RU2459363C1 - Increasing throughput capacity in wireless network - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: information technologies.

SUBSTANCE: in one feature, systematic unavailability of transfer or "suppression" of frames is provided at a minimum speed, sent in a communication system. In a typical version of realisation, frames at one eighth of the speed in a voice communication system cdma2000 are systematically replaced with frames at zero speed, which carry zero traffic bits. However, conditions are ensured to transfer certain frames, marked with a vocoder as "critical". A receiver detects availability of transfers with zero speed or non-zero speed and processes received frames accordingly, including update of an outer circuit of capacity control only in response to frames with non-zero speed. Additionally methods are provided to change a template of control signal transfer sampling, to help the receiver in detection of frames at zero speed. In the other feature, early termination of signal transfer along a wireless communication line is provided. In the typical version of realisation a basic station (BS) sends power control groups (PCG) for a frame along a forward line (FL) to a mobile station (MS) until the proper receipt of the frame is confirmed along a reverse line (RL) by means of the MS, if possible, before all PCG of the frame have been received along the FL. Possible methods of ACK alarm are defined for channels associated with a wireless communication system cdma2000. In the other typical version of realisation methods are also provided for early termination on the reverse communication line.

EFFECT: increased throughput capacity.

4 cl, 29 dwg

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to the provisional application of the United States with serial number 61/060119, entitled "Apparatus and Methods for Increasing Capacity in Wireless Communications", filed June 9, 2008, and the provisional application of the United States with serial number 61/060408, entitled "Apparatus and Methods for Increasing Capacity in Wireless Communications, filed June 10, 2008, and US provisional application serial number 61/061546, entitled "Apparatus and Methods for Increasing Capacity in Wireless Communications," filed June 13, 2008, the entire contents of which included in this document by reference.

This application is a partial continuation of the application for US patent No. 12/389211, entitled "Frame Termination", filed February 19, 2009, which claims the priority of provisional application US No. 61/030215, filed February 20, 2008, and both applications are submitted the assignee of this application, the contents of which are fully incorporated into this document by reference.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present invention generally relates to digital communications, and more specifically, to techniques for reducing transmission power and increasing the throughput of wireless digital communications systems.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communication systems are widely used to provide various types of communication, such as speech, packet data, and so on. These systems may be based on code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), or other multiple access techniques. For example, such systems may conform to standards, such as the Second Generation Partnership Project 2 (3gpp2 or "cdma2000"), Third Generation Partnership Project (3gpp or "W-CDMA") or Long-Term Development Standard ("LTE"). In the performance of such communication systems, it is desirable to maximize the throughput or the number of users that the system can reliably support, given the available resources. Several factors influence the throughput of a wireless communication system, some of which are described below.

For example, in a speech communication system, a vocoder is often used to encode speech transmission using one of a plurality of variable coding rates. The coding rate may be selected based, for example, on the amount of speech activity determined during a particular time interval. In a vocoder, for example, for a cdma2000 wireless communication system, voice can be sent using frames at full speed (FR), half speed (HR), quaternary speed (QR), or one-eighth of speed (ER), and the frame at full speed contains the highest the number of traffic bits, and a frame at one-eighth speed contains the least number of traffic bits. A frame at one-eighth speed is usually sent during periods of silence (pauses) and usually corresponds to the transmission with the lowest speed that can be achieved by the voice communication system.

Although a frame at one-eighth speed is a reduced speed transmission in the cdma2000 system, a frame at one-eighth speed still contains a nonzero number of traffic bits. During certain intervals, for example, for relatively long periods in which there is no speech activity and background noise remains constant, even transmission of frames at one-eighth rate may unnecessarily consume a significant level of transmit power in the system. This can increase the level of interference caused by other users, thereby undesirably reducing system throughput.

It would be desirable to provide techniques for further reducing the transmission rate of a voice communication system below that which can be transmitted by frames at a minimum speed, for example, frames at one-eighth rate.

In another aspect of a wireless communication system, transmissions between two modules often employ some degree of redundancy to protect against errors in received signals. For example, in a forward link (FL) transmission from a base station (BS) to a mobile station (MS) in a cdma2000 wireless communication system, redundancies such as fractional rate symbol coding and symbol repetition can be applied. In the cdma2000 system, coded symbols are grouped into sub-segments, known as power control groups (PCGs), and transmitted wirelessly with a constant number of PCGs defining a frame.

Although symbol redundancy techniques such as those used in cdma2000 may allow accurate restoration of transmitted signals in the presence of errors, such techniques also provide an increase in the overall transmit power of the system when the signal reception conditions are good, which may also undesirably reduce system bandwidth.

It would be desirable to further provide effective techniques, for example, for stopping frame transmission when it is determined that the receiver has accurately restored the information associated with the frame, thereby saving transmission power and increasing system throughput. It would be desirable to further provide modified power control schemes to provide such techniques.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present disclosure of the invention provides a method for early termination of sequential frame transmissions over a communication channel, the method comprising: continuously transmitting a first frame to a receiver; receiving a confirmation message from the receiver during the transmission of the first frame; and stopping the transmission of the first frame after receiving the confirmation message.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for early termination of consecutive frame transmissions over a communication channel, the method comprising: continuously receiving a first frame from a transmitter; an attempt to decode the first frame before receiving the entire first frame; determining a successful frame decoding based on the result of the attempt; and transmitting a confirmation message to the transmitter based on the determination of successful decoding of the frame, where the confirmation message acts to stop transmitting the first frame.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a device for early termination of sequential frame transmissions over a communication channel, the device comprising: a transmitter configured to continuously transmit a first frame to a receiver; a receiver module configured to receive an acknowledgment message from the receiver during transmission of the first frame; and a transmitter configured to stop transmitting the first frame after receiving the acknowledgment message.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a device for early termination of sequential frame transmissions over a communication channel, the device comprising: a receiver configured to continuously receive a first frame from a transmitter; a processor configured to: attempt to decode the first frame before receiving the entire first frame; determining a successful decoding of the frame based on the result of the attempt; and a transmitter module configured to transmit a confirmation message to the transmitter based on the determination of successful frame decoding, where the confirmation message is effective to stop transmitting the first frame.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a device for early termination of frame transmissions over a communication channel, the device comprising: means for receiving a continuously transmitted frame from a transmitter; means for stopping the transmission of the transmitter before receiving the entire frame.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a device for early termination of frame transmissions over a communication channel, the device comprising: means for continuously transmitting a first frame; means for terminating continuous transmission based on successful decoding by the receiver of at least one transmitted subsegment.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for causing a computer to prematurely terminate frame transmissions over a communication channel, the medium storing instructions for causing a computer to: receive a continuously transmitted frame from a transmitter; try to decode the frame before receiving the entire continuously transmitted frame; determine successful decoding of the frame based on the result of the attempt; and transmit to the transmitter a confirmation message based on the determination of a successful frame decoding, where the confirmation message acts to stop transmitting the remainder of the continuously transmitted frame.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions for causing a computer to prematurely terminate frame transmissions over a communication channel, with a constant time interval for transmission being allocated to each frame, the medium storing instructions for causing the computer to: continuously transmit the first frame; receive a confirmation message from the receiver during the transmission of the first frame; stop transmitting the first frame after receiving a confirmation message; and start transmitting the second frame after a constant time interval has elapsed for the first frame.

