Multiband MIMO repeater system with carrier aggregation function

Abstract

The repeater comprises multiple donor antennas and multiple service antennas. The repeater comprises multiple signal processing paths, each of which comprises a first transceiver coupled to at least one of the donor antennas, a second transceiver coupled to at least one of the service antennas, and a digital signal processing unit coupled to the first and second transceivers. A controller is coupled to the multiple signal processing paths. The controller is adapted to set the repeater to multiple input multiple output (MIMO) mode and carrier aggregation (CA) mode.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 448,153, filed on February 24, 2023, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0002] Multiple embodiments are directed to a repeater comprising a plurality of donor antennas and a plurality of service antennas. The repeater comprises a plurality of signal processing paths, each of the plurality of signal processing paths comprising a first transceiver coupled to at least one of the donor antennas, a second transceiver coupled to at least one of the service antennas, and a digital signal processing device coupled to the first transceiver and the second transceiver. A controller is coupled to the plurality of signal processing paths. The controller is adapted to set the repeater to a multiple - input multiple - output (MIMO) operation mode and a carrier aggregation (CA) operation mode. For example, the controller can be adapted to set the repeater to an N×N MIMO operation mode and an M CA operation mode, where N and M are positive integers greater than or equal to 2.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0003] In some embodiments, the repeater comprises a plurality of donor antennas, a plurality of service antennas, and a plurality of signal processing paths, each of which comprises a first transceiver coupled to at least one of the donor antennas, a second transceiver coupled to at least one of the service antennas, and a digital signal processing unit coupled to the first and second transceivers. A controller is coupled to the plurality of signal processing paths. The controller is adapted to use first firmware to set the repeater to MIMO operation mode and CA operation mode, use second firmware to set the repeater to MIMO operation mode without CA operation mode, and use third firmware to set the repeater to CA operation mode without MIMO operation mode.

[0004] The above summary is not intended to describe any embodiment or implementation disclosed in this disclosure. The following drawings and detailed description illustrate, in particular, exemplary embodiments. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0005] Refer to the attached drawings in the specification.

[0006] [Figure 1A] Figure 1A is a block diagram of a repeater system according to various embodiments. [Figure 1B] Figure 1B is a block diagram of the transmitter (TX) chain of the transceiver (e.g., TRX1) shown in Figure 1A. [Figure 1C] Figure 1C is a block diagram of the receiver (RX) chain of the transceiver (e.g., TRX1) shown in Figure 1A. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a MIMO repeater system according to various embodiments. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a repeater system adapted to achieve carrier aggregation in various embodiments. [Figure 4]Figure 4 is a block diagram of a MIMO repeater system adapted to achieve carrier aggregation in various embodiments. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a MIMO repeater system adapted to achieve carrier aggregation in various embodiments. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a block diagram showing the repeater system shown in Figure 5 reconfigured to operate as a MIMO repeater using different firmware without modifying the circuitry in various embodiments. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a block diagram showing how the repeater system shown in Figure 5 can be reconfigured to operate as a repeater that enables carrier aggregation, using different firmware without modifying the circuitry in various embodiments.

[0007] The dimensions shown are not necessarily to scale. The numbers shown refer to the corresponding parts. However, please understand that using a number to refer to a part in a particular drawing does not necessarily limit the parts in other drawings that share the same number. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] The embodiments of this disclosure, while covering various embodiments of a multiband MIMO repeater system with carrier aggregation capabilities, cover digital repeaters having a multitransceiver. The advantage of a multitransceiver includes the ability to configure the digital repeater to operate in different modes by changing firmware without modifying the repeater's circuitry (e.g., hardware components). For example, a repeater can be configured to achieve a MIMO operating mode with carrier aggregation, a MIMO operating mode without carrier aggregation, or a carrier aggregation operating mode without MIMO operation by running different firmware for each of the different operating modes. The flexibility and reconfigurability of the repeater's multitransceiver provide multiple options for meeting the requirements of different carriers.

