KR100564836B1 - Apparatus and method for use in a system for processing a received vestigial sidebandvsb modulated signal - Google Patents

Abstract

A receiver for processing a VSB modulated signal comprising terrestrial broadcast high-definition television information and pilot components includes an input analog / digital converter 19 for generating an oversampled data stream at twice the received symbol rate, and phase control. A digital demodulator 22 having a data reduction network in a loop. Segment sync detector 24 uses a shortened correlation reference pattern to recover twice the symbol rate sampling clock for digital converter 19. The DC offset associated with the pilot component is removed 26 from the demodulated signal before being applied to the NTSC interference detection network 30. Interference detection network 30 includes a comb filter network that responds to the data datastream sampled at twice the symbol rate, and exhibits a sample delay dimensioned to avoid aliasing in the comb frequency spectrum, thereby resulting in NTSC joint Increase the efficiency of channel interference detection.

Description

Apparatus and method for use in a system for processing signals modulated by the received residual sideband method (VSB) MODULATED SIGNAL}

The present invention relates to a receiver system for processing high definition television signals of the VSB modulated type, for example proposed by the US Grand Alliance.

Data recovery from a modulated signal that carries digital information in symbol format is typically performed by the receiver in three functions: timing recovery for symbol synchronization, carrier recovery (frequency demodulation to baseband), and channel equalization. Requires functionality Timing recovery is the process by which the receiver clock (timebase) is synchronized to the transmitter clock. This allows the received signal to be sampled at an optimal point in time to reduce slicing errors related to decision-directed processing of the received symbol values. Carrier recovery is the process of frequency downconverting to a lower intermediate frequency passband (eg, nearly baseband) and then causing the received RF signal to be frequency shifted to the baseband to enable recovery of the modulated baseband information. Appropriate channel equalization is a process by which the effects of disturbances and change conditions on the signal transmission channel are compensated for. This process typically uses a filter to remove amplitude and phase distortion caused by the time varying characteristics of the transmission channel over frequency to provide improved symbol decision performance.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, an apparatus is disclosed for use in a system for processing received VSB modulated signals including high definition video data indicated by VSB symbol constellations and prone to co-channel interference. The data has a data frame format consisting of consecutive data frames containing field sync components in front of the plurality of data segments. The received signal is demodulated and filtered. The reference signal is provided and filtered. It also includes an NTSC interference detector with an input network and an output coupled to the signal processing path. The demodulated datastream, the reference signal, the filtered and demodulated datastream, and the filtered reference signal are provided to the input network. The demodulated datastream and the filtered and demodulated datastream as applied to the input network comprise symbol data oversampled at multiples of the symbol rate of the received signal.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a portion of a high definition television (HDTV) receiver including an apparatus in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

2 illustrates a data frame format for a VSB modulated signal in accordance with the US Grand Alliance HDTV System.

3 is a detailed diagram of the digital demodulator / carrier recovery network of FIG.

4 is a detailed view of the segment sync detector and symbol clock recovery network of FIG.

5 shows signal waveforms useful for understanding the operation of the network of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a detailed diagram of a compensation network for removing a DC offset in a symbol data stream processed by the system of FIG.

7 illustrates an NTSC co-channel interference detection network in detail in the system of FIG.

8 is a graph showing a frequency spectrum related to the operation of the network of FIG.

In Figure 1, the terrestrial broadcast analog input HDTV signal includes an input network 14 including an RF tuning circuit, a dual conversion tuner for generating an IF passband output signal, and an appropriate Automatic Gain Control (AGC) circuit. Is processed by an intermediate frequency (IF) processor 16. The received signal is a carrier suppressed 8-VSB modulated signal proposed by the Grand Alliance and adopted for use in the United States. Such a VSB signal is represented by a one-dimensional data symbol constellation that contains only one axis of quantized data recovered by the receiver. In order to simplify the figure, a signal for clocking the illustrated functional block is not shown.