Another aspect of the present disclosure of the invention provides a method for early termination of sequential frame transmissions over a communication channel, the method comprising: continuously transmitting a first frame to at least one receiver; receiving at least one confirmation message from at least one receiver during the transmission of the first frame; and stopping the transmission of the first frame after receiving the first of at least one confirmation message.

Another aspect of the present disclosure of the invention provides a method for early termination of sequential frame transmissions over a communication channel, the method comprising: continuously receiving a first frame from at least one transmitter; an attempt to decode the first frame before receiving the entire first frame; determining a successful frame decoding based on the result of the attempt; and transmitting a confirmation message based on the determination of a successful frame decoding, where the confirmation message acts to stop the transmission of the first frame by each of the at least one transmitter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

1 illustrates a prior art wireless communication system.

Figure 2 illustrates a signal transmission path of the prior art for speech.

3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a signal transmission path for speech in accordance with the present disclosure.

4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an algorithm that can be applied by a systematic suppression module.

Figures 5 and 5A illustrate typical frame sequences that are processed by a vocoder and a systematic suppression module.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a reception algorithm for processing systematically suppressed signals generated by a voice path, for example, shown in FIG.

7 illustrates an alternative exemplary embodiment of a signal path for speech in accordance with the present disclosure.

8 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an algorithm that can be applied by a systematic suppression module.

Figures 9 and 9A illustrate typical frame sequences that are processed by a vocoder and a systematic suppression module.

10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method for systematically suppressing in accordance with the present disclosure.

11 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a pilot gating scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

12 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a reduced speed power control circuit for controlling forward link (FL) transmission power in accordance with the present disclosure.

13 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a reduced speed power control circuit for controlling transmit power of a reverse link (RL) continuous control signal in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a reduced speed power control circuit for controlling transmit power of a reverse link (RL) gated pilot in accordance with the present disclosure.

15 illustrates a power control method in accordance with the present disclosure.

Fig. 16 illustrates a prior art frame processing scheme for processing information bits at a transmitter in a communication system.

17 illustrates timing diagrams associated with a prior art forward link signaling circuit for cdma2000.

FIG. 18 illustrates a prior art method for recovering prospective information bits b ′ from received symbols y .

19 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a scheme for early termination of forward link transmissions for systems operating in accordance with the cdma2000 standard.

FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a subsegment decoding scheme in accordance with the present disclosure.

21 illustrates an implementation of a prior art symbol path in a forward link for Radio Channel Configuration No. 4 (RC4) in accordance with the cdma2000 standard, as well as an exemplary embodiment of a forward path symbol path in accordance with the present disclosure.

22 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a signaling scheme used to signal an ACK message on a reverse link for an early termination modulator.

23 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a scheme for early termination of reverse link transmissions for systems operating in accordance with the cdma2000 standard.

24 illustrates an implementation of a prior art symbol path in a reverse link, as well as an exemplary reverse link symbol path in accordance with the present disclosure.

25 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a signaling scheme used to signal an ACK message on a reverse link for early termination of a forward primary channel (F-FCH) and / or up to two forward supplemental channels (F-SCH1 and F-SCH2).

FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method in accordance with the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings is intended as a description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to represent only exemplary embodiments in which the present invention can be practiced. The term “exemplary” as used throughout this description means “serving as an example, individual case, or illustration,” and should not be construed as preferable or advantageous over other exemplary embodiments. Such a description includes specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that exemplary embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid difficulty understanding the novelty of the typical embodiments presented herein.

In this description of the invention and in the claims, it will be assumed that when an element is called “connected” or “connected” to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to another element, or intermediate elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is called “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another element, there are no intermediate elements.

Communication systems may use one carrier frequency or several carrier frequencies. Referring to FIG. 1, in a wireless cellular communication system 100, reference numbers 102A to 102G refer to cells, link numbers 160A to 160G refer to base stations, and reference numbers 106A to 106G refer to access terminals (ATs). The communication channel includes a forward link (FL) (also known as a downlink) for transmissions from an access network (AN) 160 to access (AT) terminals 106 and a reverse link (RL) (also known as an uplink) for transmissions from AT 106 to AN 160. AT 106 is also known as a remote station, mobile station or subscriber station. Access terminal (AT) 106 may be mobile or stationary. Each communication line may include a different number of carrier frequencies. In addition, the access terminal 106 may be any data device that communicates wirelessly or wired, for example using fiber optic or coaxial cables. The access terminal 106 may further be any of several types of devices, including (but not limited to) an expansion card, a Compact Flash card, an external or internal modem, or a cordless or corded telephone.

Modern communications systems are designed to allow multiple users to access a common communications medium. Numerous multiple access techniques are known in the art, for example time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), spatial division multiple access, polar division multiple access, code division multiple access channels (CDMA) and other similar multiple access techniques. The concept of multiple access is a channel allocation methodology that allows multiple users to access a common communication line. Channel allocations can take various forms depending on a particular shared access technique. As an example, in FDMA systems, the entire frequency spectrum is divided into a number of smaller subbands, and each user is provided with his own subband for access to the communication line. Alternatively, in TDMA systems, each user is provided with the entire frequency spectrum for periodically repeating time intervals. In CDMA systems, each user is provided with the entire frequency spectrum for the whole time, but he distinguishes his transmission by using a code.

Although some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may be described below for operation in accordance with the cdma2000 standard, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that these techniques can be easily applied to other digital communication systems. For example, the techniques of the present disclosure can also be applied to systems based on the W-CDMA (or 3gpp) wireless communication standard and / or any other communication standards. Such alternative exemplary embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art signal transmission path 200 for speech. 2, a speech signal 200a is input to a vocoder 210 that encodes a speech signal for transmission. The speech frame 210a outputted by the vocoder 210 may acquire one of a plurality of speeds depending on the content of speech in the speech signal 200a at any time. 2, a plurality of speeds includes full speed (FR), half speed (HR), quaternary speed (QR), and one-eighth of speed (ER). The speech frame 210a is provided to the physical layer processing unit 220, which prepares data in the speech frame for transmission in accordance with the protocols of the physical layer of the system. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such protocols may include, for example, encoding, repetition, exclusion, interleaving, and / or modulation of data. The result of the physical layer processing unit 220 is provided to the transmitting unit 230 for transmission. The transmitting unit 230 may perform radio frequency (RF) operations, for example, converting with increasing the frequency of the signal to the carrier frequency and amplifying the signal for transmission through an antenna (not shown).

In general, the speed of the speech frame 210a selected by the vocoder 210 to encode the speech signal 200a at any time may depend on the level of speech activity detected in the speech signal 200a. For example, the full speed (FR) can be selected for frames during which the speech signal 200a contains active speech, while one-eighth of the speed (ER) can be selected for frames during which the speech signal 200a contains silence. During such periods of silence, the ER frame may contain parameters characterizing the "background noise" associated with silence. Although an ER frame contains much fewer bits than an FR frame, silent periods can occur quite often during a normal conversation, thereby leading to a significant overall bandwidth allocated to transmitting ER frames.

It would be desirable to further reduce the bandwidth required for transmitting the speech signal 200a to the receiver.

3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a signal transmission path 300 for speech in accordance with the present disclosure. 3, a speech signal 200a is input to a vocoder 310, which forms a speech frame 310a for transmission. Speech frame 310a may acquire one of a variety of speeds, including full speed (FR), half speed (HR), quaternary speed (QR), one-eighth of speed (ER), and critical one-eighth of speed (ER-C). In a typical embodiment, designating a frame at one-eighth speed as a “critical” frame at one-eighth speed can be performed by vocoder 310 for those frames at one-eighth speed containing parameters corresponding, for example, to a change in the detected background noise in the silence interval.

