U.S. patent application number 12/789854 was filed with the patent office on 2010-09-30 for communication system receiver and method for concurrent receiving of multiple channels.
This patent application is currently assigned to QUALCOMM INCORPORATED. Invention is credited to Samir S. Soliman.
Application Number | 20100248724 12/789854 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25509830 |
Filed Date | 2010-09-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100248724 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Soliman; Samir S. |
September 30, 2010 |
Communication System Receiver and Method for Concurrent Receiving
of Multiple Channels
Abstract
A method and apparatus in a communication system provide for
concurrent processings of signals at the different frequencies. A
received signal is down converted in a RF/IF system (490) to
produce on-channel and out-of-channel received samples (305, 306).
The on-channel received samples (305) are processed in a back-end
portion 499 to decode on-channel information. The out-of-channel
received samples (306) are processed to determine at least one of a
link quality and global positioning system originated information
in the back-end portion 499. The processings of the on-channel
received samples (305) and the out-of-channel received samples
(306) are performed essentially at the same time by the receiver
back-end (499).
Inventors: |
Soliman; Samir S.; (San
Diego, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
5775 MOREHOUSE DR.
SAN DIEGO
CA
92121
US
|
Assignee: |
QUALCOMM INCORPORATED
San Diego
CA
|
Family ID: |
25509830 |
Appl. No.: |
12/789854 |
Filed: |
May 28, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09965341 |
Sep 27, 2001 |
7729698 |
|
|
12789854 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/436 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04B 1/28 20130101; H04B
1/3805 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/436 |
International
Class: |
H04W 36/00 20090101
H04W036/00; H04W 36/30 20090101 H04W036/30 |
Claims
1. A method for processing a communication signal in a cellular
communication system, comprising: receiving a signal comprising an
on-channel component transmitted at a first frequency and at least
one off-channel component transmitted at a second frequency,
wherein the second frequency is different from the first frequency,
and wherein reception of the on-channel component of the signal
occurs uninterrupted by reception of the at least one off-channel
component of the signal; converting the received signal into a base
band signal, wherein the base band signal includes the on-channel
component and the at least one off-channel component; applying one
or more filters to the base band signal to produce on-channel
received samples and off-channel received samples; processing the
on-channel received samples to decode data transmitted over the
on-channel component; and processing the off-channel received
samples to decode data transmitted over the off-channel component,
wherein the on-channel processing occurs contemporaneously with the
off-channel processing.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the off-channel
received samples includes storing the off-channel received samples
for alter processing.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: combining the
processed on-channel received samples and the off-channel received
samples; and decoding the combined samples to generate a data
output from the received signal.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the off-channel received samples
comprise at least one link quality measurements for a handoff base
station, and further comprising: transmitting a link quality
measurement of the at least one link quality measurements to a
serving base station; and establishing a traffic channel with the
handoff base station associated with the transmitted link quality
measurement.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the transmission further
comprises transmitting the link quality measurement when the link
quality measurement exceeds a threshold.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein each link quality measurement is
based on at least one of a signal strength or a signal-to-noise
ratio associated with the candidate base station.
7. The method of claim 3, wherein the link quality measurement is
determined by: supplying the off-channel received samples to a
demultiplexer; and determining a quality of the out-of-channel
received samples via a searcher unit.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the off-channel component is
received from a global positioning system satellite, and wherein
the at least one off-channel component comprises a global
positioning system signal.
9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: using the processed
on-channel data and data derived from the processed global
positioning system signal contemporaneously by an application.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the second transmitter source
comprises a non-serving base station, wherein the off-channel
component comprises a second portion of a data signal, and wherein
the on-channel component comprises a first portion of the data
signal.
11. The method of claim 1, further comprising amplifying the
received signal before converting the received signal to the base
band signal.
12. A mobile station receiver in a cellular communication system,
comprising: a receiver portion configured to receive a signal
comprising an on-channel component transmitted at a first frequency
and at least one off-channel component transmitted at a second
frequency, wherein the second frequency is different from the first
frequency, and wherein reception of the on-channel component of the
signal occurs uninterrupted by reception of the at least one
off-channel component of the signal; a signal converter configured
to convert the received signal into a base band signal, wherein the
base band signal includes the on-channel component and the at least
one off-channel component; a filter configured to filter the base
band signal to produce on-channel received samples and off-channel
received samples; and one or more processors configured to: process
the on-channel received samples to decode data transmitted over the
on-channel component; and process the off-channel received samples
to decode data transmitted over the off-channel component, wherein
the on-channel processing occurs contemporaneously with the
off-channel processing.