[0009] Embodiments of this disclosure are defined in the claims. However, the following provides a non-exclusive list of non-exclusive examples. One or more of these exemplary features may be combined with any one or more features of other examples, embodiments, or aspects described herein.

[0010] It is a digital repeater, Multiple donor antennas, Example 1. Multiple service antennas and A plurality of signal processing paths, each of which comprises a first transceiver coupled to at least one of the donor antennas, a second transceiver coupled to at least one of the service antennas, and a digital signal processing device coupled to the first transceiver and the second transceiver, A controller coupled to the aforementioned plurality of signal processing paths, which is adapted to set the repeater to multi-input multi-output (MIMO) operation mode and carrier aggregation (CA) operation mode, A digital repeater equipped with [feature name].

[0011] Example 2. The repeater as in Example 1, wherein the controller is adapted to set the repeater to N×NMIMO operation mode and MCA operation mode, where N and M are positive integers of 2 or more.

[0012] Example 3. The repeater according to Example 1, wherein the controller is adapted to set the repeater to 2x2 MIMO operation mode and 2CA operation mode.

[0013] Example 4. The repeater according to Example 1, wherein the donor antenna and the service antenna are broadband antennas configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals having at least a first frequency and a second frequency.

[0014] Example 5. The repeater according to Example 4, wherein each of the broadband antennas is switchably coupled to at least two of the signal processing paths via a combiner / multiplexer.

[0015] Example 6. At least a first set of the donor antenna and the service antenna is a narrowband antenna configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals of a first frequency. The repeater according to Example 1, wherein at least a second set of the donor antenna and the service antenna is a narrowband antenna configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals of a second frequency.

[0016] Example 7. The repeater according to Example 1, wherein each of the signal processing paths is configured to process radio frequency signals having a unique combination of frequency and diversity relative to the other signal processing paths.

[0017] Example 8. The first signal processing path is configured to process radio frequency (RF) signals having a first frequency and a first diversity. The second signal processing path is configured to process the RF signal having the first frequency and the second diversity. The third signal processing path is configured to process an RF signal having the second frequency and the first diversity, The fourth signal processing path is configured to process an RF signal having the second frequency and the second diversity, the repeater according to Example 1.

[0018] Example 9. The controller is configured to set the repeater to a MIMO operation mode and a CA operation mode using a first firmware, The controller is configured to set the repeater to the MIMO operation mode without the CA operation mode using a second firmware, the repeater according to Example 1.

[0019] Example 10. The controller is configured to set the repeater to a 2×2 MIMO operation mode and a 2CA operation mode using a first firmware, The controller is configured to set the repeater to a 4×4 MIMO operation mode without the CA operation mode using a second firmware, the repeater according to Example 1.

[0020] Example 11. The controller is configured to set the repeater to a MIMO operation mode and a CA operation mode using a first firmware, The controller is configured to set the repeater to the CA operation mode without the MIMO operation mode using a third firmware, the repeater according to Example 1.

[0021] Example 12. The controller is configured to set the repeater to a 2×2 MIMO operation mode and a 2CA operation mode using a first firmware, The controller is configured to set the repeater to a 4×4 CA operation mode without the MIMO operation mode using a third firmware, the repeater according to Example 1.

[0022] Example 13. A digital repeater, Multiple donor antennas, Multiple service antennas, A plurality of signal processing paths, each of which comprises a first transceiver coupled to at least one of the donor antennas, a second transceiver coupled to at least one of the service antennas, and a digital signal processing device coupled to the first transceiver and the second transceiver, A controller coupled to the plurality of signal processing paths, The first firmware is used to set the repeater to multi-input multi-output (MIMO) operation mode and carrier aggregation (CA) operation mode. The second firmware is used to set the repeater to the MIMO operation mode without the CA operation mode, A controller that uses a third firmware to adapt the repeater to the CA operation mode without the MIMO operation mode, A digital repeater equipped with [feature name].

[0023] Example 14. The controller is, The repeater is set to N×NMIMO operation mode and MCA operation mode using the first firmware described above. Using the second firmware, the repeater is set to a 2N x 2N MIMO operation mode without the CA operation mode. The repeater according to Example 13, adapted to use the third firmware to set the repeater to a 2M × 2MCA operating mode without the MIMO operating mode, where N and M are positive integers of 2 or more.