As described in the Grand Alliance HDTV System Standard of April 14, 1994, the VSB transmission system delivers data in a defined data frame format as shown in FIG. A small pilot signal at the suppressed carrier frequency is added to the transmitted signal to easily achieve carrier lock at the VSB receiver. 2, each data frame includes two fields, where each field includes 313 segments of 832 multilevel symbols. The first segment of each field is referred to as a field sync segment and the remaining 312 segments are referred to as data segments. Data segments generally contain MPEG compatible data packets. Each data segment contains four symbol segment sync characters followed by 828 data symbols. Each field segment includes four symbol segment sync characters with a field sync component, including one predetermined 511 symbol pseudorandom number (PN) sequence and three predetermined 63 symbol PN sequences. Of the three predetermined 63 symbol PN sequences, the center symbol is inverted into consecutive fields. The VSB mode control signal (which defines the magnitude of the VSB symbol constellation) is involved in the last 63 PN sequences, which includes 96 reserved symbols and 12 symbols copied from the previous field.

Continuing with FIG. 1, the passband IF output signal from unit 16 is converted into an oversampled digital symbol datastream by analog-to-digital converter 19. The output oversampled digital data stream from ADC 19 is demodulated to baseband by all digital demodulator / carrier recovery networks 22. This is done by all digital phase locked loops in response to a small reference pilot carrier in the received VSB datastream. Unit 22 generates an output I-phase demodulation symbol datastream as described in more detail with respect to FIG.

ADC 19 oversamples the input 10.76 M symbols / sec VSB symbol datastream at 21.52 MHz sampling clock, ie twice the received symbol rate, thereby oversampling 21.52 M samples with two samples per symbol. / sec Provides a data stream. The use of sample-based processing of these two samples per symbol, rather than symbol-by-symbol (one sample per symbol) symbol, for example, is discussed below. As with the DC compensation unit 26 and the NTSC interference detector 30, advantageous operation of the subsequent signal processing function occurs.

 Segment synchronization and symbol clock recovery network 24 is associated with ADC 19 and demodulator 22. Network 24 detects and isolates repeating data segment sync components in each data frame from random data. Segment sync is used to regenerate the clock of the appropriate phase 21.52 MHz used to control the datastream symbol sampling by the analog to digital converter 19. As will be discussed with respect to FIGS. 4 and 5, the network 24 advantageously uses two symbol data correlators associated with two shortened symbol correlation reference patterns to detect segment synchronization.

DC compensation unit 26 uses an adaptive tracking circuit to remove the DC offset component from the demodulated VSB signal due to the pilot signal component, as will be discussed with respect to FIG. 6. Unit 28 detects the data field synchronization component by comparing every received data segment with an ideal field reference signal stored in the receiver's memory. In addition to field synchronization, the field synchronization signal provides a training signal to the channel equalizer 34.

NTSC interference detection and removal is performed by unit 30 as will be discussed in more detail with respect to FIGS. 7 and 8. Thereafter, the signal is properly equalized by the channel equalizer 34, which can operate in a combination of receive blind, practice, and decision-induced modes. Equalizer 34 was published in the IEEE bulletin on consumer electronics (August 1995) in the paper "W. Bretl" and Grand Alliance, "Designing VSB Modem Subsystem for Grand Alliance Digital Television Receivers." It may be of the type described by the HDTV system standard. Equalizer 34 may also be of the type described in co-pending US patent application Ser. No. 09 / 102,885, filed June 23, 1998, disclosed by Shiue et al. The output datastream from detector 30 is down converted to one sample / symbol (10.76 M symbol / sec) datastream prior to equalizer 34. This down conversion can be accomplished by a suitable downsampling network (not shown to simplify the figure).

Equalizer 34 corrects the channel distortion, but phase noise randomly rotates the symbol constellation. Phase tracking network 36 removes residual phase and gain noise in the output signal from equalizer 34, including phase noise that is not removed by the preceding carrier recovery network in response to the pilot signal. The phase corrected signal is then trellis decoded by unit 40, deinterleaved by unit 42, Reed-Solomon error corrected by unit 44, and , And de-randomize by unit 46. Thereafter, the decoded datastream is subjected to audio, video and display processing by unit 50.

Tuner 14, IF processor 16, field sync detector 28, equalizer 34, phase tracking loop 36, grating decoder 40, de-interleaver 42, Reed-Solomon decoder 44 And descrambler 46 may use circuits of the type described in the aforementioned paper by Brettle et al. And in the Grand Alliance HDTV System Standard of April 4, 1994. Suitable circuitry for carrying out the functions of the units 19 and 50 is already known.