13. The mobile station of claim 11, wherein the off-channel
processing includes storing the off-channel received samples for
later processing.
14. The mobile station of claim 11, wherein the one or more
processors is further configured to: combine the processed
on-channel received samples and the off-channel received samples;
and decode the combined samples to generate a data output from the
received signal.
15. The mobile station of claim 11, wherein the off-channel
received samples comprise at least one link quality measurements
for a handoff base station, further comprising a transmitter
configured to transmit a link quality measurement of the at least
one link quality measurements to a serving base station, and
wherein the one or more processors is further configured to
establish a traffic channel with the handoff base station
associated with the transmitted link quality measurement.
16. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein the transmitter is
further configured to transmit the link quality measurement when
the link quality measurement exceeds a threshold.
17. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein each link quality
measurement is based on at least one of a signal strength or a
signal-to-noise ratio associated with the candidate base
station.
18. The mobile station of claim 13, wherein the one or more
processors is further configured to: supply the off-channel
received samples to a demultiplexer; and determine a quality of the
out-of-channel received samples via a searcher unit.
19. The mobile station of claim 11, wherein the second transmitter
source comprises a global positioning system satellite, and wherein
the at least one off-channel component comprises a global
positioning system signal.
20. The mobile station of claim 17, wherein the one or more
processors are further configured to use the processed on-channel
data and data derived from the processed global positioning system
signal contemporaneously by an application.
21. The mobile station of claim 11, wherein the second transmitter
source comprises a non-serving base station, wherein the
off-channel component comprises a second portion of a data signal,
and wherein the on-channel component comprises a first portion of
the data signal.
22. The mobile station of claim 11, wherein the one or more
processors are further configured to amplify the received signal
before converting the received signal to the base band signal.
23. An apparatus for processing a communication signal in a
cellular communication system, comprising: means for receiving a
signal comprising an on-channel component transmitted at a first
frequency and at least one off-channel component transmitted at a
second frequency, wherein the second frequency is different from
the first frequency, and wherein reception of the on-channel
component of the signal occurs uninterrupted by reception of the at
least one off-channel component of the signal; means for converting
the received signal into a base band signal, wherein the base band
signal includes the on-channel component and the at least one
off-channel component; means for applying one or more filters to
the base band signal to produce on-channel received samples and
off-channel received samples; means for processing the on-channel
received samples to decode data transmitted over the on-channel
component; and means for processing the off-channel received
samples to decode data transmitted over the off-channel component,
wherein the on-channel processing occurs contemporaneously with the
off-channel processing.
24. The mobile station of claim 11, wherein the means for
processing the off-channel received samples includes storing the
off-channel received samples for later processing.
25. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising: means for
combining the processed on-channel received samples and the
off-channel received samples; and means for decoding the combined
samples to generate a data output from the received signal.
26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the off-channel received
samples comprise at least one link quality measurements for a
handoff base station, and further comprising: means for
transmitting a link quality measurement of the at least one link
quality measurements to a serving base station; and means for
establishing a traffic channel with the handoff base station
associated with the transmitted link quality measurement.
27. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the means for transmitting
further comprises means for transmitting the link quality
measurement when the link quality measurement exceeds a
threshold.
28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein each link quality
measurement is based on at least one of a signal strength or a
signal-to-noise ratio associated with the candidate base
station.
29. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the link quality measurement
is determined by: means for supplying the off-channel received
samples to a demultiplexer; and means for determining a quality of
the out-of-channel received samples via a searcher unit.
30. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the second transmitter
source comprises a global positioning system satellite, and wherein
the at least one off-channel component comprises a global
positioning system signal.
31. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising: means for using
the processed on-channel data and data derived from the processed
global positioning system signal contemporaneously by an
application.
32. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the second transmitter
source comprises a non-serving base station, wherein the
off-channel component comprises a second portion of a data signal,
and wherein the on-channel component comprises a first portion of
the data signal.
33. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising means for
amplifying the received signal before converting the received
signal to the base band signal.
34. A computer program product, comprising: a computer-readable
medium comprising code for: receiving a signal comprising an
on-channel component transmitted at a first frequency and at least
one off-channel component transmitted at a second frequency,
wherein the second frequency is different from the first frequency,
and wherein reception of the on-channel component of the signal
occurs uninterrupted by reception of the at least one off-channel
component of the signal; converting the received signal into a base
band signal, wherein the base band signal includes the on-channel
component and the at least one off-channel component; applying one
or more filters to the base band signal to produce on-channel
received samples and off-channel received samples; processing the
on-channel received samples to decode data transmitted over the
on-channel component; and processing the off-channel received
samples to decode data transmitted over the off-channel component,
wherein the on-channel processing occurs contemporaneously with the
off-channel processing.
35. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein processing
the off-channel received samples includes storing the off-channel
received samples for later processing.
36. A method of wireless communications, comprising: receiving,
from a network controller, by a first base station, a first portion
of a data signal for transmission to a mobile station further a
first frequency, wherein a second portion of the data signal is
communicated to a second transmitter source for transmission to the
mobile station using a second frequency, wherein the second
frequency is different from the first frequency; and transmitting
the first portion of the data signal to the mobile station using
the first frequency contemporaneously with the transmission of the
second portion of the data signal by the second transmitter source
to the mobile station using the second frequency.
37. The method of claim 32, wherein the second transmitter source
is a second base station, and wherein the first base station and
the second base station communicate with the network controller via
a back-haul.
38. The method of claim 32, wherein the second transmitter source
is a global positioning system satellite.
39. A first base station in a cellular communication system,
comprising: a receiver portion configured to receive, from a
network controller, a first portion of a data signal for
transmission to a mobile station further a first frequency, wherein
a second portion of the data signal is communicated to a second
transmitter source for transmission to the mobile station using a
second frequency, wherein the second frequency is different from
the first frequency; and a transmitter portion configured to
transmit the first portion of the data signal to the mobile station
using the first frequency contemporaneously with the transmission
of the second portion of the data signal by the second transmitter
source to the mobile station using the second frequency.
40. The first base station of claim 35, wherein the second
transmitter source is a second base station, and wherein the first
base station and the second base station communicate with the
network controller via a back-haul.
41. The first base station of claim 35, wherein the second
transmitter source is a global positioning system satellite.
42. An apparatus for wireless communications, comprising: means for
receiving, from a network controller, by a first base station, a
first portion of a data signal for transmission to a mobile station
further a first frequency, wherein a second portion of the data
signal is communicated to a second transmitter source for
transmission to the mobile station using a second frequency,
wherein the second frequency is different from the first frequency;
and means for transmitting the first portion of the data signal to
the mobile station using the first frequency contemporaneously with
the transmission of the second portion of the data signal by the
second transmitter source to the mobile station using the second
frequency.
43. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the second transmitter
source is a second base station, and wherein the first base station
and the second base station communicate with the network controller
via a back-haul.
44. The method of claim 38, wherein the second transmitter source
is a global positioning system satellite.
45. A computer program product, comprising: a computer-readable
medium comprising code for: receiving, from a network controller,
by a first base station, a first portion of a data signal for
transmission to a mobile station further a first frequency, wherein
a second portion of the data signal is communicated to a second
transmitter source for transmission to the mobile station using a
second frequency, wherein the second frequency is different from
the first frequency; and transmitting the first portion of the data
signal to the mobile station using the first frequency
contemporaneously with the transmission of the second portion of
the data signal by the second transmitter source to the mobile
station using the second frequency.
Description
CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. .sctn.120
[0001] The present application for patent is a Continuation of
application Ser. No. 09/965,341 entitled "Communication System
Receiver and Method for Concurrent Receiving of Multiple Channels",
filed Sep. 27, 2001, now granted, assigned to the assignee hereof
and hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
FIELD
[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of
communications, and more particularly, to communications in a
cellular communication system.
