Apparatus and method for asymmetrical frequency spectrum utilization in a wireless network

Claim 2

A Base Transceiver Station (BTS) arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the BTS comprising: one or more antennas; at least one receive apparatus, coupled to the one or more antennas, that operates to receive uplink signals from a plurality of mobile terminals within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; a first transmit apparatus, coupled to the one or more antennas, that operates to transmit downlink signals to a first set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a second frequency block; and a second transmit apparatus, coupled to the one or more antennas, that operates to transmit downlink signals to a second set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a third frequency block, the third frequency block being different from the second frequency block; wherein a combined bandwidth size of the second and third frequency blocks is greater than a bandwidth size of the first frequency block.

Claim 3

A BTS according to claim 1 , wherein the channels within the first and second frequency blocks have a first predetermined frequency offset and the channels within the first and third frequency blocks have a second predetermined frequency offset.

Claim 4

A BTS according to claim 2 , wherein the receive apparatus comprises a first wide-band BandPass Filter (BPF) coupled in series with a down-converter and a first narrow-band BPF; the first transmit apparatus comprises a second narrow-band BPF coupled in series with a first up-converter and a second wide-band BPF; and the second transmit apparatus comprises a third narrow-band BPF coupled in series with a second up-converter and a third wide-band BPF; and wherein the first, second and third wide-band BPFs are each coupled to one of the one or more antennas.

Claim 5

A BTS according to claim 3 , wherein the first predetermined frequency offset is set by the relative frequency tuning between the first and second narrow-band BPFs.

Claim 6

A BTS according to claim 4 , wherein the second predetermined frequency offset is set by the relative frequency tuning between the first and third narrow-band BPFs.

Claim 7

A BTS according to claim 5 , wherein each of the up-converter, the first down-converter and the second down-convener receive a single reference oscillation signal that controls their frequency conversion.

Claim 8

A BTS according to claim 4 , wherein the up-converter and the first down-converter receive a first reference oscillation signal that controls their frequency conversion and the second down-converter receives a second reference oscillation signal that controls its frequency conversion; and wherein the second predetermined frequency offset is set by the relative frequency difference between the first and second reference oscillation signals.

Claim 9

A BITS according to claim 3 , wherein the up-converter, the first down-converter and the second down-converter receive respective first, second and third reference oscillation signals that control their frequency conversions; and wherein the first predetermined frequency offset is set by the relative frequency difference between the first and second reference oscillation signals and the second predetermined frequency offset is set by the relative frequency difference between the first and third reference oscillation signals.

Claim 10

A BTS according to claim 1 , wherein the receive apparatus comprises a first wide-band BandPass Filter (BPF) coupled in series with a down-converter and a first narrow-band BPF; the first transmit apparatus comprises a second narrow-band BPF coupled in series with a first up-converter and a second wide-band BPF; and the second transmit apparatus comprises a third narrow-band BPF coupled in series with a second up-converter and a third wide-band BPF; and wherein the first, second and third wide-band BPFs are each coupled to one of the one or more antennas.

Claim 11

A BTS according to claim 9 , wherein the up-converter, the first down-converter and the second down-converter receive respective first, second and third reference oscillation signals that control their frequency conversions; and wherein a first frequency offset between the channels within the first and second frequency blocks is set by the relative frequency difference between the first and second reference oscillation signals and a second frequency offset between the channels within the first and third frequency blocks is set by the relative frequency difference between the first and third reference oscillation signals.

Claim 12

A BTS according to claim 9 , wherein the first, second and third wide-band BPFs are tuned to frequency bands within the first, second and third frequency blocks respectively.

Claim 13

A BTS according to claim 9 , wherein the first wide-band BPF and at least one of the second and third wide-band BPF together comprise a duplexer.

Claim 14

A BTS according to claim 9 further comprising a Digital Signal Processor (DSP); wherein the receive apparatus further comprises an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) coupled between the first narrow-band BPF and the DSP, the first transmit apparatus further comprises a first Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) coupled between the DSP and the second narrow-band BPF, and the second transmit apparatus further comprises a DAC coupled between the DSP and the third narrow-band BPF.

Claim 15

A BTS according to claim 1 , wherein the receive apparatus and the first and second transmit apparatus are each coupled to the same one of the antennas.

Claim 16

A BTS according to claim 14 , wherein the receive apparatus and the first transmit apparatus are each coupled to the same one of the one of the antennas and the second transmit apparatus is coupled to another one of the antennas.

Claim 17

A BTS according to claim 1 , wherein each of the transmit apparatus and the first and second transmit apparatus are coupled to a different one of the antennas.

Claim 18

A BTS according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one receive apparatus comprises a plurality of receive apparatus coupled to one of the one or more antennas, each of the receive apparatus being arranged to receive uplink signals from the plurality of mobile terminals via the channel within the first frequency block.

