MOBILE PHONE EQUIPMENT

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a mobile radio device for a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, with at least a first and a second transceiver, each having a transmitting module and a receiving module.

[0002] Rail vehicles equipped with a standardized ETCS (European Train Control System) mobile radio system and operated according to ETCS Level 2 or 3 use the digital GSM-R (R - Railway) mobile radio network to communicate with the responsible trackside control center or control center (RBC - Radio Block Center). To ensure seamless train protection, the mobile radio devices - also known as OBUs (On Board Units) - are usually each equipped with three GSM-R transceivers (transmitting and receiving units). Two of the transceivers are used to enable two parallel mobile radio connections during a transition from the currently responsible trackside control center to the next responsible trackside control center: one to the previous trackside control center and one to the subsequent trackside control center.A third transceiver enables voice communication between the train driver and the dispatcher.

[0003] An antenna system for use in a portable telecommunications device, such as a mobile terminal, is known from US 2003 / 0176176 A1. This antenna system comprises at least a first and a second transceiver, each having a transmitting module and a receiving module, one or more transmitting antennas for transmitting, and one or more receiving antennas for receiving. At least one shared receiving antenna is provided.

[0004] Furthermore, devices and methods for carrying out simultaneous time-division duplex (TDD) communications are known from the document US 2016 / 0095152 A1.

[0005] In addition, the document US 2013 / 244594 A1 discloses a transceiver system with one or more receiving antennas and with a plurality of transmitting antennas.

[0006] The invention is based on the object of specifying a mobile radio device for a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, which enables particularly safe and reliable transmission and reception operation.

[0007] This object is achieved according to the invention with a mobile radio device having the features of patent claim 1.

[0008] Advantageous embodiments of the mobile radio device according to the invention are specified in subclaims.

[0009] A key advantage of the mobile radio device according to the invention is that the transmission and reception paths of each transceiver are separated from each other, so that feedback from separate transmission signals to separate reception paths is relatively low. Interference is thus avoided and safe and reliable transmission and reception operation is enabled.

[0010] The mobile radio device according to the invention comprises a first transmitting antenna, which is connected exclusively to the transmitting module of the first transceiver, and a second transmitting antenna, which is arranged at a distance from the first transmitting antenna and is connected exclusively to the transmitting module of the second transceiver. Furthermore, the mobile radio device comprises at least one shared receiving antenna, hereinafter referred to as the shared receiving antenna, which is connected to both the receiving module of the first transceiver and the receiving module of the second transceiver. In this embodiment, the number of antennas is advantageously low despite maintaining the separation of the transmitting and receiving paths.

[0011] The signal processing unit preferably comprises an amplifier, in particular a linear amplifier. The amplifier serves to amplify the signal so that the signal path attenuation occurring—relative to the strength of the received signal arriving at the receiving modules—can be reduced or even completely compensated.

[0012] A filter, particularly a bandpass filter or bandstop filter, is preferably arranged upstream of the amplifier in the signal flow direction from the shared receiving antenna toward the transceivers. Such a filter can attenuate interference signals outside the frequency range of the desired signal and prevent overloading of the downstream amplifier.

[0013] It is also advantageous if the signal processing unit has a filter, particularly a bandpass filter or a bandstop filter, arranged downstream of the amplifier in the signal flow direction. Such a downstream filter can advantageously eliminate interference frequencies generated, for example, by nonlinearities in the amplifier.

[0014] The filter upstream of the amplifier and the filter downstream of the amplifier are preferably of the same construction or at least the same with regard to the frequency band whose frequencies the two bandpasses allow to pass or block.

[0015] The intermediate line is preferably longer than the transceiver's own receiving lines and the antenna connection line. It is particularly advantageous if the intermediate line is at least 5 times, particularly preferably at least 10 times, as long as the first and second transceiver's own receiving lines and / or at least 5 times, particularly preferably at least 10 times, as long as the antenna connection line.

[0016] The transmission module of the first transceiver is preferably connected to the first transmission antenna exclusively via a connecting cable, hereinafter referred to as the first connecting cable, i.e. in particular without an intermediate bandpass filter, so that the transmission signal of the first transceiver is influenced only by the transmission properties of the first connecting cable.

[0017] Accordingly, it is considered advantageous if the transmitting module of the second transceiver is connected to the second transmitting antenna exclusively via a second connecting cable - i.e. in particular without an intermediate bandpass filter - and the transmitting signal of the second transceiver is influenced only by the transmission properties of the second connecting cable.

