US20160308738A1 - System and method for remote waveform analysis with associated metadata - Google Patents
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Definitions
- the present disclosure relates to a method and system for wireless communications and in particular to the reception, demodulation, and analysis of digital wireless transmissions, including waveforms and associated metadata.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical digital wireless receiver 100 .
- the signal is received at the antenna 101 and amplified by a low noise amplifier (LNA) 102 .
- LNA low noise amplifier
- the signal is then converted to a base frequency by a mixer 103 which is fed by a carrier signal 104 .
- the output of the mixer 103 is then converted to digital form by the analog to digital converter (ADC) 105 which converts the analog signal into N bit signed samples.
- ADC analog to digital converter
- the sample rate of the I and Q output samples 106 are then down converted in a digital down converter (DDC) 107 .
- DDC digital down converter
- the I and Q outputs 108 from the DDC 107 are then input into a frame synchronization block 109 .
- the frame synchronization block 109 performs alignment of the frame boundary and selects the appropriate channel in the frame.
- the outputs from the frame synchronization block 109 are data samples 110 and frame number 111 .
- the data samples 110 and the frame number 111 are input to the demodulator and decoder block 112 which converts the data samples 110 into decoded and demodulated data bits 114 together with the associated frame number 113 .
- the decoded and demodulated data bits 114 may be in an encrypted format and if so, the de-encryption is carried out by decryption block 115 .
- the resulting decrypted data 116 is then input to the upper layer blocks of upper layer protocol (i.e., Layer 2 , Layer 3 ) block 117 .
- the upper layer block protocol 117 may provide input 118 to the decryption block 115 so as to enable the encryption. It should be noted that blocks 112 and 115 may be contained within a digital signal processor (DSP) 119 .
- DSP digital signal processor
- systems capture and store the actual waveform data that is received by the wireless device along with relevant metadata associated with the captured waveform.
- the stored waveform data and metadata can be monitored in real time or replayed back at a later time.
- the stored waveform data can be stored in its encrypted form and decrypted only on playback, thus maintaining privacy until the time that the playback is initiated.
- the waveform data may consist of the sampled waveform as processed by a software radio or could be the soft-bits of a demodulated waveform.
- the waveform data is referred to as a collection of samples
- the waveform data is referred to as a collection of symbols or soft-bits.
- Signal quality conditions that may want to be observed with the captured waveform are, for example, adjacent channel interference, alignment problems with the burst, hardware failures, or other signal impairments that may be correlated with the meta-data such as terminal Global Positioning System (GPS) location or time-of-day.
- GPS Global Positioning System
- the state of the radio itself may want to be observed. These include exception conditions, processor loading or system temperature for example. Further, any encryption status or related information may be observed.
- the present disclosure advantageously provides a method and waveform handling apparatus for capturing and securely storing data waveforms and associated metadata, such that the waveforms and associated metadata can be independently protected for access and analysis.
- a method for associating waveform data with corresponding metadata includes receiving waveform data and metadata.
- the waveform data corresponds to a demodulated data burst and the metadata corresponds to the waveform data.
- a waveform data record is created from the received waveform data.
- the waveform data is associated with corresponding metadata and a metadata record is created from the corresponding metadata.
- the waveform data in the waveform data record is caused to be stored in a first data repository and the corresponding metadata in the metadata record is caused to be stored in a second data repository.
- the waveform data and the corresponding metadata accessible for analysis.
- a waveform handling apparatus in another aspect of the disclosure, includes an interface and processing circuitry.
- the interface is configured to receive waveform data and metadata.
- the waveform data corresponds to a demodulated data burst and the metadata corresponds to the waveform data.
- the processing circuitry includes a processor, and a memory for storing instructions that, when executed, configure the processor to create a waveform data record from the received waveform data, associate the waveform data with corresponding metadata, create a metadata record from the corresponding metadata, and cause the waveform data in the waveform data record to be stored in a first data repository and the corresponding metadata in the metadata record to be stored in a second data repository.
- the waveform data and the corresponding metadata are accessible for analysis.
- the disclosure provides a waveform handling apparatus, the waveform handling apparatus having an interface and processing circuitry.
- the interface is configured to receive waveform data and metadata in which the waveform data corresponds to a demodulated data burst and the metadata corresponding to the waveform data.
