JP2009124305A - Communication device, method of adjusting transmission timing, and method of adjusting transmission frequency - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To optimize transmission timing at a transmission side using a timing offset calculated based on a signal received by a plurality of reception antenna elements. <P>SOLUTION: A communication device includes: timing offset estimation sections 17a, 17b for estimating a timing offset of a reception signal received by the plurality of antenna elements 11a, 11b; and an adjustment information imparting section 20 for imparting transmission timing adjustment information for adjusting transmission timing to a transmission side of a signal. There are the timing offset estimation sections 17a, 17b in respective systems 15a, 15b of the reception signal, and there are reception power estimation sections in the respective systems 15a, 15b of the reception signal each. The timing offset estimated by the respective timing offset estimation sections 17a, 17b is imparted to the transmission side of a signal with the timing offset weighted and synthesized by the reception power as the transmission timing adjustment information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication device, a transmission timing adjustment method, and a transmission frequency adjustment method.

  In communication systems such as OFDM (including OFDMA, the same applies hereinafter) communication, it is important to synchronize signal timing and frequency between the transmission side and the reception side. If the timing and frequency are not synchronized in such a communication system, intersymbol interference, intercarrier interference, intersymbol phase rotation, and subcarrier phase rotation occur.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for correcting a phase error of a demodulated signal when a time position shift of an FTT window on the reception side occurs due to a timing offset.
JP 2000-295195 A

It is also conceivable to correct the timing offset by adjusting the transmission timing on the transmission side instead of adjusting the FFT window on the reception side.
In other words, it is possible to synchronize the transmission side and the reception side by giving the transmission side the timing offset estimated on the reception side and adjusting the transmission timing on the transmission side according to the timing offset estimated on the reception side. it can.
As for the frequency offset, similarly to the timing offset, the transmission reference frequency can be adjusted according to the frequency offset estimated on the receiving side.

  Here, in the case of MIMO communication (OFDM-MIMO communication) using a plurality of antenna elements, as shown in FIG. 8, the communication device on the receiving side receives signals by the plurality of antenna elements 101a and 101b, and receives each antenna. Processing such as FTT is performed for each of the systems 102a and 102b of the elements 101a and 101b.

When signals are received by a plurality of antenna elements 101a and 101b in this way, when the transmission timing on the transmission side is adjusted using the timing offset estimated from the signal received by one of the antenna elements 101a, the other antenna element 101b causes a problem that timing is not suitable.
That is, when the receiving side estimates a timing offset based on a signal received by the first antenna element 101a, and the receiving side transmits the timing offset to the transmitting side as transmission timing adjustment information, the transmitting side transmits the first antenna element 101a. However, the timing of the second antenna element 101b may be greatly shifted.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to optimize the transmission timing or transmission frequency on the transmission side using the timing offset or frequency offset calculated based on the signals received by a plurality of receiving antenna elements.

  The present invention provides a plurality of antenna elements, a timing offset estimation unit that estimates a timing offset of a reception signal received by the antenna elements, and adjustment information that provides transmission timing adjustment information for adjusting transmission timing to a signal transmission side The timing offset estimation unit is provided in each system of the received signal so as to estimate the timing offset for each of the plurality of received signals received by the plurality of antenna elements, and further, Each system is provided with a reception power estimation unit for estimating the reception power of the reception signal received by each antenna element, and the timing offset estimated by the timing offset estimation unit provided for each system of the reception signal is The received power estimated by the received power estimator of the system Comprising a combining unit for weighting synthesis I, the adjustment information assigning unit, the timing offset weighted synthesized by the synthesis unit, as the transmission timing adjustment information, a communication apparatus characterized by providing to the sender of the signal.

  According to the present invention, since the timing offset estimated in each system of the received signal is weighted and synthesized by the received power of each system as the transmission timing adjustment information, it is given to the signal transmission side. Can be optimized.