Demodulation in unit 22 is performed by all digital automatic phase control (APC) loops to achieve carrier recovery. The phase locked loop uses pilot components as a reference for initial acquisition and as a standard phase detector for phase acquisition. The pilot signal is embedded in the received data stream, which contains data representing a random, noise-like pattern. Random data is essentially ignored by the filtering operation of the demodulator APC loop. The 10.76 M symbol / sec input signal to the ADC 19 is a baseband adjacent signal having a VSB frequency spectrum center of 5.38 MHz and a pilot component of 2.69 MHz. The input datastream is advantageously oversampled by the ADC 19 twice at 21.52 MHz. In the demodulated data stream from unit 22, the pilot component is frequency shifted down to DC.

3 shows the digital demodulator 22 in detail. An 8-VSB modulated and oversampled digital symbol datastream from the ADC 19, which contains a very low frequency pilot component, is applied to the input of the Hilbert filter 320 and the delay unit 322. The filter 320 separates the incoming IF sampled data stream into "I" (in phase) and "Q" (quad phase) components. Delay 322 represents a delay that matches the delay of Hilbert filter 320. The I and Q components are rotated relative to the baseband using compound multiplier 324 in the APC loop. Once the loop is synchronized, the output of multiplier 324 is a complex baseband signal. The output I datastream from multiplier 324 is used as the actual demodulator output and is also used to extract pilot components of the received datastream using low pass filter 326. The output Q datastream from multiplier 324 is used to extract the phase of the received signal.

In the phase control loop, the I and Q output signals from multiplier 324 are applied to low pass filters 326 and 328, respectively. Filters 326 and 328 are Nyquist low pass filters with a cutoff frequency of approximately 1 MHz and are provided by units 330 and 332 to reduce signal bandwidth prior to 8: 1 data downsampling. The down sampled Q signal is filtered by an automatic frequency control (AFC) filter 336. After filtering, the Q signal is amplitude limited by unit 338 to reduce the dynamic range requirements of phase detector 340. Phase detector 340 detects and corrects the phase difference between the I and Q signals applied to the input of the detector and develops an output phase error signal filtered by APC filter 344, i.e., a second order low pass filter. do. The phase error detected by unit 340 represents the frequency difference between the expected pilot signal frequency and the received pilot signal frequency near DC.

If the received pilot signal represents an expected frequency near DC, AFC unit 336 will not generate any phase shift. The I and Q channel pilot component inputs to the phase detector 340 will not exhibit any deviation in the mutually orthogonal phase relationship so that the phase detector 340 will generate a phase error output signal that is zero or near zero. However, if the received pilot signal indicates an incorrect frequency, AFC unit 336 will generate a phase shift. This will make an additional phase difference between the I and Q channel pilot signals applied to the input of the phase detector 340. Detector 340 generates an output error value in response to the phase difference.

The phase error signal filtered from filter 344 is upsampled to 1: 8 by interpolator 346 to account for earlier downsampling by units 330 and 332, such that NCO 348 operates at 21.52 MHz. do. An output of interpolator 346 is applied to the control input of NCO 348, which locally regenerates the pilot signal to demodulate the received datastream. NCO 348 includes a sine and cosine lookup table to regenerate pilot tones that are in the correct phase in response to phase control signals from units 340, 344, and 346. The I and Q signal outputs of the multiplier 324 cause the phase error signal generated by the detector 340 to be nearly zero, until the NCO indicates that a properly demodulated basebend I signal is present at the output of the multiplier 324. The output of 348 is controlled.

In the digital demodulator 22, the main signal processing means essentially comprises the components 336, 338, 340 and 344. The 8: 1 downsampling provided by units 330 and 332 advantageously saves demodulator processing power and hardware and allows APC loops at lower clock rates, i.e. using 21.52 MHz / 8 or 2.69 MHz clocks instead of 21.52 MHz clocks. Components 336, 338, 340, and 344 are clocked to permit processing efficiency. When a digital signal processor (DSP) is used, in particular for implementing the network 22 and phase detector loops, the described data reduction results in software efficiency, for example by requiring fewer command code lines in proportion. . The period of the DSP device can be used for other signal processing purposes. When application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) are used to implement the network 22, data reduction results in reduced hardware and power requirements, as well as reduced surface area of the integrated circuit. The demodulator advantageously uses feed-forward processing rather than more complex and time consuming feedback processing using pilot components and slicer decision data to achieve carrier recovery. .