[0018] With a view to use in the field of railway technology, it is considered advantageous if the mobile radio device has a third transmitting antenna which is connected to a transmitting module of a third transceiver via a third connecting cable, and the common receiving antenna is additionally connected to a receiving module of the third transceiver.

[0019] The receiving module of the third transceiver is preferably connected to a distribution unit, in particular the above-mentioned distribution unit, via a third transceiver-specific or transceiver-individually assigned line.

[0020] The intermediate line is preferably at least 5 times, particularly preferably at least 10 times, as long as the third transceiver line.

[0021] The transmission module of the third transceiver is preferably connected to the third transmission antenna exclusively via a connecting cable, hereinafter referred to as the third connecting cable, so that the transmission signal of the third transceiver is influenced only by the transmission properties of the third connecting cable.

[0022] The distance between the third transmitting antenna and the first or second transmitting antenna is preferably at least 10 times the distance between the first and second transmitting antennas.

[0023] The distance between each of the transmitting antennas and the common receiving antenna is preferably at least 10 times the distance between the first and second transmitting antennas.

[0024] The receiving module of the third transceiver is preferably switchable from a first operating mode to a second operating mode and vice versa, wherein the receiving module in the first operating mode is preferably connected to the distribution unit and thus to the common receiving antenna and receives received signals from the common receiving antenna, and wherein the receiving module in the second operating mode is preferably connected to the third transmitting antenna and receives received signals from the third transmitting antenna.

[0025] The invention also relates to a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, having the features of independent patent claim 12. According to the invention, the vehicle is equipped with a mobile radio device as described above.

[0026] The invention is explained in more detail below using exemplary embodiments; by way of example, Figure 1 shows a first embodiment of a mobile radio device according to the invention, which can be used in a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, wherein the mobile radio device according to Figure 1a single shared receiving antenna, Figure 2 shows a second exemplary embodiment of a mobile radio device according to the invention, in which the receiving path has two shared receiving antennas, Figure 3 shows a third exemplary embodiment of a mobile radio device according to the invention, in which a receiving module of one of the transceivers is switchable and can be connected either to a shared receiving antenna for receiving received signals or to an individually assigned transmitting antenna for receiving received signals, Figure 4 shows a fourth exemplary embodiment of a mobile radio device according to the invention, in which a signal processing unit is equipped with bandstop filters instead of bandpass filters, and Figure 5 shows an exemplary embodiment of a rail vehicle which is equipped with the mobile radio device according to Figure 3 is equipped.

[0027] For the sake of clarity, the same reference symbols are always used in the figures for identical or comparable components.

[0028] The Figure 1 shows a mobile radio device 10 equipped with a first transceiver 100, a second transceiver 200, and a third transceiver 300. Each of the three transceivers 100, 200, and 300 has a receiving module EM and a transmitting module SM.

[0029] The first transceiver 100 is connected via a transceiver-specific or transceiver-individually assigned connecting cable 110, hereinafter referred to as first connecting cable 110, to a first transmitting antenna 120, which is connected exclusively to the transmitting module SM of the first transceiver 100.

[0030] The transmitting module SM of the second transceiver 200 is connected in a corresponding manner via a second connecting cable 210 which is specific to the transceiver or is assigned to the transceiver individually to a second transmitting antenna 220 which is connected exclusively to the second transceiver 200.

[0031] The transmitting module SM of the third transceiver 300 is connected to a third transmitting antenna 320 via a third transceiver-specific or transceiver-individually assigned connecting cable 310.

[0032] The distance between the three transmitting antennas 120, 220 and 320 can be relatively small and, for example, less than 1 m.

[0033] The receiving modules EM of the three transceivers 100, 200, and 300 are connected to a distribution unit 400 via a first transceiver-specific receiving line 150, a second transceiver-specific receiving line 250, and a third transceiver-specific receiving line 350. A signal input 401 of the distribution unit 400 is connected to a common receiving antenna 500 via an intermediate line 700.

[0034] In the Figure 1 It can be seen that a signal processing unit 600 is connected between the distribution unit 400 and the shared receiving antenna 500. A signal input 601 of the signal processing unit 600 is connected to the shared receiving antenna 500 via an antenna connection line 510. A signal output 602 of the signal processing unit 600 is connected to the signal input 401 of the distribution unit 400 via the intermediate line 700.

[0035] The signal conditioning unit 600 has a bandpass filter 610 on the input side, which is arranged upstream of an amplifier 620. A bandpass filter 630 is arranged downstream of the amplifier 620 and is connected to the signal output 602 of the signal conditioning unit 600.

