U.S. patent application number 09/825058 was filed with the patent office on 2002-11-28 for multi-cast communication system and method of estimating channel impulse responses therein.
Invention is credited to Hudson, John E..
Application Number | 20020176485 09/825058 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25243018 |
Filed Date | 2002-11-28 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020176485 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hudson, John E. |
November 28, 2002 |
Multi-cast communication system and method of estimating channel
impulse responses therein
Abstract
Multiple Steiner codes are transmitted as bursts (s.sub.11,
S.sub.12, . . . S.sub.33, 560, 524) from multiple base stations
(182, 184, 186) having one or more transmit elements (174, 176,
178, 180), with successive bursts providing an extended training
sequence for use in channel estimation at an addressed unit (172),
such as a mobile handset. Accurate channel estimation is possible
through the use of Wiener frequency domain MMSE deconvolution (518)
combined with frequency domain spatial decoupling matrices, with
quasi-orthogonal pseudo-noise sequences (502, 504, 520, 522)
allocated to base stations and their antenna elements. The use of
Steiner codes to supplement Wiener frequency domain MMSE
deconvolution and frequency domain spatial decoupling results in
the possibility of allocating only a single training sequence to
each base station provided that the training sequence is of
sufficient length to encompass all multiple time-translated channel
impulse responses (H).
Inventors: |
Hudson, John E.; (Stansted,
GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
William M. Lee, Jr.
Lee, Mann, Smith, McWilliams,
Sweeney & Ohlson
P.O. 2786
Chicago
IL
60690-2786
US
|
Family ID: |
25243018 |
Appl. No.: |
09/825058 |
Filed: |
April 3, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
375/144 ;
375/260; 375/340 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 25/0224 20130101;
H04L 2025/03414 20130101; H04L 1/0618 20130101; H04L 25/0212
20130101; H04L 25/03159 20130101; H04L 25/025 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
375/144 ;
375/260; 375/340 |
International
Class: |
H04K 001/00; H04B
015/00; H04L 027/30 |
Claims
We claim:
1. A method of determining channel impulse responses of a plurality
of channels to a communication device, the method comprising:
performing transform operations on both a replica of a signal
sequence s.sub.n and a received training sequence y.sub.n received
by the communication device in at least one burst, the received
training sequence y.sub.n being the signal sequence as received
through a channel, the transform operations arranged to generate a
multiplicity of signal sequence frequency bins and a multiplicity
of training sequence frequency bins; performing point-by-point
operations between corresponding signal sequence frequency bins and
training sequence frequency bins; and concatenating the
point-by-point operations associated with the channel to provide a
composite frequency response for the channel, the composite
frequency response allowing, in the time domain, generation of the
channel impulse response for the channel.
2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: separating
training sequence bursts emanating from a single element
transmitter by one of a cyclic prefix and a blank (zero)
carrier.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein multiple Steiner codes
are transmitted as training sequences, the multiple Steiner codes
sent from multiple transmit elements in multiple training
bursts.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the multiple Steiner
codes are transmitted from multiple elements of a base station
transmit antenna.
5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising using a set
of matrix operations in the frequency domain to resolve channels to
the communication device from multiple transmitting stations, the
matrix operations providing solvable linear equations for the
channel impulse response H and the signal sequence S expressible in
a matrix-vector form at each frequency bin in terms of the received
training sequence Y.
6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising solving the
linear equations using a minimum mean square error (MMSE)
estimation technique.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the MMSE estimation
technique employs a Weiner filtering operation
providing:=(S.sup.HS+Cov(B)).sup.-1S- .sup.HYwhere Cov(B) is a
covariance matrix of thermal noise; S.sup.HY is a matched filter
operation arranged to minimize the signal to noise ratio but not to
remove mutual interference between channel estimates; and
(S.sup.HS+Cov(B)).sup.-1 is a decoupling matric that removes the
coupling between different channels caused by any non-ideal nature
of the training sequences.
8. The method according to claim 2, wherein the number of bursts
sent to the communication device from each transmitting unit in
communication contact therewith is calculated as a multiplication
of: a number of transmitting elements in a transmit array of a
transmitting unit; and a number of transmitting units in
communication contact with the communication device.
9. The method according to claim 8, wherein training sequence burst
between transmitting units are time-aligned.
10. A method of determining channel impulse responses of channels
incident to a communication device, the method comprising: and
transmitting multiple quasi-orthogonal pseudo-noise sequences as
bursts from multiple base stations each having at least one
transmit element, successive bursts providing an extended training
sequence for use in channel estimation at the communication device;
applying a Wiener frequency domain MMSE deconvolution with
frequency domain spatial decoupling matrices to generate channel
impulse response estimates for the channels.
11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the quasi-orthogonal
pseudo-noise sequences are Steiner codes.
12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising allocating
only a single training sequence to each base station, the single
training sequence being of sufficient length to encompass all
multiple time-translated channel impulse responses.
13. A communication device operational to receive a plurality of
training sequences on a plurality of channels, the communication
device comprising:
14. A method of determining channel impulse responses of a
plurality of channels established between a plurality of
transmitting elements and a communication device in a communication
system, the method comprising: substantially simultaneously
transmitting different training bursts from each of the plurality
of transmitting elements, each burst having a length at least as
long as a maximum channel duration in the communication system
multiplied by a number corresponding to the plurality of
transmitting elements; recovering at the communication device a
signal sequence y.sub.n from the different training bursts s.sub.n;
and resolving the plurality of channels to recover associated
channel impulse responses H for each channel by solving an
algebraic matrix operation expressed in matrix-vector form as Y=SH,
where: S is a matrix of partial training bursts for each channel,
each training burst segmented into N pieces in the time domain; Y
is a vector of a received signal sequence; and H is a concatenation
of different channel impulse response vectors.
15. A computer program product for a processor within a receiver
device, the computer program product comprising: code that performs
transform operations on both a replica of a signal sequence s.sub.n
and a received training sequence y.sub.n received by the
communication device in at least one burst, the received training
sequence y.sub.n being the signal sequence as received through a
channel, the transform operations arranged to generate a
multiplicity of signal sequence frequency bins and a multiplicity
of training sequence frequency bins; code that performs
point-by-point operations between corresponding signal sequence
frequency bins and training sequence frequency bins; and code that
concatenates the point-by-point operations associated with the
channel to provide a composite frequency response for the channel,
the composite frequency response allowing, in the time domain,
generation of the channel impulse response for the channel; wherein
the codes reside in a computer readable medium.
16. A communication device having a receiver coupled, in use, to
receive a plurality of channels supporting a signal sequence
y.sub.n and training sequence bursts, the communication device
having: a signal processing platform to perform transform
operations on both a replica of a signal sequence s.sub.n and a
received training sequence y.sub.n received by the communication
device in at least one burst, the received training sequence
y.sub.n being the signal sequence as received through a channel,
the transform operations arranged to generate a multiplicity of
signal sequence frequency bins and a multiplicity of training
sequence frequency bins; the signal processing platform arranged to
perform point-by-point operations between corresponding signal
sequence frequency bins and training sequence frequency bins; and
the signal processing platform further arranged to concatenate the
point-by-point operations associated with the channel to provide a
composite frequency response for the channel, the composite
frequency response allowing, in the time domain, generation of the
channel impulse response for the channel.
17. The communication device according to claim 16, wherein
multiple Steiner codes are transmitted as the training sequences,
the multiple Steiner codes sent to the receiver through multiple
channels in multiple training bursts.
18. The communication device according to claim 16, wherein the
signal processing platform operates to establish a set of matrix
operations in the frequency domain to resolve channels to the
communication device from multiple transmitting stations, the
matrix operations providing solvable linear equations for the
channel impulse response H and the training sequence S expressible
in a matrix-vector form at each frequency bin.
19. The communication device according to claim 18, wherein the
signal processing platform solves the linear equations using a
minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimation technique.
20. The communication device according to claim 19, wherein the
MMSE estimation technique employs a Weiner filtering operation
providing:{circle over (H)}=(S.sup.HS+Cov(B)).sup.-1S.sup.HYwhere:
Cov(B) is a covariance matrix of thermal noise; S.sup.HY is a
matched filter operation arranged to minimize the signal to noise
ratio but not to remove mutual interference between channel
estimates; and (S.sup.HS+Cov(B)).sup.-1 is a decoupling matric that
removes the coupling between different channels caused by any
non-ideal nature of the training sequences.
21. A communication receiver comprising: means for receiving, in
use, multiple quasi-orthogonal pseudo-noise sequences as bursts
from multiple base stations each having at least one transmit
element, successive bursts providing an extended training sequence
for use in channel estimation at the communication receiver; and
means for applying a Wiener frequency domain MMSE deconvolution
with frequency domain spatial decoupling matrices to generate
channel impulse response estimates for the channels.
22. The communication receiver of claim 21, wherein the
quasi-orthogonal pseudo-noise sequences are Steiner codes.
23. A communication device operational to receive a plurality of
training sequences on a plurality of channels and a signal sequence
y.sub.n, the communication device comprising: a receiver for
substantially simultaneously receiving, in use, different training
bursts from each of the plurality of channels emanating from a
plurality of transmit elements, each burst having a length at least
as long as a maximum channel duration multiplied by a number
corresponding to the plurality of transmit elements; recovery
circuitry for recovering, in use, the signal sequence y.sub.n from
the different training bursts s.sub.n; and a processor arranged to
resolve the plurality of channels to recover associated channel
impulse responses H for each channel by solving an algebraic matrix
operation expressed in matrix-vector form as Y=SH, where: S is a
matrix of partial training bursts for each channel, each training
burst segmented into N pieces in the time domain; Y is a vector of
a received signal sequence; and H is a concatenation of different
channel impulse response vectors.