  Further, the present invention from another viewpoint includes a plurality of antenna elements, a frequency offset estimation unit that estimates a frequency offset of a reception signal received by the antenna elements, and transmission frequency adjustment information for adjusting a transmission frequency, The frequency offset estimation unit provided in each system of the received signal so as to estimate the frequency offset for each of the received signals of the plurality of systems received by the plurality of antenna elements. Furthermore, each system of the received signal is provided with a received power estimation unit for estimating the received power of the received signal received by each antenna element, and is estimated by the frequency offset estimating unit provided for each system of the received signal. The received timing offset is determined by the received power estimated by the received power estimation unit of each system. Comprising a combining unit that seen with synthetic, the adjustment information assigning unit, a frequency offset weighted synthesized by the synthesis unit, as the transmission frequency adjustment information, a communication apparatus characterized by providing to the sender of the signal.

  According to the present invention, since the frequency offset estimated in each system of the received signal is weighted and synthesized by the received power of each system as transmission frequency adjustment information, it is given to the signal transmitting side. Can be optimized.

  Further, the present invention related to the transmission timing adjustment method includes a timing offset estimation step for estimating a timing offset of a received signal received on the reception side, and transmission timing information for adjusting the transmission timing from the signal reception side to the transmission side. And an adjustment step of adjusting transmission timing on the transmission side based on transmission timing information, and the timing offset estimation step includes timing offsets for each of a plurality of received signals received by a plurality of antenna elements. In the assigning step, a value obtained by weighting and combining the estimated value of the timing offset of each system with the received power of each system is given to the transmission side as transmission timing information.

  Further, the present invention according to the transmission frequency adjustment method includes a frequency offset estimation step for estimating a frequency offset of a received signal received on the reception side, and transmission frequency information for adjusting the transmission frequency from the signal reception side to the transmission side. And an adjustment step of adjusting a transmission frequency on the transmission side based on transmission frequency information, and in the frequency offset estimation step, a frequency offset for each of a plurality of received signals received by a plurality of antenna elements In the assigning step, a value obtained by weighting and combining the estimated value of the frequency offset of each system with the received power of each system is given to the transmission side as transmission frequency information.

  According to the present invention, even when there are a plurality of antenna elements on the receiving side, the transmission timing or the transmission frequency can be optimized.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, IEEE 802.16) will be described as an example of a communication method.

  FIG. 1 shows an OFDM subcarrier arrangement employed in WiMAX. OFDM is a type of frequency multiplexing method, and is a communication method in which digital information is transmitted by applying QAM modulation to a large number of carriers (subcarriers) arranged so as to be orthogonal on the frequency axis.

There are three types of OFDM subcarriers: a data subcarrier (Data Sub-Carrier), a pilot subcarrier (Pilot Sub-Carrier), and a null subcarrier (Null Sub-Carrier).
The data subcarrier (data signal) is a subcarrier for transmitting data and a control message. The pilot subcarrier is a known signal (pilot signal) on the reception side and the transmission side, and is used for calculating a transmission channel frequency response.

  A null subcarrier is a subcarrier in which nothing is actually transmitted, and a guard subband (guard subcarrier) on the low frequency side, a guard subband (guard subcarrier) on the high frequency side, and a DC subcarrier ( Center frequency subcarrier).

FIG. 2 shows a two-dimensional arrangement of data subcarriers and pilot subcarriers excluding null subcarriers of WiMAX uplink PUSC. In FIG. 2, the horizontal axis is the frequency axis, and the vertical axis is the time axis.
1 (1-L) on the horizontal axis in FIG. 2 indicates the subcarrier number. The subcarrier number is a number in which the subcarriers excluding the null subcarrier are numbered in ascending order of frequency. When the number of all subcarriers including null subcarriers is 1024, the total number L of data subcarriers and pilot subcarriers is 840.
K on the vertical axis in FIG. 2 indicates a symbol number. The symbol number is a number assigned to symbols in order of arrival time.

In FIG. 2, one tile structure is configured by a total of 12 subcarriers, 3 in the symbol direction (time axis direction) and 4 in the frequency axis direction. A tile is a minimum unit for user allocation.
Pilot subcarriers are arranged at the four corners of the tile, and the other subcarriers in the tile are data subcarriers.
As shown in FIG. 2, the tiles are regularly arranged in the time axis direction and the frequency axis direction. As a result, the pilot subcarriers are dispersedly arranged in the two-dimensional arrangement of FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows functional blocks of the communication apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment and the transmission-side communication apparatus 2 that transmits a signal to the communication apparatus 1. The communication device 1 in FIG. 3 includes a plurality of antenna elements 11a and 11b, and is configured as a multi-antenna system. Note that the communication device 1 here mainly assumes a base station that performs communication with the mobile terminal 2.