- the processor circuitry includes a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed, configure the processor to, create a waveform data record from the received waveform data, associate the waveform data with corresponding metadata, create a metadata record from the corresponding metadata and cause the waveform data in the waveform data record to be stored in a first data repository and the corresponding metadata in the metadata record to be stored in a second data repository.
- the waveform data and the corresponding metadata are independently accessible for analysis based on separate access rights for the waveform data and the metadata.
- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a typical digital wireless receiver
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram including the addition of a waveform handler module attached to the demodulation and decode block of a digital receiver utilizing the principles of the present disclosure
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram including the addition of the waveform handler module interfacing with storage components over an Internet Protocol (IP) network utilizing the principles of the present disclosure;
- IP Internet Protocol
- FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure used in a satellite based radio access network
- FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary radio network, with several terminal types, where the waveform data is saved in storage along with metadata though the IP network;
- FIG. 6 is a diagram depicting the waveform storage and playback embodiments of the present disclosure.
- FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the disclosure that corresponds to the block diagrams as described in FIG. 1 , FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 ;
- FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure that corresponds to the waveform storage and playback embodiment of FIG. 6 ;
- FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process performed by waveform handling apparatus the present disclosure.
- FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a waveform handling apparatus that may be used to capture data waveforms and determine associated metadata incorporating the principles of the present disclosure.
- TDMA Time Division Multiple Access
- the specific details of the blocks of the digital radio are provided solely for example purposes and it is contemplated that uses in many other digital communications systems can be made based on the disclosures made herein.
- the present disclosure provides a way to create metadata records that correspond to signal records and provides a way to securely store the signal's metadata. A collection of such signals and metadata could be used to diagnose problems and improve system performance.
- the present disclosure provides a method and waveform handling apparatus that is configured to receive waveform data and associated metadata, store each in a separate database repository and, in some embodiments, provide one level of security access to the stored waveform data and a separate, independent level of security access to the stored metadata.
- the level of security access for the stored waveform data is the same as the level of security access for the stored metadata.
- the level of security access for the stored waveform data is different from the level of security access for the stored metadata.
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of this disclosure that shows a digital wireless receiver 200 that includes a waveform handler block 203 in communication with the demodulation and decode block 112 of the digital receiver 100 described in FIG. 1 .
- Two additional outputs 201 and 202 are provided by the demodulator and decode block 112 .
- the data samples 110 and the frame number 111 are input to the demodulator and decoder block 112 which converts the data samples 110 into decoded and demodulated data bits 114 together with the associated frame number 113 .
- the decoded and demodulated data bits 114 may be in an encrypted format and if so, the de-encryption is carried out by decryption block 115 .
- Waveform data 201 which could be in the form of data samples or symbols correspond to the input data samples 111 and the metadata 202 output includes data that is information that is associated with the waveform data 201 .
- the metadata 202 may include the frame number and may also include the encryption key, as well as an indication that encryption was enabled, as provided by input signal 205 which comes from the upper layer protocol block 117 .
- each selection of waveform data 201 will have associated metadata 202 .
- the metadata 202 may be associated with a burst that includes a block of data rather than a sample or symbol.
- the two outputs 201 and 202 from the demodulator decoder block 112 are input to the waveform handler 203 , which captures the waveform data 201 in either the sample I/Q form or in the symbol form, and associates each set of waveform data 201 with the corresponding metadata 202 .
- a waveform record may have associated metadata in the logical sense, e.g., the data was received at 3:00 pm by User A and it was received with an SNR of 10 dB.
- a physical database association can then be made between the waveform record and the metadata record by the waveform handler 203 .
- the waveform handler 203 may carry out such tasks as discarding any retries and encapsulating the waveform data 201 together with the metadata 202 associated with that waveform data 201 into, for example, an Internet Protocol (IP) data packet intended for communication over a communications network, such as, for example an IP network, i.e., the Internet.
- IP Internet Protocol
- a GPS receiver 206 may be connected to the waveform handler 203 so as to provide further metadata associated with the waveform data 201 , such as, for example, information regarding the GPS location and the GPS time of the terminal from where a particular data burst was sent.
- indication signal 118 provides indication if encryption has been enabled for that particular data burst. This may be used for post processing of the waveform data 201 .
- Other Layer 2 information may also be provided.