24. A base station of a communication system, the base station
comprising: a transmitter chain arranged to transmit multiple
quasi-orthogonal pseudo-noise sequences as training bursts s.sub.n
from at least one transmit element and further arranged to transmit
a signal sequence y.sub.n, successive training bursts providing an
extended training sequence for use in channel estimation at a
communication device of the communication system, the transmitter
chain substantially simultaneously transmitting, in use, different
training bursts from each of the at least one transmit element,
each training burst having a length at least as long as a maximum
channel duration in the communication system multiplied by a number
corresponding to a plurality of channels to the communication
device, the extended training sequence and the signal sequence
y.sub.n providing a resolution mechanism to the communication
device allowing the communication device to resolving the plurality
of channels to recover associated channel impulse responses H for
each channel by solving an algebraic matrix operation expressed in
matrix-vector form as Y=SH, where: S is a matrix of partial
training bursts for each channel, each training burst segmented
into N pieces in the time domain; Y is a vector of a received
signal sequence; and H is a concatenation of different channel
impulse response vectors.
25. The base station of claim 24, wherein the transmit chain is
further arranged to separate training bursts emanating from the at
least one transmit element by one of a cyclic prefix and a blank
(zero) carrier.
26. The base station of claim 24, wherein multiple Steiner codes
are transmitted as training bursts, the multiple Steiner codes sent
from multiple transmit elements in multiple training bursts.
27. The base station of claim 24, wherein the number of training
bursts sent to the communication device from each base station in
communication contact therewith is calculated as a multiplication
of: a number of transmitting elements in a transmit array of a base
station; and a number of base stations in communication contact
with the communication device.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] This invention relates, in general, to a multi-cast
communication system and a method of estimating channel impulse
response (IR) therein, and is particularly, but not exclusively,
applicable to communication environments employing space-time
coding. The present invention is also applicable, without imposing
limitation, to code division multiple access (CDMA) schemes,
orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or the global
system for mobile (GSM) communication, and also to systems having
base stations configured to transmit on either a time-aligned or
unsynchronised basis.
SUMMARY OF THE PRIOR ART
[0002] GSM, CDMA, and OFDM systems and those systems using
space-time coding usually require estimation of impulse responses
(IR's) between a terminal antenna and several base antennas,
especially in instances when the relative signal strengths of the
base stations are similar. As will be understood, the physical
channel through which propagation occurs can have a severely
detrimental effect on the ability to recover data accurately,
especially with increasing data rates. Consequently, by knowing the
IR, compensation for channel-induced defects can be applied to
improve accuracy in data recovery, e.g. through interference
cancellation techniques. More especially, with multiple transmit
elements at a base station, irrespective of whether there is more
than one serving base station, multipath interference results in an
inability to resolve individual channels. Indeed, even orthogonally
structured data (such as different and time dispersed training
sequences) can become cross-correlated (in the face of multipath
interference) and hence unusable to resolve individual
channels/paths in the context of a deterministic IR approach.
Furthermore, it will be appreciated that IR determination is
particularly taxing at a handoff point at cell boundaries of,
potentially, two or three serving base stations (or Node Bs in the
context of CDMA and the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
(UMTS)). At cell-boundary handover, the issue of IR is complicated
by that fact that downlink carrier to interference ratios (CIRs)
can be zero or negative.
[0003] When available, impulse responses can also be used to assist
in downlink softhandover.
[0004] The use of matched filtering of standard training sequences
to determine channel IR's is considered adequate to drive fingers
of a RAKE filter in CDMA applications, such as IS-95 and CDMA2000,
given that incoherent soft handoff is also allowed. However, more
recent cellular system proposals will stretch matched filtering
techniques to their limits and beyond due to the use of higher data
throughputs (with more bits per symbol, e.g. higher quadrature
amplitude modulation QAM levels) requiring higher energy per
bit/noise floor (E.sub.b/N.sub.o) than existing systems, such as
IS-95. Such higher data rate cellular systems include the Enhanced
Data-rate for GSM Evolution (EDGE) system.
[0005] In any event, interference cancellation, coherent soft
hand-off or space-time coding generally requires a more accurate
estimate of channel propagation conditions (than that required with
RAKE filtering or matched filtering). In this respect, a long
history of interference cancelling base station algorithms (that
yield indifferent null-steering performance) lends support to this
view.
[0006] In terms of proposed 3G (third generation) cellular systems,
it is known to use training sequences with a cyclic prefix for
pilot tones in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)
and CDMA. When a channel has an impulse response of known maximum
duration, the use of Steiner codes allows re-use of the same
training sequence with a time-offset method to measure
simultaneously the channel impulse responses of several users or
several antenna with a single fast Fourier transform (FFT)
operation Steiner codes are discussed in the paper "A comparison of
uplink channel estimation techniques for MC/JD-CDMA transmission
systems" by B. Steiner and R. Valentin, Proceedings IEEE 5th
International Symposium on Spread Spectrum Techniques and
Applications 1998, Volume: 2, pp. 640-646. Indeed, cyclic Steiner
codes are found in the pilot tones for the time division duplex
(TDD) component of European UMTS, as presented in the ETSI 3GPP
Document TS25.211 "Transport channels and physical channels"
v.3.2.0, 1999. In terms of a frame structure for a pilot tone,
random data sectors sandwich an observation window that is preceded
by a cyclic prefix of a latter portion of the observation window.
Provided that the duration of the cyclic prefix exceeds the channel
impulse response, then data in the observation window is a function
purely of the pilot sequence (comprised from the combination of the
cyclic prefix and data in the observation window) and is not
corrupted by spurious unknown data in any way.
[0007] The 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) have defined training
sequences for TDD (time division duplex) having overall chip
lengths of 256 and 512 chips; the overall lengths are derived from
192 chips and 464 chips of basic pseudo-random number sequence
codes with, respectively, an additional cyclic prefix of either 64
chips and 114 chips. Each training sequences is designed to allow
channel impulse response estimation for differing numbers of users,
namely three users in the case of the 256-chip training sequence
and eight users in the case of the 512-chip training sequence.
[0008] The training sequences are utilised in the receiving unit to
estimate the channel impulse response based on a complex
cross-correlation (in real and imaginary phase and amplitude
components) between received chips and a local replica of the
training sequence. In this regard, it is usual, on a per channel
basis, to take a correlation of the channel impulse response (h)
with the sequence (s) from the transmitter. More particularly, from
a single base station having multiple transmit elements, cyclic
offsetting of Steiner codes allows utilisation of a fast Fourier
transform (FFT) technique to solve individual channel impulse
responses. Steiner cyclic pilot codes can therefore be used in
estimating, with a single correlator, channel impulse responses of
multiple users that do not mutually interfere. Steiner codes may be
Gold codes.
[0009] As will be understood, the requirement for cyclic redundancy
to mitigate data corruption caused by multipath may be obviated
provided that the length of the transmitted training sequence (or
pilot tone) is sufficiently long. In generality, cyclic redundancy
may be avoided if a training sequence contains a sufficient number
of chips, with the overall length of the training sequence
determined by the prevailing dispersion conditions associated with
the channel. Additionally, for estimating CIR, it is also necessary
to consider the physical state of the receiving unit, since the
channel for a slow moving or stationary receiving unit (e.g. a
handheld device) is ostensibly stable, i.e. constant.
[0010] By way of practical explanation of Steiner code operation
from a dual element array of a base station transmitter, it will be
appreciated that, in estimating the two channels from the two
radiating elements to a single receive antenna, the two radiating
elements use a common generic pseudorandom number (PN) training
sequence {s.sub.1, s.sub.2} which is end-around shifted (in this
case by half a block) to {s.sub.2, S.sub.1} for the second element.
The two channel impulse responses are {h.sub.1}, {h.sub.2} and the
receiver antenna sees the superposition of the two convolved
sequences:
{y}={s.sub.1, s.sub.2}{circle over (x)}{h.sub.1}+{s.sub.2,
s.sub.1}{circle over (x)}{h.sub.2}
[0011] where {circle over (x)} means a discrete-time convolution
operation. When the receiver output is correlated with the PN
sequence of the first antenna, the impulse responses of the two
distinct channels are recovered in superposed form with a relative
time shift of half a block. If the maximum probable duration of the
impulse responses is finite and known and less than half the PN
code length, the two channel estimates are non-overlapping and
orthogonal and can be recovered by slicing into two halves an
output of a correlator block. Clearly the process extends easily to
estimating M channels by splitting the generic PN sequence into M
segments {s.sub.1, s.sub.2, . . . s.sub.M}, where {s} means a short
symbol sequence, and wherein transmissions from the base antenna
transmit elements follow the sequences {S.sub.1, S.sub.2, . . .
S.sub.M}, {S.sub.M, S.sub.1, . . . S .sub.1, . . . S.sub.M-1}, . .
. {S.sub.M-1, S.sub.M, S.sub.M-2}.
[0012] At the receive antenna, the processing block is correlated
with only the first copy, {S.sub.1, S.sub.2, . . . S.sub.M} of the
PN sequence whereupon, at the correlator output, the M different
channel impulse responses separate out in time and appear in
sequence. Clearly, the cyclic head is different for each downlink
path, but this is purely a transmitter burden, whereas the receiver
samples the waveform and continues to see the same rotated training
sequence. In this way, a common discrete Fourier Transform
operation can be used to resolve multiple downlink channel impulse
responses.