The communication device 1 includes signal processing systems 15a and 15b that perform signal processing such as FFT for each of the antenna elements 11a and 11b. Each system 15a, 15b has RF part 12a, 12b, BB part 13a, 13b, and FFT part 14a, 14b, respectively.
Moreover, the communication apparatus 1 has the filter process part 16 which receives the signal processed by FFT in each system | strain 15a, 15b, and performs a filtering process.

  The RF (Radio Frequency) units 12a and 12b perform conversion from a received signal carrier frequency to a baseband frequency. The BB (Base Band) units 13a and 13b perform removal of GI (Guard Interval) added on the transmission side, A / D conversion, and the like. The FFT units 14a and 14b perform signal serial / parallel conversion, discrete Fourier transform, and the like. The filter processing unit 16 combines the output signals from the FFT units 14a and 14b by applying appropriate weights, and extracts a desired signal in each subcarrier. This weight is calculated from the pilot subcarrier.

  The transmission path between the transmission side communication apparatus 2 and the reception side communication apparatus 1 is a fading transmission path. When the subcarrier transmitted from the antenna 21 of the transmission side communication device 2 passes through the fading propagation path, its amplitude and phase change. The amount of change varies depending on the position of the subcarrier (time axis direction position and frequency axis direction position).

  The communication apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a timing offset / frequency offset estimation unit (timing offset estimation unit) that estimates a timing offset and a frequency offset from frequency domain signals output from the FFT units 14a and 14b (see FIG. 2). Frequency offset estimation units) 17a and 17b are provided for the respective systems 15a and 15b.

  In addition, the communication device 1 includes reception power estimation units 18a and 18b that estimate reception power of signals received by the antenna elements 11a and 11b for the respective systems 15a and 15b.

The timing offsets estimated by the timing offset / frequency offset estimators 17a and 17b are weighted according to the magnitudes of the received power estimated by the received power estimators 18a and 18b by the synthesizer 19, and synthesized. Is done. That is, the timing offset estimated in each system 15a, 15b is combined after being weighted by the magnitude of the received power of each system.
In this way, by weighting the plurality of timing offsets corresponding to each antenna element 11a, 11b with the received power, the timing offset estimated value of the system having a large received power is heavily weighted. An optimum value is obtained as transmission timing adjustment information for adjusting the transmission timing.

  Similarly to the timing offset, the frequency offset estimated by the respective timing offset / frequency offset estimating units 17a and 17b is weighted with the received power by the synthesizing unit 19 and synthesized, so that the transmission frequency is adjusted. The optimum value is obtained as transmission frequency adjustment information.

Using the timing offset and the frequency offset weighted and synthesized by the synthesis unit 19, the transmission unit (adjustment information adding unit) 20 generates transmission timing adjustment information or transmission frequency adjustment information for correcting the transmission timing and the transmission frequency. Then, the data is transmitted to the communication device 2 on the transmission side. Upon receiving the transmission timing adjustment information and the frequency adjustment information given from the communication device 1, the transmission side communication device 2 adjusts the transmission timing to the transmission frequency (carrier frequency) by the transmission timing / transmission frequency adjustment unit 22.
By adjusting the transmission timing or the transmission frequency in the communication device 2 on the transmission side, it is possible to prevent inter-symbol interference, inter-carrier interference, inter-symbol phase rotation, and sub-carrier phase rotation.

  Here, the transmission timing adjustment information to the transmission frequency adjustment information (correction value) may be transmitted to the communication device 2 on the transmission side by the transmission unit 20 every time it is calculated. It will be sent frequently. Therefore, when the transmission timing adjustment information or the transmission frequency adjustment information (correction value) exceeds a predetermined threshold, transmission to the transmission side is performed, thereby reducing unnecessary notifications and effective communication resources. Can be used for

  The transmission unit 20 may transmit the transmission timing adjustment information or the transmission frequency adjustment information (correction value) calculated from the timing offset and the frequency offset weighted and combined by the combining unit 19 to the transmission side as they are. The transmission timing adjustment information or transmission frequency adjustment information (correction value) multiplied by the step size μ (0 <μ ≦ 1) is transmitted to the transmission side as transmission timing adjustment information or transmission frequency adjustment information. It is preferable to do this. In this case, even when the estimated accuracy of the calculated correction value is low, the transmission side can be stably corrected. Further, since it is not necessary to perform the averaging process on the receiving side, the configuration of the receiver can be simplified.