- Blocks 112 and 115 may be contained may be contained in a DSP or other embedded central processing units (CPUs) such as, for example, an Advanced Reduced Instruction Set (RISC) Machine (ARM) 119 .
- RISC Advanced Reduced Instruction Set
- ARM Advanced Reduced Instruction Set
- Information regarding which data bursts or data frames were the result of a retransmission request may also be used. This information may also be provided by input signal 205 .
- the metadata 202 may include the state of the radio during burst reception.
- state information may include the profile of the Radio Processor CPU, e.g., the number of tasks running, the processor utilization and amount of memory being used, the amount of memory blocks and or cache being used and/or whether there are any exception conditions.
- the waveform data 201 is stored in a first storage repository 207 and the metadata 202 is stored in a second storage repository 208 .
- first storage repository 207 and second storage repository 208 are located in waveform handler 203 .
- one of first storage repository 207 and second storage repository 208 resides in waveform handler 203 while the other is located remotely.
- both first data storage repository 207 and second data repository 208 are located remote from waveform handler 203 .
- first data storage repository 207 which contains the waveform data 201 , may have separate, i.e., different, access rights than second data repository 207 which contains metadata 202 .
- the metadata 202 may include information regarding the GPS location and the GPS time of the terminal from where a particular data burst was sent. In this case, this information, which could be stored as channel statistics, could be considered sensitive information.
- the metadata 202 may include the channel type, coding rate and/or modulation rate of this particular burst as well as the encryption key and/or encryption string that would be a part of the metadata 202 for the burst signals.
- the metadata 202 may be stored in a physically separate location from the waveform data 201 in some embodiments, it may be desirable to associate the metadata 202 to these signal datasets. This may include a reference number attached to the preamble signal dataset or watermark or other signals embedded in the waveform itself. Further, in one embodiment, it may desirable to backhaul the waveform data 201 , which may be voluminous, from the wireless terminal. This data 201 may be sampled based on movement of the terminals or observed degradations in performance of the handset, for example. The backhaul operation could be performed in non-real time, for example, when network traffic levels are low, or over another network altogether. For example, the waveform and metadata records may be sent over a local Wi-Fi network.
- FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure that shows the addition of a communication layer 300 to the waveform handler 203 .
- the communication layer 300 may create an IP data packet from data produced by the waveform handler 203 (and containing both the waveform data 201 and associated metadata 202 and communicate the encapsulated packet via a communications network 312 to data storage 315 .
- Data storage 315 may include data repositories 207 and 208 .
- waveform data 201 from the encapsulated data packet is stored in data repository 207 and associated metadata 202 is stored in data repository 208 .
- data repositories 207 and 208 may reside in the same storage location 315 but waveform data 201 and metadata 202 are each maintained in a separate data repository.
- one of data repository 207 or 208 may be maintained in a remote storage location 316 and the IP data packet transmitted to the remote storage location 316 via a separate communications network 310 .
- the IP data packet may be communicated over, for example, a wired Ethernet connection or via a wireless local area network (WLAN), or over any wireless or wired medium.
- WLAN wireless local area network
- the waveform data 201 stored in data repository 207 in data storage 315 can be accessed via, for example, an access control signal 314 , ether locally or remotely.
- the waveform data 201 is originally detected by the digital wireless receiver 200 as shown in FIG. 2 and then is input to the waveform handler 203 , shown in FIG. 2 , along with metadata 202 that is associated with the waveform data 201 .
- the waveform data 201 together with its associated metadata 202 are encapsulated into IP data format by the waveform handler 203 , in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , and communicated via the communication layer 300 in FIG. 3 to data storage 315 which contains local storage repositories 207 and/or 208 .
- the metadata 202 may be stored at a separate location from the waveform data 201 , for example, storage repository 207 may be used to store the waveform data 201 and storage repository 208 may be used for the metadata 202 .
- the storage repositories may also be local to the receiver 200 and, in one embodiment, the encapsulation may not necessarily be in the form of an IP datagram but may be in a form where the metadata 202 and the sample or waveform data 201 can be associated together.
- a reference to the metadata 202 may be appended as a header to the data symbol or sample waveform data 201 . This header may have address information that can be used to access the associated metadata signal at a later time.
- a number of samples of the burst may be selected and used to represent a “fingerprint” of the signal. This fingerprint may be assessed using, for example, a hash table to find the stored burst metadata.