[0013] As previously indicated, in order to avoid contamination
with unknown data which usually immediately precedes the training
sequence, a cyclic copy of the end of each rotated sequence may be
prefixed at the start of the pilot block. In other words, when
working with, say, 512-point processing blocks and when the
duration of the channel impulse response is K samples, the total
extent of the transmitted pilot burst is 512+K samples of which the
first K contaminated samples are discarded at the receiver.
[0014] The maximum number M of channel impulse responses that can
be estimated by the Steiner method is: 1 M N K
[0015] where N is the length of the training sequence (samples) and
K is the maximum likely number of samples in the channel impulse
response.
[0016] Unfortunately, with Steiner codes, the resolution of base
stations in different cells is much less attractive. Specifically,
whilst it would be possible to continue to expand the Steiner
method with ever increasing numbers of built in channels M (e.g.
perhaps twice or three times the number needed for one base
station), estimating more channels needs longer training sequences
and synchronisation of the relevant base stations. Increasing
training sequence length, however, is not the main difficulty; a
bigger problem is that this Steiner solution would effectively
constrain all the bases to use one and the same fundamental PN
sequence and this would not allow addressed units to discriminate
between bases by different codes when they are searching for
hand-off possibilities. Steiner is also inflexible since there is
contention over the order in which the bases should cycle their
training sequences. This contention will appear at all six
interfaces of the base's cell with other cells in a hexagonal
layout and so sequence cycling must be set up to be compatible with
all adjacent sites that could be affected.
[0017] As will now be appreciated, communication systems demand the
resolution of multiple channels that combine to provide a composite
channel impulse response C from observed training sequences S
transmitted by several base stations each with multiple antenna
elements. In this regard, a time domain channel estimation
{circumflex over (n)}.sub.1(t) for pilot sequence s.sub.1(t)
convolved through channel h(t) that is subject to noise n(t) may be
obtained through a time-reversed correlation of the received
sequence with a matched filter having the form s.sub.1* (-t). In
the frequency domain, the channel estimation takes the form
.sub.1(.omega.k).
[0018] For the purposes of channel estimation, matched filtering of
the PN sequence in the receiver can be performed through fast
Fourier Transform (FFT) techniques. If the received data block of N
samples is {y.sub.1, y.sub.2, . . . y.sub.N} (which could be a
sequence like {S.sub.1, S.sub.2. . . S.sub.M}), then FFT operation
yields: 2 { s 0 , s 1 s N - 1 } FFT S { y 0 , y 1 y N - 1 } FFT
Y
[0019] In other words, matched filtering operation in the time
domain is equivalent to a point-by-point multiplication in the
discrete Fourier domain, namely:
.sub.k.sup.(MF)=Y.sub.k.multidot.S.sub.k* k=0 . . . 2.sup.n-1
[0020] 3 H ^ k ( MF ) IDFT { h ^ 0 ( MF ) , h ^ 1 ( MF ) h ^ N - 1
( MF ) }
[0021] with two different channel estimates contained in the
semi-sequences of {h}, namely:
{}.sub.1={.sub.0, .sub.1. . . .sub.N/2-1}
{}.sub.2={.sub.N/2. . . .sub.N-1}
[0022] Of course, once in the frequency domain, sidelobes present
in the frequency spectrum in a channel estimation circuit
containing a matched filter may be minimised through the use of a
Wiener (least squares) filter technique.
[0023] The Wiener least squares filter provides an equalisation
technique that utilises a modified inverse filter that controls the
white noise response of the filter, i.e. the undesired enhancement
of thermal noise from the antenna. The paper "Smart Antennas for
Third Generation Mobile Radio Systems" by Martin Haardt (Siemens),
Stanford Colloquium on Smart Antennas", July 1999, describes
channel equalisation in terms of the Wiener filtering response, and
explores how two or more receiving antennas can be included in the
description of the received data. A further paper by H Sari et al
titled "Transmission Techniques for Digital TV Broadcasting", IEEE
communications magazine 33(2) February 1995, discusses channel
equalisation in the context of the Wiener filter mechanism.
Space-time transmit diversity (STTD) is included in the standards
for 3G cellular systems in the European UMTS Terrestrial Radio
Access (UTRA) system and similar systems in the American CDMA2000
proposals. Consequently, it is important for these STTD systems to
implement efficiently data recovery and equalisation algorithms.
Utilisation of the Wiener filter in a communication system
environment is further discussed in the Applicant's co-pending
European Patent application 01300520.2 (Applicant's reference
118721D-Hudson) having both a priority claim to U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 09/488,721 and corresponding to the
continuation-in-part application (Applicant's reference
11872IDUS041-Hudson) filed in respect thereof, all incorporated
herein by reference. Equalisers and channel whiteners are generally
not well conditioned, especially if the channel has zeros or deep
minima in its frequency response. The stable minimum mean square
error (MMSE) Wiener filter solution for the channel is therefore: 4
H ^ k ( W ) = Y k S k * S k 2 + 2 H ^ k ( W ) IDFT { h ^ 0 ( W ) h
^ N - 1 ( W ) }
[0024] where .sigma..sup.2 is the variance of the thermal noise
level in the frequency domain. If the DFT is orthogonal, i.e. a
unitary matrix operation, then this .sigma..sup.2 value is the same
as the time domain noise variance per sample, but most FFT
algorithms apply some form of scaling for which allowance must be
made.
[0025] Use of the Wiener filter solution results in residual errors
caused mainly mainly by thermal noise in the sidelobes (and not
error due to imperfections in the code sequence); this can be
contrasted with PN sequence autocorrelation sidelobes experienced
in a matched filter environment.
[0026] The paper by J. Blantz et al on the "Performance of a
cellular hybrid C/TDMA mobile radio system applying joint detection
and coherent receiver antenna diversity", IEEE J. Selected Areas in
Comms. 12(4), May 1994, pp.568-579, describes a multi-user
detection algorithm. A second paper by A. Klein et al on "Zero
forcing and minimum mean square error equalisation for multiuser
detection in code-division multiple access channels", IEEE Trans.
Veh. Tech. 45(2), May 1996, pp.276-287, provides further context to
the present invention.
[0027] In overview, therefore, PN training sequences sent from
multiple base stations (or Node Bs) employing one or more transmit
elements are subject to multipath that results in code
cross-correlation and an inability at a receiver to resolve the
individual channels and establish the individual channel-specific
impulse responses. More specifically, whilst time alignment of base
station transmissions may produce a summation of signals at the
receiver (when employing appropriate windowing on a chip-by-chip
basis with respect to identifiable correlation spikes), the
receiver is only able to detect a composite channel impulse
response that is unlikely to reflect accurately any of the actual
transmission paths. Moreover, whilst the composite channel impulse
response may be sufficient in the context of soft handover (in
IS-95, for example), the composite channel impulse response is
generally insufficient in third generation systems, including
systems offering space-time coding. Furthermore, there is a
reticence shown by service providers to provide synchronicity
between base station transmissions since synchronised transmissions
increase infrastructure costs, such as through the necessary
provision of an accurate timing reference.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0028] According to a first aspect of the invention there is
provided a method of determining channel impulse responses of a
plurality of channels to a communication device, the method
comprising: performing transform operations on both a replica of a
signal sequence s.sub.n and a received training sequence y.sub.n by
the communication device in at least one burst, the received
training sequence y.sub.n being the signal sequence as received
through a channel, the transform operations arranged to generate a
multiplicity of signal sequence frequency bins and a multiplicity
of training sequence frequency bins; performing point-by-point
operations between corresponding signal sequence frequency bins and
training sequence frequency bins; and concatenating the
point-by-point operations associated with the channel to provide a
composite frequency response for the channel, the composite
frequency response allowing, in the time domain, generation of the
channel impulse response for the channel.
[0029] It is preferred to use a set of matrix operations in the
frequency domain to resolve channels to the communication device
from multiple transmitting stations, the matrix operations
providing solvable linear equations for the channel impulse
response H and the signal sequence S expressible in a matrix-vector
form at each frequency bin.
[0030] A minimum mean square error (MMSE) estimation technique is
preferable to solve the linear equations, although other
mathematical techniques are possible (as will be appreciated).
[0031] The MMSE estimation technique preferably employs a Weiner
filtering operation providing:
=(S.sup.HS=Cov(B)).sup.-1S.sup.HY
[0032] where: Cov(B) is a covariance matrix of thermal noise;
S.sup.HY is a matched filter operation arranged to minimize the
signal to noise ratio but not to remove mutual interference between
channel estimates; and (S.sup.HS+Cov(B)).sup.-1 is a decoupling
matric that removes the coupling between different channels caused
by any non-ideal nature of the training sequences.
[0033] In a preferred embodiment, the number of bursts sent to the
communication device from each transmitting unit in communication
contact therewith is calculated as a multiplication of: a number of
transmitting elements in a transmit array of a transmitting unit;
and a number of transmitting units in communication contact with
the communication device.
[0034] In a second aspect of the present invention there is
provided a method of determining channel impulse responses of
channels incident to a communication device, the method comprising:
and transmitting multiple quasi-orthogonal pseudo-noise sequences
as bursts from multiple base stations each having at least one
transmit element, successive bursts providing an extended training
sequence for use in channel estimation at the communication device;
applying a Wiener frequency domain MMSE deconvolution with
frequency domain spatial decoupling matrices to generate channel
impulse response estimates for the channels.