The demodulated I-channel data stream is applied to the segment synchronization and symbol clock recovery unit 24 as shown in detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. When the repetitive data segment sync pulse is recovered from a random data pattern of the received data stream, the segment sync is a double symbol of 21.52 MHz properly phase tuned to control the sampling operation of the analog-to-digital converter 19 (FIG. 1). It is used to achieve proper symbol timing by regenerating the sampling clock at a rate. FIG. 5 shows a portion of eight level (-7 to +7) data segments with associated segment synchronization, for an 8-VSB modulated terrestrial broadcast signal according to the Grand Alliance HDTV standard. Segment synchronization occurs at the beginning of each data segment and occupies four symbol intervals. Segment sync is defined as a pattern (1 -1 -1 1) corresponding to the amplitude level of segment sync pulses from +5 to -5.
Four symbol segment syncs occur every 832 symbols, but are random and noisy, making them difficult to locate in a demodulated VSB digital data stream. In order to detect segment synchronization under these conditions, conventional practice applies a demodulated I-channel datastream to one input of a data correlator, and compares a reference pattern having a 1 -1 -1 1 characteristic with the demodulated data Has been applied to the reference input of. The correlator generates a reinforcement that matches the reference pattern every 832 symbols. Reinforced data events are accumulated by accumulators associated with the correlator. Intervening random (non-enhanced) correlations disappear with respect to the segment synchronization component of the enhanced correlations. Networks for recovering segment synchronization data in this manner are known from, for example, the previously mentioned papers of the Grand Alliance HDTV standard and Brettle et al.

Although segment synchronization is generally difficult to locate, it is recognized herein that it is particularly difficult to detect in the presence of a multipath (" ghost ") condition. Moreover, the last two characteristics (-1 1) (amplitude level) of the segment sync pattern are easily corrupted by transmission distortion such as multipath, but the first two characteristics (1, -1) of the segment sync pattern It is recognized herein that) is quite difficult to error. In addition, even if the first two amplitude characteristics (1-1) of the segment sync pattern are even errored, the two amplitude characteristics generally generate an error in the same way, and the advantage is that the first two characteristics To make it easier to detect. Thus, in the disclosed system, it is preferable that the reference patterns applied to the correlator to detect segment synchronization consist of the first two pattern levels (1 -1) rather than all four pattern levels (1 -1 -1 1). Do. Thus, preferably, the correlator reference pattern includes only two symbol intervals.

In FIG. 4, the oversampled output datastream from demodulator 22 (FIGS. 1 and 3) is applied to one signal input of phase detector 410 and to 832 symbol correlator 420. The other signal input of the phase detector 410 is from a data correlation processing path comprising a correlator 420 and an associated correlation reference pattern generator 430 connected to the reference input of the correlator 420, and a segment integrator and accumulator 424. Receive an input signal. Correlator 420 essentially responds to symbol coded data segment synchronization. The reference pattern generator 430 provides a relatively simple and shortened reference pattern 1-1 to enable the use of a simpler correlator network. Simpler reference patterns are less likely to cause confusion in synchronous detection processing, especially in poor signal conditions, because more stable and reliable information is used. The disclosed system is less likely to be confused if two of the four correlations have errors. In addition, the computation time by correlator 420 is significantly reduced.

Output from correlator 420 is integrated and accumulated by unit 424. Segment sync generator 428, which includes a comparator with a predetermined threshold, responds to the output of unit 424 by generating segment sync at an appropriate time in the data stream corresponding to the data segment sync interval. This occurs when the accumulation of enhanced data events (segment sync appearance) exceeds a predetermined level. Phase detector 410 compares the phase of the segment sync generated by unit 428 with the phase of the segment sync shown in the demodulated data stream from unit 22 and generates an output phase error signal. This error signal is low pass filtered by an automatic phase control (APC) filter 434 to generate a signal suitable for controlling a voltage controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO) 436 (VCXO) 436. The control crystal oscillator provides an oversampling clock of 21.52 MHz for the ADC 19. This sampling clock represents accurate timing when the phase error signal is near zero by the APC operation. Symbol timing (clock) recovery completes at this point. Segment sync generated by unit 428 is also applied to other decoder circuits, including automatic gain control (AGC) circuits (not shown).

