JP2005151248A - Radio receiving apparatus and signal strength measuring method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve accuracy in measuring a signal strength and to prevent the reception performance from deteriorating. <P>SOLUTION: A gain control start part 108 instructs a control time counter 111 to start counting the number of times of control, when control is started. An average section control part 112 makes a received power averaging part 110 read the result of the measurement of received power stored in a reception power storage part 105, when the counted number of times of control is greater than the predetermined number of times, divide and then average the result with a gain value received from a control gain updating part 107, and outputs an averaged reception power value. The average block control part 112 will not make the reception power averaging part 110 perform the averaging operation, when the counted number of times of control is smaller than the predetermined number of times, and will not make it output the averaged reception power value, either. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio reception apparatus that performs AGC control of a received signal and a signal strength measurement method used in the apparatus.

  In wireless communication systems, signal strength measurement of received signals is used for various purposes. For example, when performing diversity reception, it is necessary to measure the signal strength of the received signal in order to select a received signal having a higher signal strength. Further, in a mobile communication (cellular) system, it is also used for purposes such as detection and switching (handover) of a reception area (cell). The signal strength measurement of the received signal is required to have a short detection time and no variation in measurement accuracy due to a difference in detection time interval or input signal strength range.

As a conventional method for measuring the signal strength of a received signal, for example, there is a method performed by a wireless receiver described in Patent Document 1. In this wireless receiver, a variable attenuator is installed in front of the intermediate frequency unit in order to accurately measure the received signal intensity in a wide range.
JP-A-8-251058 (FIG. 1)

  However, when the conventional signal strength measurement method is used, as shown in FIG. 5, when the noise level (noise floor) of the system connected to the RF unit 11-GCA12-A / D conversion unit 13 is larger than the level of the desired signal, In a short-time signal strength measurement, there is a problem that a received signal strength of a large level that does not accurately reflect the level of the desired signal is obtained. Conversely, when a signal exceeding the maximum width of the input range (dynamic range) of the A / D converter 13 is input, the signal strength after A / D conversion is saturated, and reception is performed using the result. When measuring the signal strength of a signal, there is also a problem that a received signal strength of a small level that does not accurately reflect the level of the desired signal can be obtained. In either case, since the measurement accuracy of the received signal strength is deteriorated, the reception performance of the wireless reception device is significantly deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides a radio receiving apparatus and a signal intensity measuring method used in the apparatus capable of improving the measurement accuracy of signal strength and preventing the degradation of reception performance. The purpose is to do.

  The radio reception apparatus of the present invention includes a measurement unit that measures the intensity of a received radio signal, an amplification unit that performs amplification processing of the radio signal according to the intensity measured by the measurement unit, and a measurement that is performed by the measurement unit Averaging means for averaging the intensity obtained, and control means for causing the averaging means to perform averaging after a lapse of a predetermined time from the start point of the amplification process performed in accordance with the intensity of the radio signal of the amplification means; The structure which comprises is taken.

  In the above configuration, the wireless reception device of the present invention further includes a counter that counts the number of amplification processes performed according to the strength of the wireless signal of the amplification means from the start time, and the control means When the number of amplification processes performed is greater than a predetermined number, the averaging means is configured to perform averaging.

  In the above configuration, the wireless reception device of the present invention further includes a determination unit that determines whether or not the intensity measured by the measurement unit is within a predetermined range, and the control unit includes the amplification unit. After a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the amplification process performed according to the intensity of the radio signal, and when the determination means determines that the intensity measured by the measurement means is within a predetermined range The averaging means is configured to perform averaging.

  The radio reception apparatus of the present invention further includes conversion means for converting the radio signal into a digital signal in the above configuration, and the predetermined range of the determination means is set based on a dynamic range of the conversion means. Take the configuration.

  According to these configurations, it is possible to improve the measurement accuracy of the received signal strength and prevent the reception performance from being deteriorated.

  A communication terminal apparatus according to the present invention employs a configuration including any one of the radio reception apparatuses described above.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to provide a communication terminal device having the same operational effects as described above.

  The signal strength measuring method of the present invention is a signal strength measuring method used in a receiving apparatus, a measuring step for measuring the strength of the received signal, and an amplifying step for amplifying the received signal according to the measured strength. And an averaging step for averaging the intensity measured by the measurement step after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of the amplification step.

  According to this method, it is possible to improve the measurement accuracy of the received signal strength and prevent the reception performance from deteriorating.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the measurement accuracy of the received signal strength and prevent the reception performance from being deteriorated.

