Distributed antenna system with managed connectivity

Abstract

One embodiment is directed to a digital antenna system (DAS). The DAS comprises a host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit. The host unit is configured to communicate a downstream transport signal from the host unit to the remote antenna unit. The remote antenna unit is configured to use the downstream transport signal to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit. The DAS is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit. Other embodiments are directed to a host-to-host network.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A digital antenna system (DAS) comprising:
 a host unit; and   at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit;   wherein the host unit is configured to communicate a downstream transport signal from the host unit to the remote antenna unit;   wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to use the downstream transport signal to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit;   wherein the DAS is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.   
     
     
         2 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the host unit is configured to work with remote antenna units from multiple vendors. 
     
     
         3 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the remote antenna unit comprises an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and
 wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.   
     
     
         4 . The DAS of  claim 3 , wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. 
     
     
         5 . The DAS of  claim 4 , wherein an out-of-band channel is provided between the host unit and the remote antenna unit over which the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate with the PLM aggregation point. 
     
     
         6 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication process is performed by at least one of: the host unit and an entity external to the DAS. 
     
     
         7 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication process comprises determining if the remote antenna unit read predetermined information from the at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. 
     
     
         8 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication process comprises:
 receiving a first authentication code from the remote antenna unit;   generating a second authentication code; and   comparing the first authentication code to the second authentication code.   
     
     
         9 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the authentication process comprises:
 receiving an authentication code from the remote antenna unit;   decrypting the authentication using a key to generate plain text; and   determining if the plain text includes predetermined information.   
     
     
         10 . The DAS of  claim 9 , wherein the predetermined information comprises at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. 
     
     
         11 . The DAS of  claim 10 , wherein the authentication process further comprises:
 receiving at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit by at least one of the remote antenna unit and a device other than the remote antenna unit.   
     
     
         12 . The DAS of  claim 11 , wherein the device other than the remote antenna unit comprises at least one of: the host unit, an expansion hub, and a patch panel. 
     
     
         13 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the host unit is communicatively coupled to the remote antenna unit using at least one intermediary device. 
     
     
         14 . The DAS of  claim 13 , wherein the intermediary device comprises an expansion hub. 
     
     
         15 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate an upstream transport signal from an upstream radio frequency signal received via at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit;
 wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate the upstream transport signal from the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and   wherein the host unit is configured to use the upstream transport signal to generate a upstream signal that is provided by the host unit to at least one base-station related node.   
     
     
         16 . The DAS of  claim 15 , wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate the upstream transport signal by doing at least one of:
 down-converting a signal derived from the upstream radio frequency signal; and   performing an analog-to-digital conversion (A/D) process on a signal derived from the upstream radio frequency signal.   
     
     
         17 . The DAS of  claim 15 , wherein the host unit is configured to do at least one of the following in connection with generating the upstream signal from the upstream transport signal: performing a digital-to-analog conversion on a signal derived from the upstream transport signal; and upconverting a signal derived from the upstream transport signal. 
     
     
         18 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the host unit is coupled to a base-station related node. 
     
     
         19 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the base-station related node comprises at least one of a base station, a radio access controller, and a base station controller. 
     
     
         20 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the host unit is configured to receive downstream radio frequency signal from a base station and to generate the downstream transport signal from the downstream radio frequency signal. 
     
     
         21 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the host unit is configured to receive digital downstream baseband data from a base station related node and to generate the downstream transport signal from the digital downstream baseband data. 
     
     
         22 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein DAS comprises at least one of an analog DAS and a digital DAS. 
     
     
         23 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the host unit is configured to generate the downstream transport signal by doing at least one of: generating digital downstream baseband data using a base band module or a base station module included in the host unit; performing an analog-to-digital conversion on a signal derived from the downstream signal; and frequency shifting a signal derived from the downstream signal. 
     
     
         24 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to do at least one of the following in connection with generating the downstream radio frequency signal from the downstream transport signal: performing a digital-to-analog conversion on a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; up-converting a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; a filtering a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; and amplifying a signal derived from the downstream transport signal. 
     
     
         25 . The DAS of  claim 1 , further comprising an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit; and
 wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit is used in the authentication process.   
     
     
         26 . The DAS of  claim 25 , wherein the host unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit. 
     
     
         27 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the DAS is configured to enable full operation of an expansion unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein full operation of the expansion unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is coupled to the host unit via the expansion unit. 
     
     
         28 . The DAS of  claim 1 , wherein the DAS is configured to enable full operation of the host unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein full operation of the host unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the host unit. 
     
     
         29 . A remote antenna unit for use in a distributed antenna (DAS) comprising the remote antenna unit and a host unit, the remote antenna unit comprising:
 a port to attach at least one cable that is used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit;   wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit from a downstream transport signal received at the remote antenna unit from the host unit; and   wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate information used in an authentication process that is used to determine whether to enable operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS.   
     
     
         30 . The remote antenna unit of  claim 29 , further comprising at least one programmable processor configured to execute software. 
     
     
         31 . The remote antenna unit of  claim 29 , further comprising an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and
 wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.   
     
     
         32 . The remote antenna unit of  claim 31 , wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. 
     
     
         33 . The remote antenna unit of  claim 32 , wherein an out-of-band channel is provided between the host unit and the remote antenna unit over which the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate with the PLM aggregation point. 
     
     
         34 . The remote antenna unit of  claim 29 , wherein the remote antenna unit generates the downstream radio frequency signal from the downstream transport signal by doing at least one of:
 performing a digital-to-analog process on a signal derived from the downstream transport signal;   upconverting a signal derived from the downstream transport signal;   filtering a signal derived from the downstream transport signal; and   amplifying a signal derived from the downstream transport signal.   
     