[0036] The bandpass filter 610 arranged upstream of the amplifier 620 is preferably dimensioned or configured such that it only allows the frequency range of a received signal E to be received by the shared receiving antenna 500 to pass, which is relevant for the receiving modules EM of the three transceivers 100, 200, and 300 or contains user data. If the mobile radio device 10 is a device intended for use in the rail vehicle sector and is therefore intended to operate according to the GSM-R standard, for example, it is considered advantageous if the bandpass filter 610 only allows the frequency band of the GSM-R range to pass and attenuates or blocks frequencies of adjacent frequency bands, in particular the adjacent E-GSM frequency band, as best as possible.

[0037] By filtering the received signal E by the bandpass filter 610 arranged upstream of the amplifier 620, it is ensured that the amplifier 620 is not overloaded by interference signals in other frequency bands, in particular an interference signal in the E-GSM range.

[0038] The 620 amplifier is preferably a low-noise amplifier with high linearity.

[0039] The function of the bandpass filter 630 arranged downstream of the amplifier 620 is to filter out any interference frequencies generated during the amplification by the amplifier 620, which can be caused, for example, by non-linearities of the amplifier during frequency mixing, from the amplified received signal and to output an amplified and filtered received signal Efv on the output side, which, due to the amplification of the amplifier 620, has the highest possible signal amplitude in the entire relevant received frequency range and is as free as possible from interference frequencies outside this received frequency range.

[0040] With regard to the arrangement of the components, it is considered advantageous if the common receiving antenna 500 is as far away as possible from the transmitting antennas 120, 220 and 320 in order to avoid irradiation of transmission signals from the transmitting modules SM of the three transceivers 100, 200 and 300 into the area of the common receiving antenna 500.

[0041] With regard to the arrangement of the signal processing unit 600 and the distribution unit 400, it is considered advantageous if the signal processing unit 600 is arranged as close as possible to the shared receiving antenna 500 and the distribution unit 400 is located as close as possible to the area of the three transceivers 100, 200, and 300. In other words, it is considered advantageous if the length of the intermediate line 700 is as long as possible and the length of the antenna connection line 510 and the transceiver's own receiving lines 150, 250, and 350 is as short as possible. It is particularly advantageous, for example, if the antenna connection line 510 and the transceiver's own receiving lines 150, 250, and 350 do not exceed a cable length of 1 m, or at least not significantly so; the intermediate line 700 serves to bridge the distance between the shared receiving antenna 500 and the transceiver.the signal processing unit 600 on the one hand and the three transceivers 100, 200 and 300 or the distribution unit 400 on the other hand.

[0042] The mobile radio device 10 according to Figure 1 can be operated, for example, as follows: A received signal E, which may be, for example, a GSM-R received signal, is received by the shared receiving antenna 500. The received signal E is processed, in particular filtered and amplified, by the signal processing unit 600. The amplified and filtered received signal Efv is transmitted via the intermediate line 700 to the distribution unit 400, which distributes the received signal Efv to the receiving modules EM of the three transceivers 100, 200, and 300. The receiving modules EM of the three transceivers 100, 200, and 300 can thus each evaluate the received signal Efv.

[0043] The transmit modules SM of the three transceivers 100, 200 and 300 each transmit their transmission signals via the transmit antennas 120, 220 and 320 assigned to each transceiver, whereby feedback to the reception path is largely prevented by the relatively large distance to the common reception antenna 500.

[0044] The distance between the shared receiving antenna 500 and the three transmitting antennas 120, 220 and 320 is preferably at least 5 m. The distance between the transmitting antennas 120, 220 and 320, in contrast, can be relatively small, for example less than 1 m.

[0045] The Figure 2 shows a further embodiment of a mobile radio device 10. In the embodiment according to Figure 2Two shared receiving antennas 500 and 501 are provided, each coupled to the signal input 601 of the signal processing unit 600. By providing two or more shared receiving antennas, it is possible to feed the received signal E into the signal processing unit 600 with the largest possible signal amplitude.

[0046] Furthermore, the above statements apply in connection with the mobile radio device 10 according to Figure 1 accordingly.