[0035] In another aspect of the present invention there is provided
a method of determining channel impulse responses of a plurality of
channels established between a plurality of transmitting elements
and a communication device in a communication system, the method
comprising: substantially simultaneously transmitting different
training bursts from, each of the plurality of transmitting
elements, each burst having a length at least as long as a maximum
channel duration in the communication system multiplied by a number
corresponding to the plurality of transmitting elements; recovering
at the communication device a signal sequence y.sub.n from the
different training bursts s.sub.n; and resolving the plurality of
channels to recover associated channel impulse responses H for each
channel by solving an algebraic matrix operation expressed in
matrix-vector form as Y=SH, where: S is a matrix of partial
training bursts for each channel, each training burst segmented
into N pieces in the time domain; Y is a vector of a received
signal sequence; and H is a concatenation of different channel
impulse response vectors.
[0036] A further aspect of the present invention provides a
computer program product for a processor within a receiver device,
the computer program product comprising: code that performs
transform operations on both a replica of a signal sequence s.sub.n
and a received training sequence y.sub.n received by the
communication device in at least one burst, the received training
sequence y.sub.n being the signal sequence as received through a
channel, the transform operations arranged to generate a
multiplicity of signal sequence frequency bins and a multiplicity
of training sequence frequency bins; code that performs
point-by-point operations between corresponding signal sequence
frequency bins and training sequence frequency bins; and code that
concatenates the point-by-point operations associated with the
channel to provide a composite frequency response for the channel,
the composite frequency response allowing, in the time domain,
generation of the channel impulse response for the channel; wherein
the codes reside in a computer readable medium.
[0037] According to another aspect of the present invention there
is provided a communication device having a receiver coupled, in
use, to receive a plurality of channels supporting a signal
sequence y.sub.n and training sequence bursts, the communication
device having: a signal processing platform to perform transform
operations on both a replica of a signal sequence s.sub.n and a
received training sequence y.sub.n received by the communication
device in at least one burst, the received training sequence
y.sub.n being the signal sequence as received through a channel,
the transform operations arranged to generate a multiplicity of
signal sequence frequency bins and a multiplicity of training
sequence frequency bins; the signal processing platform arranged to
perform point-by-point operations between corresponding signal
sequence frequency bins and training sequence frequency bins; and
the signal processing platform further arranged to concatenate the
point-by-point operations associated with the channel to provide a
composite frequency response for the channel, the composite
frequency response allowing, in the time domain, generation of the
channel impulse response for the channel.
[0038] Yet another aspect of the present invention provides a
communication receiver comprising: means for receiving, in use,
multiple quasi-orthogonal pseudo-noise sequences as bursts from
multiple base stations each having at least one transmit element,
successive bursts providing an extended training sequence for use
in channel estimation at the communication receiver; and means for
applying a Wiener frequency domain MMSE deconvolution with
frequency domain spatial decoupling matrices to generate channel
impulse response estimates for the channels.
[0039] In one aspect of the present invention there is provided a
communication device operational to receive a plurality of training
sequences on a plurality of channels and a signal sequence y.sub.n,
the communication device comprising: a receiver for substantially
simultaneously receiving, in use, different training bursts from
each of the plurality of channels emanating from a plurality of
transmit elements, each burst having a length at least as long as a
maximum channel duration multiplied by a number corresponding to
the plurality of transmit elements; recovery circuitry for
recovering, in use, the signal sequence y.sub.n and the different
training bursts s.sub.n; and a processor arranged to resolve the
plurality of channels to recover associated channel impulse
responses H for each channel by solving an algebraic matrix
operation expressed in matrix-vector form as Y=SH, where: S is a
matrix of partial training bursts for each channel, each training
burst segmented into N pieces in the time domain; Y is a vector of
a received signal sequence; and H is a concatenation of different
channel impulse response vectors.
[0040] According to the present invention, a base station of a
communication system may be provided in which base station a
transmitter chain is arranged to transmit multiple quasi-orthogonal
pseudo-noise sequences as training bursts s.sub.n from at least one
transmit element and further arranged to transmit a signal sequence
y.sub.n, successive training bursts providing an extended training
sequence for use in channel estimation at a communication device of
the communication system, the transmitter chain substantially
simultaneously transmitting, in use, different training bursts from
each of the at least one transmit element, each training burst
having a length at least as long as a maximum channel duration in
the communication system multiplied by a number corresponding to a
plurality of channels to the communication device, the extended
training sequence and the signal sequence y.sub.n providing a
resolution mechanism to the communication device allowing the
communication device to resolving the plurality of channels to
recover associated channel impulse responses H for each channel by
solving an algebraic matrix operation expressed in matrix-vector
form as Y=SH, where: S is a matrix of partial training bursts for
each channel, each training burst segmented into N pieces in the
time domain; Y is a vector of a received signal sequence; and H is
a concatenation of different channel impulse response vectors.
[0041] Advantageously, the present invention provides a mechanism
for resolving a composite channel into a plurality of sub-channels
with which specific individual channel impulse responses can be
associated with and calculated using a numerically efficient fast
transform technique. In other words, irrespective of whether or not
there are synchronized base station transmission to an addressed
unit from multiple base stations having one or more radiating
element, individual channels can be resolved to generate channel
impulse responses to aid in data recovery. Beneficially, the
present invention is particularly applicable in the estimation of
the channel impulse responses between multi-element base stations
(in different cells) and the receive antenna array of a subscriber
unit located at a 2-way or 3-way handoff point where interference
is generally very high.
[0042] It can be shown that for a dispersive channel having two
transmitting base stations, the present invention provides
increased accuracy in channel estimation, with smaller errors
experienced than in an uncoupled case. Indeed, tests have shown
that normalised mobile station errors in channel estimation for the
present invention can achieve results of 14.8 decibels (compared
with 6.1 dB and 7.1 dB for techniques solely employing a matched
filter and Weiner filter, respectively, in channel impulse response
estimation). The present invention, even in conditions of varying
base station transmit power, provides an improved accuracy in
channel impulse response estimation, which accuracy is reflected in
a general measured improvement of about 7 dB over a range of
transmit signal strengths of .+-.20 dB for second base station
(relative to a carrier signal from a first base station being set
at +3 dB above thermal noise at the clip level). The present
invention is therefore able to operate in interference and soft
handover environments where interference becomes a problem.
[0043] A solution for estimating several downlink channels from
different base antennas to a single terminal antenna by the use of
multiple training bursts has been described. The method involves
the use of N.times.N decoupling matrices in the Fourier domain to
solve for N channels and gives superior results compared with
attempts to use matched filters designed for added white Gaussian
noise (AWGN) channels. Interference cancellation, space-time
coding, and coherent soft hand-off can be enhanced by the use of
the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0044] At least one exemplary embodiment of the present invention
will now be described with reference to the following drawings, in
which:
[0045] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a basic transmitter
and receiver architecture 10 in which processing circuitry may be
adapted to support the underlying principles of the present
invention;
[0046] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a typical cellular
communication system;
[0047] FIG. 3 shows a mechanism and schematic block diagram for
channel impulse response estimation that may be adapted to support
the principles of the preferred embodiments of the present
invention;
[0048] FIG. 4 is a transmission regime for a training sequence
according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0049] FIG. 5 a schematic block diagram of the channel estimation
process and architecture according to a preferred embodiment of the
present invention; and
[0050] FIG. 6 is a Steiner code variant of FIG. 4.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0051] Before discussing the preferred embodiment of the present
invention, it should be noted that consideration has been given to
employing Steiner codes in combination with Wiener MMSE estimation
in the Fourier domain to obtain a low cost multi-user channel
estimation method that is highly efficient for simultaneously
estimating a number of channels on the downlink for CDMA systems.
Steiner codes may also be used in OFDM systems though, in this
case, it may be preferred to use the intrinsic OFDM symbol for
training sequences. Given only prior knowledge of the maximum
extent of the channel impulse response, the same basic pilot
sequence can be time shifted and re-used (with properly determined
cyclic headers) to function for a number of different downlink
channels, and only one FFT correlation process is needed to solve
for all the channels simultaneously. The technique is ideal for
wideband fat pipe systems where the same user signal is radiated
from different antennas of a transmit diversity antenna or a
space-time coded antenna system. Channel estimation by this method
is accurate enough to allow adequate interference cancellation of
intercell interference, which is usually quite difficult to achieve
in CDMA systems due to low grade estimates of the interference
parameters.
[0052] Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a basic transmitter
and receiver architecture 10 in which processing logic or circuitry
may be adapted to support the underlying principles of the present
invention. Transmit and receive chains 100, 101 may be combined in
a transceiver arrangement of a station, such as a base station/Node
B or a mobile device of a cellular radio system or the like.
Individual transmit and receive chains could, of course, be
implemented in isolation, whereby unidirectional (as opposed to
bi-directional) communication is supported across, for example, an
air-interface, such as a CDMA or 3G radio environment (although the
present invention is more widely applicable to multi-point
transmission systems).
[0053] For the sake of explanation only, the following description
of the preferred embodiment will be based on a wideband CDMA system
and so references to "CDMA" should be construed broadly and without
specific limitation.
[0054] In transmit chain 100, signal source 102 generates signals
104 which are encoded by encoder 106, such as a half rate turbo
coder. Encoded signals 107 are modulated and subjected to CDMA
spreading by modulator/spreader 108 and then filtered by pulse
shaper digital filter 110. Following filtering, a digital to analog
(D/A) converter is arranged to produce analog signals 114 which are
generally filtered in a second filter 116 to limit any aliasing
effect at transmission. A mixer 118 up-converts baseband signals
120 to transmission frequencies prior to amplification in power
amplifier 122 and transmission from antenna 124. Of course, as will
be appreciated, some of the functional blocks in the transmit chain
can be realised as discrete or collocated into a single chip or
processing block.