  3 is a functional block diagram mainly focusing on the reception function of the communication device 1, and therefore, the transmission timing is directly transmitted from the transmission unit 20 of the reception side communication device 1 to the adjustment unit 22 of the transmission side communication device 2. It is drawn so that adjustment information or transmission frequency adjustment information is transmitted. However, actually, the transmission timing adjustment information or the transmission frequency adjustment information is transmitted to the communication apparatus 2 by radio signals generated from the antenna elements 11a and 11b of the communication apparatus 1.

  The basic functions of the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b in the present embodiment are as follows. Here, it is assumed that the phase rotation amount is obtained in the subcarrier arrangement of FIG. 4 (WiMAX uplink PUSC as in FIG. 2). Note that the amount of phase rotation in the frequency axis direction that occurs every time one subcarrier advances in the frequency direction (horizontal axis direction in FIG. 4) is X, and the time axis direction that occurs every time one symbol advances in the time direction (vertical axis direction in FIG. 4). Let Y be the amount of phase rotation.

First, an estimation method when the conventional phase rotation amount estimation is applied to the subcarrier arrangement of FIG. 4 will be described. In the conventional phase rotation amount estimation, the phase rotation amount is obtained between subcarriers at a constant frequency interval or between subcarriers (between symbols) at a constant time interval.
Therefore, when the phase rotation amount X in the frequency axis direction is obtained with the subcarrier arrangement of FIG. 4, the frequency interval corresponds to, for example, the frequency interval between the pilot subcarrier a and the pilot subcarrier b of FIG. The phase rotation amount X = Z1 / 3 for each subcarrier in the frequency axis direction is obtained from the phase rotation amount Z1 obtained by this frequency interval 3 × Δf.

  Similarly, when the phase rotation amount Y in the time axis direction is obtained by the conventional phase rotation amount estimation, the time interval is set to, for example, the time interval between the pilot subcarrier g and the pilot subcarrier h in FIG. A corresponding Δt is determined, and the phase rotation amount Y = Z4 for each symbol in the time axis direction is obtained from the phase rotation amount Z4 obtained at the time interval Δt.

The phase rotation amounts Z1 and Z4 are Z1 = 3X + N1 (N1: estimation error) and Z4 = Y + N4 (N4: estimation error), respectively.
Therefore,
Estimated value of X = Z1 / 3 = X + N1 / 3
Estimated value of Y = Z4 = Y + N4
It becomes.

  On the other hand, the timing offset / frequency offset estimators 17a and 17b of the present embodiment may use the estimation method as described above, but preferably, the phase rotation is performed only at one fixed frequency interval or time interval. When determining the amount of phase rotation instead of determining the amount, the phase rotation amount estimation accuracy is improved by using a plurality of positional relationships between pilot subcarriers. This utilizes the fact that the subcarrier arrangement in FIG. 4 has various positional relationships with different frequency intervals, time intervals, and directions as the positional relationship between pilot subcarriers.

Specifically, the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b of the present embodiment estimate not only the pilot subcarriers a and b (frequency interval 3Δf) but also the phase rotation amount X in the frequency direction. Pilot subcarriers c and d and pilot subcarriers e and f that are in a different positional relationship are used.
Here, the pilot subcarriers c and d have a positional relationship that is 2Δt apart in the time axis direction, and the pilot subcarriers e and f have a positional relationship that is 3Δf apart in the frequency axis direction and 2Δt apart in the time axis direction. Is.
The phase rotation amount Z3 between the pilot subcarriers e and f can be considered as the sum of the phase rotation amount in the case of the frequency interval 3Δf and the phase rotation amount in the case of the time interval 2Δt.

That is, by subtracting the phase rotation amount Z2 between the pilot subcarriers c and d from the phase rotation amount Z3 between the pilot subcarriers e and f, the phase rotation amount at the frequency interval 3Δf can be obtained.
Thus, the amount of phase rotation at a certain frequency interval (3Δf) is not only calculated (Z1) using pilot subcarriers having the frequency interval (3Δf) but also a positional relationship in terms of frequency and time. It can also be obtained using the one (Z3-Z2) calculated using other pilot subcarriers having different values.

