DISTANCE TO FAULT MEASUREMENT USING MULTI-PATH CDMA SIGNALS

摘要

The present invention is for measuring a distance to a fault (26) in a direct sequence spread spectrum communications link such as a cell site antenna (12) in a CDMA cellular system (10). Specifically, a time offset of a forward path signal (22) is measured with respect to a second correlated reference signal. A timing difference (t1-t2) between the time offset of the forward path signal (22) and the reflected path signals (24) is then estimated to determine a distance to the communications link fault (26). The present invention therefore minimized cell site down time and eliminates the need for external test signals.