Guided Wave Coupler for Interference Mitigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current communication networks face challenges in providing high bandwidth and efficient data transmission, especially with the increasing demand from smartphones and other portable devices, as traditional wireless infrastructure struggles to keep up with the need for higher bandwidth and reliability, particularly in small cell deployments and broadband access networks.
Innovation Solution
A guided wave communication system that utilizes electromagnetic waves bound to transmission media such as wires or dielectric materials, allowing for efficient data transmission without the need for a separate electrical return path, and can propagate along the surface or within transmission media like coaxial cables, power lines, or other conductors, using couplers to launch and extract these waves at millimeter-wave frequencies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If traditional wireless infrastructure is used to provide broadband access, then coverage area is large, but bandwidth capability is insufficient and propagation loss is high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional wireless electromagnetic wave propagation through air with guided electromagnetic wave propagation along transmission media such as wires or dielectric materials. This substitution of the transmission medium fundamentally changes the propagation mechanism, enabling signals to be confined and guided along specific paths, which reduces energy loss and increases bandwidth capability while maintaining coverage area.
2Productivity
If small cell deployment is implemented to increase bandwidth, then bandwidth capability improves, but device complexity and infrastructure requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables existing transmission infrastructure such as power lines and communication wires to serve dual purposes: their original function (power distribution or simple signaling) and guided wave transmission for high-bandwidth data communication. This multi-functionality allows small cell deployment to achieve increased bandwidth capability without proportionally increasing infrastructure complexity, as the same physical structures can carry multiple types of signals simultaneously.
3Length of stationary object
If guided wave mode is launched to reduce propagation loss, then transmission distance increases, but interference from other wave modes may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs mode-selective coupling structures that are locally optimized to excite only the desired guided wave mode (such as surface waves or hybrid modes) while suppressing unwanted modes. By designing couplers with specific geometric properties, material characteristics, and positioning relative to the transmission medium, the system achieves localized control over wave mode generation, enabling long transmission distances through guided waves while minimizing interference from other modes.
4Loss of energy
If electromagnetic waves are bound to transmission media for data transmission, then propagation loss is reduced and bandwidth increases, but the system requires specialized couplers and launchers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces specially designed coupler structures that act as intermediary devices between conventional signal sources and the guided wave transmission medium. These couplers serve as transition elements that efficiently transfer energy from standard electrical signals to guided electromagnetic waves bound to transmission media. By placing the complexity in dedicated intermediary components rather than throughout the entire system, the patent achieves reduced propagation loss and increased bandwidth while managing device complexity through functional specialization.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enables reliable and efficient data transmission with reduced propagation loss, allowing for longer distances and increased bandwidth, while also being resilient to environmental conditions like rain and fog, and can operate without the need for a traditional electrical return path, enhancing network performance and capacity.
Implementation Method 1
generating, by the waveguide system, first electromagnetic waves having a first phase, generating, by the waveguide system, second electromagnetic waves having a second phase, and directing, by the waveguide system, the first electromagnetic waves and the second electromagnetic waves to induce at an interface of a transmission medium a combined electromagnetic wave having a hybrid wave mode
Data Source
AI summary
Aspects of the subject disclosure may include, for example, a system that performs operations including detecting a signal degradation of electromagnetic waves guided by a transmission medium, and adjusting at least one phase of signal components of the electromagnetic waves to produce adjusted electromagnetic waves having a hybrid wave mode and a non-optical frequency range to mitigate the signal degradation. Other embodiments are disclosed.