Similarly, the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b of the present embodiment estimate not only the pilot subcarriers g and h (time interval Δt) but also the phase rotation amount X in the time direction. Pilot subcarriers c and d having different positional relationships are used.
Here, as described above, the pilot subcarriers c and d have a positional relationship of 2Δt apart in the time axis direction. Therefore, the phase rotation amount Z2 between the pilot subcarriers c and d can be considered to be twice the phase rotation amount in the case of the time interval Δt.

That is, if the phase rotation amount Z2 between the pilot subcarriers c and d is divided by 2, the phase rotation amount at the time interval Δt can be obtained.
Thus, the phase rotation amount at a certain time interval (Δt) is not only calculated (Z4) using pilot subcarriers having the frequency interval (Δt) but also the positional relationship in terms of frequency and time. It can also be obtained using the one (Z2 / 2) calculated using other pilot subcarriers having different values.

Therefore, the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b of the present embodiment can determine the phase rotation amount X in the frequency axis direction and the phase rotation amount Y in the time axis direction as follows, for example.
Estimated value of X = (Z1 / 3 + (Z3−Z2) / 3) / 2 = X + (N1 + N3−N2) / 6
Estimated value of Y = (Z2 / 2 + Z4) / 2 = Y + N2 / 4 + N1 / 2

  The phase rotation amounts Z2 and Z3 are Z2 = 2Y + N2 (N2: estimation error) and Z3 = 3X + 2Y + N3 (N3: estimation error), respectively.

  In the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b of the present embodiment, the number of samples used for estimating the phase rotation amount becomes larger than that in the conventional case, and the estimation error can be suppressed and the estimation accuracy can be improved.

Now, a method for calculating the timing offset and the frequency offset will be described. The calculation method of the phase rotation amount when the transmission path is a single path is as follows.
In order to calculate the timing offset, the transmission path frequency response H (f, t) for the pilot subcarrier A at the frequency f and the time t, and the frequency located away from the pilot subcarrier A by Δf in the frequency axis direction. The phase rotation amount in the frequency direction is obtained using f + Δf and the transmission channel frequency response H (f + Δf, t) for pilot subcarrier B at time t.

First, let H ₀ be the transmission path frequency response for pilot subcarrier A at frequency f and time t when there is no timing offset / frequency offset.
At this time, if there is a timing offset T ₀ and a frequency offset F ₀ , the transmission channel frequency response H (f, t) of the pilot subcarrier A at the frequency f and time t is expressed by the following equation (1).

Further, the transmission path frequency response H (f + Δf, t) for the pilot subcarrier B at the frequency f + Δf and time t is expressed by the following equation (2).

The phase rotation amount θ between the two pilot subcarriers A and B arranged in the frequency axis direction is calculated as a correlation value between H (f, t) and H (f + Δf, t), and the angle of the correlation value is calculated. The following equation (3) is established by obtaining arg. In formula (3), “*” is a complex conjugate.

Therefore, the timing offset T ₀ can be calculated by the following equation (4). However, −1 / (2Δf) <T ₀ ≦ 1 / (2Δf).

The frequency offset F ₀ can be obtained in the same manner. Specifically, the correlation value between two pilot subcarriers arranged in the time axis direction is obtained, and the phase rotation amount θ in the time direction is calculated from the correlation value. The frequency offset F ₀ may be calculated from the phase rotation amount θ.

Furthermore, when the transmission path is a multipath fading environment, consider that a timing offset and a frequency offset are taken. The timing offset in the nth path is Tn and the frequency offset is Fn. At this time, the frequency response H (f, t) at the frequency f and the time t is expressed by Expression (5).

As in the above equation (5), in a multipath environment, the transmission path frequency response has a complicated shape. Therefore, the timing offset T0 to TN and the frequency offset F0 to FN of each path are weighted and averaged according to the amplitude. Consider Tmean of (6) and Fmean of Equation (7) (see FIGS. 5A and 5B).

First, as preparation, equations (8) and (9) are defined, and equation (5) is replaced as equation (10).