The speech frame 310a is provided to the systematic suppression unit 315, which in turn provides the processed speech frame 315a to the physical layer processing unit 220. As further described below, the systematic cancellation unit 315 is configured to minimize the bit rate of the vocoder output signal 310a by selectively “suppressing” the vocoder output signal, that is, replacing some frames in the vocoder output signal 310a with frames at zero bit rate (NR) having a transmission rate less data than the frame at one-eighth speed. In a typical embodiment, NR frames may have zero traffic content, i.e., a traffic rate of 0 bits per second (bps).

4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment 400 of an algorithm that may be applied by systematic suppression module 315.

At step 410, the systematic cancellation unit 315 receives a frame 310a from vocoder 310.

At 420, a frame 310a is evaluated to determine if it is FR, HR, QR, or ER-C. Such speeds are considered critical for transmission and may also be called critical frame types. If frame 310a contains one of these critical rates, then frame 310a is provided directly to physical layer processing module 220 for transmission. If this is not the case, then the frame is considered to contain non-critical speed, and the algorithm proceeds to step 430.

Note that the type designation of FR, HR, QR, and ER-C as “critical” is for explanatory purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to those embodiments in which such frame types are designated as critical. In alternative exemplary embodiments, other sets of frame types may be designated as critical for transmission by a systematic suppression module. Such alternative exemplary embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the present disclosure.

At step 430, the algorithm estimates the frame number of the current frame to be transmitted to determine whether the current frame is guaranteed to be transmitted. In an exemplary embodiment, guaranteed transmission may include non-zero rate transmission (eg, not NR). In a typical embodiment, the frame number may be a number assigned to each frame, which is constantly repeated for each subsequent frame. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the current FrameNumber is added to the current frame offset FrameOffset, and the result (FrameNumber + FrameOffset) is used in the modulo operation with the interval parameter without suppressing N. If the result of the modulo operation is 0, the algorithm goes to step 440. Otherwise, the algorithm proceeds to step 450.

A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that techniques other than the specific score shown in step 430 can easily be applied to specify which frames should be guaranteed for transmission. Such alternative techniques may use, for example, parameters other than the current frame number or current frame offset, or operations other than the modulo operation shown.

At 450, the systematic suppression module 315 provides a zero speed (NR) frame to the physical layer processing module 220 for transmission. In a typical embodiment, a frame with a zero speed has a traffic data rate of 0 bits / s (bits per second) and accordingly consumes a minimum signaling bandwidth. After transmitting the frame at zero speed, the algorithm returns to step 410 to receive the next speech frame 310a from vocoder 310.

Based on the above description, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that an interval without suppressing N controls how often non-critical frames are transmitted, with N = 1 corresponding to the transmission of all non-critical frames, and higher N values corresponding to less frequent transmissions of non-critical frames. In a typical embodiment, N may take values 1, 4 by default, 8, or other reserved values specified, for example, by an external alarm (not shown).

5 and 5A illustrate exemplary frame transfer sequences 310a * and 315a *, respectively, which are processed by vocoder 310 and systematic suppression module 315.

5, a sequence of frames 310a * includes frames at one eighth of a speed denoted by “ER” and critical frames at one eighth of a rate denoted by “ER-C”. Such a sequence of frames may occur during a conversation, for example, a period of silence on one side of the conversation.

5A, a frame transmission sequence 315a * corresponds to the result of applying a selective suppression algorithm, for example 400, to a transmission sequence 310a * where an interval without cancellation N = 4 is used. On figa sequence 315a * frames includes frames at one-eighth of the speed ER and frames with zero speed NR. FrameNum 0 is transmitted directly as received from vocoder 310, that is, as an ER frame. FrameNum 1 and 3 are transmitted as NR frames in accordance with the interval without suppressing N = 4. FrameNum 2, which is denoted by the vocoder as a critical frame at one eighth of an ER-C speed, is transmitted as an ER frame. FrameNum 4 through 13 are handled in the same way as shown. Note that in FIG. 5A, frames corresponding to (FrameNum + FrameOffset mod N) = 0 are marked.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a reception algorithm 600 for processing signals generated by a voice path using a systematic suppression module, such as 315, shown in FIG. 3.

In Fig. 6, at step 610, the transmitted signal is received (RX) and processed using, for example, operations complementary to the transmitting operations 230, for example, shown in Fig. 3. Such receiving operations may include, for example, RF amplification, down-conversion, filtering, etc.

At step 620, receiving (RX) physical layer processing is performed using, for example, operations complementary to transmitting (TX) physical layer operations 220, shown in FIG. Such receiving processing of the physical layer may include, for example, decoding, removing interleaving, combining characters, etc.

At step 630, the algorithm 600 estimates whether the current received frame is an NR frame. If so, then the algorithm returns to step 610 to start receiving the next frame since there is no traffic data to process for the NR frame. If this is not the case, the algorithm proceeds to block 640.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that various techniques may be used to assess whether the current received frame is an NR frame. In a typical embodiment, an energy estimation algorithm may be used to detect energy in a portion with traffic in a received frame. For example, you can measure the energy corresponding to the part with the traffic in the received frame, and compare with a suitable normalized energy threshold. If the measured energy is less than a threshold, an NR frame may be declared, since in a typical embodiment no signal is assumed for transmission by the transmitter in the traffic portion of the NR frame. Such energy estimation algorithms can also use information about the systematic suppression algorithm and the non-suppression interval N used by the transmitter for additional support in detecting NR frames.

Note that the foregoing description of possible NR detection algorithms is provided for explanatory purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific NR detection algorithms.

At 640, a received frame parameter other than NR may be used to update the external power control loop (OLPC) algorithm at the receiver. In a typical embodiment, the parameter of a received frame other than NR may include, for example, the result of whether a quality control indicator of a frame quality (FQI) has passed, for example, a CRC for a received frame. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the OLPC algorithm can be used, for example, to compute a suitable set signal-to-noise ratio (SIR) for received frames, which can be used to control the closed-loop power control mechanism between the transmitter and receiver for transmitted speech frames. By eliminating the quality control results from NR frames, the OLPC algorithm can be correctly updated using, for example, only frames that have significant transmitted energy for the traffic part.

At step 650, the speech frame can be decoded into speech output 650a, and the algorithm 600 returns to step 610 to receive the next frame.

7 illustrates an alternative exemplary embodiment of a signal path for speech 700 in accordance with the present disclosure. 7, a speech signal 200a is input to a vocoder 710, which forms a speech frame 710a for transmission. Speech frame 710a may acquire one of a variety of speeds including full speed (FR), half speed (HR), quaternary speed (QR), one-eighth of speed (ER) and zero vocoder speed (VNR). A VNR frame, also known as a zero-speed vocoder frame or an empty vocoder frame, is generated by the vocoder 710 when there is no new information to be sent by the vocoder. In a typical embodiment, the VNR frame may simply be an empty frame containing no data.

The speech frame 710a is provided to the systematic suppression unit 715, which in turn provides the processed speech frame 715a to the physical layer processing unit 220. As further described below, the systematic suppression module 715 is configured to minimize the bit rate of the vocoder output signal 710a by selectively replacing some frames of the vocoder output signal 710a with zero speed (NR) frames or zero speed indicator frames (NRID) having small data content or no content.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary embodiment 800 of an algorithm that may be employed by systematic suppression module 715.