     
         35 . The remote antenna unit of  claim 29 , wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate an upstream transport signal from an upstream radio frequency signal received via at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit;
 wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate the upstream transport signal from the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and   wherein the host unit is configured to use the upstream transport signal to generate a upstream signal that is provided by the host unit to at least one base-station related node.   
     
     
         36 . A host unit for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) comprising the host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit and that is communicatively coupled to the host unit, the host unit comprising:
 an interface to communicatively couple the host unit the remote antenna unit; and   wherein the host unit is configured to generate a downstream transport signal, wherein the downstream transport signal is communicated from the host unit to the remote antenna unit for use by the remote antenna unit in generating a downstream radio frequency signal for radiation from an antenna associated with the remote antenna unit;   wherein the host unit is configured to enable full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if an authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.   
     
     
         37 . The host unit of  claim 36 , wherein the host unit is configured to work with remote antenna units from multiple vendors. 
     
     
         38 . The host unit of  claim 36 , wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and
 wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.   
     
     
         39 . The host unit of  claim 38 , wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. 
     
     
         40 . The host unit of  claim 39 , wherein an out-of-band channel is provided between the host unit and the remote antenna unit over which the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate with the PLM aggregation point. 
     
     
         41 . The host unit of  claim 36 , further comprising at least one programmable processor configured to execute software. 
     
     
         42 . The host unit of  claim 36 , further comprising an interface to read physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit; and
 wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit is used in the authentication process.   
     
     
         43 . The host unit of  claim 42 , wherein the host unit is configured to communicate, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the host unit to the remote antenna unit. 
     
     
         44 . The host unit of  claim 36 , wherein the host unit is configured to generate the downstream transport signal by doing at least one of:
 generating digital downstream baseband data using a base band module or a base station module included in the host unit;   performing an analog-to-digital conversion on a signal derived from the downstream signal; and   frequency shifting a signal derived from the downstream signal.   
     
     
         45 . The host unit of  claim 36 , wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to generate an upstream transport signal from an upstream radio frequency signal received via at least one antenna associated with the remote antenna unit;
 wherein the remote antenna unit is configured to communicate the upstream transport signal from the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and   wherein the host unit is configured to use the upstream transport signal to generate a upstream signal that is provided by the host unit to at least one base-station related node.   
     
     
         46 . A method for use in a digital antenna system (DAS) that comprises a host unit and at least one remote antenna unit located remotely from the host unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is communicatively coupled to the host unit, the method comprising:
 performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit; and   enabling full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.   
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising using reading physical layer management (PLM) information from at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit; and
 wherein at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit is used in the authentication process.   
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 47 , further comprising communicating, to a PLM aggregation point, at least some of the PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. 
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein the authentication process is performed by at least one of: the host unit and an entity external to the DAS. 
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein the authentication process comprises determining if the remote antenna unit read predetermined information from the at least one cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein the authentication process comprises:
 receiving a first authentication code from the remote antenna unit;   generating a second authentication code; and   comparing the first authentication code to the second authentication code.   
     
     
         52 . The method of  claim 46 , wherein the authentication process comprises:
 receiving an authentication code from the remote antenna unit;   decrypting the authentication using a key to generate plain text; and   determining if the plain text includes predetermined information.   
     
     
         53 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein the predetermined information comprises at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit. 
     
     
         54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein the authentication process further comprises:
 receiving at least some PLM information read from the cable used to communicatively couple the remote antenna unit to the host unit by at least one of the remote antenna unit and a device other than the remote antenna unit;   performing an authentication process related to the remote antenna unit; and   enabling full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit, wherein full operation of the remote antenna unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the remote antenna unit.   
     
     
         55 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising
 performing an authentication process related to an expansion unit; and   enabling full operation of the expansion unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein full operation of the expansion unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the expansion unit, wherein the remote antenna unit is coupled to the host unit via the expansion unit.   
     
     
         56 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising
 performing an authentication process related to the host unit; and   enabling full operation of the host unit in the DAS if the authentication process has been successfully performed for the host unit, wherein full operation of the host unit in the DAS is not enabled if the authentication process has not been successfully performed for the host unit.   
     
     
         57 . A host-to-host network comprising:
 a plurality of first host units located at a first end, each of the plurality of first host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals;   a plurality of second host units located at a second end, each of the plurality of second host units is configured to output a plurality of optical output signals and receive a plurality of optical input signals;   a first optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the first host units and output a corresponding first combined optical output over a first optical fiber;   a second optical wavelength division multiplexer configured to receive the first combined optical output from the first fiber and demultiplex the optical output signals and provide them as the optical input signals for the second host units;   wherein the second optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to combine the optical outputs signals of the second host units and output a corresponding second combined optical output over a second optical fiber; and   wherein the first optical wavelength division multiplexer is configured to receive the second combined optical output form the second fiber and demultiplex the optical output signals and provide them as the optical input signals for the first host units.   
     
     
         58 . The network of  claim 57 , wherein each of the first host units and second host unit includes a respective plurality of multiplexer/serializer units and a plurality of demultiplexer/deserializer units. 
     
     
         59 . The network of  claim 57 , wherein each of the first host units and second host units includes a respective plurality of analog-to-digital converters and a respective plurality of digital-to-analog converters. 
     
     
         60 . The network of  claim 57 , wherein each of the first host units and second host units includes a respective plurality of converters for converting digital baseband unit data to a different digital data format. 
     
     
         61 . The network of  claim 57 , wherein the digital baseband unit data comprises one of CPRI baseband data and OBSAI baseband data.