combine the logical blocks or elements, or may impose alternative decompositions of the functions on the various logical blocks or elements.

[0093] It should be understood that the above functions can be implemented as one or more corresponding modules as hardware and / or software. For example, the above functions can be implemented as one or more software components for execution by a processor of the system. Alternatively, the above functions can be implemented as hardware, such as on one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and / or one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and / or one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) and / or other hardware arrangements. The method steps implemented in the flowcharts included herein or as described above can each be implemented by a corresponding respective module; multiple method steps implemented in the flowcharts included herein or as described above can be implemented together by a single module.

[0094] It should be understood that, to the extent that embodiments of the present invention are implemented by a computer program, the storage medium and the transmission medium carrying the computer program constitute aspects of the present invention. The computer program can have one or more program instructions or program codes that, when executed by a computer, execute the embodiments of the present invention. As used herein, the term "program" can be a sequence of instructions designed to be executed on a computer system and can include subroutines, functions, procedures, modules, object methods, object implementations, executable applications, applets, servlets, source code, object code, shared libraries, dynamic link libraries, and / or other sequences of instructions designed to be executed on a computer system. The storage medium can be a disk (such as a hard disk drive or a floppy disk), an optical disk (such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a Blu-ray disc), or a memory (such as a ROM, a RAM, an EEPROM, an EPROM, a flash memory, or a portable / removable memory device), etc. The transmission medium can be a communication signal, a data broadcast, a communication link between two or more computers, etc.

Claims

1. A wireless-wired physical convergence system, the wireless-wired physical convergence system comprises: a baseband unit; a wired section coupled to the baseband unit, the wired section including an intermediate transceiver, a distribution transceiver, and a wired cable coupling the intermediate transceiver to the distribution transceiver; and a wireless section coupled to the wired section through the distribution transceiver, the wireless section including at least one wireless channel communicatively coupling the distribution transceiver to at least one user equipment, wherein the intermediate transceiver performs the following operations: obtaining at least one parameter of the wired section, and configuring at least one setting related to an antenna array within the distribution receiver at least partially based on the at least one parameter of the wired section.

2. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one setting related to the antenna array includes a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) setting for the wireless channel.

3. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 2, wherein the MIMO setting includes at least one of a bandwidth parameter, a number of layers, a number of transmitters, and a number of receivers.

4. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one wired parameter is related to the bandwidth characteristics of the wired section.

5. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 4, wherein the at least one wired parameter includes at least one of a cable length and a cable type.

6. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 5, wherein the intermediate transceiver implements an attenuation profile corresponding to the cable related to the wired section.

7. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate transceiver sends the at least one parameter of the wired section to the baseband unit.

8. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate transceiver determines the at least one parameter of the wired section during an initialization process.

9. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate transceiver sends the at least one parameter of the wired section to at least one of the distribution transceiver and the baseband unit.

10. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 9, wherein the baseband unit or a cloud server obtains the at least one parameter of the wired section from a lookup table.

11. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate transceiver includes a cellular subscriber line intermediate frequency (CSL-IF) unit, and the distribution transceiver includes a first cellular subscriber line radio frequency (CSL-RF) unit.

12. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate transceiver communicates with a plurality of distribution transceivers.

13. The wireless-wired physical convergence system according to claim 1, wherein the distribution transceiver communicates with a plurality of user equipment devices.

14. A method for configuring an antenna array on a distributed receiver at least partially based on a corresponding wired section, the method comprises: obtaining at least one parameter related to a wired section of a wireless-wired physical convergence architecture; and configuring at least one setting of the antenna array coupled within the distributed receiver at least partially based on the at least one parameter of the wired section.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein, the at least one setting of the antenna array includes a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein, the at least one setting of the antenna array is related to an operation in a MIMO configuration or a SIMO configuration.

17. The method according to claim 14, wherein, the at least one characteristic includes the type, size, or length of a cable in a wired portion of the wireless-wired physical convergence architecture.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein, the at least one parameter includes at least one of a cable type and a cable length corresponding to the wired section.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein, the at least one parameter includes an attenuation profile of a cable in the wired section.

20. The method according to claim 18, wherein, obtaining the at least one parameter includes accessing a look-up table.

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