Active antenna element (aae) implementation for facilitating 6lowpan data access

Abstract

A scheme for providing access to 6LoWPAN data in a wireless access network comprising a Digital Unit (DU) coupled to one or more Radio Units (RU) via CPRI links, each RU in turn coupled to one or more radio dot (RD) elements via Ethernet cable links. In one embodiment, an RD element includes a cable front-end interfaced with the Ethernet cable link, a radio front-end interfaced between the cable front-end and an antenna or a suitable access point. A sensor component may be included that is configured to generate sensor data with respect to a measurement variable, which sensor data may be packaged in a 6LoWPAN data format for transmission to the RU element coupled to the RD element.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A radio dot (RD) element operable in an access system for providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the RD element comprising:
 a cable front-end (FE) block for interfacing with an Ethernet cable link connecting to a Radio Unit (RU) element disposed in the access system;   a radio FE block coupled to the cable FE block and an antenna operative to receive and transmit radio signals for effectuating radio communications with respect to one or more user equipment (UE) devices;   a sensor component configured to generate sensor data with respect to a measurement variable;   a processor coupled to the sensor component and a modem interfacing with the cable FE block, the processor configured to facilitate packaging of the sensor data as 6LoWPAN data (“6LO data”) packets; and   a control channel repackager operative under control of the processor for repackaging the 6LO data packets to be transmitted via the modem as a control channel message in a format specified for a control channel associated with the Ethernet cable link between the RU element and the RD element.   
     
     
         2 . The RD element as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the sensor component comprises at least one or more of temperature sensors, moisture sensors, light sensors, pressure sensors, motion sensors, biological sensors, chemical sensors, and/or environmental quality sensors. 
     
     
         3 . The RD element as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the cable FE block is operative to receive signals from the RU element relative to the wireless communications in a downlink frequency band of a frequency band plan associated with the Ethernet cable link. 
     
     
         4 . The RD element as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the cable FE block is operative to transmit signals to the RU element relative to the wireless communications in an uplink frequency band of a frequency band plan associated with the Ethernet cable link. 
     
     
         5 . The RD element as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the radio communications comprise at least one of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-compliant cellular radio communications and IEEE 802.11 communications. 
     
     
         6 . A radio dot (RD) element operable in an access system for providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the RD element comprising:
 a cable front-end (FE) block for interfacing with an Ethernet cable link connecting to a Radio Unit (RU) element disposed in the access system;   a radio FE block coupled to the cable FE block and an antenna operative to receive and transmit radio signals for effectuating radio communications with respect to one or more user equipment (UE) devices;   a sensor component including a protocol stack configured to generate sensor data with respect to a measurement variable as 6LoWPAN data (“6LO data”) packets;   a processor coupled to the sensor component and a modem interfacing with the cable FE block; and   a control channel repackager operative under control of the processor for repackaging the 6LO data packets to be transmitted via the modem as a control channel message in a format specified for a control channel associated with the Ethernet cable link between the RU element and the RD element.   
     
     
         7 . The RD element as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the sensor component comprises at least one or more of temperature sensors, moisture sensors, light sensors, pressure sensors, motion sensors, biological sensors, chemical sensors, and/or environmental quality sensors. 
     
     
         8 . The RD element as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the cable FE block is operative to receive signals from the RU element relative to the radio communications in a downlink frequency band of a frequency band plan associated with the Ethernet cable link. 
     
     
         9 . The RD element as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the cable FE block is operative to transmit signals to the RU element relative to the radio communications in an uplink frequency band of a frequency band plan associated with the Ethernet cable link. 
     
     
         10 . The RD element as recited in  claim 6 , wherein the radio communications comprise at least one of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-compliant cellular radio communications and IEEE 802.11 communications. 
     
     
         11 . A radio dot (RD) element operable in an access system for providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the RD element comprising:
 a cable front-end (FE) block for interfacing with an Ethernet cable link connecting to a Radio Unit (RU) element disposed in the access system;   a radio FE block coupled to the cable FE block and an antenna operative to receive and transmit radio signals for effectuating radio communications with respect to one or more user equipment (UE) devices;   an access point (AP) configured to facilitate transmission and reception of 6LoWPAN data (“6LO data”) packets with respect to one or more 6LoWPAN-compliant devices;   a processor coupled to the AP and a modem interfacing with the cable FE block; and   a control channel repackager operative under control of the processor for repackaging the 6LO data packets received via the AP to be transmitted via the modem as a control channel message in a format specified for a control channel associated with the Ethernet cable link between the RU element and the RD element.   
     
