Background
In order to meet the increasing demand for High Speed packet data Access service, 3GPP Rel5 introduces a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) technology, and Downlink data is carried through an HSDPA channel to obtain a higher user peak rate and a higher cell data throughput rate and reduce data transmission delay.
Based on the introduction of the HSDPA technology, the channels introduced accordingly are as follows:
transmission channel: a High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH) for carrying Downlink HSDPA data, and is mapped to a High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-PDSCH). A plurality of User Equipments (UEs) share the Channel by time division multiplexing and code division multiplexing, and a link adaptation technique is always followed by a Dedicated Physical Channel (DPCH) and one or more high speed downlink Shared Control channels (HS-SCCH) for HS-DSCH.
Physical channel: the uplink Shared Channel comprises a High-Speed Downlink Shared Physical Channel (HS-PDSCH), a High-Speed Downlink Shared Control Channel (HS-SCCH) for HS-DSCH and a High-Speed Shared Information Channel (HS-SICH), wherein the HS-SCCH is an HSDPA Downlink scheduling Control Channel, occupies two code channels with Downlink SF being 16 and adopts a fixed QPSK modulation mode. Scheduling control information for carrying the HS-DSCH. The HS-SICH is an uplink control channel of HSDPA, occupies a code channel with an uplink SF equal to 16, and adopts a fixed QPSK modulation mode. For acknowledging (ACK/NACK) the receipt of data blocks on the HS-DSCH channel and feeding back the quality information CQI of the downlink to better assist the base station scheduling, and in addition the HS-SICH carries the Transmit Power Control (TPC) command word of the downlink.
The HSUPA is an Uplink enhancement scheme proposed by 3GPP, and the Channel structure of the HSUPA service includes two Uplink channels, E-RUCCH (E-DCH Random access Uplink Control Channel) and E-PUCH (E-DCH physical Uplink Channel), and two downlink channels, E-AGCH (E-DCH Absolute Grant Channel) and E-HICH (E-DCH HARQ Indicator Channel).
An E-UCCH (E-DCH Uplink Control Channel) Channel is used for transmitting Control information, an E-DCH (enhanced differentiated Transport Channel) Channel is used for transmitting data, a plurality of UEs share the two channels through time division multiplexing and code division multiplexing, and can be mapped to one or more physical channels, wherein the physical channels are E-PUCH. For scheduling users, in order to realize fast control, the E-PUCH carries scheduling information of different users through a downlink control channel E-AGCH and transmits HARQ response indication to UE through a downlink common channel E-HICH.
When the scheduling request is sent for the first time, the Node B does not send the scheduling permission to the UE, and physical resources used by the E-DCH are not allocated to the UE, and the scheduling request information of the UE is sent to the Node B on the E-RUCCH. After receiving the scheduling request sent by the UE, the Node B carries out scheduling according to the resource use condition and sends a scheduling permission AG on the E-AGCH; after receiving the AG, the UE determines the E-DCH rate and the physical resource actually occupied according to the physical resource and the buffer data amount allocated in the AG, and the UE control information (comprising E-TFCI and HARQ parameters) actually sent is sent on the E-UCCH.
Due to the characteristics of the HSUPA technology, there are several situations for transmitting the UE allocated resources, namely, scheduled transmission, non-scheduled transmission, and RDI. When scheduling transmission, the UE transmits according to the received scheduling information on the E-AGCH; when non-scheduling transmission, Node B does not send E-AGCH channel, but gives UE a fixed resource and transmission mode; the RDI mode belongs to a special case of scheduling transmission, Node B allocates a fixed resource to UE for transmission in a period of time, and does not need to send E-AGCH to inform the UE of scheduling information.
The power control method of HS-SCCH and E-AGCH is used in HSDPA/HSUPA system, in this case, the downlink associated DPCH is configured, so the power control method of HS-SCCH and E-AGCH is as follows:
and the initial sending power refers to the sending power of the associated DPCH, then closed-loop power adjustment is carried out according to the TPC carried by an uplink channel, and if the sending interval of the HS-SCCH and the E-AGCH is larger than a threshold GAP, the initial sending power is adopted for sending, namely the sending power of the associated DPCH is referred.