Due to the low frequency suppressed carrier pilot component in the received VSB signal, there is a DC offset in the output I symbol data demodulated from the demodulator 22. This DC offset is related every symbol and is removed by the compensation network 26 (FIG. 1) before other processing. The removal of the transmitted symbol DC component facilitates the recovery of the symmetrical symbol values, i.e., ± 7 ± 5 ± 3 ± 1 of the 8-VSB signal. 6 illustrates network 26 in detail, which is essentially a DC tracking feedback network. The arrangement of network 26 in FIG. 6 is advantageously clocked at twice the symbol rate to produce a rapid removal of the DC component. This operation facilitates fast convergence of the receiver and some interrelated subsystems of the receiver to quickly generate appropriate operating conditions for processing the received video data for display.

In FIG. 6, an oversampled demodulated datastream containing unnecessary DC offset is applied to one input of a subtractor combiner 610. The inverting input (-) of the combiner 610 receives a DC compensation voltage from the DC voltage generator 616 in response to a control signal generated in response to the output of the combiner 610 as follows. The DC offset in the output signal from the combiner 610 is gradually reduced by the feedback operation at an oversampling rate that is twice the symbol rate. This DC offset is detected by unit 622 and compared with reference by comparator 624. The output of comparator 624 is used to generate a control signal from control signal generator 626 indicating the magnitude and polarity of the residual DC offset. The control signal in turn causes generator 616 to incrementally adjust the magnitude and polarity of the DC value coupled to the demodulated datastream. This process continues until a steady state condition is reached in which no further adjustment of the DC value by the feedback operation is provided by unit 616. Generator 616 can provide both positive and negative DC compensation values, because transmission channel disturbances change the (positive) DC offset added to the transmitter such that both positive and negative compensation values are required at the receiver. Because.

FIG. 7 details the NTSC co-channel interference detection network 30 in FIG. 1. As described in the Grand Alliance HDTV System Standard, the interference cancellation characteristics of the VSB transmission system are based on the frequency location of the principal components of the NTSC co-channel interference signal in the 6 MHz television channel and the VSB receiver baseband comb filter. Is based on a periodic notch of These comb filter notches exhibit high attenuation (nulls) at the frequency location of the coherent high energy NTSC component. These components include a video carrier located at 1.25 MHz from the low edge, a color subcarrier located at 3.58 MHz higher than the video carrier frequency, and a voice carrier located at 4.5 MHz above the video carrier frequency.

NTSC interference is detected by the circuit shown in Fig. 7, where the signal-to-interference plus noise of the field sync pattern is measured at the input and output of the comb filter network and these patterns are compared with each other. The reference field sync pattern used for this purpose is a programmed and locally stored "ideal" version of the received VSB signal field sync pattern.

In FIG. 7, the oversampled demodulated I channel symbol data is applied to the input of the NTSC cancellation comb filter 710, to the first input of the multiplexer 745, and to the input of the subtractor combiner 720. The comb filter 710 includes a subtractor 712 which subtracts the sample delayed by the delay component 714 from the input I data to generate a combined I channel symbol datastream. The comb filter 710 generates significant amplitude attenuation or "null" at the high energy interference NTSC frequencies mentioned above. Comfiltered I data from filter 710 is applied to a second input of multiplexer 745. Advantageously the comb filter delay component 714 exhibits a 24-sample delay as will be discussed next.

A programmed field sync pattern of 21.52 M samples / sec (double symbol rate) is obtained from local memory during the field sync interval of the received datastream. The field sync reference pattern is applied to the input of the NTSC cancellation comb filter 718 and to the inverting input (-) of the combiner 720. The comb filter 718 is similar to the comb filter 710 and also advantageously includes a delay component that exhibits a 24-sample delay. Especially in the comb filters 710 and 718 and associated delay networks, the network of FIG. 7 is clocked at 21.52 MHz.