     
         12 . The RD element as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the antenna of the radio FE block is shared by the AP. 
     
     
         13 . The RD element as recited in  claim 12 , further comprising a filter operative to separate the radio signals for effectuating radio communications with the UE devices from radio signals for effectuating the transmission and reception of 6LO data packets with respect to the 6LoWPAN-compliant devices. 
     
     
         14 . The RD element as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the AP is coupled to a separate antenna operative to effectuate the transmission and reception of 6LO data packets with respect to the 6LoWPAN-compliant devices. 
     
     
         15 . The RD element as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the cable FE block is operative to receive signals from the RU element relative to the radio communications in a downlink frequency band of a frequency band plan associated with the Ethernet cable link. 
     
     
         16 . The RD element as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the cable FE block is operative to transmit signals to the RU element relative to the radio communications in an uplink frequency band of a frequency band plan associated with the Ethernet cable link. 
     
     
         17 . The RD element as recited in  claim 11 , wherein the radio communications comprise at least one of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-compliant cellular radio communications and IEEE 802.11 communications. 
     
     
         18 . A method operating at a radio dot (RD) element disposed in an access system for providing access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the method comprising:
 obtaining source data;   determining if the source data is compliant with the 6LoWPAN format; and   if so, repackaging the 6LoWPAN-compliant source data to be transmitted as a control channel message in a format specified for a control channel associated with an Ethernet cable link between the RD element and a Radio Unit (RU) element coupled thereto and disposed in the access system.   
     
     
         19 . The method as recited in  claim 18 , further comprising:
 upon determining that the source data is not 6LoWPAN-compliant, effectuating packaging of the non-compliant source data as 6LoWPAN data (“6LO data”) packets; and   repackaging the 6LO data packets to be transmitted as the control channel message in a format specified for a control channel associated with the Ethernet cable link between the RD and RU elements.   
     
     
         20 . The method as recited in  claim 18 , further comprising:
 upon determining that the source data is not 6LoWPAN-compliant, repackaging the non-compliant source data to be transmitted as the control channel message in a format specified for a control channel associated with the Ethernet cable link between the RD and RU elements.   
     
     
         21 . The method as recited in  claim 18 , wherein the source data is obtained from a sensor component comprising at least one or more of temperature sensors, moisture sensors, light sensors, pressure sensors, motion sensors, biological sensors, chemical sensors, and/or environmental quality sensors. 
     
     
         22 . The method as recited in  claim 18 , wherein the source data is obtained via a 6LoWPAN access point (AP) configured to facilitate transmission and reception of 6LoWPAN data packets with respect to one or more 6LoWPAN-compliant devices. 
     
     
         23 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a processor of a radio dot (RD) element configured to operate in an access system, facilitate access with respect to information in Internet Protocol (IP) version 6 (IPv6) over Low Power Wireless Personal Area Network (6LoWPAN) format, the computer-readable medium comprising:
 a code portion for obtaining and processing source data;   a code portion for determining if the source data is compliant with the 6LoWPAN format; and   a code portion, responsive to determining that the source data is compliant with the 6LoWPAN format, for repackaging the 6LoWPAN-compliant source data to be transmitted as a control channel message in a format specified for a control channel associated with an Ethernet cable link between the RD element and a Radio Unit (RU) element coupled thereto and disposed in the access system.   
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in  claim 23 , further comprising:
 a code portion, responsive to determining that the source data is not 6LoWPAN-compliant, for effectuating packaging of the non-compliant source data as 6LoWPAN data (“6LO data”) packets; and   a code portion for repackaging the 6LO data packets to be transmitted as the control channel message in a format specified for a control channel associated with an Ethernet cable link between the RD and RU elements.   
     
     
         25 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in  claim 23 , further comprising:
 a code portion, responsive to determining that the source data is not 6LoWPAN-compliant, for repackaging non-compliant source data to be transmitted as the control channel message in a format specified for a control channel associated with an Ethernet cable link between the RD and RU elements.   
     
     
         26 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in  claim 23 , wherein the source data is obtained from a sensor component comprising at least one or more of temperature sensors, moisture sensors, light sensors, pressure sensors, motion sensors, biological sensors, chemical sensors, and/or environmental quality sensors. 
     
     
         27 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium as recited in  claim 23 , wherein the source data is obtained via a 6LoWPAN access point (AP) configured to facilitate transmission and reception of 6LoWPAN data (“6LO data”) packets with respect to one or more 6LoWPAN-compliant devices.