BACKGROUND
[0003] A communication system may provide communication services
that include wireless radio transmission of digitized speech, still
or moving images, text messages, position location determination
and other types of data. Such communication services may be
provided to a type of devices that are mobile, such as a cellular
phone, a portable computer, etc. A communication system through a
collection of commonly known cell sites provide the communication
services without interruption over a broad range of areas to a
mobile station. Each cell site may include a base transceiver
station and control units. One cell site may have more than one
base transceiver stations. Each base transceiver station provides
the radio frequency link over a limited geographical area. When a
mobile station moves from a location to another, the mobile station
may go through a handed off process that allows providing the
communication services without interruption. The handoff may be
accomplished through a soft hand off or a hard handoff or both. In
soft handoff, the mobile station receives essentially identical
traffic channel data from at least two base transceiver stations
over a common carrier frequency. The base transceiver stations
involved in the soft handoff process may be located in two
different cell sites or the same cell site. In hard handoff, the
resources in a current base station transceiver are released while
new communication resources in a new base station are allocated to
the user. In hard handoff, the carrier frequency of the current
base station may be different than the carrier frequency of the new
base station. As such, generally, hard handoff occurs between cell
sites that are operating over two different frequencies.
Inter-frequency hard handoff can also take place between two
frequency assignments in the same cell or same sector.
[0004] The process for the hard handoff may be preceded by a search
for possible hard handoff candidates including pilot signals
belonging to the candidate frequencies. The search may be performed
by the mobile station at any time including the time when the
mobile station is moving from one cell site to another. The mobile
station may need to search for possible hard handoff candidates
while maintaining a traffic call with a base station. The receiver
portion of the mobile station may need to be tuned to different
frequencies for finding a new hard handoff candidate. The mobile
station may have only one receiver portion. Therefore, during the
search time, the traffic of data on the traffic channel between the
current base station and the mobile station may be disrupted or the
mobile station may mute the incoming voice information. As such,
there may be a substantial delay in delivery of data or suspension
of voice traffic data during the search period. Similarly, a single
receiver is not capable to maintain two-way communications and
global positioning system (GPS) reception for position location
determination. The GPS system operates on an independent frequency
band.
[0005] To this end as well as others, there is a need for a
receiver and a method for providing un-interrupted communication
services in a communication system.
[0006] A method and apparatus in a communication system provide for
concurrent processings of signals at the different frequencies. A
received signal is down converted in a RF/IF system to produce
on-channel and out-of-channel received samples. The on-channel
received samples are processed in a back-end portion to decode
on-channel information. The out-of-channel received samples are
processed to determine at least one of a link quality and global
positioning system originated information in the back-end portion.
The processings of the on-channel received samples and the
out-of-channel received samples are performed essentially at the
same time by the receiver back-end.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] The features, objects, and advantages of the present
invention will become more apparent from the detailed description
set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in
which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout
and wherein:
[0008] FIG. 1 illustrates a communication system capable of
incorporating various embodiments of the invention;
[0009] FIG. 2 illustrates a communication system receiver for
receiving and decoding received data in accordance with various
aspects of the invention;
[0010] FIG. 3 illustrates a communication system receiver RF/IF
system for down converting a received signal to base band
frequencies in accordance with various embodiments of the
invention; and
[0011] FIG. 4 illustrates a graph of the down converted received
signal frequencies presented to a back-end base band processing
unit in accordance with various aspects of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)
[0012] Various embodiments of the invention may be incorporated in
a wireless communication system operating in accordance with the
code division multiple access (CDMA) technique which has been
disclosed and described in various standards published by the
Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) and other standards
organizations. Such standards include the TIA/EIA-95 standard,
TIA/EIA-IS-2000 standard, IMT-2000 standard, UMTS and WCDMA
standard, all incorporated by reference herein. A system for
communication of data is also detailed in the "TIA/EIA/IS-856
cdma2000 High Rate Packet Data Air Interface Specification,"
incorporated by reference herein. A copy of the standards may be
obtained by accessing the world wide web at the address:
http://www.3gpp2.org, or by writing to TIA, Standards and
Technology Department, 2500 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, Va. 22201,
United States of America. The standard generally identified as UMTS
standard, incorporated by reference herein, may be obtained by
contacting 3GPP Support Office, 650 Route des Lucioles-Sophia
Antipolis, Valbonne-France.