- a watermark signal may be added to the burst before the signal is saved.
- FIG. 4 is a diagram of another embodiment of this disclosure which depicts a satellite based radio access network that includes a satellite 410 , a ground station 411 , a wireless transmitter receiver 420 , a wireless repeater 450 and a hand held wireless device 460 .
- the received data waveforms 413 are processed by the RF block 421 and down converted by DDC 427 .
- the components of transmitter receiver 420 may be similar to digital wireless receiver 200 described with respect to FIG. 2 .
- the waveforms are then demodulated and decoded by demodulator decoder block 112 .
- the waveform data 201 is input to the waveform handler 203 together with the metadata 202 associated with the waveform data 201 .
- the waveform handler 203 may include the communications layer 300 shown in FIG. 3 .
- the encapsulated data packets that include both the waveform data 201 and the associated metadata 202 produced by the waveform handler 203 may be stored in data storage 315 via a communications network 432 .
- Data storage 315 may include data repositories 207 and 208 as described in FIG. 3 .
- waveform data 201 from the encapsulated data packet is stored in data repository 207 and associated metadata 202 is stored in data repository 208 .
- data repositories 207 and 208 may reside in the same storage location 315 but waveform data 201 and metadata 202 are each maintained in a separate data repository. In another embodiment, either of data repository 207 or 208 may be maintained in a remote storage location.
- the encapsulated data packets may be transmitted over a wireless communications network 432 to the repeater 450 where encapsulated data packets are received by the encapsulation block 454 .
- the data may be transmitted to another location for analysis directly via a sample processing layer 453 , a digital up converter (DUC) 452 and RF block 451 , or may be replayed later and transmitted through the same process.
- the repeater 450 may be used to extend the coverage of the satellite 410 . This is shown in FIG. 4 by the repeater 450 relaying the original transmission 413 to the wireless device 460 via transmission signal 457 .
- the wireless device 460 may also use the repeater 450 to communicate with the satellite 410 via transmitter receiver 420 by the reverse process to that just described.
- the transmission from the wireless device 460 is received by the RF block 451 , down converted by the digital down converter (DDC) 456 , processed and encapsulated by the sample processing layer 453 and the encapsulation layer 454 , communicated via communication network 432 to the transmitter receiver 420 via the waveform handler 203 and, in some embodiments, communications layer 300 as shown in FIG. 3 , and then transmitted to satellite 410 through a transmission chain that includes protocol stack 426 , the encoder 424 , modulator 423 , up converter 422 and the RF block 421 .
- DDC digital down converter
- FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a network 500 that demonstrates example uses of embodiments of the disclosure.
- the network 500 includes a communications satellite 510 which is configured to receive signals from and send signals to a ground station 515 .
- Other devices that may be in communication with satellite 510 are a wireless device 511 , and a modem 512 while a monitor station 513 is used to listen to the communications of the wireless device 511 and the modem 512 .
- Each or any of the devices, 511 , 512 and 513 may include waveform handler 203 shown in FIG. 4 and described herein, as well as communications layer 300 shown in FIG. 3 , embodied into their architectures.
- the receiver at the ground station 515 may also include waveform handler 203 and communications layer 300 .
- the wireless device 511 may send its encapsulated waveforms 201 and metadata 202 , as shown in FIG. 4 , via communications network 521 , such as, for example, the Internet, to a waveform controller/server 522 .
- the communications link to communications network 521 may use a WLAN connection, for example a WLAN connection conforming to IEEE 802.11 (commonly known as Wi-Fi).
- the modem 512 , the monitor 513 and the ground station 515 may send their encapsulated waveforms 201 and metadata 202 , via communications network 521 , to the waveform controller/server 522 , using, for example, either Ethernet or Wi-Fi.
- the encapsulated data that is sent to the waveform controller/server 522 is processed by the waveform controller/server 522 and then stored in the storage facility 523 .
- the encapsulated data from waveform controller/server 522 is stored in a single storage facility 523 .
- the waveforms 201 and the metadata 202 each have different access rights.
- encapsulated data is stored in data storage 315 where the waveforms 201 and metadata 202 are stored in separate storage repositories, 207 and 208 respectively.