In CPC of HSPA +, semi-persistent resource allocation is introduced, and downlink transmission of VoIP service is carried out through HS-PDSCH. The base station allocates or reallocates dedicated semi-persistent resources for the UE through the HS-SCCH, and can also change the semi-persistent resource allocation or withdraw the semi-persistent resources by sending the HS-SCCH. And in the process of transmitting the service by the semi-persistent resources, the HS-SCCH is not sent any more, and the HS-PDSCH sends data according to the pre-configured semi-persistent resources. Because the data arrival of the VoIP service has certain regularity, the base station can greatly reduce the times of sending the HS-SCCH through semi-continuous scheduling. Moreover, when the service state is switched, the resource allocation can be changed in time through the HS-SCCH, and the resource utilization rate and the cell throughput are improved on the premise of ensuring the service QoS. Similarly, the E-PUCH is scheduled to carry out uplink transmission on the VoIP, a semi-persistent resource allocation method is also adopted, and the E-AGCH is only sent when the semi-persistent resources are allocated or reconfigured.
In HSPA +, in order to make full use of resources and increase the number of users accessing, dedicated channel DPCH is removed, and sharing is adopted to transmit VoIP service through a shared channel. Semi-persistent resource allocation can be employed, the base station informs the user terminal via the HS-SCCH and the E-AGCH to start the semi-persistent scheduling mode, and then the base station does not use the HS-SCCH and the E-AGCH unless the semi-persistent scheduling mode ends. At this time, the HS-SCCH and the E-AGCH frequently adopt initial transmission power for transmission due to a large transmission interval, but the power of the associated DPCH can not be referred to, and how to obtain the transmission power of the HS-SCCH and the E-AGCH becomes a problem to be solved.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention provides a power control method and a power control device for a downlink control channel, which are used for solving the problem that the power of the downlink control channel cannot be adjusted in the semi-persistent resource allocation process.
The power control method for the downlink control channel provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps:
determining the first transmission power of a downlink control channel according to the maximum transmission power;
when downlink data is not sent through the downlink control channel for the first time, if the time interval between the current time and the last time when the downlink data is sent through the downlink control channel is larger than a set first threshold, obtaining a power adjustment amount according to code rate information corresponding to high-speed downlink shared physical channel HS-PDSCH transmission data in the time interval, and adjusting the sending power of the downlink control channel by using the power adjustment amount;
if the time interval between the current time and the last time for sending the downlink data through the downlink control channel is not larger than the set first threshold, the TPC received by the uplink control channel is used for carrying out sending power adjustment.
The power control device for the downlink control channel provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises:
the first power control module is used for determining the first transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the maximum transmission power;
a judging module, configured to determine whether a time interval between a current time and a last time when downlink data is transmitted through the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold when downlink data is not transmitted through the downlink control channel for the first time;
a second power control module, configured to, when a current time interval from a previous time when downlink data is sent through the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold, obtain a power adjustment amount according to code rate information corresponding to HS-PDSCH transmission data in the time interval, and adjust the sending power of the downlink control channel by using the power adjustment amount;
and the third power control module is used for adjusting the transmission power by using the TPC received by the uplink control channel when the time interval between the current time and the last time for transmitting the downlink data through the downlink control channel is not more than a set first threshold.
The power control method for the downlink control channel provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps:
determining the first transmission power of a downlink control channel according to the maximum transmission power;
when downlink data is not transmitted through the downlink control channel for the first time, if the time interval between the current time and the last time when the downlink data is transmitted through the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold, adjusting the transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH (high speed physical downlink shared channel);
if the time interval between the current time and the last time for sending the downlink data through the downlink control channel is not larger than the set first threshold, the TPC received by the uplink control channel is used for carrying out sending power adjustment.