[0013] Generally stated, a novel and improved receiver and a method
provide for efficient processing of received signals in a CDMA
communication system. The efficient processing allows providing the
communication services to a mobile user without interruption when
the mobile station is searching for the hard handoff frequency
candidates. Hard handoff between two cell sites or two sectors may
be necessary for mobility management. In addition, the hard handoff
within one sector or one omni-sector cell may be for resource
management. One carrier frequency may be over-utilized by a number
of mobile users while the other frequency is under-utilized. For
mobility management and in order to maintain a system balance, the
base station in communication with the mobile station may request a
periodic search of the other frequencies. Under any condition, the
mobile station may perform the search without suspending the
communication of traffic of data in an ongoing communication call
in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
[0014] One or more exemplary embodiments described herein are set
forth in the context of a digital wireless data communication
system. While use within this context is advantageous, different
embodiments of the invention may be incorporated in different
environments or configurations. In general, the various systems
described herein may be formed using software-controlled
processors, integrated circuits, or discrete logic. The data,
instructions, commands, information, signals, symbols, and chips
that may be referenced throughout the application are
advantageously represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic
waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles,
or a combination thereof. In addition, the blocks shown in each
block diagram may represent hardware or method steps.
[0015] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a communication system
100 incorporating various embodiments of the invention while
operating in compliance with any of the code division multiple
access (CDMA) communication system standards. Communication system
100 may be for communications of voice, data or both. Generally,
communication system 100 includes a base station 101 that provides
communication links between a number of mobile stations, such as
mobile stations 102-104, and between the mobile stations 102-104
and a public switch telephone and data network 105. The mobile
stations in FIG. 1 may be referred to as data access terminals and
the base station as data access network without departing from the
main scope and various advantages of the invention. Base station
101 may include a number of components, such as a base station
controller and a base transceiver system. For simplicity, such
components are not shown. A mobile switching center (not shown) may
control various operating aspects of the communication system 100
and in relation to a back-haul 199 between network 105 and base
station 101. A base station 160 may also be connected to the
back-haul 199 for providing communication services in another
coverage area.
[0016] Base station 101 communicates with each mobile station that
is in its coverage area via a forward link signal transmitted from
base station 101. The forward link signals targeted for mobile
stations 102-104 may be summed to form a forward link signal 106.
Each of the mobile stations 102-104 receiving forward link signal
106 decodes the forward link signal 106 to extract the information
that is targeted for its user. Base station 160 may also
communicate with the mobile stations that are in its coverage area
via a forward link signal transmitted from base station 160. Mobile
stations 102-104 communicate with base stations 101 and 160 via
corresponding reverse links. Each reverse link is maintained by a
reverse link signal, such as reverse link signals 107-109 for
respectively mobile stations 102-104. Base station 101 and base
station 160 may be operating over two different frequencies.
[0017] To complete a hard handoff process, a candidate base station
operating on a different carrier frequency needs to be identified.
The selection may be based on several factors including a link
quality with the new base station. In order to determine a link
quality, the mobile station 102 tunes its receiver to the frequency
of the possible base station candidates and measures the link
quality. The selection of candidate may be based on the level of
the link quality. In accordance with various aspects of the
invention, a receiver may tune to one frequency, such as the
on-channel frequency, and produce on-channel and out-of-channel
signals to find possible pilot candidates for the hard handoff
process. The link quality measurements may include the received
signal strength, received signal-to-noise ratio or other
parameters. In a hard handoff situation from base station 101 to
base station 160, the link quality measurement is reported to the
base station 101. If the base station 160 is selected as the hard
handoff candidate, the base station 160 through a back-haul
connection is notified to allow the mobile station 102 to establish
a new traffic channel on the new frequency when the hard handoff
takes place. The base stations 101 and 160 may also transmit a
pilot channel on the forward link to assist the mobile stations in
decoding various channels on the forward link and make link quality
measurements. The link quality measurements may be based on the
quality of the pilot channel signal received at the mobile
station.