Claim 19

A wireless network comprising: a plurality of mobile stations; and a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) that operates to: receive uplink signals from each of the mobile terminals via a channel within a first frequency block; transmit downlink signals to a first set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a second frequency block; and transmit downlink signals to a second set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a third frequency block, the third frequency block being different from the second frequency block; wherein a combined bandwidth size of the second and third frequency blocks is greater than a bandwidth size of the first frequency block.

Claim 20

A wireless network comprising: a plurality of mobile stations; and a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) that operates to: receive uplink signals from each of the mobile terminals via a channel within a first frequency block; transmit downlink signals to a first set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a second frequency block; and transmit downlink signals to a second set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a third frequency block, the third frequency block being different from the second frequency block; wherein a combined bandwidth size of the second and third frequency blocks is greater than a bandwidth size of the first frequency block.

Claim 21

A network according to claim 18 , wherein the channels within the first and second frequency blocks have a first predetermined frequency offset and the channels within the first and third frequency blocks have a second predetermined frequency offset.

Claim 24

A mobile terminal (MT) arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the mobile terminal comprising: an antenna; a transmit apparatus, coupled to the antenna, arranged to transmit uplink signals to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and a plurality of receive apparatus, each coupled to the antenna, arranged to receive downlink signals from the BTS via channels within a plurality of other corresponding frequency blocks; wherein a combined bandwidth size of the plurality of other corresponding frequency blocks is greater than a bandwidth size of the first frequency block.

Claim 25

A mobile terminal (MT) arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the mobile terminal comprising: an antenna; a transmit apparatus, coupled to the antenna, arranged to transmit uplink signals to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and a plurality of receive apparatus, each coupled to the antenna, arranged to receive downlink signals from the BTS via channels within a plurality of other corresponding frequency blocks; wherein a combined bandwidth size of the plurality of other corresponding frequency blocks is greater than a bandwidth size of the first frequency block.

Claim 26

A MT according to claim 21 , wherein the channels within the first frequency block and each of the plurality of other frequency blocks have corresponding predetermined frequency offsets.

Claim 27

A MT according to claim 22 , wherein the transmit apparatus comprises a first wide-band BandPass Filter (BPF) coupled to the antenna and further coupled in series with an up-converter and a first narrow-band BPF; and the plurality of receive apparatus each comprise a second narrow-band BPF coupled in series with a down-converter and a second wide-band BPF that is further coupled to the antenna.

Claim 28

A MT according to claim 23 , wherein the predetermined frequency offsets are set by the relative frequency tuning between the first narrow-band BPF and each of the second narrow-band BPFs.

Claim 29

A MT according to claim 24 , wherein the up-converter and each of the down-converters receive a single reference oscillation signal that controls their frequency conversion.

Claim 30

A MT according to claim 24 , wherein at least one of the down-converter within each of the plurality of receive apparatus is the same device and the wide-band BPF within each of the plurality of receive apparatus is the same device.

Claim 31

A MT according to claim 23 , wherein the up-converter receives a first reference oscillation signal that controls its frequency conversion and each of the down-converters receives respective second reference oscillation signals that control their frequency conversions; and wherein the predetermined frequency offsets are set by the relative frequency differences between the reference oscillation signals and each of the second reference oscillation signals.

Claim 32

A MT according to claim 27 , wherein at least one of the narrow-band BPF within each of the plurality of receive apparatus is the same device and the wide-band BPF within each of the plurality of receive apparatus is the same device.

Claim 33

A MT according to claim 28 , wherein the first wide-band BPF and at least one of the second wide-band BPFs together comprise a duplexer.

Claim 34

A MT according to claim 28 further comprising a Digital Signal Processor (DSP); wherein the transmit apparatus further comprises a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) coupled between the DSP and the first narrow-band BPF and each of the receive apparatus further comprises an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) coupled between each of the second narrow-band BPFs and the DSP.

Claim 35

A MT according to claim 30 , wherein the DAC within each of the plurality of receive apparatus is the same device.

Claim 36

A MT according to claim 21 , wherein the transmit apparatus comprises a first wide-band BandPass Filter (BPF) coupled to the antenna and further coupled in series with an up-converter and a first narrow-band BPF; and the plurality of receive apparatus each comprise a second narrow-band BPF coupled in series with a down converter and a second wide-band BPF that is further coupled to the antenna.

Claim 37

A MT according to claim 32 , wherein the up-converter receives a first reference oscillation signal that control its frequency conversions and each of the down-converters receive respective second reference oscillation signals that control their frequency conversions; and wherein frequency offsets between the channels within the first frequency block and each of the plurality of other frequency blocks are set by the relative frequency differences between the first reference oscillation signal and each of the second frequency oscillation signals.

Claim 38

A MT according to claim 21 further comprising at least one switching device that activates only a single one of the receive apparatus at any one time.

Claim 39

A MT according to claim 21 , wherein two or more of the receive apparatus are operable together.