The power control device for the downlink control channel provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises:
the first power control unit is used for determining the first transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the maximum transmission power;
a judging unit, configured to determine whether a current time interval from the last time when downlink data is transmitted through the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold when downlink data is not transmitted through the downlink control channel for the first time,
a second power control unit, configured to adjust the transmit power of the downlink control channel according to the transmit power of the HS-PDSCH, when a current time interval from the last time when downlink data is transmitted through the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold;
and the third power control unit is used for adjusting the transmission power by using the TPC received by the uplink control channel when the time interval between the current time and the last time for transmitting the downlink data through the downlink control channel is not greater than a set first threshold.
In the embodiment of the invention, the first sending power of the downlink control channel is determined according to the maximum sending power; when downlink data is not transmitted through the downlink control channel for the first time, if the current time interval from the last time of transmitting the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold, obtaining a power adjustment amount according to code rate information corresponding to HS-PDSCH transmission data in the time interval, and adjusting transmission power by using the power adjustment amount; or, adjusting the transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the transmission power of the latest HS-PDSCH; if the time interval between the current time and the last time when the downlink data is transmitted through the downlink control channel is not larger than the set first threshold, the transmit power is adjusted by using the TPC received by the uplink control channel, so that the problem that the power of the downlink control channel cannot be adjusted in the semi-continuous resource allocation process is solved, and the performance of the downlink control channel is improved.
Detailed Description
According to the characteristics of the CPC, in the semi-persistent resource allocation process, the HS-PDSCH service is sent and HS-SICH feedback is carried out even under the condition that the HS-SCCH is not used, and in order to ensure the Qos of the VoIP service, the semi-persistent resource allocation interval is smaller. In the semi-continuous resource allocation process, the HS-PDSCH adopts a fixed Transport Block Size (TBS) and transmits on a fixed physical resource, and the user terminal feeds back CQI on the HS-SICH.
In the semi-persistent resource allocation process, the transmission power control of the HS-PDSCH comprises two realization modes:
the first mode is as follows: the transmit power of the HS-PDSCH remains unchanged but the transmitted TBS is semi-statically adjusted according to the CQI fed back by the user terminal.
The second mode is as follows: the transmitted TBS is not changed, but the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH is adjusted according to the CQI fed back by the user terminal, so that the CQI fed back by the terminal is converged near the set CQI.
Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, with respect to the above two modes, the present invention also provides different embodiments accordingly.
In the first aspect, the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH is kept constant, but the TBS to be transmitted needs to be adjusted semi-statically according to the CQI fed back by the user terminal, and in this case, the CQI fed back by the user terminal changes with the change of the channel environment.
Referring to fig. 1, a method for controlling power of a downlink control channel according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:
step 101: and determining the first transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the maximum transmission power.
Here, the first transmission power of the downlink control channel may be determined by performing code channel equalization according to the maximum transmission power.
Step 102: when the downlink data is not sent through the downlink control channel for the first time, whether the time interval between the current time and the last time when the downlink data is sent through the downlink control channel is larger than a set first threshold is judged, if so, step 103 is executed, and if not, step 104 is executed.
Step 103: and obtaining power adjustment quantity according to code rate information corresponding to the HS-PDSCH transmission data in the time interval, adjusting the transmission power by using the power adjustment quantity, and finishing the adjustment.
And obtaining the code rate lambda (i) corresponding to the current HS-PDSCH transmission data sent by the user terminal according to the CQI fed back by the user terminal. The CQI includes TBS and modulation scheme.
Obtaining the power adjustment amount according to the code rate information corresponding to the HS-PDSCH transmission data in the time interval can be realized according to the following steps:
a1, let Δ X equal to 0, i equal to (N-N)gap)+1;
A2, determining whether λ (i) is smaller than λ (i-1), and if so, Δ X ═ Δ X + PstepOtherwise, Δ X ═ Δ X-Pstep_HS-SCCH;
A3、i=i+1;
A4, judging whether i is larger than n, if yes, ending, otherwise, returning to the step A2,
where Δ X represents a power adjustment amount, i is a subframe number, NgapThe time interval between the downlink data sent by the downlink control channel and the current subframe last time, n is the current subframe number, PstepFor the step size of power adjustment, it can be configured by a higher layer such as a Radio Network Controller (RNC), for example: take arbitrarily configured values of 1, 2, 3dB, etc. And lambda (i) is a code rate corresponding to the HS-PDSCH transmission data when the subframe number is i. It should be noted that the initial value of the transmission power adjustment Δ X is 0dB, and after each downlink data transmission through the downlink control channel, Δ X needs to be reinitialized to 0dB, and before the next downlink control channel, Δ X is superimposed again according to steps a1 to a 4.