[0018] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a receiver 400 used
for processing and demodulating the received CDMA signal in
accordance with various embodiments of the invention. Received (Rx)
samples may be stored in RAM 404. Received samples are generated by
a radio frequency/intermediate frequency (RF/IF) system 490 and an
antenna system 492. Antenna system 492 receives an RF signal, and
passes the RF signal to RF/IF system 490. The received RF signals
are filtered, down-converted and digitized to form RX samples at
base band frequencies. The samples are provided to a back-end
processing block 499. In the back-end processing block 499, the
samples are supplied to a demultiplexer (demux) 402. The RF/IF
system 490 may produce at least two sets of received samples in
accordance with various embodiments of the invention. One set for
the on-channel communications, and another set for out-of-channel
communications. The on-channel communications include the traffic
channel between the base station and the mobile station. The
out-of-channel samples are digitally filtered and are used to
search for the hard handoff candidate frequencies. The
out-of-channel received samples may also include information about
the GPS received signals for determining the mobile station
position. The on-channel and out-of-channel samples are produced
essentially at the same time in accordance with various embodiments
of the invention.
[0019] The on-channel and out-of-channel samples may be stored in
RAM 404 and supplied to demux 402. The output of demux 402 is
supplied to a searcher unit 406 and finger elements 408. A control
unit 410 is coupled thereto. A combiner 412 couples a decoder 414
to finger elements 408. Control unit 410 may be a microprocessor
controlled by software, and may be located on the same integrated
circuit or on a separate integrated circuit. The decoding function
in decoder 414 may be in accordance with a Viterbi algorithm or a
turbo decoder.
[0020] In an embodiment, both the On-channel and out-of-channel
signals are processed in parallel and in real time. During
operation, the received on-channel and out-of channel samples are
supplied to demux 402. Demux 402 supplies the on-channel and
out-of-channel samples to searcher unit 406 and finger elements
408. Control unit 410 configures finger elements 408 to perform
demodulation of the received on-channel samples at different time
offsets based on search results from searcher unit 406. The results
of the demodulation are combined and passed to decoder 414. Decoder
414 decodes the data and outputs the on-channel decoded data.
Despreading of the channels is performed by multiplying the
received samples with the complex conjugate of the PN sequence and
assigned Walsh function at a single timing hypothesis and digitally
filtering the resulting samples, often with an integrate and dump
accumulator circuit (not shown). Such a technique is commonly known
in the art. For the on-channel samples, the PN sequence of the base
station currently in a traffic communication with the mobile
station is used. For processing the out-of-channel samples to
determine a link quality, similar back-end operations are performed
over the out-of channel received samples. The PN sequence of a
candidate base station, however, is used in the back-end processing
of the out-of-channel received samples. Base station 101 may be the
base station having a traffic channel communication with the mobile
station, and the base station 160 may be a hard handoff candidate
base station.
[0021] Base station 101 may provide coverage in one cell site over
one carrier frequency and base station 160 in another cell over
another carrier frequency. One ordinary skilled in the art may
appreciate that the term "cell site" is a general term used to
describe a collection of hardware and related software embedded
therein for providing communication services over a limited
geographical area. A cell site may be divided into two or more
sectors, where each sector may have a collection of hardware and
related software embedded therein for providing communication
services over a limited geographical area. Two or more sectors may
make up a cell site. Therefore, the terms cell site and sector used
herein may be interchangeable without departing from the advantages
of the invention. In various embodiments, the base stations 101 and
160, while operating over two different frequencies, may be
providing coverage for a common sector, or a common cell site, or
two sectors of a common cell site, or one sector of a cell site and
one sector of another cell site, or one sector of a cell site and
an omni sector cell site.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 3, the RF/IF system 490 produces the
on-channel and out-of-channel received samples in accordance with
various embodiments of the invention. RF/IF system 490 may include
a low noise amplifier 301 for amplifying the received signal from
antenna 492 in accordance with various embodiments of the
invention. The received signal is passed to a down converter 302. A
frequency source 303, such as a voltage-controlled oscillator, may
provide a signal at the on-channel carrier frequency for down
converting the on-channel signal to the base band frequency. The
resulting signal is passed through a low pass filter 304 for
filtering the out-of-channel signals and producing an on-channel
received samples 305. The down converted signal is also passed
through a processor 307. Processor 307 isolates, for searching
pilots of the candidate frequencies, the out-of channel received
samples 306. Processor 307 performs the operation in accordance
with a commonly known Digital Signal Processing (DSP) or any other
commonly known methods. A DSP processor allows isolating a specific
portion of a frequency band by digitally filtering other portions.