  As described above, when the conventional signal strength measurement method is used, when the noise level of the RF unit-GCA-A / D conversion unit is higher than the level of the desired signal, or the A / D conversion unit has the maximum input range. When a signal exceeding a large amount is input, the signal strength of the received signal cannot be accurately measured.

  However, the present inventor pays attention to the fact that these problems occur mainly in the initial stage (transition period) of AGC control, and excludes this range (time zone) from the measurement section of signal strength measurement, thereby receiving signal strength. The present inventors have found that it is possible to improve the measurement accuracy of the present invention.

  That is, the gist of the present invention is to exclude the initial time zone of AGC control from the measurement interval of signal strength measurement.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a radio reception apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The radio receiving apparatus according to the present embodiment includes an antenna 100 that receives a radio signal, an RF unit 101 that performs processing such as down-conversion on the received signal, and a GCA (Gain Control Amplifier) that amplifies received power by gain control (AGC). 102, an A / D conversion unit 103 that converts an analog signal into a digital signal, a reception power measurement unit 104 that measures the intensity of the signal after A / D conversion for a predetermined period (short time), and a short-time reception power that is measured Received power storage unit 105, gain calculation unit 106 that calculates a control gain from short-time reception power, control gain update unit 107 that receives the control gain from gain calculation unit 106 and updates the control gain, gain control of the received signal Gain control start unit 108 that controls the start of the gain, and an initial gain holding unit that holds the initial value of the gain used at the start of the gain control 109, a reception power averaging unit 110 that averages short-time reception power, a control number counter 111 that counts the number of control times from the start of gain control, and a predetermined number of times from the start of control based on the count number An average interval control unit 112 that controls the average interval is provided.

  Next, the operation of the radio reception apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

  When an instruction to start gain control is given from the outside, the gain control start unit 108 reads the gain held in the initial gain holding unit 109 and instructs the gain calculation unit 106 to set this gain as the initial gain. Tell. At the same time, the gain control start unit 108 instructs the control count counter 111 to start counting the control count. The control function counter 111 transmits the gain control start to the average interval control unit 112 and instructs the average power averaging unit 110 to start the average start.

  The gain calculation unit 106 instructs the control gain update unit 107 to set the initial gain notified from the gain control start unit 108 in the GCA 102 and start the gain control operation. The control gain update unit 107 sets the initial gain notified from the gain calculation unit 106 to the GCA 102, and then instructs the reception power measurement unit 104 to start measurement and sets the gain set to the GCA 102 to the reception power averaging unit 110. Tell. After the gain value is set, the GCA 102 amplifies the output signal of the RF unit 101 with this gain. The A / D converter 103 converts the amplified signal into a digital signal. The reception power measurement unit 104 measures reception power (reception signal strength) in a short time and stores the measurement result in the reception power storage unit 105 as needed.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation procedure of the average interval control unit 112.

  Average section control section 112 determines whether or not the control count counted by control count counter 111 is greater than a predetermined count (for example, N) (ST1010). If the control count is greater than the predetermined count, reception power averaging is performed. Unit 110 reads out the measurement result of the received power stored in received power storage unit 105 (ST1020), and divides this result by the gain value received from control gain update unit 107 and then averages the result (ST1020) (ST1030), the averaged received power value is updated and output (ST1040). Further, in ST1010, the average interval control unit 112 does not perform the averaging operation on the reception power averaging unit 110 when the number of control times counted by the control number counter 111 is equal to or less than the predetermined number, and after averaging, The reception power value is not output.

  The gain calculation unit 106 calculates an appropriate value for the next control gain from the output of the reception power storage unit 105 and transmits it to the control gain update unit 107. As a gain calculation method, for example, a short-time received signal strength is compared with an appropriate received signal strength corresponding to the dynamic range of the A / D converter 103, and the difference is cumulatively added to or subtracted from the initial gain. Thus, feedback control for obtaining the optimum gain in the next control time unit is used.

  The control gain update unit 107 updates the gain of the GCA 102 with the gain calculated by the gain calculation unit 106.

  The series of operations of the wireless reception device described above is repeated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the control number counter 111 counts the number of times gain control (AGC) is performed in the GCA 102 from the control start time, and the average interval control unit 112 performs this control. The reception power averaging unit 110 averages the received power so that the received power is not averaged until the predetermined number of times is reached, that is, the received power is averaged after a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of AGC. To control. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the received signal strength that accurately reflects the level of the desired signal, and to improve the signal strength measurement accuracy. Thereby, it is possible to prevent deterioration of reception performance.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of the radio reception apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. This radio receiving apparatus has the same basic configuration as that of the radio receiving apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  The feature of this embodiment is that it has an intensity determination unit 201 and an average interval control unit 202.