[0024] Example 15. The controller is, The repeater is set to 2x2 MIMO operation mode and 2 CA operation mode using the first firmware described above. Using the second firmware, the repeater is set to a 4x4 MIMO operation mode without the CA operation mode. The repeater according to Example 13, which is adapted to set the repeater to a 4x4CA operating mode without the MIMO operating mode using the third firmware.

[0025] Example 16. The repeater according to Example 13, wherein the donor antenna and the service antenna are broadband antennas configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals having at least a first frequency and a second frequency.

[0026] Example 17. The repeater according to Example 16, wherein each of the broadband antennas is switchably coupled to at least two of the signal processing paths via a combiner / multiplexer.

[0027] Example 18. At least a first set of the donor antenna and the service antenna is a narrowband antenna configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals of a first frequency. The repeater according to Example 13, wherein at least a second set of the donor antenna and the service antenna is a narrowband antenna configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals of a second frequency.

[0028] Figure 1A is a block diagram of a repeater system according to various embodiments. The repeater system 100a shown in Figure 1 has a donor antenna 102 and a service antenna 104, and each of the donor antenna 102 and the service antenna 104 is coupled to a signal processing path 110. The signal processing path 110 has a first transceiver TRX1 coupled to the donor antenna 102 and a second transceiver TRX2 coupled to the service antenna 104. A digital signal processing unit (DSP) is coupled to the first transceiver TRX1 and the second transceiver TRX2.

[0029] Figure 1B is a block diagram of the transmitter (TX) chain 140 of the transceiver (e.g., TRX1) shown in Figure 1A. The transmitter chain 140 has a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 142 coupled to a filter 144. The filter 144 can be a low-pass filter, a band-pass filter, or a high-pass filter. The filter 144 is coupled to an upconverter 146, which is coupled to a power amplifier (PA) 148. It is understood that the sequence of components shown in Figure 1B can differ from that illustrated. For example, the filter 144 can be placed before or after the upconverter 146.

[0030] Figure 1C is a block diagram of the receiver (RX) chain 150 of the transceiver (e.g., TRX1) shown in Figure 1A. The receiver chain 150 has a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 152 coupled to a downconverter 154. The downconverter 154 is coupled to a filter 156, which is coupled to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 158. The filter 154 can be a low-pass filter, a band-pass filter, or a high-pass filter. It is understood that the sequence of components shown in Figure 1C can differ from that illustrated. For example, the filter 156 can be placed before or after the downconverter 154.

[0031] In some embodiments, TRX1 and TRX2 can be implemented as dual radio frequency (RF) transceivers with dual differential transmitters and dual differential receivers. In some embodiments, TRX1 and TRX2 can support a receive bandwidth of up to 100 MHz. Suitable RF transceivers for implementing TRX1 and TRX2 include the ADRV9002, ADRV9004, ADRV9026, AD9361, and AD9371 available from Analog Devices, the DW1000 available from Qorvo, and the LMS7002M available from Lime Microsystems. The DSP may include, for example, one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other processing units configured to interpret and / or execute program instructions or process data. The core components of the repeater system shown in Figures 1A to 1C (e.g., TRX1-DSP-TRX2) are incorporated into other embodiments of this disclosure and may have the same configuration as described above or a different configuration.

[0032] Figure 2 is a block diagram of MIMO repeater system 100b incorporating the core components of the repeater system shown in Figure 1A. Figure 2 shows a 2x2 MIMO repeater system 100b comprising two donor antennas 102a, 102b and two service antennas 104a, 104b. A first signal processing path 110a is coupled to the donor antenna 102a and the service antenna 104a. The first processing path 110a is configured to process RF signals having a first frequency (Freq-1) and a first diversity (Div-A). The term "diversity" may include polarization diversity and / or spatial diversity. A second signal processing path 110b is coupled to the donor antenna 102b and the service antenna 104b. The second processing path 110b is configured to process RF signals having a frequency (Freq-1) and a diversity (Div-B). The core components of the MIMO repeater system shown in Figure 2 (e.g., a redundant set of TRX1-DSP-TRX2) are incorporated into other embodiments of this disclosure and may have the same configuration as or different from the configuration described above.