[0055] Transmitted signals 126 are received by receive antenna 128
of an addressed station. Received signals 130 are communicated to a
down-converting mixer 132 via an amplifier 134, which
down-converting mixer typically produces an intermediate frequency
signal for initial signal processing. A filter 134 isolates a
desired frequency spectrum 136 for signal processing, which
frequency spectrum is converted to a digital domain representation
137 by analog to digital (A-D) converter 138. The digital domain
representation 137 is digitally filtered in digital channel pulse
shaper filter 140 and then applied in series to a combined
demodulator/equaliser slicer and RAKE despreader 142 and then a
channel decoder 144. Recovered information 145 is ultimately
received by terminal receiving equipment (TRE) 146. It will be
understood that channel filtering generally distorts the channel
impulse response and the channel filter becomes part of the unknown
channel.
[0056] The transmit and receive chains 100, 101 are invariably
micro-processor (.mu.P) controlled operations. By way of
illustration, a controller 150 and associated memory 152 (which may
be a combination of random access (RAM) and read only (ROM)) is
shown as being common to both the transmit and receive chains 100,
101. The memory 152 stores control algorithms, such as equalisation
and modulation algorithms, and also operands and incident data is
subject to signal processing requirements. Moreover, common
circuitry between the transmit and receive chains can be shared to
reduce component count, subject to the inclusion of suitable
switching and regulating circuitry. Additionally, as will be
understood, at least some of the functions within one or both of
the transmit and receive chains 100, 101 can be implemented either
entirely or partially as code, e.g. equalisation and demodulation.
It is these code blocks, application specific integrated circuits
or memory modules that can be adapted or up-graded to support the
present invention.
[0057] Wideband CDMA-specific components can be replaced or
substituted to support an arbitrarily selected communication
protocol, e.g. an FDD environment employing TDM techniques or a
multicarrier environment.
[0058] FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of a typical cellular
communication system 170 showing a subscriber unit 172 (preferably
having multiple receive elements 174-180) at cell boundaries
between three potentially serving base stations 182-186. For an
equidistant displacement of the subscriber unit from the base
stations, one could expect that transmit signal strengths to be
roughly equal, subject to the respective paths and the associated
physical environments. The general purpose of FIG. 2 is to
illustrate a physical environment in which the present invention
finds exemplary application. For purposes of clarity, the cellular
communication system 170 is shown with three cells 188-192 and a
single subscriber unit 172, but clearly cellular systems may
include many cells in multiple layers, with each cell servicing a
multiplicity of subscriber units. At the hand-off point midway
between two or three base stations, it is necessary to distinguish
the channel impulse responses for a doubled or tripled number of
channels from multiple base antenna elements. If the CIRs are not
estimated jointly, the carrier to interference (C:I) ratio is very
low within the training sequences and the channel estimates will be
correspondingly poor. Given that each base station always has
several TX element channels to estimate it is reasonable to use the
Steiner method in the intracell mode, allocating one PN sequence
per base station with cyclic rotation to distinguish between the
bases' antenna elements, as described previously.
[0059] Incoming signals 126 to the subscriber unit 172 are received
from the antenna 128 at a transmission rate of .sup.I/T.sub.ch of
the system. By way of practical implementation, an entire slot of a
frame is sampled (A/D converted) at the Nyquist rate and read into
memory 152 (of FIG. 1) prior to commencement of information
recovery. The incoming signals 126 can be received from any digital
source of signals and are not restricted to wireless
communications, with the base stations utilising single or multiple
radiating elements in each transmit antenna array. Signal
processing of incoming signals 126 for optimised data recovery is
clearly subject to knowledge of the channel impulse response (i.e.
the "channel spectrum"), with this determined from training
sequences sent from the base stations according to a predetermined
regime, e.g. once per slot, once per frame or on any other
appropriate basis. An exemplary mechanism for data recovery is
described in the aforementioned European and U.S. patent
applications (e.g. EP 01300520.2).
[0060] As regards the channel spectrum, reference is made to FIG. 3
that shows a mechanism for channel impulse response estimation that
is adapted to support the principles of the preferred embodiment of
the present invention. A training sequence 250, preferably located
in and extractable from each slot of a frame, falls incident on
receive antenna 128, which training sequence is demodulated in the
receive chain (as will be readily appreciated) to recover the
random sequence y.sub.k, e.g. a generated pseudo-random number
sequence. The form and structure of the training sequence will be
described in detail later, since the structure is inexorably
associated with an ability to resolve individual channels for
channel impulse response estimation according to the present
invention.
[0061] In overview and without initially discussing the preferred
embodiment, the recovered random sequence y.sub.k is subjected to a
DFT function 252 to produce a channel sequence spectrum y.sub.k
254. Within the memory 152 associated with the receive chain there
is stored a replica of the original training sequence s.sub.k 260,
which original training sequence s.sub.k 260 has a corresponding
known sequence spectrum s.sub.k 262 obtained by subjecting the
original training sequence s.sub.k 260 to an FFT function. The
known sequence spectrum s.sub.k 262 may simply be stored in the
memory since it is this sequence spectrum s.sub.k 262 that is used
to assess the channel impulse response.
[0062] The DFT function 252 may be performed by a specific digital
signal processor (DSP) or the processor 150 of FIG. 1. The channel
spectrum therefore assumes the form of an x-point, e.g. 512-point,
DFT sample stored temporarily in, for example, RAM.
[0063] It will be noted that the frequency domain sequence spectrum
s.sub.k 262 is essentially flat with slight perturbations about a
nominally constant magnitude.
[0064] The sequence spectrum s.sub.k 262 is compared with the
channel sequence spectrum y.sub.k 254 in a cross-correlation
function 266, such as realised by Wiener filter frequency response,
namely 5 W k = H k * H k 2 + 2 ,
[0065] to produce an impulse response spectrum H.sub.k 268 that can
be stored in memory for the duration of at least the related slot
and longer if desired. Clearly, by storing the impulse response
spectrum H.sub.k 268 for an extended period, processing overhead is
reduced at the expense of accuracy in any correction of the
variations in the channel due to Doppler. As will be understood,
time alignment of the received and transmitted training sequences
is required prior to cross-correlation.
[0066] Optionally, the impulse response spectrum H.sub.k 268 may be
further refined and so it is subjected to an IFFT function 270 to
generate an estimated time domain representation h.sub.k thereof
having an arbitrary number of taps/channels that can be used as a
matched filter, if desired. In other words, each tap is
representative of a weight for the channel impulse response. Within
the time domain, trimming of the number of taps reduces the channel
impulse response to manageable processing levels, with the
reduction reflecting the greatest expected channel impulse response
(CIR) duration (presently understood to be seventy-one chips in
length in 3GPP, although this number is an arbitrarily selected
cut-off). From the reduced number of taps in the channel impulse
response, most values will approximate to zero and so a control
processor 272, based on a level or number threshold, selects only
those N significant taps that most noticeably reflect the channel
to produce a best estimate channel impulse response h'.sub.k 274.
Selection of the N most significant taps may simply force lesser
taps to be forced to zero. By limiting the channel impulse response
to the most significant taps, processing is reduced and a final
error in the channel limited. In the latter respect, it will be
understood that all tap values will have an associated error from
thermal noise, channel interference and other adverse channel and
processing artefacts, so the compounding of errors is
mitigated.
[0067] A complete understanding of the principles of the present
invention will now be gleaned from the following description of
specific signal processing interactions and transmission
techniques.
[0068] Concerning transmission of a training sequence according to
a preferred embodiment of the present invention, reference is made
to FIG. 4. For the sake of explanation, the structuring of base
station transmissions (in the timing frame of FIG. 4) is assumed to
reflect a three site system in which each of three base stations
includes a single transmit element. Of course, the basic principle
employed in the specific embodiment of FIG. 4 can be developed for
multi-element transmit arrays from two or more base stations.
Essentially, FIG. 4 is representative of successive training
sequence transmission bursts from each of three base stations (Base
TX1, Base TX2 and Base TX3). In generality, the number of training
sequences transmitted from all transmit elements follow a squared
law, i.e. for three base stations each having single radiating
elements then there would be three successive bursts
(t.sub.1-t.sub.3) separated, preferably, by guard periods (g.sub.1
and g.sub.2) or cyclic prefixes. Bursts from the various base
stations are preferably time aligned at transmission, although a
windowing function at the receiver (that steps through a chip-wise
time correlation) may be employed to time align the transmitted
sequences snk. Since channel delay is generally no greater than
about 20 .mu.s, then the receiver need only step through a chip
count commensurate with the maximum channel delay. For example, at
an operating frequency (chipping rate) of one megahertz (1 MHz), 20
.mu.s correspond to twenty chips.
[0069] During each burst (t.sub.1-t.sub.3), each base station
transmits a finite (predetermined) length of training sequence s,
which training sequence may vary from 1-chip or more. Typically,
each burst will be tens of chips in length and preferably at least
about sixty chips in length and most preferably in excess of about
one hundred chips. Clearly, the length of the training sequence is
restricted to manageable levels to avoid inefficient use of
communication resource for more important data transmissions. The
nomenclature adopted in FIG. 4 with respect to the bursts follows
the convention that the first subscript (n) represents an identity
of the transmitting base station whereas the second subscript (k)
represents the sequence number. In the context of Base TX1, FIG. 4
is illustrative of three sequences s.sub.11, S.sub.12 and S.sub.13
during bursts t.sub.1, t.sub.2 and t.sub.3, respectively. A channel
sequence spectrum y.sub.k is formed (for each burst
(t.sub.1-t.sub.3)) from the summation of the individual sequences
s.sub.11, S.sub.21, S.sub.31 from the base stations transmitting in
that burst.