At step 810, the systematic suppression module 715 receives the frame 710a from the vocoder 710.

At step 820, frame 710a is evaluated to determine if it is FR, HR, QR, or ER. Such speeds are considered critical for transmission. If frame 710a contains one of these critical rates, then at block 840, frame 710a is provided to physical layer processing unit 220 for transmission. If this is not the case, then the frame is considered to contain non-critical speed, and the algorithm proceeds to step 830.

At block 830, the algorithm estimates the current frame number in the transmission to determine if a non-zero transmission should be performed. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the current FrameNumber is added to the current frame offset FrameOffset, and the result (FrameNumber + FrameOffset) is used in the modulo operation with the interval parameter without suppressing N. If the result of the modulo operation is 0, the algorithm goes to step 835. Otherwise, the algorithm proceeds to step 850.

At 835, a zero speed indicator (NRID) frame may be transmitted. Such a frame may correspond to a predetermined frame or indicator recognized by the receiver as not containing new information, also called a frame containing lack of traffic data. The lack of traffic data may contain some bit combination that the receiving vocoder does not use, and, accordingly, the lack of traffic data will be discarded by the receiving vocoder. In one aspect, for example, a predefined blank frame or indicator may be a known frame at 1.8 kbps containing no traffic data. In another aspect, for example, a predefined frame or indicator may repeat the last transmitted frame at 1.8 kbps, thereby indicating the absence of traffic data.

At step 850, the systematic suppression module 715 provides a zero speed (NR) frame to the physical layer processing module 220 for transmission. In a typical embodiment, a frame with zero speed does not contain traffic bits and, accordingly, consumes a minimum signaling bandwidth. After transmitting the frame at zero speed, the algorithm returns to step 810 to receive the next speech frame 710a from vocoder 710.

Figures 9 and 9A illustrate exemplary frame transfer sequences 710a * and 715a *, respectively, which are processed by vocoder 710 and systematic suppression module 715.

9, a frame sequence 710a * includes frames at one-eighth of a speed indicated by “ER” and zero-speed vocoder frames indicated by “VNR” formed by vocoder 710.

9A, the frame transmission sequence 715a * corresponds to the result of applying a selective suppression algorithm, for example 800, to a transmission sequence 710a * where an interval without suppression N = 4 is used. In FIG. 9A, a frame sequence 715a * includes frames at one-eighth of an ER rate and frames with a zero speed NR. FrameNum 0 is transmitted directly as received from vocoder 710, that is, as an ER frame. FrameNum 1 through 3 are transmitted as NR frames, and FrameNum 4 is transmitted as an NRID frame in accordance with the interval without suppressing N = 4. Note that an NRID frame is transmitted to guarantee periodic transmission of frames at a non-zero rate, as described with reference to algorithm 800. FrameNum processing 5 through 13 can be readily understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art, taking into account the preceding description.

10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method 1000 for systematically suppressing in accordance with the present disclosure. Note that method 1000 is shown for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular method shown.

10, in step 1010, a determination can be made regarding the availability of new traffic information to be included in a frame for transmission over a wireless link.

At 1020, the branch block determines the determination result at 1010.

At 1030, if new traffic information exists, a traffic portion may be added to the frame containing data representing new traffic information.

At 1040, if new traffic information does not exist, then no new frame is transmitted until the corresponding frame matches the frame guaranteed for transmission. In this case, a frame guaranteed for transmission is formed, including the absence of traffic data recognized by the receiving vocoder as a zero data rate.

11 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a pilot gating scheme for recognizing zero frame rate transmissions in accordance with the present disclosure. Note that the control signal gating circuit is provided for explanatory purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to systems in which a frame transmission at zero speed is necessarily accompanied by a transmission of the gated control signal.

11, a traffic portion 1110 in transmission is shown along with a pilot portion 1120. It can be seen that the pilot signal portion 1120 has a different structure during the transmission of the frame at zero speed than during the transmission of the frame at a non-zero speed. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the pilot gating pattern for a blank frame may correspond to 2 sub-segments or PCG in which the pilot is turned on (indicated by “P” in FIG. 11), alternating with 2 sub-segments or PCG in which pilot light off. Using a different pilot strobe pattern during blank frame transmissions may further assist the receiver in determining whether the frame currently being received is a blank frame. This can be used, for example, during step 630 to determine the zero speed in Fig.6.

A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, in view of the present disclosure, that alternative gating patterns of a pilot signal can be readily obtained to signal the presence of blank frames. For example, a pilot gating pattern may include pilot transmission in every second sub-segment or PCG, or the use of any other pattern. Such alternative techniques are contemplated as being within the scope of the present disclosure.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, in order to further reduce signal transmissions in the system, it is possible to reduce the power control rate of the forward link and / or reverse link in the system. In a typical embodiment, the mobile station can reduce the number of forward link power control commands that it sends to the base station, for example, by sending only forward link power control commands only during PCG, corresponding to the gated reverse link gate signal transmissions, even in frames, where the reverse link pilot signal portion is continuous (i.e., not gated). In another exemplary embodiment, the base station may transmit reverse link power control commands at a reduced rate, for example, in every second power control group. In addition, a mobile station receiving these reverse link power control commands may use each command to control non-empty frame transmissions. For blank frames, the reduced number (for example, not all) of received power control commands from the base station can be used to control the transmission of blank frames of the mobile station, for example, when the portion with the reverse link pilot signal is gated, as described above. These typical power control techniques are further described with reference to FIGS. 12-14.

12 illustrates a typical embodiment 1200 of a reduced speed power control circuit for controlling forward link (FL) transmission power in accordance with the present disclosure.

12, base station transmissions (BS TX) 1210 are shown together with mobile station transmissions 1220 (MS TX). PCGs containing forward link (FL) power control (PC) commands sent by the mobile station are shown as hatched PCGs at 1220. A right-up arrow comes from each hatched PCG and indicates a forward link PCG transmitted by the base station, in which the accepted PC FL commands apply. For example, the PC FL command sent by the mobile station to PCG No. 3 RL is used by the base station when transmitting PCG No. 4 FL, etc.

Note that in FIG. 12, the hatched PCGs at reference 1220 correspond to PCG RLs in which the transmitted pilot signal RL is turned on, in accordance with the gated pilot signal circuit 1100 shown in FIG. 11. At the same time, the mobile station sends only PC FL commands to the PCG RL corresponding to the hatched PCG, as shown in reference 1220. The mobile station does not send PC FL commands to the unshaded PCG RL. PC FL commands, respectively, are only transmitted in those PCG RLs that are also transmitted during the gated pilot scheme, regardless of whether the gated pilot pattern is applied to a particular frame (for example, whether the particular frame is a frame at zero speed). One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that this can reduce the processing complexity of PC FL while reducing the overall speed of PC FL.

13 illustrates an exemplary embodiment 1300 of a reduced speed power control circuit for controlling reverse link (RL) continuous pilot transmission power in accordance with the present disclosure.

13, PCGs containing reverse link (RL) power control (PC) commands sent by the base station are shown as hatched PCGs at reference 1310. A right-down arrow comes from each hatched PCG and points to the reverse link PCG, transmitted by a mobile station that applies the corresponding received PC RL commands. For example, the PC RL command sent by the base station to PCG No. 3 FL is used by the mobile station when transmitting PCG No. 4 RL, etc.