- waveforms 201 in data repository 207 have one level of access rights and metadata 202 in data repository 208 have a different level of access rights.
- the stored data may be used to gather samples of the communications in the network 500 for either real time analysis or for later analysis, or for both. For example, random timeslots of data may be examined so as to assess the quality of the service. This may be carried out, for example, if a problem with the service was reported and in this case the historical data may be examined. Also, in the case that the data is encrypted, the data may be gathered in its waveform state and then used for future post-decryption.
- the gathering operation of this disclosure may be performed by the devices themselves, as previously explained, or a central storage facility may be used as represented by storage facility 523 in conjunction with waveform controller/server 522 .
- communication signals 516 between wireless device 511 and satellite 510 and communication signals 517 between modem 512 and satellite 510 may be detected by a CPU 513 , as shown by the communication signals 519 and 520 .
- CPU 513 or a set of CPUs may therefore be used to detect the communications mentioned above and store and/or display any selected waveform data 201 and metadata 202 in the network 500 .
- the waveform controller/server 522 may also be used to store the waveform data 201 and also to replay it.
- FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a network 500 that demonstrates example uses of embodiments of the disclosure.
- the network 500 includes a communications satellite 510 which is configured to receive signals from and send signals to a ground station 515 .
- Other devices that may be in communication with satellite 510 are a wireless device 511 , and a modem 512 while a monitor station 513 is used to listen to the communications of the wireless device 511 and the modem 512 .
- Each or any of the devices, 511 , 512 and 513 may include waveform handler 203 shown in FIG. 4 and described herein, as well as communications layer 300 shown in FIG. 3 , embodied into their architectures.
- the receiver at the ground station 515 may also include waveform handler 203 and communications layer 300 .
- the wireless device 511 may send its encapsulated waveforms 201 and metadata 202 , as shown in FIG. 4 , via communications network 521 , such as, for example, the Internet, to a waveform controller/server 522 .
- the communications link to communications network 521 may use a WLAN connection, for example a WLAN connection conforming to IEEE 802.11 (commonly known as Wi-Fi).
- the modem 512 , the monitor 513 and the ground station 515 may send their encapsulated waveforms 201 and metadata 202 , via communications network 521 , to the waveform controller/server 522 , using, for example, either Ethernet or Wi-Fi.
- the encapsulated data that is sent to the waveform controller/server 522 is processed by the waveform controller/server 522 and then stored in the storage facility 523 or data storage 315 , as discussed above.
- the stored data may be used to gather samples of the communications in the network 500 for either real time analysis or for later analysis, or for both. For example, random timeslots of data may be examined so as to assess the quality of the service. This may be carried out, for example, if a problem with the service was reported and in this case the historical data may be examined. Also, in the case that the data is encrypted, the data may be gathered in its waveform state and then used for future post-decryption.
- the gathering operation of this disclosure may be performed by the devices themselves, as previously explained, or a central storage facility may be used as represented by storage facility 523 in conjunction with waveform controller/server 522 .
- communication signals 516 between wireless device 511 and satellite 510 and communication signals 517 between modem 512 and satellite 510 may be detected by a CPU 513 , as shown by the communication signals 519 and 520 .
- CPU 513 or a set of CPUs may therefore be used to detect the communications mentioned above and store and/or display any selected waveform data 201 and metadata 202 in the network 500 .
- the waveform controller/server 522 may also be used to store the waveform data 201 and also to replay it for the purposes of investigating the quality of the communications or for post decryption of the data.
- FIG. 6 is a diagram that represents an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure that may be used to store and playback the encapsulated waveform data 201 and metadata 202 as carried out by the waveform handler 203 in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 , or store and playback the encapsulated waveform data 201 and metadata 202 as carried out by the waveform controller/server 522 in FIG. 5 .
- a presentation layer 610 may communicate via interface 617 , with a computing device such as a personal computer, which may run a web interface or an application that interfaces to a user. The details of the program that runs on the user's computer do not form part of this disclosure.
- a waveform post processing layer 611 may be used to process the incoming encapsulated data packets or the stored packets so as to be suitable for storage or communication respectively.
- the incoming waveform data 201 may be compressed either in the waveform handler 203 in the device or in the waveform processing layer 611 prior to storage.
- the waveform post processor layer 611 may expand the compressed stored waveform 201 data prior to examination or post decryption.
