US-20260128782-A1 - MIMO FOR CPE

US20260128782A1US 20260128782 A1US20260128782 A1US 20260128782A1US-20260128782-A1

Abstract

An improved multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) solution is disclosed for customer premises equipment (CPE) in which a set of wireless interfaces (e.g., cellular and WiFi), each with a plurality of antenna ports for MIMO operation, couple to an antenna switch fabric, which is then coupled to a set of antennas. In some examples, the antennas are distributed for maximum isolation and separation in order to improve MIMO channel separation, for example in an approximately spherical arrangement. The antenna switch fabric is instructed to select the optimal antennas based on signal parameter measurements, in order to improve overall performance. Selection of uplink (transmit) versus downlink (receive) antenna sets may be independent and based on different signal parameter measurements (e.g., for frequency division duplexing, FDD).

Inventors

George Jason Schnellbacher
Zheng Fang

Assignees

T-MOBILE USA, INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20251008

Claims (20)

1 . A multiple-output (MIMO) wireless customer premises equipment (CPE) apparatus comprising: a signal routing portion comprising an application layer, a bonding layer, and a routing layer; and a radio frequency (RF) routing portion coupled to the signal routing portion via an interface layer comprising a plurality of wireless interfaces, the RF routing portion comprising an antenna switch fabric and a plurality of antennas; wherein the antenna switch fabric is coupled to each antenna port of a plurality of antenna ports of each wireless interface of the plurality of wireless interfaces, and further coupled to a plurality of antennas; and wherein the antenna switch fabric is operative to, based on at least control by each wireless interface, route RF signals between the antenna ports and corresponding selected antennas of the plurality of antennas.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each wireless interface is operative to: for each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of a wireless interface that is used for receiving, control the antenna switch fabric to select, based on at least a first signal parameter associated with at least one antenna, a receive antenna, and for each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of a wireless interface that is used for transmitting, control the antenna switch fabric to select, based on at least a second signal parameter associated with at least one antenna, a transmit antenna.
3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the selection of the transmit antenna is independent of the selection of the receive antenna.
4 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein for a first wireless interface using a common frequency for transmitting and receiving, the first signal parameter and the second signal parameter comprise a common signal parameter measured locally to the first wireless interface; and/or for a second wireless interface using different frequencies for transmitting and receiving, the first signal parameter is measured locally to the second wireless interface and the second signal parameter is measured at a distant end of an air interface.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the routing layer is operative to route data packets between the plurality of wireless interfaces and the bonding layer; wherein the bonding layer is operative to route data between the routing layer and the application layer; and wherein the application layer is operative to provide a gateway for data streams between the apparatus and a data source and/or a data destination external to the apparatus.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each wireless interface comprises at least four antenna ports.
7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein each wireless interface is operative to use at least two antenna ports simultaneously for receiving and/or use the at least two antenna ports simultaneously for transmitting.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each wireless interface comprises a modem and an RF power amplifier.
9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein at least one wireless interface comprises a cellular modem.
10 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein at least one wireless interface comprises a WiFi modem.
11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of antennas is disposed in a spherical arrangement; and wherein the plurality of antennas comprises at least 16 antennas.
12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the application layer, the bonding layer, and the routing layer are implemented using a computing device located within an arrangement of the plurality of antennas.
13 . A method of wireless communication comprising: by each of a plurality of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless interfaces of a customer premises equipment (CPE): measuring, for each antenna port of a plurality of antenna ports of a wireless interface that is used for receiving, a first signal parameter associated with at least one antenna; based on at least the first signal parameter, controlling an antenna switch fabric coupled to the plurality of antenna ports to select a receive antenna from among a plurality of antennas; determining, by each of the plurality of wireless interfaces, for each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of a wireless interface that is used for transmitting, a second signal parameter associated with at least one antenna; and based on at least the second signal parameter, controlling the antenna switch fabric to select a transmit antenna from among the plurality of antennas, wherein the selection of the transmit antenna is independent of the selection of the receive antenna; receiving, from a data source, data for transmission by the CPE over an air interface; and transmitting, using the selected transmit antenna, the data for transmission over the air interface.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising: routing, by the antenna switch fabric, radio frequency (RF) signals between the antenna ports and the corresponding selected antennas of the plurality of antennas; receiving, by the CPE, over the air interface, received data; and routing the received data to a data destination.
15 . A multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless customer premises equipment (CPE) comprising: a signal routing portion; a plurality of wireless interfaces, each wireless interface comprising a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless interface that comprises: a data port for receiving data for transmission over an air interface and outputting the data received over the air interface, and a plurality of antenna ports; and an RF routing portion comprising: an antenna switch fabric, and a plurality of antennas; wherein the signal routing portion is operative to route the data between the plurality of wireless interfaces and a data source and/or a data destination external to the CPE; wherein the antenna switch fabric is coupled to each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of each wireless interface of the plurality of wireless interfaces, and further coupled to the plurality of antennas; and wherein the antenna switch fabric is operative to, based on at least control by each wireless interface, route RF signals between the antenna ports and corresponding selected antennas of the plurality of antennas.