13, the base station sends only PC RL commands to the PCG FL corresponding to the hatched PCG, as shown in reference 1310. The base station does not send PC RL commands to the unshaded PCG.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary embodiment 1400 of a reduced speed power control circuit for controlling transmission power of a gated reverse link (RL) pilot signal in accordance with the present disclosure.

In FIG. 14, PCGs containing reverse link (RL) power control (PC) commands sent by the base station are again shown as hatched PCGs at reference 1410. A solid right-down arrow comes from the hatched PCG and points to the reverse link PCG transmitted by a mobile station that applies the corresponding received PC RL commands. On the other hand, the dashed arrow coming from the hatched PCG indicates the PC RL command transmitted by the base station, which is not applied by the MS to the corresponding indicated PCG RL. The base station sends only PC RL commands to the PCG FL corresponding to the hatched PCG. The base station does not send PC RL commands to unshaded PCGs.

For example, the PC RL command sent by the base station to PCG No. 1 FL is used by the mobile station when transmitting PCG No. 3 RL, etc. On the other hand, the PC RL command sent by the base station to the PCG No. 2 FL is not used by the mobile station when transmitting the PCG No. 4 RL. Instead, in a typical embodiment, the mobile station can maintain the same power level that was used for the previous PCG, for example, PCG No. 3 RL in the described example. In one aspect of the present disclosure, this can be done to simplify the processing of PC RL commands by a mobile station.

FIG. 15 illustrates a power control method 1500 in accordance with the present disclosure. Note that method 1500 is shown for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

At step 1510, the current frame is received, and the frame is marked up into multiple sub-segments.

At block 1520, the received frame is processed in accordance with physical layer protocols.

At step 1530, the power control command received in the sub-segment scheduled for transmission in accordance with the first gated pilot pattern is received.

At step 1540, the transmit power of the transmission sub-segment following the designated sub-segment is adjusted in accordance with the received power control command, wherein the transmission sub-segment is transmitted in accordance with the second gated pilot signal pattern.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, techniques are provided for early termination of forward and / or reverse link transmissions in a wireless communication system to save power and increase throughput.

FIG. 16 illustrates a prior art frame processing circuit for processing information bits 1600b at a transmitter in a communication system. In some exemplary embodiments, the illustrated frame processing scheme may be used in forward or reverse link transmissions in a wireless communication system. Figa illustrates the state of the data processed using the operations illustrated in Fig.16.

Note that the frame processing scheme is shown for explanatory purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular processing scheme shown. Alternative exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may select alternative frame processing schemes that may, for example, reorder the steps of the circuit shown in FIG. 16 and / or add steps or remove steps from the shown circuit. Such alternative exemplary embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the present disclosure.

In Fig. 16, the information source generates information bits 1600b at the selected speed R. The number of information bits 1600b generated per frame may depend on the selected speed R. For example, in the cdma2000 system, there may be 172 information bits per 20 millisecond frame (" full speed "), 80 bits per frame (" half speed "), 40 bits per frame (" quaternary speed ") or 16 bits per frame (" one-eighth of speed "). The information bits 1600b for the frame are together denoted by variable b in FIG. 16A.

At 1600, a frame quality indicator (FQI) may be generated and added to the information bits 1600b for the frame. For example, the FQI may be a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Signal 1600a is a combination of information bits 1600b and FQI, which is also illustrated in figa.

At 1610, end bits of the encoder may be added to signal 1600a. For example, the end bits of the encoder may represent a constant number of zeroed end bits for use with a convolutional encoder. The signal 1610a is a combination of the signal 1600a with the end bits of the encoder, which is also illustrated in FIG.

At step 1620, the signal 1610a is encoded and repeated (or eliminated). As described previously, the encoding may include convolutional encoding or turbo coding and may serve to further increase (or decrease, if excluded) the transmitted energy associated with each symbol. Note that coding may employ other techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art, for example block coding or other types of coding, and should not be limited to the coding explicitly described in the present disclosure. Signal 1620a is an encoded and repeated (or excluded) version of signal 1610a, which is also illustrated in FIG.

At step 1630, the signal 1620a is interleaved, for example, to improve the spacing of the coded symbols over the selected signal dimension. In a typical implementation, the characters may be interleaved in time. Signal 1630a represents an interleaved version of signal 1620a, which is also illustrated in FIG. 16A.

At 1640, the interleaved symbols in signal 1630a are converted to a predetermined frame format, which is also illustrated in FIG. 16A. A frame format may define a frame as consisting of a plurality of sub-segments. In a typical embodiment, the sub-segments may be any parts of a frame that are close in a given dimension, for example, time, frequency, code, or any other dimension. A frame may consist of a constant set of such sub-segments, with each sub-segment containing a portion of the total number of characters assigned to the frame. For example, in a typical embodiment according to the W-CDMA standard, a subsegment may be defined as a time interval. In a typical embodiment, according to the cdma2000 standard, a sub-segment may be defined as a power control group (PCG).

In some exemplary embodiments, the interleaved symbols may be transformed in time, frequency, code, or any other measurement used to transmit the signal. In addition, the frame format can also specify the inclusion of, for example, control characters (not shown) together with characters interleaved in the signal 1630a. Such control symbols may include, for example, power control symbols, frame format information symbols, etc. Signal 1640a represents the output of step 1640 of converting the symbol into a frame, which is also illustrated in FIG.

At step 1650, the signal 1640a is modulated, for example, into one or more carriers. In some typical embodiments, the modulation may apply, for example, QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation), QPSK (quadrature phase shift keying), etc. Signal 1650a represents a modulated version of signal 1640a, which is also illustrated in FIG. 16A. The signal 1650a is further indicated by the variable x in FIG. 16A.

At step 1660, the modulated signal 1650a is further processed, transmitted wirelessly, and received by the receiver. Step 1660 generates the received symbols 1700a, further indicated by the variable y in FIG. 16A. Note that a person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that techniques for processing signal 1650a for wireless transmission and reception are well known and are not further disclosed in this document. Characters contained in y can be further processed as described below.

17 illustrates timing diagrams associated with a prior art forward link signaling circuit for cdma2000.

17, the base station (BS), in step 1700, transmits a sequence of frames on the forward main channel (F-FCH TX) to the mobile station (MS). In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the sub-segments correspond to power control groups (PCGs), sixteen of which (numbered 0 to 15) comprise each frame. After transmitting all sixteen PCGs corresponding to the first TX Frame No. 0 frame, the BS starts transmitting the next TX Frame No. 1 frame. In a typical embodiment, the transmitted data may be processed as previously described herein with reference to FIGS. 16 and 16A.

On the MS side, at step 1710, the MS receives transmitted PCGs. After receiving the last PCG (i.e., PCG No. 15) in the RX Frame No. 0 corresponding to TX Frame No. 0, the MS starts decoding the RX Frame No. 0 using all the received PCGs. The decoded information is then available at the time of decoding the TD. In a typical embodiment, decoding may be performed as described below with reference to FIG. Note that while the MS decodes TX Frame # 0, PCGs in TX Frame # 1 are simultaneously received.

FIG. 18 illustrates a prior art method 1800 for recovering prospective information bits b ′ from received symbols y .

At step 1805, the characters y or 1700a are received for the entire frame.