The first error signal generated at the output of the combiner 720 indicates the difference between the field sync pattern and the reference field sync pattern received in the input data stream. This error signal is squared by unit 722 and integrated by unit 724. The second error signal generated at the output of the combiner 730 represents the difference between the field sync pattern received after comb filtering by filter 710 and the reference field sync pattern after comb filtering by filter 718. . This second error signal is squared by unit 732 and integrated by unit 734. The outputs of units 722 and 732 represent the energy for each error signal. The output signals integrated from integrators 724 and 734 represent the signal-to-interference plus noise content of the uncompressed field sync component and the com-filtered received field sync component, respectively. These integrated energy indication signals are applied to each input of an energy detector (comparator) 740 that compares the magnitudes of the integrated first and second error signals. The output signal from the detector 740 is controlled by the multiplexer 745 to cause the multiplexer 745 to provide the data output with an input signal that exhibits a better quality of the multiplexer input signal, i.e., a superior signal to noise plus interference ratio. Is applied to the input. Thus, in the case of significant NTSC co-channel interference, the comb filtered output signal from filter 710 will be output from multiplexer 745, while the unfiltered received symbol datastream will be output without such interference.

The use of oversampled I channel data and field sync reference pattern data with the use of 24-sample delay in comb filters 710 and 718 advantageously generates complete spectral information for NTSC co-channel interference. This makes for more accurate analysis and detection of NTSC interference and excellent comb filtering. Specifically, the use of 24 sample delays in comb filters 710 and 718 with oversampled input data and corresponding circuit clocking provides the input datastream at a 10.76 M symbol / sec symbol rate and the comb filters 710 and 718. ) Produces a comb filtered frequency spectrum that is error free due to phase and amplitude aliasing effects that can be generated by operating at a 10.76 M symbol / sec symbol rate. The resulting frequency spectrum generated at the outputs of the comb filters 710 and 718 is shown in FIG. 8 and includes two comb filtered complete NTSC passband components centered at 10.76 MHz but separated from 10.76 MHz. Attenuation notches appear at interfering high energy NTSC frequencies as mentioned.

7 shows one format of an NTSC co-channel interference detector that includes components 722, 724, 732, 734, and 740. However, other formats of detector may also be used. Thus these components may be referred to as four-input detectors, so-called "black boxes," where the detectors can be programmed to operate according to the requirements of a particular system. In that case, the four inputs have two oversampled inputs for combiner 730 and two oversampled (two sample / symbol) inputs for combiner 720, and the input of combiner 730. Of particular importance is the output of the filter 710 to.

The arrangement of FIG. 7 provides a clean frequency spectrum without the associated amplitude and phase error (aliasing) caused by the frequency overlap of the upper band edge of the low pass band component and the lower band edge of the high pass band component, as shown in FIG. Generates. Thus, co-channel interference detection by components 720, 722, 724, 730, 732, 734, and 740 uses a comb filter with 12-sample delay to process input data at 10.76 M symbols / sec symbol rate. More accurate than the detection by the system. In the case of a comb filter system, errors in amplitude and phase are likely to occur around 5.38 MHz where the high and low passband components overlap when the passband components are incompletely matched and not removed from their overlap. Such incomplete matching is likely to occur under signal channel conditions including, for example, multiple paths. This aliasing condition reduces the efficiency of NTSC co-channel interference detection and is avoided by the disclosed system.

In view of the foregoing, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined hereinafter by the appended claims, and that the invention is not limited to the examples provided. .
As mentioned above, the present invention is used in a receiver system for processing high-definition television signals of the VSB modulated type.

Claims (13)