Claim 40

A Base Transceiver Station (BTS) arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the BTS comprising: means for receiving uplink signals from a plurality of mobile terminals within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and means for transmitting downlink signals to a first set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a second frequency block and transmitting downlink signals to a second set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a third frequency block, the third frequency block being different from the second frequency block; wherein a combined bandwidth size of the second and third frequency blocks is greater than a bandwidth size of the first frequency block.

Claim 41

A Base Transceiver Station (BTS) arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the BTS comprising: means for receiving uplink signals from a plurality of mobile terminals within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and means for transmitting downlink signals to a first set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a second frequency block and transmitting downlink signals to a second set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a third frequency block, the third frequency block being different from the second frequency block; wherein a combined bandwidth size of the second and third frequency blocks is greater than a bandwidth size of the first frequency block.

Claim 42

A mobile terminal arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the mobile terminal comprising: means for transmitting uplink signals to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and means for receiving downlink signals from the BTS via channels within a plurality of other corresponding frequency blocks; wherein a combined bandwidth size of the plurality of other corresponding frequency blocks is greater than a bandwidth size of the first frequency block.

Claim 43

A mobile terminal arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the mobile terminal comprising: means for transmitting uplink signals to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and means for receiving downlink signals from the BTS via channels within a plurality of other corresponding frequency blocks; wherein a combined bandwidth size of the plurality of other corresponding frequency blocks is greater than a bandwidth size of the first frequency block.

Claim 44

A Base Transceiver Station (BTS) arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the BTS comprising: one or more antennas; at least one receive apparatus coupled to the one or more antennas, that operates to receive uplink signals from a plurality of mobile terminals within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and at least one transmit apparatus, coupled to the one or more antennas, that operates to transmit downlink signals to a first set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a second frequency block; wherein a frequency offset between the channels within the first and second frequency blocks is dynamically controlled; wherein the receive apparatus comprises a first wide-band BandPass Filter (BPF) coupled in series with a down-converter and a first narrow-band BPF and the transmit apparatus comprises a second narrow-band BPF coupled in series with a first up-converter and a second wide-band BPF; wherein the first and second wide-band BPFs are each coupled to one of the one or more antennas; wherein the up-converter and the down-converter receive respective first and second reference oscillation signals that control their frequency conversions; and wherein the frequency offset between the channels within the first and second frequency blocks is set by the relative frequency difference between the first and second reference oscillation signals.

Claim 45

A Base Transceiver Station (BTS) arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the BTS comprising: one or more antennas; at least one receive apparatus coupled to the one or more antennas, that operates to receive uplink signals from a plurality of mobile terminals within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and at least one transmit apparatus, coupled to the one or more antennas, that operates to transmit downlink signals to a first set of the plurality of mobile terminals via a channel within a second frequency block; wherein a frequency offset between the channels within the first and second frequency blocks is dynamically controlled; wherein the receive apparatus comprises a first wide-band BandPass Filter (BPF) coupled in series with a down-converter and a first narrow-band BPF and the transmit apparatus comprises a second narrow-band BPF coupled in series with a first up-converter and a second wide-band BPF; wherein the first and second wide-band BPFs are each coupled to one of the one or more antennas; wherein the up-converter and the down-converter receive respective first and second reference oscillation signals that control their frequency conversions; and wherein the frequency offset between the channels within the first and second frequency blocks is set by the relative frequency difference between the first and second reference oscillation signals.

Claim 46

A mobile terminal (MT) arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the mobile terminal comprising: an antenna; a transmit apparatus, coupled to the antenna, arranged to transmit uplink signals to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and a receive apparatus, coupled to the antenna, arranged to receive downlink signals from the BTS via a channel within a second frequency block; wherein a frequency offset between the channels within the first and second frequency blocks is dynamically controlled.

Claim 47

A mobile terminal (MT) arranged to be implemented within a wireless network, the mobile terminal comprising: an antenna; a transmit apparatus, coupled to the antenna, arranged to transmit uplink signals to a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) within the wireless network via a channel within a first frequency block; and a receive apparatus, coupled to the antenna, arranged to receive downlink signals from the BTS via a channel within a second frequency block; wherein a frequency offset between the channels within the first and second frequency blocks is dynamically controlled.

Claim 48

A MT according to claim 39 , wherein the transmit apparatus comprises a first wide-band BandPass Filter (BPF) coupled to the antenna and further coupled in series with an up-converter and a first narrow-band BPF; and the plurality of receive apparatus each comprise a second narrow-band BPF coupled in series with a down-converter and a second wide-band BPF that is further coupled to the antenna; wherein the down-converter and the up-converter receive respective first and second reference oscillation signals that control their frequency conversions; and wherein the frequency offset between the channels within the first and second frequency blocks is set by the relative frequency difference between the first and second reference oscillation signals.