At step 1810, the symbols y or 1700a are demodulated, analyzed, and interleaved to create the symbols y ' , also referred to as signal 1810a. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the operations performed at block 1810 may correspond to the reverse operations performed at the transmitter, as shown, for example, in FIG. 16.

At step 1820, the symbols y ′ are decoded and combined based on the speed information R. In the implementation, the speed R can indicate how many bits are present in the received frame, and can be used, for example, by a decoder to determine at what point in the received sequence of characters to stop decoding, and / or to remove end bits from the decoded sequence. At block 1820, it is also possible to delete the end bits of the decoded sequence that are added, for example, at block 1610 in FIG. 16. The result of step 1820 is the output signal 1820a.

At step 1830, the FQI is checked, which is added, for example, at step 1600 in FIG. 16, and is also removed from the information bits. In an implementation, the FQI check result can recognize decoding as either success or failure. Step 1830 generates the restored information bits designated as b ' , together with the FQI result, which can indicate either success or failure.

At step 1840, the method may advance to the next frame and repeat the above steps for the next frame.

In accordance with the present disclosure, the early frame decoding and termination techniques described below may allow the entire communication system 100 to operate more efficiently and save transmit power, thereby increasing the throughput of the cellular system.

19 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a scheme for early termination of forward link transmissions for systems operating in accordance with the cdma2000 standard. Note that the typical embodiment is shown for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure of the invention to cdma2000 based systems. A person of ordinary skill in the art will also appreciate that certain PCG numbers and frames referenced in this document are for explanatory purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

In FIG. 19, the base station (BS) at step 1900 transmits a sequence of frames to a mobile station (MS). In a typical embodiment, transmissions may be on the forward main channel (F-FCH TX). As previously described above, each subsegment shown in FIG. 19 may correspond to a power control group (PCG) in cdma2000. The BS starts transmitting from PCG # 0 to TX Frame # 0 and continuously transmits PCG until a 1945 ACK signal is received from the MS after PCG # 8. The ACK signal is transmitted by the MS for signaling to the BS that the MS has successfully decoded the entire TX Frame No. 0 based on already received PCGs.

Upon receiving the ACK 1945, the BS stops transmitting the PCG corresponding to TX Frame No. 0 and waits until the start of the next frame, TX Frame No. 1, before transmitting the PCG for the new TX Frame No. 1. Note that during a limited period of time associated with receiving and processing the 1945 ACK signal, the BS can already begin transmitting PCG No. 9 to TX Frame No. 0.

Reference numbers 1910 through 1940 illustrate the time distribution of the actions performed by the MS to generate an ACK signal 1945 sent to the BS, which permits early termination of frame transmissions by the BS.

At step 1910, the MS receives the PCG for TX Frame No. 0 and TX Frame No. 1 as RX Frame No. 0 and RX Frame No. 1, respectively.

At step 1920, the MS attempts to decode RX Frame No. 0 when each PCG in RX Frame No. 0 is received, without waiting for all sixteen PCGs allocated by RX Frame No. 0 to be received. In a typical embodiment, to perform such PCG-based decoding, the MS may use a sub-segment decoding algorithm, such as 2000, later described below with reference to FIG.

At step 1925, after receiving PCG No. 7, the MS successfully decodes RX Frame No. 0, which is determined, for example, by checking the CRC associated with the received bits. MS announces the success of decoding and proceeds to transmit 1930 ACK.

In step 1930, after the decoding success was announced in step 1925, the MS transmits the MS ACK signal 1945 to the BS during the transmission part associated with the reverse link PCG # 8.

In a typical embodiment, the MS may simply transmit the ACK signal during the immediately following PCG, or in any PCG following the PCG in which decoding success is determined. In an alternative exemplary embodiment, such as shown in FIG. 19, the timing over the transmission of the ACK signal 1945 can be controlled using the ACK mask 1940. The ACK mask is used to specify when the ACK signal can or cannot be transmitted. Providing such an ACK mask may limit the bandwidth used for sending acknowledgment messages.

19, an ACK mask 1940 is characterized by time intervals indicated by “1” during which reverse ACK transmission of ACK is allowed. ACK transmissions are not allowed for time periods indicated by "0". In a typical embodiment, by restricting ACK transmissions to only time intervals after a PCG limit, an ACK mask can ensure that decoding is only undertaken when a sufficient portion of the received frame is processed. In accordance with the present disclosure, the MS can transmit the ACK message in the next time period, indicated as “1”, using the ACK mask that directly accompanies successful decoding.

Note that the specific configurations of the ACK mask shown in this document are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any ACK mask shown. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that alternative ACK mask configurations can easily be provided to allow ACK transmission during other parts of the sub-segments or PCGs than shown. Such alternative exemplary embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the present disclosure.

In a typical embodiment, the PCGs indicated by the ACK mask pattern may overlap with the same PCGs that are set by the pattern for the gated pilot RL used to signal transmission of the NR frame, for example, described earlier in this document with reference to FIG. 11.

In a typical embodiment, the BS TX may also include transmitting a pilot signal (not shown), which may switch from a continuously transmitted pilot signal to a gated pilot signal upon receipt of an ACK 1945 MS, wherein the gated pilot signal is transmitted in accordance with the gated pilot pattern.

FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a subsegment decoding scheme in accordance with the present disclosure. Note that method 2000 is shown for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular exemplary embodiments shown.

20, in step 2001, the subscript index n is set to n = 0.

At step 2005, the method receives the characters y _n for the sub-segment n.

At step 2010, the method demodulates, analyzes, and eliminates the interleaving of all symbols yΣ _n received up to the sub-segment n of the current frame and including it. yΣ _n may include, for example, all traffic symbols received from subsegment 0 to subsegment n inclusive. The result of step 2010 is denoted as y'Σ _n .

At step 2020, the method decodes and combines the symbols y'Σ _n . A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that although the characters y'Σ _n usually only correspond to a portion of all the characters x assigned by the transmitter for the entire frame, it is nevertheless possible to "prematurely" decode the entire frame using only the characters y'Σ _n Such an early decoding attempt may have a greater probability of decoding success due to, for example, redundancy in the symbols x introduced by coding at a fractional rate and / or repetition, for example, at step 1620 in FIG. 16, and / or time diversity or explode of another dimension achieved by interleaving in step 1630 of FIG. 16.

At step 2020, the encoded end bits may be further removed from the decoded binary sequence to generate a signal 2020a.

At step 2030, the method checks the FQI from signal 2020a and generates the FQI result 2030a from the accumulated received sub-segments for the current frame up to n.

At step 2035, the method evaluates whether success indicates an FQI result. If so, the method proceeds to step 2040, where decoding is declared successful, and the method proceeds to generate an ACK message to enable early termination of transmissions on the forward link. The next available feature may be, for example, defined by an ACK mask, as described with reference to FIG. If this is not so, then the method proceeds to step 2037.

At step 2037, the method increments n and determines whether additional sub-segments remain in the frame to be received. If so, then the method returns to step 2005. If this is not so, then at step 2060, the method proceeds to declare the decoding for the frame unsuccessful.

At step 2070, the decoder proceeds to estimate the next frame.