[0070] For channel estimation, it will be appreciated that the
number of samples required is dependent upon bandwidth, e.g. with a
symbol rate of 284 kbps (kilo bits per second), GSM systems require
about five samples of the channel.
[0071] It is well known that DFT's have a wrap-round effect that is
equivalent to the data being cyclic. Consequently, in (contiguous)
observation windows each encoded with the same PN sequence, DFT's
can be used to perform a discrete convolution operation. Circulant
matrices are equivalent to these DFT operations, which circulant
matrices can be defined as follows. In a system in which the
training sequence is S={s.sub.0, s.sub.2, s.sub.2, s.sub.3,
s.sub.4}, the cyclic extension is the channel impulse response is
H={h.sub.0, h.sub.1, h.sub.2, h.sub.3, h.sub.4} and the observation
window arranged to hold data Y={y.sub.0, y.sub.1, y.sub.2, y.sub.3,
y.sub.4}, then Y is the cyclic convolution of S with H: 6 y k = n =
0 N s k h k - n MOD N
[0072] with N=4. If the associated DFT's are the sequence spectrum
S.sub.k, the channel impulse response H and the channel sequence
spectrum Y.sub.k is then:
Y.sub.k=S.sub.k{circle over (x)}H.sub.k
[0073] where {circle over (x)} is a point-by point-product.
[0074] In developing a solution to the problem of channel
estimation in the presence of interference or multi-user channel
estimation (in either non-dispersive or highly dispersive
channels), the inventor has appreciated that the fundamental
problems associated with channel isolation/resolution can be
expressed algebraically in similar terms to multi-user detection
algorithms, as referenced above by J. Blantz et al and A. Klein et
al.
[0075] In the Steiner code method described above, to estimate M
channels the length of the PN code must be at least M times the
maximum channel dispersion. In an N base station situation, each
base station with M elements, while the Steiner method can continue
to be used, the PN code length must be at least MN times the
channel impulse response duration and each element of each base
station would transmit an end-around rotated version of the code
with a different unique offset. In the multiple base station
situation, the differing round-trip propagation times to the
subscriber unit must also be taken into account in the channel
model so codes becomes increasingly extended. A more flexible
option for allowing expansion of the number of serving base
stations is to use an alternating sequence of different Steiner
codes, each of which on its own is only just long enough for the
number of elements in a single base station to be resolved.
[0076] To appreciate the present invention, it is preferable to
consider a communication system having N active/serving base
stations for a call, with each base station having a single
transmitting element. If the N base stations each with a single
element are received by a single element antenna of a subscriber
unit, such as cellphone or terminal, then if the N bases
simultaneously send N strings of N different pseudorandom bursts
and such that there are N.sup.2 different sequences altogether,
then the individual channel impulse responses can be resolved at
the terminal. In practice, the present invention is particularly
interested in a three-base station situation which, statistically,
occurs most frequently.
[0077] The base stations are preferably synchronised to a time
accuracy much less than the duration of any cyclic prefix (which is
typically of the order of about 10 .mu.s to 20 .mu.s for urban
microwave propagation). The m.sup.th received burst is now the
convolution:
[0078] 7 y t ( m ) = k = 0 K n = 1 N s n , t - k ( m ) h n , k + b
t ( m ) t = 1 , T , m = 1 M t=1, . . . , T,m=1. . . M
[0079] where b is the thermal noise component and K is the maximum
dispersion in chips. After transformation into the DFT (frequency)
domain, the equivalent, numerically efficient function can be
expressed in the point-by-point product form: 8 Y ( m ) = n = 1 N S
n ( m ) H n + B ( m ) where { y 0 m y T m } DFT Y m { s n , 0 m s n
, T m } DFT S m , n { h n , 0 h n , K - 1 } DFT H n
[0080] Thus, rather than performing a convolution of the channel
impulse response h.sub.n with the m.sup.th sequence s.sub.mn from
the n.sup.th base transmitter element, the present invention
applies a DFT operation to both the received sequence y.sub.n and
the various local replicas of the training sequences S.sub.mn, and
then does a multiplication together of the corresponding frequency
bins of the received signal sequence Y.sub.n (being the signal
sequence s.sub.n as received through a channel) with the
corresponding frequency bins of the replica of the training
sequence S.sub.mn. Summation (i.e. concatenation) of the individual
multiplication products associated with each channel provide a
composite frequency response for the channel, the composite
frequency response allowing, in the time domain, generation of the
channel impulse response for the channel. The process of the
present invention generally involves periodic buffering, for
example, of frequency bin data and vector results pertaining to
channel impulse responses, as will be appreciated by the skilled
addressee.
[0081] In other words, taking an exemplary 128-point Fourier
transform of both the received sequence y with the training
sequence s yields one hundred and twenty-eight corresponding
frequency bins in the frequency domain. Multiplication together of
corresponding frequency bins of the received sequence with the same
frequency bin of the signal (training) sequence s generates a
matrix containing solvable linear equations in H and S. Summation
(i.e. concatenation) of the individual multiplication products
associated with each channel then provides a composite frequency
response for that channel, which composite frequency response can
be used in the time domain (through an inverse FFT) to provide a
channel impulse response.
[0082] It will be appreciated that the channel is assumed constant
for the duration of the burst events with respect to slow moving
subscriber units, e.g. mobile units having a velocity of less than
about ten kilometres per hour (10 kph).
[0083] In the DFT domain, the k.sup.th frequency bin received for
the first burst can be expressed as the sum of components from the
base stations and their channels:
Y.sub.1.sup.(k)=S.sub.11.sup.(k)+S.sub.12.sup.(k)H.sub.2.sup.(k)+S.sub.13.-
sup.(k)H.sub.3.sup.(k)+B.sub.1.sup.(k)
[0084] Similarly, the k.sup.th frequency bin for the second burst
can be expressed as:
Y.sub.2.sup.(2)=S.sub.21.sup.(k)H.sub.1.sup.(k)+S.sub.22.sup.(k)H.sub.2.su-
p.(k)+S.sub.23.sup.(k)H.sub.3.sup.(k)+B.sub.2.sup.(k)
[0085] And, finally, the kth frequency bin for the third burst
is:
Y.sub.3.sup.(k)=S.sub.31.sup.(k)H.sub.1.sup.(k)+S.sub.32.sup.(k)H.sub.2.su-
p.(k)+S.sub.33.sup.(k)H.sub.3.sup.(k)+B.sub.3.sup.(k)
[0086] Rearranging the k.sub.th frequency bins provides a set of
solvable linear equations in terms of H and S, namely: 9 ( Y 1 ( k
) Y 2 ( k ) Y 3 ( k ) ) = [ S 11 ( k ) S 12 ( k ) S 13 ( k ) S 21 (
k ) S 22 ( k ) S 23 ( k ) S 31 ( k ) S 32 ( k ) S 33 ( k ) ] ( H 1
( k ) H 2 ( k ) H 3 ( k ) ) + ( B 1 ( k ) B 2 ( k ) B 3 ( k ) )
[0087] which can be written in the matrix vector form at each
frequency k bin (which for clarity is omitted):
Y=SH+B
[0088] It is now possible to define matrices and vectors containing
all the transmitter elements and bursts: 10 S = ( S 1 ( 1 ) S 2 ( 1
) S 3 ( 1 ) S 1 ( 2 ) S 2 ( 2 ) S 3 ( 2 ) S 1 ( 3 ) S 2 ( 3 ) S 3 (
3 ) ) H = ( H 1 H 2 H 3 ) Y = ( Y ( 1 ) Y ( 2 ) Y ( 3 ) ) B = ( B (
1 ) B ( 2 ) B ( 3 ) )
[0089] These equations are solved using a minimum mean square error
(MMSE), e.g. Weiner filter, method providing:
=(S.sup.HS+Cov(B)).sup.-1S.sup.HY
[0090] Here Cov(B) is the covariance matrix of the thermal noise,
which is often approximated by an identity matrix .sigma..sup.2I.
The equation immediately above can be considered as two entities,
namely as a matched filter SHY arranged to minimize the signal to
noise ratio but not to remove mutual interference between channel
estimates, followed a decoupling matric (S.sup.HS+Cov(B)).sup.-1
that removes the coupling between different channels caused by the
non-ideal nature of the PN sequences. The inverse DFTs for each
radio channel are therefore of the form: 11 ( H 1 ( 0 ) H 1 ( 1 ) H
1 ( 2 ) H 1 ( z ) ) iDFT ( h 1 ( 0 ) h 1 ( 1 ) h 1 ( 2 ) h 1 ( z )
) , ( H 2 ( 0 ) H 2 ( 1 ) H 2 ( 2 ) H 2 ( z ) ) iDFT ( h 2 ( 0 ) h
2 ( 1 ) h 2 ( 2 ) h 2 ( z ) ) ,
[0091] where z is the frequency bin (or its time domain
equivalent).
[0092] The decoupling matrix term S.sup.HS is a matrix product,
where S.sup.H is the conjugate transpose of the sequence, i.e. the
transposed matrix with all elements complex conjugated. The
covariance matrix <BB.sup.H>is the time averaged outer
product of the noise vector, or in element-by-element terms: 12
< BB H > = ( < b 1 b 1 * > < b 1 b 2 * > < b 1
b 3 * > < b 2 b 1 * > < b 2 b 2 * > < b 3 b 1 *
> < b 3 b 2 * > )
[0093] In terms of each channel concatenation of the numerous
frequency bins allows generation of a time domain vectors of the
channel impulse response for a channel, the time domain vectors
generated from an inverse DFT process within a suitable processing
block, such as an ASIC or control processor 150 (of FIG.