In step 103, the result of adding the last transmission power of the downlink control channel to the obtained power adjustment amount may be used as the current transmission power of the downlink control channel. For example:
when the downlink control channel is HS-SCCH, XTXP_HS-SCCH(n)=XTXP_HS-SCCH(n-Ngap)+ΔX
Wherein, XTXP_HS-SCCH(n) is the current HS-SCCH transmission power, XTXP_HS-SCCH(n-Ngap) Is the transmission power of the last HS-SCCH, Δ X is the transmission power adjustment, NgapAnd n is the current subframe number for the time interval between the last time of sending the downlink data through the downlink control channel and the current subframe.
Step 104: and adjusting the transmission power by using the TPC received in the uplink control channel, and finishing the adjustment.
Here, the transmission power of the downlink control channel may be adjusted by using the received TPC immediately before. Such as: determining whether to adjust the transmission power up or down by a step size P according to the information carried by the received TPCstepIf the information carried by the TPC indicates up-regulation, the sending power of the downlink control channel is up-regulated last time, and if the information carried by the TPC indicates down-regulation, the sending power of the downlink control channel is down-regulated last time.
The downlink control channel can be HS-SCCH or E-AGCH, and can also be other downlink control channels. Of course, there are two corresponding different processing methods for the transmission power of the HS-SCCH and the E-AGCH. The two downlink control channels are similar in their characteristics, and power control may take the same mode,
referring to fig. 2, corresponding to the embodiment shown in fig. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a power control apparatus for a downlink control channel, including: a first power control module 21, a determination module 22, a second power control module 23, and a third power control module 24. Wherein,
a first power control module 21, configured to determine a first transmit power of a downlink control channel according to a maximum transmit power;
a determining module 22, configured to determine whether a time interval between the current time and the last time when downlink data is sent through the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold when downlink data is not sent through the downlink control channel for the first time;
a second power control module 23, configured to, if a time interval between the current time and the last time when downlink data is sent through the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold, obtain a power adjustment amount according to code rate information corresponding to HS-PDSCH transmission data in the time interval, and adjust transmission power by using the power adjustment amount;
and a third power control module 24, configured to adjust the transmit power by using the TPC received in the uplink control channel if the current time interval from the last time when the downlink data is transmitted through the downlink control channel is not greater than the set first threshold.
The first power control module 21 is configured to perform code channel equalization according to the maximum transmit power to determine the first transmit power of the downlink control channel.
The second power control module 23 is configured to obtain a power adjustment amount according to code rate information corresponding to HS-PDSCH transmission data in the time interval by the following steps:
a1, let Δ X equal to 0, i equal to (N-N)gap)+1;
A2, determining whether λ (i) is smaller than λ (i-1), and if so, Δ X ═ Δ X + PstepOtherwise, Δ X ═ Δ X-Pstep;
A3、i=i+1;
A4, judging whether i is larger than n, if yes, ending, otherwise, returning to the step A2,
where Δ X represents a power adjustment amount, i is a subframe number, NgapThe time interval between the downlink data sent by the downlink control channel and the current subframe last time, n is the current subframe number, PstepFor the power adjustment step size, λ (i) is the code rate corresponding to the HS-PDSCH transmission data when the subframe number is i.
The second power control module 23 is configured to add the last transmission power of the downlink control channel and the obtained power adjustment amount to obtain a result, which is used as the current transmission power of the downlink control channel.
The third power control module 24 is configured to use a result of adjusting the transmit power of the downlink control channel by using the received TPC last time as the transmit power of the current downlink control channel.