[0033] Figure 3 is a block diagram of a repeater system adapted to implement carrier aggregation in various embodiments. There are various forms of carrier aggregation, including intraband adjacent CA, intraband non-adjacent CA, and interband CA (as defined, for example, in the LTE-Advanced standard of 3GPP® Release 10). In intraband adjacent CA, the aggregated component carriers (CCs) are in the same frequency band and adjacent to each other, forming a continuous frequency block. In intraband non-adjacent CA, the aggregated CCs are in the same frequency band but are not adjacent to each other. In interband CA, the aggregated CCs are in different frequency bands. The maximum number of CCs and the maximum bandwidth are usually limited by the applicable standard. For example, in the 3GPP® Release-10 standard of LTE-Advanced, it is possible to assign up to five CCs to a wireless communication device such as repeater system 100c at any given time. The size of the CCs can vary from 1.4 MHz to 20 MHz, which results in a maximum bandwidth of 100 MHz that can be assigned to the wireless communication device in the downlink / uplink.

[0034] In the embodiment shown in Figure 3, the repeater system 100c is configured to achieve carrier aggregation using two component carriers. The repeater system 100c includes a broadband donor antenna 102 and a broadband service antenna 104 for receiving and transmitting RF signals having a first frequency (Freq-1) and RF signals having a second frequency (Freq-2). In this exemplary example, the RF signals have the same diversity (Div-A). A first combiner / multiplexer 120 is coupled to the donor antenna 102, and a second combiner / multiplexer 124 is coupled to the service antenna 104. The first combiner / multiplexer 120 and the second combiner / multiplexer 124 are configured to distribute the RF signal having the first frequency (Freq-1) to a signal processing path 110a and the RF signal having the second frequency (Freq-2) to a signal processing path 110b. The first combiner / multiplexer 120 and the second combiner / multiplexer 124 are also configured to combine RF signals transmitted along signal processing paths 110a and 110b for transmission by the donor antenna 102 and the service antenna 104. The core components of the repeater system shown in Figure 3 (e.g., a redundant set of TRX1-DSP-TRX2) are incorporated into other embodiments of the present disclosure and may have the same configuration as or different from the configuration described above.

[0035] Note that the transceivers TRX1 and TRX2 of different signal processing paths 110a and 110b are represented by superscripts (1 or 2) to indicate that their configurations can be identical or different. For example, TRX1(1) of signal processing path 110a may have the same LO frequency as TRX1(2) of signal processing path 110b, or it may have a different LO frequency than TRX1(2) of signal processing path 110b. Also note that the transceivers TRX1 and TRX2 of different signal processing paths shown in Figures 4, 5, and 7 are represented by superscripts (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4) to indicate that their configurations can be identical or different.

[0036] Figure 4 is a block diagram of a MIMO repeater system adapted to achieve carrier aggregation in various embodiments. In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the repeater system 100d has a 2x2 MIMO repeater configured to achieve carrier aggregation using two component carriers (2CA). The repeater system 100d has broadband donor antennas 102a, 102b and broadband service antennas 104a, 104b that receive and transmit RF signals having a first frequency (Freq-1) and an RF signal having a second frequency (Freq-2). In this embodiment, the donor antenna 102a and service antenna 104a receive and transmit RF signals having a first frequency (Freq-1) and a first diversity (Div-A). The donor antenna 102b and service antenna 104b receive and transmit RF signals having a second frequency (Freq-2) and a second diversity (Div-B).