  Next, the operation of the radio reception apparatus having the above configuration will be described.

  When a new reception power (reception power for a certain period) is stored in the reception power storage unit 105, the strength determination unit 201 determines that the received power value intensity range (amplitude) during that period is the reception power averaging unit 110. Whether the data used for averaging is valid, that is, whether the data is within a valid predetermined range in consideration of the dynamic range of the A / D converter 103, and the result of this determination is the average interval control unit 202. To tell.

  Based on the control count counted by the control count counter 111, the average interval control unit 202 does not average the reception power stored in the reception power storage unit 105 until the control count reaches a predetermined number from the control start time. The reception power averaging unit 110 is controlled as described above. In addition, the reception power averaging unit 110 is controlled so that the reception power value for a certain period determined by the intensity determination unit 201 not being within the predetermined range is not used for averaging.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation procedure of the average interval control unit 202. A part of the operation procedure of the average interval control unit 202 is the same as the operation procedure of the average interval control unit 112, and the description of the same procedure is omitted.

  Average interval control section 202 determines whether or not the number of control times counted by control number counter 111 is greater than a predetermined number (for example, N) (ST1010). After determining whether or not the strength of the received power is within an appropriate predetermined range in consideration of the dynamic range of the A / D conversion unit 103 (ST2010) in the determination unit 201, the subsequent ST1020 to ST1020 Move on to processing of ST1040.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the strength determination unit 201 determines whether the strength of the received power is within an appropriate predetermined range considering the dynamic range of the A / D conversion unit 103. The average interval control unit 202 controls the average interval of the reception power averaging unit 110 in consideration of the number of times gain control (AGC) is performed and also the determination result of the strength determination unit 201. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the signal intensity after A / D conversion from being saturated and to improve the measurement accuracy of the signal intensity. Thereby, it is possible to prevent deterioration of reception performance.

  In the present embodiment, the determination performed in the intensity determination unit 201 takes into account the dynamic range of the A / D conversion unit 103, that is, the predetermined range set in the intensity determination unit 201. However, the predetermined range is an average section of the received power when a significantly strong noise is received. It may be a range set for the purpose of being excluded from.

  The radio reception apparatus according to the present invention can be mounted on a communication terminal apparatus in a mobile communication system using a cellular system or the like, thereby providing a communication terminal apparatus having the same effects as described above. it can.

  Here, the case where the present invention is configured by hardware has been described as an example, but the present invention can also be realized by software.

  The wireless receiver and the signal strength measuring method according to the present invention have an effect of preventing deterioration of reception performance, and can be applied to the use of a CDMA receiver.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a radio reception apparatus according to Embodiment 1 Flow chart for explaining the operation procedure of the average interval control unit according to the first embodiment FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of a radio reception apparatus according to Embodiment 2 The flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement procedure of the average area control part which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. The figure for demonstrating the subject of the conventional signal strength measuring method

Explanation of symbols

101 RF section 102 GCA
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 104 Reception power measurement part 106 Gain calculation part 107 Control gain update part 108 Gain control start part 110 Reception power averaging part 111 Control frequency counter 112 Average area control part 201 Strength determination part 202 Average area control part

Claims (6)

Measuring means for measuring the strength of the received radio signal;
Amplifying means for performing amplification processing of the wireless signal according to the intensity measured by the measuring means;
Averaging means for averaging the intensity measured by the measuring means;
Control means for causing the averaging means to perform averaging after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of amplification processing performed according to the intensity of the radio signal of the amplification means;
A wireless receiver characterized by comprising: A counter that counts the number of amplification processes performed according to the intensity of the radio signal of the amplification means from the start time;
The control means includes
When the counted number of amplification processes exceeds a predetermined number, the averaging means performs averaging.
The wireless receiver according to claim 1. A determination means for determining whether the intensity measured by the measurement means is within a predetermined range;
The control means includes
After a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of amplification processing performed in accordance with the intensity of the radio signal of the amplification means, and the intensity measured by the determination means by the measurement means is within a predetermined range If it is determined that, the averaging means performs the averaging,
The wireless receiver according to claim 1. Further comprising conversion means for converting the radio signal into a digital signal;
The predetermined range of the determination means is
Set based on the dynamic range of the converting means,
The wireless receiver according to claim 3.   A communication terminal device comprising the wireless reception device according to claim 1. A signal strength measurement method used in a receiving apparatus,
A measurement step for measuring the strength of the received signal;
An amplification step of amplifying the received signal according to the measured intensity;
An averaging step of averaging the intensity measured by the measurement step after a predetermined time has elapsed since the start of the amplification step;
A signal intensity measuring method comprising:

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