An apparatus for use in a system for processing a received VSB modulated signal comprising high definition video data indicated by a residual sideband symbol constellation and susceptible to co-channel interference, the apparatus comprising: An apparatus for use in a system for processing a received VSB modulated signal, wherein the data has a data frame format consisting of consecutive data frames comprising field sync components in front of a plurality of data segments. Means (22) for generating a demodulated data stream in response to the received signal; Means (710) for filtering the demodulation datastream to generate a filtered demodulation datastream; Means for providing a reference signal, Means (718) for filtering the reference signal to generate a filtered reference signal; National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) interference detectors 720 to 740 having input networks 720 and 730, and output stages coupled to the signal processing path, Means for providing the demodulated datastream, the reference signal, the filtered demodulated datastream and the filtered reference signal to the input network, The demodulated datastream and the filtered demodulated datastream applied to the input network comprise symbol data oversampled at multiples of the symbol rate of the received signal. Device for 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the reference signal and the filtered reference signal include symbol data oversampled at multiples of the symbol rate of the received signal. Device. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for filtering 710, 718 comprises a comb filter network, The input network includes a first differential network 720 responsive to the demodulated datastream and the reference signal, and a second differential network 730 responsive to the filtered demodulated datastream and the filtered reference signal. An apparatus for use in a system for processing a received VSB modulated signal. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the reference signal is a field sync reference pattern. An apparatus for use in a system for processing a received VSB modulated signal comprising high quality video data indicated by a residual sideband symbol constellation and susceptible to co-channel interference, the data comprising: a plurality of data segments An apparatus for use in a system for processing a received VSB modulated signal, comprising a data frame format consisting of successive data frames comprising a field sync component preceding the field. A demodulator 22 for generating a demodulated data stream in response to the received signal, A filter 710 for attenuating information at a frequency corresponding to significant NTSC co-channel interference energy in response to the demodulated datastream and generating a filtered datastream; A signal quality analyzer 720 to 740 for generating a control signal indicative of the presence of interference in the demodulated data stream in response to the demodulated data stream and the filtered data stream; Providing the filtered demodulated datastream to an output channel when the control signal indicates the presence of interference in response to the control signal; otherwise, providing the demodulated datastream to the output channel if not indicating the presence of interference. Output network 745 for Wherein the demodulated datastream generated by the demodulator is oversampled by a multiple of the symbol rate of the received signal, and the filter 710 processes the received VSB modulated signal, indicating a 12 or more sample delays. Apparatus for use in a system for 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the demodulated datastream is oversampled at twice the symbol rate of the received signal, and the filter 710 exhibits at least 24 sample delays. Devices for use in the system. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the filter (710) generates an output frequency spectrum consisting of non-overlapping upper and lower passbands. 6. The comb filter network of claim 5, wherein the filter 710 is a comb filter network including a first comb filter 710 for providing a filtered demodulated datastream in response to the demodulated datastream. The apparatus further includes a second comb filter 718 for providing a filtered reference signal in response to the reference signal, The analyzer, (a) first detectors 720 to 724 for determining a difference between the demodulated data stream and the reference signal; (b) second detectors 730-734 for determining a difference between the filtered demodulated datastream and the filtered reference signal, and (c) means (740) for comparing the outputs from the first and second detectors to generate the control signal, apparatus for use in a system for processing a received VSB modulated signal. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the reference signal is a field sync reference pattern. A method for use in a system for processing a received VSB modulated signal comprising high quality video data indicated by a residual sideband symbol constellation and susceptible to co-channel interference, the data comprising: a plurality of data segments A method for use in a system for processing a received VSB modulated signal, comprising a data frame format consisting of successive data frames comprising a field sync component preceding a Generating, from the received signal, a demodulated data stream that is oversampled at a multiple of the symbol rate of the received signal; Filtering the demodulated datastream with at least 12 sample delays to attenuate information at frequencies indicative of a National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) co-channel interference energy to provide a filtered datastream; Analyzing the demodulated data stream and the filtered demodulated data stream to generate a control signal indicative of the presence of interference in the demodulated data stream, and Providing the filtered demodulated datastream to an output channel when the control signal indicates the presence of interference, and otherwise providing the demodulated datastream to the output channel if not indicating the presence of interference. A method for use in a system for processing a VSB modulated signal. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the oversampled datastream provided by the generating step is oversampled by a factor of two to provide two samples per symbol, And the filtering step is indicative of 24 sample delays for use in a system for processing a received VSB modulated signal. 12. The received VSB modulated signal of claim 11, wherein the filtering step generates a frequency spectrum consisting of non-overlapping upper and lower passbands disposed near a frequency corresponding to the symbol rate of the received signal. Method for use in the system for processing. 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the received signal is an 8-VSB modulated datastream and the symbol rate of the received signal is approximately 10.76 M symbols / sec. How to.

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