At this time, when the average of Expression (11) is taken for frequency f and time t, the second term on the right side of Expression (11) disappears, and Expression (12) is obtained.

  Furthermore, assuming that equations (13) and (14) hold for any n, (TmeanΔf + FmeanΔt) can be obtained by calculating the phase of equation (12) as in equation (15).

  It is also possible to obtain (TmeanΔf + FmeanΔt) by calculating the phase at the time of equation (11) and taking the average over frequency f and time t.

And about two patterns (Δf1, Δt1), (Δf2), Δt2),
TmeanΔf1 + FmeanΔt1
TmeanΔf2 + FmeanΔt2
Tmean and Fmean can be derived by solving the simultaneous equations obtained from the above two patterns. Note that Δf1Δf2 ≠ Δf2Δf1.

  According to the offset calculation method as described above, Tmean Δf and Fmean Δf are respectively obtained, and information on various patterns (Δfk, Δfk) (k = 1 to K) is integrated as compared with the case where Tmean and Fmean are derived. Since the offsets Tmean and Fmean are estimated, highly accurate estimation is possible.

  Details of the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b having the above basic functions will be described below. As shown in FIG. 6, each of the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b includes a first buffer unit 171 that sequentially stores the frequency domain received signals output from the FFT units 14a and 14b. In the present embodiment, since the pilot subcarrier that is temporally previous may be used, the received signal is accumulated in the first buffer unit 171 so that an arbitrary pilot subcarrier can be used.

  Further, the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b have a transmission channel frequency response calculation unit 172 that calculates a transmission channel frequency response using the received signal (pilot subcarrier) accumulated in the first buffer 171. ing. The transmission channel frequency response calculation unit 172 calculates a transmission channel frequency response H for each pilot subcarrier using the reference signal (known signal) generated by the reference signal generation unit 172a. The transmission path frequency response H calculated by the transmission path frequency response calculation unit 172 is accumulated in the second buffer unit 173.

Further, the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b include a correlation calculation unit 174 for obtaining a correlation value (H ^* H) of transmission path frequency responses of arbitrary two pilot subcarriers. The correlation value calculated by the correlation calculation unit 174 is stored in the correlation value storage unit 175.
Furthermore, the timing offset / frequency offset estimation units 17a and 17b obtain the declination arg of the correlation value (complex number) calculated by the correlation calculation unit 174, calculate the phase rotation amount, and calculate the timing offset and frequency offset from the phase rotation amount. A timing offset / frequency offset calculation unit 176 that calculates a frequency offset is provided.

Specifically, the correlation value calculation unit 174, according to the following formulas (16) to (19), the first correlation value S (3Δf, 0), the second correlation value S (0, 2Δt), the third correlation value S (3Δf, 2Δt) and the fourth correlation value (3Δf, −2Δt) are calculated.

The calculations of the above equations (16) to (19) by the correlation value calculation unit 174 are performed on the received tile (minimum of user allocation) in the uplink PUSC subcarrier arrangement of WiMAX (mobile WiMAX) as shown in FIGS. It is performed every unit; see FIG. By performing calculation for each minimum unit of user allocation, it is possible to perform calculation with high accuracy regardless of what user allocation is performed.
In other words, if two arbitrary pilot subcarriers are used for the calculation, the calculation is performed using the pilot in the burst region allocated to one user and the pilot in the burst region allocated to another user. There is a possibility of going.
Different users have different transmission path frequency responses, which reduces the accuracy of the calculation. However, by using the combination of pilot subcarriers within the minimum unit of user allocation for the calculation, it is possible to improve the accuracy without being affected by the user allocation. Arithmetic can be performed.

  In FIG. 7, the frequency of pilot subcarrier P1 at the upper left corner of the tile is f, and the time is t. Therefore, the frequency of the pilot subcarrier P2 in the upper right corner of the tile is f + Δf, and the time is t. The frequency of the pilot subcarrier P3 at the lower left corner of the tile is f and the time is 2Δt. The frequency of the pilot subcarrier P4 at the lower right corner of the tile is f + 3Δf, and the time is 2Δt.

  Correlation values S (nΔf, mΔt) shown in the equations (16) to (19) are expressed as “correlation values Sprev (nΔf, mΔt determined previously) shown in the first term on the right side of the equations (16) to (19). ) "Is updated by the second term on the right side of each equation (16) to equation (19).