[0037] The first combiner / multiplexer 120a is coupled to the donor antenna 102a, and the second combiner / multiplexer 124a is coupled to the service antenna 104a. The first combiner / multiplexer 120a and the second combiner / multiplexer 124a are configured to distribute RF signals having a first frequency (Freq-1) and a first diversity (Div-A) to the signal processing path 110a, and to distribute RF signals having a second frequency (Freq-2) and a first diversity (Div-A) to the signal processing path 110b. The first combiner / multiplexer 120a and the second combiner / multiplexer 124a are also configured to combine RF signals transmitted along the signal processing paths 110a and 110b for transmission by the donor antenna 102a and the service antenna 104a.

[0038] A third combiner / multiplexer 120b is connected to a donor antenna 102b, and a fourth combiner / multiplexer 124b is connected to a service antenna 104b. The third and fourth combiners / multiplexers 120b and 124b are configured to distribute RF signals having a first frequency (Freq-1) and a second diversity (Div-B) to a signal processing path 110c, and to distribute RF signals having a second frequency (Freq-2) and a second diversity (Div-B) to a signal processing path 110d. The third and fourth combiners / multiplexers 120b and 124b are also configured to combine RF signals transmitted along signal processing paths 110c and 110d for transmission by the donor antenna 102b and the service antenna 104b.

[0039] The controller 130 is coupled to the signal processing paths 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d. The controller 130 is adapted to set the repeater 100d to MIMO operation mode and carrier aggregation operation mode. In the exemplary example shown in Figure 4, the controller 130 is adapted to set the repeater 100d to 2x2 MIMO operation mode and 2CA operation mode.

[0040] Figure 5 is a block diagram of a MIMO repeater system adapted to achieve carrier aggregation in various embodiments. In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the repeater system 100e has a 2x2 MIMO repeater configured to achieve carrier aggregation using two component carriers (2CA). The core components of the repeater 100e shown in Figure 5 (e.g., a redundant set of TRX1-DSP-TRX2) are the same as those shown in Figure 4. The repeater 100e shown in Figure 5 operates similarly to the repeater 100d shown in Figure 4. In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the repeater 100e has twice the number of antennas as the repeater 100d shown in Figure 4. As shown in Figure 5, each of the signal processing paths 110a, 110b, 110c, and 100d is coupled to one donor antenna and one service antenna. In particular, signal processing path 110a is coupled to donor antenna 102a and service antenna 104a, signal processing path 110b is coupled to donor antenna 102b and service antenna 104b, signal processing path 110c is coupled to donor antenna 102c and service antenna 104c, and signal processing path 110d is coupled to donor antenna 102d and service antenna 104d. In some embodiments, as in the case of repeater 100d shown in Figure 4, it may be more cost-effective to share antennas (e.g., wideband antennas) between individual signal processing paths by incorporating combiner / multiplexer components as shown in Figure 4.

[0041] As described above, the multi-transceiver architecture disclosed herein provides the ability to operate digital repeaters in different modes by changing the firmware without requiring any modification of the repeater's circuitry. In particular, digital repeaters can be operated in different modes without changing the core components of the repeater (e.g., a redundant set of TRX1-DSP-TRX2). For example, by having the controller 130 incorporate and run different firmware for each of the different operating modes, the digital repeater can be configured to achieve MIMO operating modes with carrier aggregation (e.g., as shown in Figures 4 and 5), MIMO operating modes without carrier aggregation (e.g., as shown in Figure 6), or operating modes with carrier aggregation but without MIMO operating modes (e.g., as shown in Figure 7).

[0042] In the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the controller 130 is adapted to set the repeater 100e to 2x2 MIMO operation mode and 2CA operation mode using a first firmware. In the embodiment shown in Figure 6, the repeater 100e has the same core components (e.g., a redundant set of TRX1-DSP-TRX2) and the same antenna configuration as shown in Figure 5. In Figure 6, the controller 130 is adapted to set the repeater 100e to MIMO operation mode without CA operation mode using a second firmware. In particular, the controller 130 is adapted to set the repeater 100e to 4x4 MIMO operation mode without CA operation mode using the second firmware. In the embodiment shown in Figure 7, the repeater 100e has the same core components (e.g., a redundant set of TRX1-DSP-TRX2) and the same antenna configuration as shown in Figures 5 and 6. In Figure 7, the controller 130 is adapted to set the repeater 100e to CA operation mode without MIMO operation mode using a third firmware. In particular, the controller 130 is adapted to use a third firmware to set the repeater 100e to a 4x4CA operating mode without MIMO operation mode.

