Uplink Noise Floor Reduction in Distributed Communications Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
In distributed communications systems (DCS), the accumulation of noise from multiple remote units degrades the sensitivity of base station receivers, leading to reduced coverage range, spectrum efficiency, and data throughput due to the summed uplink digital communications signal having an increased noise floor.
Innovation Solution
Implementing multiple receiver circuits in a digital baseband unit (BBU) to individually receive and decode uplink digital communications signals from remote units before combining them, thereby reducing the noise floor and improving sensitivity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple remote units transmit uplink signals to a single base station receiver, then the system supports more users and higher data throughput, but the accumulated noise floor increases and receiver sensitivity degrades
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single base station receiver into multiple receiver circuits (first receiver circuit, second receiver circuit, etc.), where each receiver circuit is assigned to receive signals from specific remote units. This segmentation prevents noise accumulation because each receiver processes signals independently without summing noise from multiple remote units, thereby maintaining receiver sensitivity while supporting multiple users through parallel reception channels.
2Power
If uplink signals from multiple remote units are summed at the base station input, then signal aggregation is achieved, but the noise floor increases proportionally to the number of remote units
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of summing all uplink signals at a single receiver input, the patent segments the reception process into multiple independent receiver circuits. Each receiver circuit handles signals from specific remote units separately, avoiding the noise accumulation that occurs when signals are summed before reception. This allows signal aggregation to be achieved through parallel processing rather than sequential summation, maintaining lower noise floors.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary processing elements (multiple receiver circuits acting as intermediaries between remote units and the base station) that prevent direct summation of noisy signals. Each receiver circuit serves as an intermediary that processes signals independently before any combining occurs, thereby isolating noise contributions and preventing their cumulative effect on the overall signal quality.
Data Source
AI summary
Reducing an uplink accumulated noise floor in a distributed communications system (DCS) is disclosed. The DCS includes a number of remote units that communicate a number of uplink digital communications signals to a base station concurrently. In DCSs disclosed in certain aspects herein, a signal source, such as a digital baseband unit (BBU) for example, includes multiple receiver circuits each configured to receive and decode a respective one of the uplink digital communications signals. By individually receiving and decoding the uplink digital communications signals before combining the uplink digital communications signals, each of the receiver circuits can operate with a lowered noise floor. As a result, it is possible to improve received sensitivity of the receiver circuits, thus helping to improve coverage range, spectrum efficiency, and data throughput of the DCS.