In this embodiment, the downlink control channel may be an HS-SCCH, or an E-AGCH, or may be another downlink control channel similar to the HS-SCCH, or the E-AGCH.
Secondly, the TBS for the transmission of the HS-PDSCH according to the second scheme is basically unchanged, but the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH is adjusted according to the CQI fed back by the user terminal so that the CQI fed back by the terminal converges to around the set CQI. In this case, the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH is constantly adjusted. When the HS-PDSCH is used for power control, CQI fed back by the user terminal cannot be referred to adjust the transmission power of the HS-SCCH due to the influence of power change, but the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH can be referred to. Since the code rate corresponding to the HS-PDSCH transmission data is basically fixed, the transmission power of the HS-SCCH can be adjusted by referring to the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH which is transmitted latest, and then the power margin alpha is added.
Referring to fig. 3, a method for controlling power of a downlink control channel according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the following steps:
step 301: and determining the first transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the maximum transmission power. Here, the first transmission power of the downlink control channel may be determined according to the maximum transmission power by performing code channel equalization or other preset allocation method.
Step 302: when the downlink data is not transmitted through the downlink control channel for the first time, judging whether the time interval between the current time and the last time for transmitting the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold, if so, executing step 303, otherwise, executing step 304.
Step 303: and adjusting the transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH which is transmitted recently, and finishing the adjustment.
The method specifically comprises the following two steps:
(1) obtaining the transmission power of a single code channel of the HS-PDSCH;
the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH single code channel can be obtained by using the following formula:
pHS-PDSCH,i=pHS-PDSCH-10*log(NHS-PDSCH),
wherein i represents the number of ith code channel of HS-PDSCH, pHS-PDSCH,iIndicating the transmission power, N, of a single code channel of HS-PDSCHHS-PDSCHIndicates the number of code channels, p, corresponding to the downlink data recently transmitted by HS-PDSCHHS-PDSCHIndicating the transmission power of the most recent HS-PDSCH.
(2) And determining the transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH single code channel and the number of the code channels of the downlink control channel.
The following formula can be specifically used for implementation:
XTXP(n)=pHS-PDSCH,i+10*log(N)+α,
wherein the current subframe number is n, XTXPAnd (N) represents the current transmission power of the downlink control channel, N represents the number of code channels in a time slot corresponding to the current downlink data transmitted through the downlink control channel, and alpha represents the power margin aiming at the current system modulation mode.
For example, when the downlink control channel is HS-PDSCH, the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH transmitted most recently is p, assuming that the current subframe number is nHS-PDSCH(dB), the number of code channels in the corresponding time slot is NHS-PDSCH,NHS-SCCHIs the code channel number of HS-SCCH, the threshold GAP is the first threshold, alphaQPSK、α16QAMWhen HS-PDSCH is QPSK and 16QAM, HS-SCCH refers to the power margin which needs to be increased corresponding to the transmission power, of course, the transmission power is not the same due to different code rates corresponding to HS-SCCH and HS-PDSCH transmission data and different required QosAs such, can be adjusted by a given power margin.
pHS-PDSCH,i=pHS-PDSCH-10*log(NHS-PDSCH) Wherein i is the number of the ith code channel of the HS-PDSCH;
if the current time interval N from the last HS-SCCH transmissiongapIf the threshold GAP is larger than the threshold value, and the HS-PDSCH is QPSK modulated, the transmission power of the HS-SCCH is as follows:
XTXP_HS-SCCH(n)=pHS-PDSCH,i+10*log(NHS-SCCH)+αQPSK
if the current interval is N from the last HS-SCCH transmissiongapThe threshold GAP is greater than, the HS-PDSCH is modulated by 16QAM, and the transmission power of the HS-SCCH is as follows:
XTXP_HS-SCCH(n)=pHS-PDSCH,i+10*log(NHS-SCCH)+α16QAM
step 304: and adjusting the transmission power by using the TPC received in the uplink control channel, and finishing the adjustment.
The adjusting the transmission power by using the TPC received on the uplink control channel includes:
and taking the transmission power of the downlink control channel last time as the transmission power of the current downlink control channel by utilizing the result of the received TPC adjustment.
