SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISCRETE GAIN CONTROL IN HYBRID MIMO/RF BEAMFORMING

摘要

A system for selectively and discretely amplifying or attenuating antennas in a hybrid multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) radio distribution network (RDN) receiving system is provided herein. The system includes a MIMO receiving system comprising a MIMO baseband module having N branches; an RDN connected to the MIMO receiving system, the RDN comprising at least one beamformer fed by two or more antennas, so that a total number of antennas in the system is M, wherein M is greater than N, wherein each one of the beamformers include a passive combiner configured to combine signals coming from the antennas coupled to a respective beamformer into a combined signal, wherein the at least one beamformer is further configured to selectively amplify or attenuate in discrete steps, one or more of the signals coming from the M antennas, based on qualitative metrics measured by the MIMO baseband module.

主权项

1. A multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) receiving system comprising:
a MIMO baseband module having N branches; and a radio distribution network (RDN) connected to the MIMO baseband module, comprising at least one beamformer, each of said at least one beamformer fed by two or more associated antennas, so that a total number of antennas in the system is M, wherein M is greater than N, wherein each one of the at least one beamformer includes a passive combiner configured to combine signals coming from the antennas associated with the beamformer into a combined signal, wherein the at least one beamformer is further configured to selectively amplify or attenuate in discrete steps, one or more of the signals coming from the M antennas prior to entering the passive combiners, based on one or more qualitative metrics measured by the MIMO baseband module.