[0094] It is now possible to extend the basic concept of multiple
channel estimation to a situation in which each base station has a
plurality of transmit element; this scenario arises in, for
example, systems employing space time coding (STC). It will be
appreciated that STC is a collection of techniques for transmitting
a number of parallel data streams from multiple transmit antennas
with the aim of increasing bit rate for a given total transmitter
power. In STC, it will be appreciated that the 2.times.2 frame
structure is expanded to an N-element array, usually having at
least four transmit elements. For example, in a four element STC
transmitting antenna we might organise the user data in blocks of
four symbols and transmit them in different order from the four
elements via 16 channels to 4 receiving elements. This is a natural
extension of the two element STTD procedure, the main difference
from STTD being that multiple receiving elements are essential to
get a bandwidth expansion in STC whereas STTD is aimed purely at
improving the reliability of the received data and is not concerned
with bit rate expansion. Thus STTD will function with a single
receive antenna, while STC requires a minimum of two. The principle
difference between an STTD arrangement (that is discussed in detail
below) and STC is that each component of the block vectors and
block matrices (for STTD given below) contains an increasing number
of elements (i.e. CIR samples, transmitted data samples and
received data samples) consistent with the adopted coding method in
each STC derivative.
[0095] Referring briefly to FIG. 5, which is generally
complementary to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, there is shown a schematic block
diagram of the channel estimation process and architecture 500 of a
preferred embodiment of the present invention, the process based on
a two base station (BS1 and BS2) transmission environment having
two training bursts. The training sequences s.sub.x(.omega.) are,
in this exemplary case, Gold codes, with individual first 502 and
second 504 training sequences transmitted in a first burst 506. The
first training sequence 502 is subjected to first channel 508,
whereas the second training sequence is subjected to a second
channel 510. Both channels are combined at the receiver 512 and are
further subject to a first noise component (N.sub.1(.omega.)) 513.
In this exemplary case, first and second matched filters 514 and
516 provide a time reversed conjugated inversion of the respective
first and second training sequences 502 and 504, with outputs from
the first and second matched filters 514 and 516 provided to a
frequency domain coupler 518 supporting the frequency domain
decoupling matrix (S.sup.HS+Conv(B)).sup.- -1. Third 520 and fourth
522 training sequences transmitted in a second burst 524 are
respectively subjected to first channel 508 and second channel 510.
Both channels are combined at the receiver 512 and are further
subject to a second noise component 526 (typically different to the
first noise component). In this exemplary case, third 528 and
fourth 530 matched filters provide a time reversed conjugated
inversion of the respective third and fourth training sequences 520
and 522, with outputs from the third and fourth matched filters 528
and 530 provided to the frequency domain coupler 518. The frequency
domain coupler then provides channel impulse response vectors
{circle over (H)}.sub.1(.omega.) and {circle over
(H)}.sub.1(.omega.) (reference numerals 532 and 534) for the first
and second channels, respectively, based on the foregoing
point-by-point manipulation of individual (frequency domain)
frequency bins.
[0096] The preferred embodiment of the present invention therefore
shows how accurate channel estimation is possible through the use
of Wiener frequency domain MMSE deconvolution combined with
frequency domain spatial decoupling matrices, with quasi-orthogonal
Gold codes allocated to base stations and their antenna
elements.
[0097] The principles of the present invention can also be applied
to resolve multiple channels by a single training burst; this has
particular application in OFDM systems where it may not be possible
to transmit Steiner codes because of hardware constraints. The
present invention can be modified, in the fashion now shown, to
operate with a single arbitrary training sequence yet still resolve
multiple channels in a least squares sense. A single training burst
situation is algebraically undetermined in the two channel case. If
the burst is of length L, there are 2L unknowns in the two channels
which cannot be determined from L observations at one antenna.
However, if there are also 1/2 L linear constraints associated with
each channel impulse response the equations become solvable again.
The simplest constraints are that the channel impulse responses
{h.sub.0 . . . h.sub.k} are of finite duration. If K<1/2 L then
we write the equations as follows. Let S.sub.m be the circulant
matrices representing the training bursts and H.sub.m be the IR
vectors for channels #1 and #2. However, with a matrix solution not
be circulant, the ability to use FFT to solve the following
equation is lost, but resolution of the channels is still possible
with use of a matrix of the form: 13 Y = [ s 10 0 s 20 0 s 11 s 10
s 21 s 20 s 12 s 11 s 22 s 21 0 s 12 0 s 22 0 0 0 0 ] [ h 10 h 11 h
20 h 21 ]
[0098] In generality, with respect to two parallel channels using a
single training burst, if there are a large number of linear
constraints C attached to the channel impulse responses (such as
finite durations) then a number of channels can be solved with a
single training burst. Algebraically, if the there are N.sub.c
constraints on each channel vector of L elements and C channels,
the sum of the number of independent degrees of freedom is
C(L-N.sub.c). If the length of the training sequence is
NT>C(L-N.sub.c), then all of the independent degrees of freedom
can be solved; this method is used in Steiner codes to estimate
multiple channels using a single training sequence
[0099] Whilst benefits are attained through use of the channel
impulse response estimation scheme described so far (in which the
number of processing blocks is equal to the total number of
channels to avoid code contention problems), some processing
efficiency (i.e. DSP load) associated with Steiner codes is lost
since there is a requirement to invert a matrix in each frequency
bin whose dimension is equal to the number of channels, i.e. the
number of transmitting cells times the number of base antenna
elements per cell.
[0100] In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention,
therefore, the training sequence transmissions of FIG. 4 are
implemented as Steiner cyclic training sequence variant; this is
shown in FIG. 6 in which successive bursts 602 and 604 from
different base stations BS1 and BS2 contain repeated sequence
portions of an entire training sequence. This particular embodiment
of the present invention offers an optimum combination of frequency
domain Wiener filtering and MMSE spatial decoupling for the
estimation process. The high accuracy of channel estimation that
the combination of techniques offers is a desirable if not
essential for coherent null steering and soft hand off in CDMA and
OFDM. The sequences {s.sub.11}, {s.sub.21}, {s.sub.12}, {s.sub.22}
are four linearly independent random sequences transmitted in pairs
from the two antennas as shown. These sequences transform into the
DFT domain as s.sub.11, S.sub.21, S.sub.12, S.sub.11. Similarly the
channel impulse responses are H.sub.1, H.sub.2 in the DFT domain
(for the two channels in the exemplary case of a two base station
system having single transmit elements). The receiver (e.g.
receiver chain samples the two received blocks and, via a DFT
function, transforms to the Frequency domain as Y.sub.1 and
Y.sub.2. The required guard intervals, which prevent dispersion
contamination by unknown data, are already provided in the Steiner
sequences and additional, i.e. separate, provisioning of guard
periods is not therefore required. The two received blocks are
superpositions of convolutions of the transmitted sequences with
the channels and are modeled by point by point equations in the DFT
domain as follows: 14 [ Y k 1 Y k 2 ] = [ S k 11 S k 12 S k 21 S k
22 ] [ H k 1 H k 2 ] + [ N k 1 N k 1 ] k = 0 , 2 n - 1 K=0 . . . ,
2.sup.n-1
[0101] Since the S matrix has no particular orthogonality
properties, matched filtering is not advisable. Instead, if the
following MMSE matrix operation is performed at each frequency; the
result combines spatial decoupling with a Wiener frequency
weighting function and overall gives an MMSE solution. It requires
a 2.times.2 matrix inversion in each frequency bin for two cell
operation (with each base station having a single transmit
element): 15 [ H ^ k 1 H ^ k 2 ] = ( [ S k 11 S k 12 S k 21 S k 22
] + 2 I ) - 1 [ Y k 1 Y k 2 ] k = 0 , 2 n - 1 K=0 . . . ,
2.sup.n-1
[0102] By combining Steiner cyclic pilot rotation for transmissions
from the transmit elements of each base station according to the
present invention, interference-free mobiles near a centre of the
cell are allowed to resolve their channels in the usual
(conventional) way. At the cell periphery where interference
becomes significant, the training sequences need to be expanded to
provide enough degrees of freedom such that the simultaneous
equations for all of the channels become algebraically determinate;
a repeating pattern of the Steiner PN sequences allows this to
occur.
[0103] In the exemplary case where a receiver observes six
sequences, as shown in FIG. 7, the result in the Fourier domain is
that there are sufficient degrees of freedom to solve for six
channels {h.sub.1} to {h.sub.6}. It should be note that, in FIG. 7,
the introduction of sign reversals allows for distinction to be
drawn between codes in successive bursts, with the mechanism of
sign reversal therefore reducing the overall number of Steiner
codes required to implement a system according to the present
invention. The equations relating the received signal Y to the
sequences U, V, Wand the channels H in the frequency domain are: 16
[ Y 1 ( k ) Y 2 ( k ) Y 3 ( k ) Y 4 ( k ) Y 5 ( k ) Y 6 ( k ) ] = [
U 1 ( k ) U 2 ( k ) V 1 ( k ) V 2 ( k ) W 1 ( k ) W 2 ( k ) U 2 ( k
) U 1 ( k ) V 2 ( k ) V 1 ( k ) W 2 ( k ) W 1 ( k ) U 1 ( k ) U 2 (
k ) - V 1 ( k ) - V 2 ( k ) W 1 ( k ) W 2 ( k ) U 1 ( k ) U 2 ( k )
- V 2 ( k ) - V 1 ( k ) W 2 ( k ) W 1 ( k ) U 1 ( k ) U 2 ( k ) V 1
( k ) V 2 ( k ) - W 1 ( k ) - W 2 ( k ) U 1 ( k ) U 2 ( k ) V 2 ( k
) V 1 ( k ) - W 2 ( k ) - W 1 ( k ) ] [ H 1 ( k ) H 2 ( k ) H 3 ( k
) H 4 ( k ) H 5 ( k ) H 6 ( k ) ] + [ N 1 ( k ) N 2 ( k ) N 3 ( k )
N 4 ( k ) N 5 ( k ) N 6 ( k ) ] k = 0 2 n - 1 k=0 . . .