[0047] The Figure 3 shows a third embodiment of a mobile radio device 10. In the embodiment according to Figure 3 The receiving module EM of the third transceiver 300 is connected to both the common receiving antenna 500 and the third transmitting antenna 320. The receiving module EM of the third transceiver 300 is in the embodiment according to Figure 3designed to be internally switchable, so that the receiving module EM can optionally use the shared receiving antenna 500 or alternatively the third transmitting antenna 320 to receive the received signal E. The third transceiver 300 can switch the receiving operation from the shared receiving antenna 500 to the third transmitting antenna 320, for example, if there is a malfunction in the signal processing unit 600 or the distribution unit 400 and, as a result, no received signal E can be received by the shared receiving antenna 500 or a different frequency band is to be received that is blocked by the signal processing unit 600.

[0048] In the Figure 3It can also be seen that the third transmitting antenna 320 is as far apart as possible from both the first transmitting antenna 120 and the second transmitting antenna 220, as well as from the shared receiving antenna 500. Such a large distance is particularly advantageous in order to avoid coupling of transmit signals from the first transmitting antenna 120 and the second transmitting antenna 220 into the receiving module EM of the third transceiver 300 when the receiving module of the third transceiver 300 uses the transmitting antenna 320 as the receiving antenna.

[0049] The Figure 4 shows a fourth embodiment of a mobile radio device 10 according to the invention. In the embodiment according to Figure 4 the signal processing unit 600 has a band-stop filter 611 arranged upstream of the amplifier 620 and a band-stop filter 631 arranged downstream of the amplifier 620.

[0050] The two bandstop filters 611 and 631 are preferably dimensioned such that they suppress interference frequencies from known adjacent frequency bands. If the mobile radio device 10 is operated in the GSM-R band because it is intended for use in rail vehicle technology, it is advantageous if, for example, the frequency band of the E-GSM mobile radio system is suppressed by the two bandstop filters 611 and 631.

[0051] The Figure 5 shows an embodiment of a rail vehicle 800 which is equipped with the mobile radio device 10 according to Figure 3 It can be seen that the third transmitting antenna 320 is as far away as possible from the first transmitting antenna 120 and the second transmitting antenna 220, as well as from the shared receiving antenna 500. For further details, please refer to the explanations in connection with Figure 3.

[0052] Although the invention has been illustrated and described in detail by means of preferred embodiments, the invention is not limited by the disclosed examples, but is defined exclusively by the features of the independent claims List of reference symbols

[0053] 10 Mobile radio equipment 100 Transceiver 110 Connecting cable 120 Transmitting antenna 150 Receiving line 200 Transceiver 210 Connecting cable 220 Transmitting antenna 250 Receiving line 300 Transceiver 310 Connecting cable 320 Transmitting antenna 350 Receiving line 400 Distribution unit 401 Signal input 500 Common receiving antenna 501 Common receiving antenna 510 Antenna connecting cable 600 Signal conditioning unit 601 Signal input 602 Signal output 610 Bandpass filter 611 Bandstop filter 620 Amplifier 630 Bandpass filter 631 Bandstop filter 700 Intermediate line 800 Rail vehicle EEceive signal EfvReceive signal E-GSMFrequency band EMEceive module SMS send module

Claims

1. Mobile radio device (10) for a vehicle, in particular rail vehicle (800), having at least one first and one second transceiver (100, 200), which each have a transmit module (SM) and a receive module (EM), having one or more transmit antennas (120, 220, 320) for transmitting and having one or more receive antennas for receiving, wherein at least one receive antenna used jointly, which is referred to below as joint receive antenna (500, 501) and with which a receive signal (E) is received, is connected both to the receive module (EM) of the first transceiver (100) and also to the receive module (EM) of the second transceiver (200) and wherein a first transmit antenna (200) is connected exclusively to the transmit module (SM) of the first transceiver (100) and a second transmit antenna (220), which is arranged at a distance from the first transmit antenna, is connected exclusively to the transmit module (SM) of the second transceiver (200), - in which the receive antenna or receive antennas, which are connected to the receive modules (EM) of the first and second transceiver (100, 200), are separated from the transmit modules (SM) of the first and second transceiver (100, 200), - in which the transmit antenna or transmit antennas (120, 220), which are connected to the transmit modules (SM) of the first and second transceiver (100, 200), are separated from the receive modules (EM) of the first and second transceiver (100, 200), - in which the joint receive antenna (500, 501) is joined via an antenna connecting line (510) to a signal input (601) of a signal preparation unit (600) preparing the receive signal (E) for a filtered and reinforced receive signal (Efv), said signal preparation unit (600) being connected on the output side to the receive modules (EM) of the first and second transceiver (100, 200), - in which a signal output of the signal preparation unit (600) is joined via an intermediate line (700) to a signal input (401) of a distributor unit (400) distributing the filtered and reinforced receive signal (Efv) to the receive modules (EM), said distributor unit (400) being connected on the output side via a first assigned receive line (150) which is separate or individual to the transceiver to the receive module (EM) of the first transceiver (100) and via a second assigned receive line (250) which is separate or individual to the transceiver to the receive module (EM) of the second transceiver (200) and - in which the receive modules (EM) are embodied to evaluate the filtered and reinforced receive signal (Efv) in each case.