FIG. 21 illustrates a prior art implementation of a forward link symbol path 2100 for Radio Channel Configuration No. 4 (RC4) in accordance with the cdma2000 standard, as well as a typical forward link symbol path implementation 2110 in accordance with the present disclosure. In implementation 2100, the frame quality indicator includes CRCs with a length of 6, 6, 8, or 12, which are attached to the bits of the frame depending on the symbolic frame rate. In an exemplary embodiment 2110, in accordance with the present disclosure, the frame quality indicator includes extended length CRCs 12, 12, 12, or 12 that are attached to the bits of the frame. The use of extended CRCs increases the efficiency of early decoding schemes in accordance with the present disclosure, allowing, for example, a more accurate determination of decoding success for early decoding techniques in accordance with the present disclosure. Note that the specific CRC lengths illustrated in this document are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific illustrated CRC lengths.

As further shown in implementation 2100, character exclusion rates are 1/5, 1/9, No and No, depending on the symbolic frame rate. In an exemplary embodiment 2110 of the implementation in accordance with the present disclosure of the invention, the symbol elimination rates are 1/3, 1/5, 1/25 and No, depending on the symbolic frame rate. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the increased exclusion in exemplary embodiment 2110 can be used to provide the extended length CRC required by exemplary embodiment 2110.

FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a signaling circuit 2200 used to signal an ACK message on a reverse link for early termination of forward link transmissions. 22, an ACK reverse channel (R-ACKCH) 2210 is modulated using amplitude shift keying (OOK) on a Walsh code 2212 W (64, 16) using a modulator 2214. A relative channel gain 2216 is applied to the resulting signal and provided to additive combiner 2218 .

22, a reverse main channel 2220 (R-FCH), having a speed of 1536 characters in 20 ms, is modulated to Walsh function 2222 W (16, 4) using modulator 2224. Relative channel gain 2226 is applied to the resulting signal, and the result also provided in additive combiner 2218. The additive combiner output may be provided in quadrature channel 2228 (Q) for transmission on the reverse link to the BS. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, an in-phase (I) channel 2234 is also provided, which includes a reverse pilot channel 2230 (R-PICH).

Note that a typical embodiment of the reverse link ACK signaling scheme shown with reference to FIG. 22 is provided for explanatory purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular embodiment of the ACK signaling scheme. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that alternative techniques for signaling ACKs on the reverse link can be readily obtained in light of the present disclosure, including the use of other forms of modulation and sending ACK messages through alternative channels than those shown. Such alternative exemplary embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the present disclosure.

23 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a scheme 2300 for early termination of reverse link transmissions for systems operating in accordance with the cdma2000 standard. Note that the exemplary embodiment is shown for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular reverse link early termination scheme shown. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that certain PCG numbers and frames referenced in this document are for explanatory purposes only.

In Fig.23, the mobile station (MS) at step 2300 transmits a sequence of frames to the base station (BS). In a typical embodiment, frames may be transmitted on a reverse main channel (R-FCH TX). 23, each sub-segment shown corresponds to a power control group (PCG). The MS starts transmitting TX Frame # 0 with PCG # 0 and continuously transmits PCG until a 2345 ACK signal is received from the BS after PCG # 8. After receiving the ACK 2345, the MS stops transmitting the PCG corresponding to TX Frame No. 0, and waits until the start of the next frame, TX Frame No. 1, to start transmitting the PCG corresponding to TX Frame No. 1.

Reference numbers 2310 through 2340 illustrate the time distribution of the actions performed by the BS to generate an ACK signal 2345 sent to the MS, which permits early termination of reverse link frame transmissions by the MS.

At step 2310, the BS receives the PCG in TX Frame No. 0 and TX Frame No. 1 as RX Frame No. 0 and RX Frame No. 1, respectively.

At step 2320, the BS attempts to decode RX Frame No. 0 when each individual PCG is received, without waiting for all sixteen PCGs allocated by RX Frame No. 0 to be received. In a typical embodiment, to perform such PCG-based decoding, the BS may use a sub-segment decoding algorithm, such as 2000, previously described with reference to FIG.

At step 2325, after receiving the PCG # 5, the BS announces the decoding success and proceeds to step 2330 of the ACK transmission to generate the TX ACK BS signal.

In step 2330, after the decoding success is announced in step 2325, the BS transmits an ACK signal 2345 during the transmission portion associated with the forward link PCG No. 8. The portion of the transmission during which the ACK signal 2345 is sent may be specified by the corresponding ACK mask 2340.

In a typical embodiment, the ACK mask template may allow ACK transmission only during those PCGs in which a forward link (FL) power control command is sent to control reverse link (RL) transmit power, as described herein with reference on Fig.

23, step 2350 further illustrates reverse link pilot transmission by MS in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of a reverse link early termination scheme. At step 2350, after the MSK receives the ACK signal 2345 from the BS in the PCG No. 8 by the MS, the MS stops transmitting the RL pilot in each PCG. More precisely, as shown, the RL pilot transmission may be turned off for selected PCGs. This can serve both to save the transmit power of the RL pilot for the remaining PCGs, and to provide the BS with an additional ACK signaling mechanism. In a typical embodiment, the RL gated pilot pattern for the remaining PCGs may correspond to the pattern used to signal transmission of the NR frame, for example, previously described herein with reference to FIG. 11.

In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the RL pilot is turned off during PCG 9, 10, 13, and 14. In general, the RL pilot can be turned off in alternating groups of two PCGs after the ACK signal is transmitted, until the end of the prematurely completed frame. In addition, it should be noted that, as in the case of gating the control signal in NR frames, various schemes can be used for gating the control signal in prematurely completed frames, for example: one turned on power control group followed by turned off one power control group; two power control groups turned on, followed by two power control groups turned off; and any other pattern that functions to reduce transmit power.

24 illustrates an implementation of a prior art reverse link symbol path 2400, as well as an exemplary reverse link symbol path implementation 2410 in accordance with the present disclosure. In an implementation, 2400 CRCs with a length of 6, 6, 8, or 12 are attached to the bits of the frame depending on the symbolic frame rate. In an exemplary embodiment 2410, in accordance with the present disclosure, extended length CRCs 12, 12, 12, or 12 may be attached to the frame bits. As with the forward link processing illustrated in FIG. 21, using extended length CRCs improves the efficiency of early decoding schemes in accordance with the present disclosure, allowing, for example, a more accurate determination of decoding success for early decoding techniques. Note that the specific CRC lengths illustrated in this document are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific illustrated CRC lengths.

As further shown in the implementation of 2400, symbol exclusion rates are 1/5, 1/9, No and No, depending on the symbolic frame rate. In a typical embodiment 2410 of the implementation in accordance with the present disclosure of the invention, the symbol exclusion rates are 1/3, 1/5, 1/25 and No, depending on the symbolic frame rate. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that increased use of exclusion in exemplary embodiment 2410 may provide extended length CRCs that are also present in exemplary embodiment 2410.

In a typical embodiment, the ACK signal sent by the BS to the MS can be provided by replacing (excluding) a bit having a predetermined position in the forward link traffic channel and / or using amplitude manipulation (OOK) in a predetermined position to signal the ACK or NAK (no confirmation) for MS. In a typical embodiment, a predetermined position may vary based on a frame in accordance with a predetermined pseudo-random bit pattern. In a typical embodiment, the ACK bit may be time domain multiplexed (TDM) with a reverse link power control bit.

Note that the above features of early termination of the frame can be applied not only to the main channel on the cdma2000 communication line, but also to the "high-speed" additional channel. For example, in an alternate exemplary embodiment (not shown), a forward link ACK signaling mechanism may be used to enable premature termination of transmissions by one or more MSs on one or more corresponding reverse supplemental channels.