  The previously obtained correlation value Sprev (nΔf, mΔt) is the correlation value S (nΔf, mΔt) updated immediately before based on another tile, and is stored in the correlation value storage unit 175. The correlation calculation unit 174 acquires the previously obtained correlation value Sprev from the correlation value storage unit 175, and stores the updated correlation value S in the correlation value storage unit 175.

When updating the correlation value S (nΔf, mΔt), the first term on the right side of each equation (16) to equation (19) is multiplied by the weighting factors α _{1 to} α ₄ , and the second term is ( 1-α ₁ ) to (1-α ₄ ). In order to suppress the influence of the noise when the noise in the transmission line is large, the weighting factors α _{1 to} α ₄ are increased to reduce (1-α ₁ ) to (1-α ₄ ), and the noise in the transmission line is reduced. When it is small, it is preferable to reduce the weighting factors α _{1 to} α _{4 in} order to improve the follow-up performance to the transmission line fluctuation.

Now, the first correlation value S (3Δf, 0) shown in Equation (16) represents the transmission channel frequency response correlation value when the frequency interval between pilot subcarriers is 3Δf and the time interval is zero. In order to update the first correlation value S (3Δf, 0), in equation (16), the transmission channel frequency response correlation value H (f, t) ^* between the pilot subcarrier P1 and the pilot subcarrier P2 H (f + 3Δf, t) and a transmission channel frequency response correlation value H (f, t + 2Δt) ^* H (f + 3Δf, t + 2Δt) between pilot subcarrier P3 and pilot subcarrier P4 are used.

The second correlation value S (0, 2Δt) shown in Expression (17) represents the transmission channel frequency response correlation value when the frequency interval between pilot subcarriers is 0 and the time interval is 2Δt. In order to update the second correlation value S (0, 2Δt), in equation (17), the transmission channel frequency response correlation value H (f, t) ^* between the pilot subcarrier P1 and the pilot subcarrier P3 ^. H (f, t + 2Δt) and a transmission channel frequency response correlation value H (f + 3Δf, t) ^* H (f + 3Δf, t + 2Δt) between pilot subcarrier P2 and pilot subcarrier P4 are used.

The third correlation value S (3Δf, 2Δt) shown in Expression (18) represents the transmission channel frequency response correlation value when the frequency interval between pilot subcarriers is 3Δf and the time interval is 2Δt. In order to update the third correlation value S (3Δf, 2Δt), the transmission channel frequency response correlation value (f, t) ^* H between the pilot subcarrier P1 and the pilot subcarrier P4 is expressed in equation (18). (F + 3Δf, t + 2Δt) is used.

The fourth correlation value S (3Δf, −2Δt) shown in Expression (19) represents a transmission path frequency response correlation value when the frequency interval between pilot subcarriers is 3Δf and the time interval is −2Δt. In order to update the fourth correlation value S (3Δf, −2Δt), in equation (7), the transmission channel frequency response correlation value (f, t + 2Δt) between the pilot subcarrier P3 and the pilot subcarrier P2 is expressed by ^: H (f + 3Δf, t) is used.

  Then, the timing offset / frequency offset calculation unit 176 calculates the argument arg for each of the first correlation value to the fourth correlation value. Further, the timing offset / frequency offset calculation unit 176 calculates a timing offset T ^ mean and a frequency offset F ^ mean from the argument arg.

The timing offset T ^ mean is calculated by adding each weight with an appropriate weight β _{1 to} β ₄ and dividing by 2πΔf as shown in the following equation (20).

The frequency offset F ^ mean is calculated by adding appropriate weights [gamma] _{1 to} [gamma] ₄ to each deflection angle and dividing by 2 [pi] [Delta] t as shown in the following equation (21).

The weights β _{1 to} β ₄ and the weights γ _{1 to} γ ₄ are preferably set so as to satisfy the following formulas (22) to (25). In addition, it is desirable to assign large weights β and γ to the correlation value having a small subcarrier interval and updated many times.
In Expression (20) and Expression (21), the weighted calculation is performed after calculating the declination of the correlation value, but the declination may be calculated after performing the weighted calculation of the correlation value.