2. Mobile radio device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the signal preparation unit (600) has an amplifier, in particular a linear amplifier, and a filter arranged upstream of the amplifier, viewed in the signal flow direction from the joint receive antenna (500, 501) in the direction of the transceiver (100, 200), in particular a bandpass filter (610) or band-stop filter (611).

3. Mobile radio device (10) according to claim 2, wherein the signal preparation unit (600) has a filter arranged downstream of the amplifier (620), viewed in the signal flow direction, in particular a bandpass filter (630) or a band-stop filter (631).

4. Mobile radio device (10) according to claim 3, wherein the filter arranged upstream of the amplifier (620) and the filter arranged downstream of the amplifier (620) are constructed in the same way or are the same at least in respect of the frequency band, the frequencies of which allow the two band passes to pass or block the same.

5. Mobile radio device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate line (700) is longer than the receive lines (150, 250, 350), which are separate to the transceiver, and the antenna connecting line (510), - wherein the intermediate line (700) is preferably at least 5 times, particularly preferably at least 10 times, as long as the first and the second receive line (150, 250) which is separate to the transceiver, and / or - wherein the intermediate line (700) is preferably at least 5 times, particularly preferably at least 10 times as long as the antenna connecting line (510).

6. Mobile radio device (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein - the transmit module (SM) of the first transceiver (100) is joined exclusively via a connecting cable (110), referred to below as first connecting cable (110) in other words in particular without an interconnected bandpass, to the first transmit antenna (210) and the transmit signal of the first transceiver (100) is only influenced by the transmission properties of the first connecting cable (110) and - the transmit module (SM) of the second transceiver (200) is joined exclusively via a second connecting cable (210) to the second transmit antenna (220), in other words in particular without an interconnected bandpass, and the transmit signal of the second transceiver (200) is only influenced by the transmission properties of the second connecting cable (210).

7. Mobile radio device (10) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein - the mobile radio device (10) has a third transmit antenna (320), which is connected via a third connecting cable (310) to a transmit module (SM) of a third transceiver (300), and - the joint receive antenna (500, 501) is additionally connected to a receive module (EM) of the third transceiver (300).

8. Mobile radio device (10) according to claim 7, wherein the receive module (EM) of the third transceiver (300) is joined via a third assigned line (350) which is separate to or individual to the transceiver to a distributor unit (400) in particular the distributor unit (400) according to claim 1.

9. Mobile radio device (10) according to claim 8, wherein the intermediate line (700) is at least 5 times, particularly preferably at least 10 times, as long as the third line (350) which is separate to the transceiver.

10. Mobile radio device (10) according to one of the preceding claims 7 to 9, wherein - the transmit module (SM) of the third transceiver (300) is joined exclusively via a connecting cable (310), referred to below as third connecting cable (310), to the third transmit antenna (320) and the transmit signal of the third transceiver (300) is only influenced by the transmit properties of the third connecting cable (310) and / or - the distance between the third transmit antenna (320) and the first or second transmit antenna (120, 220) is at least 10 times as large as the distance between the first and second transmit antenna (120, 220) and / or - the distance between each of the transmit antennas (120, 220, 320) and the joint receive antenna (500, 501) is at least 10 times as large as the distance between the first and the second transmit antenna (120, 220).

11. Mobile radio device (10) according to one of the preceding claims 7 to 10, wherein the receive module (EM) of the third transceiver (100) can be switched from a first operating mode into a second operating mode and vice versa, - wherein the receive module (EM) in the first operating mode is joined to the distributor unit (400) and thus to the joint receive antenna (500, 501) and obtains receive signals (E) from the joint receive antenna (500, 501) and - wherein the receive module (EM) in the second operating mode is joined to the third transmit antenna (320) and obtains receive signals (E) from the third transmit antenna (320).

12. Vehicle, in particular rail vehicle (800), wherein the vehicle is equipped with a mobile radio device (10) according to one of the preceding claims.