Namely: xTXP_HS-SCCH(n)=XTXP_HS-SCCH(n-Ngap)+TPC*Pstep
Here, the TPC is represented by 1 if it is UP, and represented by-1 if it is Down. In this embodiment, the downlink control channel may be an HS-SCCH, or an E-AGCH, or may be another downlink control channel similar to the HS-SCCH, or the E-AGCH.
Referring to fig. 4, corresponding to the embodiment shown in fig. 3, an embodiment of the present invention provides a power control apparatus for a downlink control channel, which specifically includes: a first power control module 41, a determination module 42, a second power control module 43, and a third power control module 44.
A first power control module 41, configured to determine a first transmission power of a downlink control channel according to the maximum transmission power;
a determining module 42, configured to determine whether a time interval between the current time and the last time that downlink data is sent through the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold when downlink data is not sent through the downlink control channel for the first time;
a second power control module 43, configured to, when a time interval between the current time and the last time when downlink data is sent through the downlink control channel is greater than a set first threshold, obtain a power adjustment amount according to code rate information corresponding to the HS-PDSCH transmission data in the time interval, and adjust transmission power by using the power adjustment amount;
a third power control module 44, configured to adjust the transmit power by using the TPC received in the uplink control channel when the current time interval from the previous time when the downlink data is transmitted through the downlink control channel is not greater than the set first threshold.
The first power control module 41 is configured to perform code channel equalization according to the maximum transmit power to determine the first transmit power of the downlink control channel.
The second power control unit 43 is configured to obtain the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH single code channel, and determine the transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH single code channel and the number of code channels of the downlink control channel.
The second power control unit 43 is configured to obtain the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH single code channel by using the following formula:
pHS-PDSCH,i=pHS-PDSCH-10*log(NHS-PDSCH),
wherein i represents the number of ith code channel of HS-PDSCH, pHS-PDSCH,iTransmission indicating single code channel of HS-PDSCHPower supply, NHS-PDSCHIndicates the number of code channels, p, corresponding to the downlink data recently transmitted by HS-PDSCHHS-PDSCHIndicating the transmission power of the most recent HS-PDSCH.
The second power control unit 43 determines the transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the transmission power of the HS-PDSCH single code channel and the number of code channels of the downlink control channel by using the following formula:
XTXP(n)=pHS-PDSCH,i+10*log(N)+α,
wherein the current subframe number is n, XTXPAnd (N) represents the transmission power of the downlink data currently transmitted through the downlink control channel, N represents the number of code channels in the time slot corresponding to the downlink data currently transmitted through the downlink control channel, and alpha represents the power margin aiming at the current system modulation mode.
The third power control unit 44 is configured to add the transmit power of the downlink data transmitted through the downlink control channel last time and the received TPC to obtain a transmit power of the downlink control channel currently transmitted.
The downlink control channel may be an HS-SCCH, or an E-AGCH, or other similar channel.
In the embodiment of the invention, the first sending power of the downlink control channel is determined according to the maximum sending power; when downlink data is not sent through the downlink control channel for the first time, if the time interval between the current time and the last time when the downlink data is sent through the downlink control channel is larger than a set first threshold, obtaining a power adjustment amount according to code rate information corresponding to the HS-PDSCH transmission data in the time interval, and adjusting the sending power by using the power adjustment amount; or, adjusting the transmission power of the downlink control channel according to the transmission power of the latest HS-PDSCH; if the time interval between the current time and the last time when the downlink data is transmitted through the downlink control channel is not larger than the set first threshold, the transmit power is adjusted by using the TPC received by the uplink control channel, so that the problem that the power of the downlink control channel cannot be adjusted in the semi-continuous resource allocation process is solved, and the performance of the downlink control channel is improved. By applying the embodiment of the invention, the power control of the downlink control channel can be realized in the HSPA + system. And, under the condition that the sending interval of the downlink control channel in the HSPA + is larger, the downlink control performance can still be ensured, thereby ensuring the performance of the whole system.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and their equivalents, the present invention is also intended to include such modifications and variations.