  As described above, in this embodiment, since the offset accurately estimated by the timing offset / frequency offset calculation unit 176 provided in each of the systems 15a and 15b is combined by weighting the reception power, transmission timing or transmission Appropriate frequency adjustment information is obtained.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

It is a figure which shows the subcarrier structure of OFDM. It is a frequency-time two-dimensional array of subcarriers. It is a block diagram of the communication apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a basic concept explanatory drawing of phase rotation amount estimation. (A) is explanatory drawing of the weighted average of timing offset, (b) is explanatory drawing of the weighted average of frequency offset. It is a block diagram of a timing offset / frequency offset estimation unit. It is explanatory drawing for the timing offset for every tile, and the example of a frequency offset calculation. It is a block diagram explaining the case where transmission timing is estimated with one receiving antenna element.

Explanation of symbols

1: communication device, 11a, 11b: antenna element, 12a, 12b: RF unit, 13a, 13b: BB unit, 14a, 14b: FFT unit, 15a, 15b: received signal system, 16: filter processing unit, 17a, 17b: timing offset / frequency offset estimation unit, 18a, 18b: received power estimation unit, 19: synthesis unit, 20: transmission unit (adjustment information adding unit), 171: buffer, 172: transmission line frequency response calculation unit, 173: Buffer, 174: correlation calculation unit, 175: correlation value storage unit, 176: timing offset / frequency offset calculation unit

Claims (4)

A plurality of antenna elements;
A timing offset estimator for estimating a timing offset of a received signal received by the antenna element;
An adjustment information providing unit that provides transmission timing adjustment information for adjusting the transmission timing to the signal transmission side;
With
The timing offset estimation unit is provided in each system of received signals so as to estimate timing offset for each of a plurality of systems of received signals received by a plurality of antenna elements,
Furthermore, each system of the received signal is provided with a received power estimation unit for estimating the received power of the received signal received by each antenna element, respectively.
A synthesis unit that weights and combines the timing offset estimated by the timing offset estimation unit provided in each system of the received signal with the received power estimated by the received power estimation unit of each system,
The said adjustment information provision part provides the timing offset weighted and synthesize | combined by the synthetic | combination part to the transmission side of a signal as transmission timing adjustment information. The communication apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. A plurality of antenna elements;
A frequency offset estimator for estimating the frequency offset of the received signal received by the antenna element;
An adjustment information giving unit for giving transmission frequency adjustment information for adjusting the transmission frequency to the signal transmission side;
With
The frequency offset estimation unit is provided in each system of the received signal so as to estimate the frequency offset for each of the received signals of the plurality of systems received by the plurality of antenna elements,
Furthermore, each system of the received signal is provided with a received power estimation unit for estimating the received power of the received signal received by each antenna element, respectively.
A synthesis unit that weights and combines the timing offset estimated by the frequency offset estimation unit provided in each system of the received signal with the received power estimated by the received power estimation unit of each system,
The said adjustment information provision part gives the frequency offset weighted and synthesize | combined by the synthetic | combination part to the transmission side of a signal as transmission frequency adjustment information. The communication apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. A timing offset estimation step for estimating the timing offset of the received signal received on the receiving side;
An imparting step of giving transmission timing information for adjusting transmission timing from the signal reception side to the transmission side;
An adjustment step for adjusting the transmission timing on the transmission side based on the transmission timing information;
Including
In the timing offset estimation step, a timing offset is estimated for each of a plurality of received signals received by a plurality of antenna elements,
In the assigning step, a value obtained by weighting and combining the estimated value of the timing offset of each system with the received power of each system is given to the transmission side as transmission timing information.
A transmission timing adjustment method characterized by the above. A frequency offset estimation step for estimating the frequency offset of the received signal received on the receiving side;
An imparting step of giving transmission frequency information for adjusting the transmission frequency from the signal reception side to the transmission side;
An adjustment step for adjusting the transmission frequency on the transmission side based on the transmission frequency information;
Including
In the frequency offset estimation step, a frequency offset is estimated for each of a plurality of received signals received by a plurality of antenna elements,
In the assigning step, a value obtained by weighting and combining the estimated value of the frequency offset of each system with the received power of each system is given to the transmission side as transmission frequency information.
A transmission frequency adjusting method.

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