- an access control layer 612 may be used to allow only trusted authorities to gain access to the metadata 202 via interface 618 .
- presentation layer 610 , waveform post processing layer 611 and access control layer 612 are all part of the waveform handler 203 in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 or the waveform controller/server 522 of FIG. 5 .
- storage 315 may be local but in the case that the storage 315 is remote, the IP communication layer 613 is used to enable connectivity with the storage 315 .
- the storage 315 stores the metadata 202 and waveform data 201 in one or more storage files.
- metadata storage file 208 is stored in metadata file storage 208 and may be encrypted or locked so as to prevent unauthorized access controlled by the access control layer 612 .
- the waveform storage file 207 may be physically in the same location as the metadata storage file 208 or may be separately located.
- the storage 315 may be accessed through the presentation layer 610 . If the storage 630 is remote then the presentation layer 610 accesses the data through communications network 620 .
- FIG. 7 is a flow chart 700 depicting an embodiment of the disclosure that corresponds to the descriptions provided in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 .
- the next received burst signal is demodulated by decode block 112 and the waveform data 201 determined.
- Block 710 may include block 711 .
- the received burst signal is down converted, by, for example, a digital down converter, to I/Q data bits.
- Block 711 may be followed by block 712 where the down converted data is demodulated into waveform data 201 by decode block 112 in the form of soft bits or samples.
- Block 712 may be followed by block 713 where the data is fed into a forward error correction decoder where errors in the received data may be corrected.
- Block 713 may be followed by block 714 where the resultant hard bits are sent to the upper level protocol layer layers 117 for processing. The flow then returns to block 710 to await the next signal burst.
- the soft bits or samples produced in block 712 may be input to block 720 , which includes exemplary steps performed by the waveform handler 203 in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 .
- Block 720 may include block 721 where the soft bits or waveform data 201 from block 712 are gathered into a waveform data record and stored, for example, in data repository 207 .
- Block 721 may be followed by block 722 where the metadata 202 associated with the waveform samples or soft bits stored in block 721 are gathered together into a metadata record and is stored, for example, in data repository 208 .
- Metadata 202 that form the metadata record may be, for example, signal statistics, GPS information, ciphering and other information.
- the access rights for this metadata 202 may then be set in block 723 .
- the access rights for accessing metadata 202 are separate from the access rights for accessing waveform data 201 .
- records of the waveform 201 and the associated metadata 202 are present.
- Block 730 depicts exemplary steps performed by the communications layer 300 in FIG. 3 .
- Block 730 may include block 731 where a communications session, such as an IP connection to communications network 312 , is established. This connection may be over a Wi-Fi network for example, although any communications network may be utilized.
- Block 730 may include block 732 which checks that the communication connection has been established. If the connection has been established, the metadata 202 recorded in block 722 in the form of a metadata record may be sent to the appropriate repository, in block 733 , for example data repository 208 , in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 . Similarly, if the communication connection has been established in block 732 the waveform data recorded in block 721 may be sent to the appropriate data repository, for example data repository 207 , in FIG.
- the metadata record and waveform record stored in blocks 722 and 721 respectively may be saved for future backhaul, in block 735 .
- the records are either sent to their appropriate repositories or saved for future backhaul, and the process returns to block 710 to await the next received burst.
- FIG. 8 is a flow diagram 800 that depicts, in one embodiment, an exemplary process that may be performed by the presentation layer 610 in FIG. 6 together with interface 617 .
- the flow 800 may start with block 810 where pre-presentation tasks are performed.
- Block 810 may include block 811 , where a waveform analysis session is opened and the data prepared for presentation.
- Block 810 may include block 812 where a command from a computing device, for example via interface 617 , is received and accepted. The command may include a request to initiate the analysis of the waveform data for a particular device.
- Block 812 may be followed by block 813 where the user's rights to the metadata 202 are verified. This may take the form of a password or certificate.
- Block 813 may be followed by block 814 which a search or searches for the waveform record and the associated metadata record is performed. Wild card searches may also be performed.
- block 815 the waveform and metadata records are accessed, such that they can be accessed by an application running on the requesting computer.
- Block 815 may be followed by block 816 which decompresses and/or decrypts the waveform data as required.
- Process 800 may include block 820 where a selection of computer application options may be selected.