[0043] While this specification acknowledges that the accompanying set of drawings constitutes part of this specification, at least a person skilled in the art will understand that various adaptations and modifications to the embodiments described herein are within the scope of this specification or do not deviate from it. For example, each element of the embodiments described herein can be combined with one another in various ways. Therefore, it should be understood that within the scope of the claims, embodiments of the claims may be carried out in ways other than those expressly described herein. For example, the docking system may be installed on a surface other than the roof of the vehicle (e.g., the trunk).

[0044] All documents and publications cited or referenced herein are expressly incorporated herein in their entirety unless they directly conflict with this specification. Unless otherwise stated, numerical values ​​representing the size, quantity and physical properties of features used in the specification and claims should be understood to be modified by the terms “exactly” or “translation.” Accordingly, unless otherwise stated, the numerical parameters specified in the above specification and appended claims are approximations that may vary depending on the properties required by a person skilled in the art applying the teachings disclosed herein, and are, for example, within the typical range of experimental error.

[0045] A numerical range specified by its endpoints includes all numbers within that range and any range within that range (for example, 1 to 5 includes 1, 1.5, 2, 2.75, 3, 3.80, 4, and 5). In this specification, expressions such as “up to” or “not exceeding” (for example, up to 50) include the number (for example, 50), and expressions such as “not less than” (for example, not less than 5) include the number (for example, 5).

[0046] The terms “combined” or “connected” refer to elements being connected to each other directly (in direct contact) or indirectly (connected between two elements via one or more elements). These terms may be modified with the modifiers “operable” or “operable,” which are used interchangeably and to describe how the combination or connection is configured so that components can interact to perform at least some function (for example, a radio chip may be operablely combined with an antenna element to provide radio frequency electrical signals for wireless communication).

[0047] Directional terms such as “top,” “bottom,” “side,” and “end” are used to describe the relative position of a part and are not intended to limit the orientation of the embodiment. For example, embodiments described as having “top” and “bottom” also include embodiments rotated in various directions unless explicitly stated otherwise in the text.

[0048] Expressions such as "one embodiment," "embodiment," "specific embodiment," and "several embodiments" mean that a particular function, configuration, composition, or characteristic described in relation to an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosed invention. Therefore, the appearance of such expressions in various parts of the document does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Furthermore, specific functions, configurations, compositions, or characteristics may be combined in an appropriate manner in one or more embodiments.

[0049] The words “preferred” and “preferably” refer to embodiments of this specification that may provide particular advantages under specific circumstances. However, other embodiments may also be preferred under the same or different circumstances. Furthermore, the description of one or more preferred embodiments does not mean that other embodiments are not useful, nor is it intended to exclude other embodiments from the scope of this specification.

[0050] In this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include examples that include plural subjects unless the context explicitly states otherwise. In this specification and the appended claims, the term “or” is used in a sense that generally includes “and / or” unless the context explicitly states otherwise.

[0051] In this specification, “have,” “possess,” “include,” “include,” “equip,” “equip,” or similar expressions are used in their open sense and generally mean “include but not limited to.” “Essentially constitute,” “constitute,” and similar expressions are understood to be included in “equip,” and similar expressions. The term “and / or” means one or all of the enumerated elements or at least two of the enumerated elements.

[0052] When expressions such as "at least one of," "including at least one," or "one or more of" are followed by a list, they refer to any item in that list, as well as any combination of two or more items in that list.

Claims

1. It is a digital repeater, Multiple donor antennas, Multiple service antennas, A plurality of signal processing paths, each of which comprises a first transceiver coupled to at least one of the donor antennas, a second transceiver coupled to at least one of the service antennas, and a digital signal processing device coupled to the first transceiver and the second transceiver, A controller coupled to the aforementioned plurality of signal processing paths, which is adapted to set the repeater to multi-input multi-output (MIMO) operation mode and carrier aggregation (CA) operation mode, A digital repeater equipped with [feature name].

2. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to set the repeater to N×NMIMO operation mode and MCA operation mode, and N and M are positive integers of 2 or more.

3. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the controller is adapted to set the repeater to a 2x2 MIMO operating mode and a 2CA operating mode.

4. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the donor antenna and the service antenna are broadband antennas configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals having at least a first frequency and a second frequency.

5. The repeater according to claim 4, wherein each of the broadband antennas is switchably coupled to at least two of the signal processing paths via a combiner / multiplexer.

6. At least a first set of the donor antenna and the service antenna is a narrowband antenna configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals of a first frequency. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein at least a second set of the donor antenna and the service antenna is a narrowband antenna configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals of a second frequency.

7. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein each of the signal processing paths is configured to process radio frequency signals having a unique combination of frequency and diversity relative to the other signal processing paths.

8. The first signal processing path is configured to process radio frequency (RF) signals having a first frequency and a first diversity. The second signal processing path is configured to process the RF signal having the first frequency and the second diversity. The third signal processing path is configured to process the RF signal having the second frequency and the first diversity, The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the fourth signal processing path is configured to process the RF signal having the second frequency and the second diversity.

9. The controller is configured to use a first firmware to set the repeater to MIMO operation mode and CA operation mode. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to set the repeater to the MIMO operation mode without the CA operation mode using a second firmware.

10. The controller is configured to use the first firmware to set the repeater to 2x2 MIMO operation mode and 2CA operation mode. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to set the repeater to a 4x4 MIMO operation mode without CA operation mode using a second firmware.

11. The controller is configured to set the repeater to MIMO operation mode and CA operation mode using the first firmware. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to set the repeater to the CA operation mode without the MIMO operation mode using a third firmware.

12. The controller is configured to use a first firmware to set the repeater to 2x2 MIMO operation mode and 2CA operation mode. The repeater according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to set the repeater to a 4x4CA operation mode without MIMO operation mode using a third firmware.

13. It is a digital repeater, Multiple donor antennas, Multiple service antennas, A plurality of signal processing paths, each of which comprises a first transceiver coupled to at least one of the donor antennas, a second transceiver coupled to at least one of the service antennas, and a digital signal processing device coupled to the first transceiver and the second transceiver, A controller coupled to the plurality of signal processing paths, The first firmware is used to set the repeater to multi-input multi-output (MIMO) operation mode and carrier aggregation (CA) operation mode. Using the second firmware, the repeater is set to the MIMO operation mode without the CA operation mode. A controller that uses a third firmware to configure the repeater to the CA operation mode without the MIMO operation mode, A digital repeater equipped with [feature name].

14. The aforementioned controller, The repeater is set to N×NMIMO operation mode and MCA operation mode using the first firmware described above. Using the second firmware described above, the repeater is set to a 2N x 2N MIMO operation mode without the CA operation mode, The repeater according to claim 13, wherein the third firmware is adapted to set the repeater to a 2M x 2MCA operating mode without the MIMO operating mode, and N and M are positive integers of 2 or more.

15. The aforementioned controller, The repeater is set to 2x2 MIMO operation mode and 2CA operation mode using the first firmware described above. Using the second firmware, the repeater is set to a 4x4 MIMO operation mode without the CA operation mode. The repeater according to claim 13, wherein the repeater is adapted to use the third firmware to set the repeater to a 4x4CA operating mode without the MIMO operating mode.

16. The repeater according to claim 13, wherein the donor antenna and the service antenna are broadband antennas configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals having at least a first frequency and a second frequency.

17. The repeater according to claim 16, wherein each of the broadband antennas is switchably coupled to at least two of the signal processing paths via a combiner / multiplexer.

18. At least a first set of the donor antenna and the service antenna is a narrowband antenna configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals of a first frequency. The repeater according to claim 13, wherein at least a second set of the donor antenna and the service antenna is a narrowband antenna configured to receive radio frequency (RF) signals of a second frequency.

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