Method and apparatus for the detection of distortion or corruption of cellular communication signals

Abstract

A system for troubleshooting signals in a cellular communications network, and in particular, for determining the cause of distortion or corruption of such signals, includes a robotic or other type of switch. The robotic switch can tap into selected uplink fiber-optic lines and selected downlink fiber-optic lines between radio equipment and radio equipment controllers in a wireless (e.g., cellular) network to extract therefrom the I and Q data. The selected I and Q data, in an optical form, is provided to an optical-to-electrical converter forming part of the system. The system includes an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) or the like, and an analytic computer unit, or web server, and SSD (Solid State Drive) and magnetic disk storage, among other components of the system. The system analyzes the I and Q data provided to it, and determines the cause, or at least narrows the field of possible causes, of impairment to transmitted signals. The system includes a display which provides the troubleshooting information thereon for a user of the system to review, or other form of a report, and may communicate the analytical findings to a remote location over a public or private internet protocol network.