16 . The CPE of claim 15 , wherein each wireless interface is operative to: for each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of a wireless interface that is used for receiving, control the antenna switch fabric to select, based on at least a first signal parameter associated with at least one antenna, a receive antenna, and for each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of a wireless interface that is used for transmitting, control the antenna switch fabric to select, based on at least a second signal parameter associated with at least one antenna, a transmit antenna.
17 . The CPE of claim 16 , wherein the selection of the transmit antenna is independent of the selection of the receive antenna.
18 . The CPE of claim 16 , wherein for a first wireless interface using a common frequency for transmitting and receiving, the first signal parameter and the second signal parameter comprise a common signal parameter measured locally to the first wireless interface; and/or for a second wireless interface using different frequencies for transmitting and receiving, the first signal parameter is measured locally to the second wireless interface and the second signal parameter is measured at a distant end of the air interface.
19 . The CPE of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of antennas comprises at least 16 antennas disposed in a spherical arrangement; and wherein the signal routing portion is implemented using a computing device located within the spherical arrangement.
20 . The CPE of claim 15 , wherein each wireless interface comprises at least four antenna ports; wherein each wireless interface is operative to use at least two antenna ports simultaneously for receiving and/or use the at least two antenna ports simultaneously for transmitting; wherein each wireless interface comprises a modem and an RF power amplifier; wherein at least one wireless interface comprises a cellular modem; and wherein at least one wireless interface comprises a WiFi modem.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This non-provisional utility application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 18/331,002 entitled “MIMO FOR CPE” and filed on Jun. 7, 2023, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND Consumer premises equipment (CPE) may have both wired and wireless connectivity, with wireless connectivity including cellular and WiFi interfaces. The cellular interfaces may be the most recent generation of cellular, which is currently fifth generation (5G). It is common for CPE configurations to use multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) with four receive (Rx) downlink channels and two transmit (Tx) uplink channels. MIMO is generally used in order to increase bandwidth. This provides multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO). However, the effectiveness of MIMO in improving bandwidth is heavily dependent on channel separation, which in turn is dependent on both antenna isolation and radio frequency (RF) signal quality. CPE physical form factors that place a small set of antennas in close proximity with each other cannot take full advantage of the potential separation provided by channel conditions. Additionally, channel conditions may change rapidly, so that even if a good antenna set is provided, that antenna set may not be ideal for an appreciable length of time. SUMMARY The following summary is provided to illustrate examples disclosed herein but is not meant to limit all examples to any particular configuration or sequence of operations. Disclosed solutions for improved multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) for customer premises equipment (CPE) include: a plurality of MIMO wireless interfaces, each wireless interface comprising: a data port for receiving data for transmission over an air interface and outputting data received over the air interface, and a plurality of antenna ports; an antenna switch fabric coupled to each of the plurality of antenna ports of each of the plurality of wireless interfaces, and further coupled to a plurality of antennas; wherein each wireless interface is operative to: for each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of the wireless interface that is used for receiving, control the antenna switch fabric to select, based on at least a first signal parameter associated with at least one antenna, a receive antenna, and for each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of the wireless interface that is used for transmitting, control the antenna switch fabric to select, based on at least a second signal parameter associated with at least one antenna, a transmit antenna; and wherein the antenna switch fabric is operative to, based on at least the control by each wireless interface, route radio frequency (RF) signals between the antenna ports and the corresponding selected antennas of the plurality of antennas. Additional disclosed solutions include: a CPE comprising: a signal routing portion; a plurality of MIMO wireless interfaces, each wireless interface comprising: a data port for receiving data for transmission over an air interface and outputting data received over the air interface, and a plurality of antenna ports; and an RF routing portion comprising: an antenna switch fabric, and a plurality of antennas; wherein the signal routing portion is operative to route data between the plurality of wireless interfaces and a data source and/or a data destination external to the CPE; wherein each wireless interface is operative to: for each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of the wireless interface that is used for receiving, control the antenna switch fabric to select, based on at least a first signal parameter associated with at least one antenna, a receive antenna, and for each antenna port of the plurality of antenna ports of the wireless interface that is used for transmitting, control the antenna switch fabric to select, based on at least a second signal parameter associated with at least one antenna, a transmit antenna, wherein the selection of the transmit antenna is independent of the selection of the receive antenna; and wherein the antenna switch fabric is coupled to each of the plurality of antenna ports of each of the plurality of wireless interfaces, and further coupled to a plurality of antennas and is operative to, based on at least the control by each wireless interface, route RF signals between the antenna ports and the corresponding selected antennas of the plurality of antennas. Additional disclosed solutions include a method of wireless communication comprising: by each of a plurality of MIMO wireless interfaces: measuring, for each antenna port of a plurality of antenna ports of the wireless interface that is used for receiving, a first signal parameter associated with at least one antenna; based on at least the first signal parameter, controlling an antenna switch fabric coupled to the plurality of antenna ports to select a receive antenna from among a plurality of antennas