- Block 820 may include a selection of blocks that perform steps to correlate one or more metrics. For example, waveform quality may be correlated at block 822 , the system throughput may be correlated at block 823 and the frame/burst error rate may be correlated at block 824 . In each case, each of these metrics may be correlated to one or more measurements such as, for example, the GPS position and time, CPU profile, memory utilization, signal power, velocity, and/or radio temperature.
- Block 820 may also include block 825 where the waveform data may be displayed or played back for post analysis.
- Block 820 may also include block 826 where retransmission analysis may be performed.
- This disclosure describes additions to a radio or receiver to add the capability to store the modulated waveform data 201 or the demodulated waveform together with metadata 202 either locally or at a remote site.
- This stored information may be encapsulated for transmission over a communication network such as the Internet. This stored information may be used for future playback for quality purposes.
- Metadata 202 associated with the waveform data 201 may also be stored, and in one embodiment, is stored in a separate location with separate access rights. This disclosure enables the ability to examine conditions when an outage or poor performance of the communication system was reported. By storing the waveform data 201 and the associated metadata 202 , the information contained in the waveforms is in its raw state and hence still in an encrypted form.
- the information contained may be decrypted at a future point in time.
- Methods, such as A-Law and u-Law, to compress waveforms are well known and hence the amount of saved data can be readily reduced by storing the demodulated soft bits in place of the radio burst data.
- the base waveforms may be up converted to a different carrier frequency than the original.
- FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process 900 for associating waveform data 201 with corresponding metadata 202 performed by waveform handler 203 in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure.
- the process includes receiving waveform data 201 and metadata 202 , the waveform data corresponding to a demodulated data burst (step S 910 ), creating a waveform data record from the received waveform data 201 (step S 920 ), associating the waveform data 201 with corresponding metadata 202 (step S 930 ), creating a metadata record from the corresponding metadata 202 (step S 940 ), and causing the waveform data 201 in the waveform data record to be stored in a first data repository 207 and the corresponding metadata 202 in the metadata record to be stored in a second data repository 208 , where the waveform data 201 and the corresponding metadata 202 are accessible for analysis (step S 950 ).
- the waveform data and the metadata is encapsulated in an Internet Protocol data packet; and the IP packet transmitted over the communications network.
- the method further includes determining access rights for the waveform data 201 and determining access rights for the metadata 202 , where the access rights for the waveform data are separate from the access rights for the metadata.
- the metadata 202 may include at least one of channel type, coding rate, modulation rate, encryption key and encryption string of the data burst.
- the method includes receiving GPS data from a GPS receiver, updating the waveform data record to include the GPS data, creating additional metadata based on the received GPS data, and updating the metadata record to include the additional metadata.
- the method further includes receiving additional metadata, aggregating the additional metadata with the received metadata to provide an aggregate metadata record, and analyzing the aggregate metadata record independent of the received waveform data.
- various metadata from different devices may be gathered together and aggregated for post processing independent of signal data.
- the GPS position and time metadata could be gathered with the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or quality. Then these data sets are aggregated from all the wireless devices used in the network to determine if there is a correlation to position/time and/or quality. Thus, it may be seen that at a certain time, or location, signal quality is degraded.
- RSSI received signal strength indicator
- FIG. 10 depicts an exemplary waveform handling apparatus 203 configured to perform the methods described herein.
- Waveform handling apparatus 203 is configured to receive waveform data 201 and metadata 202 and associate the waveform data 201 with corresponding metadata 202 as described herein.
- Waveform handling apparatus 203 may include an interface 1000 configured to receive waveform data 201 and metadata 202 , the waveform data 201 corresponding to a demodulated data burst.
- Waveform handling apparatus 203 may also include processing circuitry 1010 .
- Processing circuitry 1010 may include a processor 1020 , and a memory 1030 .
- processing circuitry 1010 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and/or control, e.g., one or more processors and/or processor cores and/or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and/or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry).
- Processing circuitry 1010 may comprise and/or be connected to and/or be configured for accessing (e.g., writing to and/or reading from) memory 1030 , which may comprise any kind of volatile and/or non-volatile memory, e.g., cache and/or buffer memory and/or RAM (Random Access Memory) and/or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and/or optical memory and/or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).