The isolated frequency band may be digitally shifted to the base
band frequency as the out-of-channel received samples 306. Receiver
400 in accordance with an embodiment includes a number of fingers
408. The on-channel and out-of-channel samples 305 and 306 are
supplied to the searcher unit 406 and finger elements 408. While
the finger elements 408 are processing the on-channel samples for
demodulation and the decoding operation in decoder 414, the
searcher unit 406 and possibly in combination with at least one of
the fingers 408 may determine the quality of the out-of channel
samples. The quality measure may be limited to measuring the signal
strength and signal-to-noise ratio or other parameters of the
out-of-channel received samples. If the quality measurement
satisfies a threshold, the base station that originated the signal
may be a possible candidate for hard handoff operation with the
mobile station. The control system 410 may control passing the
on-channel and out-of channel samples 305, 306 to respective
fingers 408 and searcher 406 by controlling demux 402. The
processing of the out-of channel samples may be limited to the
processing of the pilot channel information transmitted from the
candidate base stations. Therefore, the on-channel and
out-of-channel received samples may be processed at the same time
in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
[0023] Referring to FIG. 4, a graphical representation of the
on-channel and out of channel frequency spectrum 450 at the output
of down converter 302 is shown. The input signal of down converter
302 may contain pilot signals at different frequencies from
different base stations and GPS originated signal as well as the
traffic channel signals. The received signal may be mathematically
represented as:
r ( t ) = i = 1 N a i ( t ) cos ( w i t ) + n ( t ) ( 1 )
##EQU00001##
[0024] The frequency spectrum 450 of the output signal of the down
converter 302 may be represented by the following:
r d ( t ) = i = 1 N a i ( t ) [ cos ( ( w i - w o ) t ) + cos ( ( w
i + w o ) t ) ] + n ( t ) ( 2 ) ##EQU00002##
[0025] The low pass filter 304 filters the high frequency
components 452 shown in graph 450. The low-pass filtered version
451 of the signal may have the representation as following:
r f ( t ) = i = 1 N a i ( t ) cos ( ( w i - w o ) t ) + n ( t ) ( 3
) ##EQU00003##
[0026] The filtered version 451 of the received signal may be
represented as the on-channel received samples. The processor 307
may be using digital band pass filtering and is able to separate
the out-of channel desired candidate frequencies and GPS originated
signals from the high frequency components 452. The high frequency
components contain the out-of channel signals for searching pilots
on the candidate frequencies as well as the GPS signal components
in accordance with an embodiment. As such, the receiver 400 while
incorporating various aspects of the RF/IF system 490 as shown in
and described in relation to FIG. 3 is able to process and maintain
a traffic channel communication while the receiver is examining
different candidate frequencies and receive GPS originated signals.
Various embodiments of the invention, thus, provide an efficient
receiver and an accompanying method for providing uninterrupted
communication services in a communication system while the receiver
is searching for hard handoff candidate frequencies and/or
receiving GPS originated signal. Such a receiver may be used to
search GPS frequency band while in two-way communication with
cellular or PCS systems. The results of the search may be used to
determine the location of the wireless device without interrupting
the ongoing communication channel.
[0027] Those of skill in the art would further appreciate that the
various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and
algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments
disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware,
computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate
this interchangeability of hardware and software, various
illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have
been described generally in terms of their functionality. Whether
such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends
upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on
the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described
functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but
such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing
a departure from the scope of the present invention.
[0028] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and
circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed
herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose
processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application
specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array
(FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or
transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination
thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The
general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the
alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,
controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also
be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a
combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of
microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a
DSP core, or any other such configuration.
[0029] The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection
with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in
hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a
combination. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash
memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard
disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage
medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to
the processor such that the processor can read information from,
and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative,
the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor
and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside
in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the
storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user
terminal.
[0030] The previous description of the preferred embodiments is
provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the
present invention. The various modifications to these embodiments
will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the
generic principles defined herein may be applied to other
embodiments without the use of the inventive faculty. Thus, the
present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments
shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with
the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
* * * * *
References