2.sup.n-1
[0104] However this is an inefficient algebraically redundant
representation that can be simplified as follows. At the mobile
terminal, for example, the signal from a given antenna at a base
station is the circular convolution of the PN sequence {s} with the
channel impulse response {h}: 17 y k = j = 0 N - 1 s k - j MOD N h
j k = 0 2 n - 1 k=0 . . . 2.sup.n1
[0105] The cyclic shift of the PN sequence for second base element
in the Steiner method can be replaced by a reverse shift of the
channel impulse response to give exactly the same signal at the
subscriber unit: 18 y k = j = 0 N - 1 s k - j - N / 2 MOD N h j = j
= 0 N - 1 s k - j h j + N / 2 MOD N
[0106] Cyclic shifting of channel impulse responses h.sub.2,
h.sub.4 and h.sub.6 (of FIG. 7) takes into account the reverse
shift as detailed immediately above with the effect that the six
sequences received at the antenna of the subscriber (or other
addressed unit) are Y.sub.1, Y.sub.2, Y.sub.3, Y.sub.4, -Y.sub.5and
-Y.sub.6. Moreover, the six sequences are obtained from a
repetition of only three Steiner codes that are individually and
uniquely assigned to each base station, i.e. both transmit elements
send identical sequences in the same burst, with the subscriber
unit generating a cyclically shifted channel impulse response
h.sub.x for one of the two radiating elements of the base station's
transmit array. This reverse shift manipulation results in only
three different PN sequences being utilised in this particular
embodiment, with the channel impulse responses of FIG. 7 taking the
form (h.sub.1+h.sub.2), (h.sub.3+h.sub.4) and (h.sub.5 +h.sub.6) to
provide the received sequence Y.sub.1, Y.sub.2, Y.sub.3, Y.sub.4,
Y-.sub.5 and -Y.sub.6. The determinant of the sign change matrix of
this solution is 4, as shown below: 19 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 - 1 = 4
Writing y 1 = [ y 1 y 2 ] y 2 = [ y 3 y 4 ] y 3 = [ y 5 y 6 ] h 1 =
[ h 1 h 2 ] h 2 = [ h 3 h 4 ] h 3 = [ h 5 h 6 ] u 1 = [ u 1 u 2 ] v
1 = [ v 1 v 2 ] w 1 = [ w 1 w 2 ]
[0107] with Fourier transforms:
[0108] y.sub.1.fwdarw.:Y.sub.1 y.sub.2.fwdarw.Y.sub.2
Y.sub.3.fwdarw.Y.sub.3
[0109] h.sub.1.fwdarw.H.sub.1 h.sub.2.fwdarw.H.sub.2
h.sub.3.fwdarw.H.sub.3
[0110] u.fwdarw.U V.fwdarw.V w.fwdarw.W then a reduced set of more
easily solvable equations in the DFT domain is obtained, namely: 20
[ Y 1 ( k ) Y 2 ( k ) Y 3 ( k ) ] = [ U ( k ) V ( k ) W ( k ) U ( k
) - V ( k ) W ( k ) U ( k ) V ( k ) - W ( k ) ] [ H 1 ( k ) H 2 ( k
) H 3 ( k ) ] k = 0 2 n - 1 k=0 . . . 2.sup.n-1
[0111] Provided a resultant matrix in this set of equations is well
conditioned and invertible, then the set of channel impulse
responses can be solved. A sampling design for the repetitions that
offers near-orthogonality between repeated sequences is, however,
required, such that different bases can be resolved without
ill-conditioning of the equations. Such designs, as used for
space-time codes, are readily available in statistics
literature.
[0112] By employing the preferred embodiment of the present
invention where Steiner codes supplement to point-by-point DFT
multiplication mechanism, accuracy in estimated channel impulse
responses is limited by channel noise rather than imperfection in
the codes.
[0113] The preferred embodiment that uses Steiner codes for m base
antenna elements can be used in multiple cells and MMSE channel
estimation is obtainable for a number n of bases giving a total of
nm downlink channels. Different cells will use a different basic PN
code, whereas the elements within a single cell will use the
Steiner cyclic offsets of a single PN code. The extra workload
(processing overhead) involved is the inversion of an n.times.n
matrix in each frequency bin. The inclusion of the use of Steiner
codes to supplement the basic inventive concept of Wiener frequency
domain MMSE deconvolution combined with frequency domain spatial
decoupling matrices results in the possibility of allocating only a
single training sequence to each base station provided that the
training sequence is of sufficient length to encompass all the
multiple time-translated channel impulse responses.
[0114] Embodiments of the invention may be implemented as computer
program code encoded on a computer program product for use with a
computer system. It is expected that such a computer program
product may be distributed as a removable medium with accompanying
printed or electronic documentation (e.g. shrink-wrapped software),
preloaded with a computer system or distributed from a server or
electronic bulletin board over a network (e.g. the Internet or
World Wide Web). A series of computer instructions can therefore
either be fixed on a tangible medium or fixed in a computer data
signal embodied in a carrier wave that is transmittable to a
computer system using wireline or wireless transmission techniques.
For example, the present invention can find application as
downloadable code in a software radio. The removable (i.e.
tangible) medium may be a computer readable media, such as a
diskette, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or RAM, fixed disk, magneto-optical
disks, ROMs, flash memory or magnetic or optical cards. The series
of computer instructions embodies all or part of the functionality
previously described herein with respect to the system.
[0115] Software embodiments of the invention may be implemented in
any conventional computer programming language. For example,
preferred embodiments may be implemented in a procedural
programming language (e.g. "C") or an object oriented programming
language (e.g. "C++").
[0116] Although the preferred operating method is realised by
general or specific-purpose processor or logic circuits programmed
with suitable machine-executable instructions, hardware components
may possibly be used to implement certain features of the present
invention. Of course, the present invention may be performed by a
combination of hardware and software.
[0117] It will, of course, be appreciated that the above
description has been given by way of example only and that
modifications in detail may be made within the scope of the present
invention. For example, while the preferred embodiment is has been
described in relation to a multi-cast system in which each base
station has a single transmit element, the present invention is
clearly applicable to multi-element transmitters and to single
isolated cells supporting transmissions from a single base station
having a transmit array. Furthermore, while the preferred
embodiment has been described in the context of a CDMA system, the
present invention is generally applicable to any dispersive or
imperfect channel that acts to corrupt symbols, including systems
employing TDD and FDM techniques and other types of links, such as
digital subscriber lines (DSL) and all digital transmission
systems.
[0118] Indeed, although the technique of the preferred embodiment
of the present invention has been described for a CDMA application
where the number of chips in the training burst is easily
identified, the principles of the present invention apply to OFDM,
wavelets (e.g. Daubechies's wavelets) and any similar orthogonal or
near-orthogonal signaling waveforms. With specific regard to an
OFDM signal, such an OFDM signal is treated as a single wide-band
modulated carrier in the time domain and an estimate of the time
domain channel impulse response is made in an identical way to that
described in the preferred embodiment. If a constraint is made that
the duration of the impulse responses is small, the equations
become algebraically soluble (or "observable" in the context of
control theory jargon) and in this way a large number of parallel
channels can be estimated using a single training burst.
[0119] If the duration of the OFDM training burst is N.sub.S
sub-carrier symbols and there are N.sub.F sub-carriers then the
burst effectively has N.sub.S*N.sub.F samples or chips which is
quite a substantial number. In practice, this means that multiple
channel estimation in OFDM might not be too difficult. The lower
limit for the duration of the training sequences would be that it
must be capable of supporting an orthogonal, or at least a linearly
independent, set of codes for say m base station antennas seen from
the terminal (in one or more cells). Superficially, this would
require m full sub-carrier slots and for HSD with 150 .mu.s slots
we need a duration of 150 .mu.s. However the wideband methods
described here only require that the duration of the training
sequence is .gtoreq.m times the duration of the channel impulse
response so, for a channel with .tau. .mu.s dispersion and signal
bandwidth B MHz, the duration of the training sequence need only be
.tau.Bm samples. For example, if the signal bandwidth is 6 MHz, the
channel dispersion is 5 .mu.s and there are seven base station
antennas with channels to be determined, the minimum duration of
the training sequence is 210 samples or 6.times.5.times.7/6 =35
.mu.s, i.e. only 1/5 of a nominal sub-carrier symbol. In practice,
however, this duration would need to be increased significantly
(and preferably about ten-fold or so) to improve estimation
accuracy.
[0120] In transmission bursts from base stations having single
transmit elements, cyclic prefixes could be replaced by blank
(zero) carriers to provide isolation between burst sequences.
[0121] It should be understood that reference to a base station
refers to serving infrastructure irrespective of the form of
air-interface adopted by the exemplary CDMA-based architecture of
the preferred embodiment. In other words, the term base station
should be construed broadly and, where necessary, to include
references to communication relay devices. While the main
applications are in channel estimation on a downlink for CDMA and
OFDM in order to apply coherent soft hand-off and interference
cancellation in locations where two or more base stations are at
similar ranges and the weaker base stations, if ignored, cause
mutual interference, the preferred embodiments are not intended to
be limiting to these specific arrangements.
* * * * *