For example, in a typical embodiment (not shown), one or more MSs can simultaneously transmit frames on the corresponding reverse supplemental channels. If the BS successfully receives the frame on the reverse supplemental channel from the MS, then the BS can transmit the ACK on the corresponding forward common acknowledgment subchannel in the forward common acknowledgment channel, with one subchannel in each forward common acknowledgment channel assigned to control one reverse supplemental channel. Thus, direct common acknowledgment subchannels from multiple MSs can be multiplexed in one direct common acknowledgment channel. For example, in a typical embodiment, several subchannels may be time-multiplexed in one common acknowledgment channel in accordance with a predetermined pattern known by the BS and one or more MSs. Such a predefined pattern may be indicated by an external signaling (not shown).

The BS may support operation on one or more direct common acknowledgment channels. In a typical embodiment, sub-segments or PCGs in which a direct common acknowledgment channel for reverse supplemental channels can be transmitted may be indicated by an ACK mask, which was previously described in this document.

In an alternative exemplary embodiment, a reverse link ACK signaling mechanism may be provided to control transmissions on both the forward primary channel and one or more direct secondary channels for systems operating in accordance with the cdma2000 standard. 25 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a signaling circuit 2500 used to signal an ACK message on a reverse link to terminate a forward primary channel (F-FCH) early and / or up to two direct secondary channels (F-SCH1 and F-SCH2).

25, an ACK reverse channel 2520 (R-ACKCH) is modulated using two-position phase shift keying (BPSK) on a Walsh function 2522 W (64, 16) using a modulator 2524. In a typical embodiment, an R-ACKCH 2520 may signal a BS to stop transmitting on the direct main channel (F-FCH). Relative channel gain 2526 is applied to the resulting signal and is provided in additive combiner 2518.

25, the second ACK 2510 reverse channel (R-ACKCH) is modulated using on-off phase shift keying (BPSK) on Walsh function 2512 W (16, 12) using modulator 2514. In a typical embodiment, ACKCH 2510 may signal the BS to stop transmitting the first direct secondary channel (F-SCH1). Relative channel gain 2516 is applied to the resulting signal and is provided in additive combiner 2518.

As further shown in FIG. 25, both R-ACKs can be combined with a reverse main channel (R-FCH) on the quadrature component (Q) of the RL signal. The R-FCH can have a speed of 1536 characters in 20 ms and is also modulated by Walsh function 2532 W (16, 4) using modulator 2534. Relative channel gain 2536 is applied to the resulting signal and provided to additive combiner 2518. The additive combiner output can be provided in a quadrature channel 2528 (Q) for transmission on the reverse link to the BS.

As further shown in FIG. 25, the third ACK return channel 2550 (R-ACKCH) is modulated using amplitude shift keying (OOK) to Walsh function 2552 W (16, 8) using modulator 2554. In a typical embodiment, ACKCH 2550 may signal BS Stop transmitting on the Second Direct Secondary Channel (F-SCH2). Relative channel gain 2556 is applied to the resulting signal and provided to the additive combiner 2548. The R-ACKCH 2550 can be combined with the reverse pilot channel 2540 (R-PICH) using an adder 2548 to generate the common-mode (I) reverse link signal 2544.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the above illustrations of specific forward link ACK signaling schemes are provided for explanatory purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any specific forward and reverse channel ACK signaling schemes.

FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method 2600 in accordance with the present disclosure. Note that method 2600 is shown for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure of the invention in any particular way.

At step 2610, a speech frame is received.

At 2620, the method tries early decoding of the received speech frame. In a typical embodiment, early decoding may be tried before all sub-segments of the frame are received.

At step 2630, the method determines whether the attempted decoding of the speech frame is successful. In a typical embodiment, a frame quality indicator, such as a CRC, may be checked to determine if frame decoding was successful.

At step 2640, a confirmation signal (ACK) is transmitted to stop transmitting the speech frame.

The early termination techniques in the present disclosure can be easily applied in situations where the mobile station is in soft handoff, that is, where the MS communicates simultaneously with multiple BSs on the forward and / or reverse link.

For example, when an MS is in soft handoff between two BSs, reverse link transmissions by an MS can be received on each of the two BSs, either of which or both can transmit an ACK signal (not necessarily at the same time) back to the MS to stop transmitting the MS . In a typical embodiment, in response to receiving more than one ACK signal during transmission of frames on the reverse link, the MS may stop transmitting the current frame after receiving the first of the ACK signals. In addition, early termination can likewise be used to control forward link transmissions via two BSs to the MS. For example, in response to a successful early decoding of a frame received simultaneously from two BSs, the MS can transmit an ACK signal to stop the transmission of both BSs on the forward link. Such alternative exemplary embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the present disclosure.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a number of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols and chips that can be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any their combination.

Those skilled in the art would further recognize that the various explanatory logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in relation to the typical embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in the form of electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various explanatory components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described above, typically based on their functionality. Whether functionality such as hardware or software is implemented depends on the particular application and design constraints imposed on the entire system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

The various explanatory logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in relation to the typical embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or implemented using a universal processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a specialized integrated circuit (ASIC), a user programmable gate array ( FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete component circuitry or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof, are intended to perform the herein described functions. A universal processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described with reference to the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The program module can be located in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, removable disk, compact a disc or any other form of storage medium known in the art. A typical storage medium is connected to the processor so that the processor can read information and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in the ASIC. ASIC may reside in a user terminal. Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside as separate components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the described functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, functions may be stored or transmitted in the form of one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates transferring a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available media that can be accessed using a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can be in the form of RAM, ROM, EEPROM, a CD or other optical disk drive, a magnetic disk drive or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to move or store the necessary program code in the form of commands or data structures and to which [the carrier] can be accessed using a computer. Also, any connection is correctly called a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair cable, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio frequency, and microwave communications, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio frequency, and microwave communications are included in the media definition. The term disc (disk and disc), as used herein, includes a compact disc (CD), a laser disc, an optical disc, a digital versatile disc (DVD), a floppy disk and a Blu-ray disc, where disks are usually reproduce data in a magnetic way, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included in the field of computer-readable media.

The foregoing description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other exemplary embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the typical embodiments shown in this document, but should correspond to the broadest scope consistent with the principles and new features disclosed in this document.

Claims (4)

1. A method for early termination of sequential frame transfers over a communication channel, comprising the steps of:
continuously transmitting the first frame to at least one receiver;
receiving at least one confirmation message from at least one receiver during transmission of the first frame; and
stop transmitting the first frame after receiving the first of at least one acknowledgment message. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one receiver comprises a first receiver and a second receiver, and the step of receiving at least one confirmation message from at least one receiver comprises the step of receiving a message with confirmation from the first receiver and a confirmation message from the second receiver. 3. A method for early termination of sequential frame transfers over a communication channel, comprising the steps of:
continuously receiving a first frame from at least one transmitter;
trying to decode the first frame before receiving the entire first frame;
determining a successful decoding of the frame based on the result of the attempt; and
transmitting a confirmation message based on the determination of successful frame decoding, the confirmation message being used to stop the transmission of the first frame by each of the at least one transmitter. 4. The method according to claim 3, in which at least one transmitter comprises a first transmitter and a second transmitter, and the step of transmitting an acknowledgment message comprises the step of transmitting an acknowledgment message to the first transmitter and the second transmitter.

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