- RAM Random Access Memory
- ROM Read-Only Memory
- EPROM Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
- Such memory 1030 may be configured to store code executable by control circuitry and/or other data, e.g., data pertaining to communication, e.g., configuration and/or address data of nodes, etc.
- Processing circuitry 1010 may be configured to control any of the methods described herein and/or to cause such methods to be performed.
- Memory 1030 stores instructions that, when executed, configure the processor 1020 to create a waveform data record from the received waveform data 201 .
- processor 1020 is further configured to associate the waveform data 201 with corresponding metadata 202 , create a metadata record from the corresponding metadata 202 , and allow the waveform data 201 in the waveform data record to be stored in a first data repository 207 and the corresponding metadata 202 in the metadata record to be stored in a second data repository 208 , the waveform data 201 and the corresponding metadata 202 accessible for analysis.
- TDM time division multiplexing
- the arrangements and methods disclosed herein solve the problems not addressed by the prior art. Specifically, the arrangements and methods disclosed herein allow for incoming data bursts to be demodulated and a data waveform created. Metadata is associated with the data waveform and records of each are created and stored in separate data repositories. Thus, the records in each repository can be provided with separate, i.e., different, access rights. This allows for providing a higher level of security for metadata that may, for example, contain sensitive information, while allowing the data waveform to have a lower level of access rights, thus allowing the data waveform to be analyzed separately.
- the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, and/or computer program product. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD ROMs, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.
- These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
- the computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
- Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java® or C++.
- the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language.
- the program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer.
- the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
- LAN local area network
- WAN wide area network
- Internet Service Provider for example, AT&T, MCI, Sprint, EarthLink, MSN, GTE, etc.
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Abstract
Description
- This application is related to and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/147,288, filed Apr. 14, 2015, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOTE WAVEFORM ANALYSIS WITH ASSOCIATED METADATA”, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
- n/a
- The present disclosure relates to a method and system for wireless communications and in particular to the reception, demodulation, and analysis of digital wireless transmissions, including waveforms and associated metadata.
- In a wireless communications system, it is desirable to monitor wireless communication traffic signals so as to investigate and determine the quality of the communications service
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a typical digitalwireless receiver 100. The signal is received at theantenna 101 and amplified by a low noise amplifier (LNA) 102. The signal is then converted to a base frequency by amixer 103 which is fed by acarrier signal 104. The output of themixer 103 is then converted to digital form by the analog to digital converter (ADC) 105 which converts the analog signal into N bit signed samples. The sample rate of the I andQ output samples 106 are then down converted in a digital down converter (DDC) 107. The I andQ outputs 108 from theDDC 107 are then input into aframe synchronization block 109. In the example of a time division multiple access (TDMA) frame format, theframe synchronization block 109 performs alignment of the frame boundary and selects the appropriate channel in the frame. The outputs from theframe synchronization block 109 aredata samples 110 andframe number 111. Thedata samples 110 and theframe number 111 are input to the demodulator anddecoder block 112 which converts thedata samples 110 into decoded and demodulateddata bits 114 together with the associatedframe number 113. The decoded and demodulateddata bits 114 may be in an encrypted format and if so, the de-encryption is carried out bydecryption block 115. The resultingdecrypted data 116 is then input to the upper layer blocks of upper layer protocol (i.e.,Layer 2, Layer 3)block 117. The upperlayer block protocol 117 may provideinput 118 to thedecryption block 115 so as to enable the encryption. It should be noted thatblocks - In particular, systems capture and store the actual waveform data that is received by the wireless device along with relevant metadata associated with the captured waveform. In this manner, the stored waveform data and metadata can be monitored in real time or replayed back at a later time. In the case where the stored waveform data is in an encrypted format, the stored waveform data can be stored in its encrypted form and decrypted only on playback, thus maintaining privacy until the time that the playback is initiated. Note that the waveform data may consist of the sampled waveform as processed by a software radio or could be the soft-bits of a demodulated waveform. In the former case, the waveform data is referred to as a collection of samples, in the latter case the waveform data is referred to as a collection of symbols or soft-bits. These soft-bits are the input to the error correction algorithm for the demodulator and hence reflect the quality of the signal but, because there is only one sample per symbol, with much less data.
- Signal quality conditions that may want to be observed with the captured waveform are, for example, adjacent channel interference, alignment problems with the burst, hardware failures, or other signal impairments that may be correlated with the meta-data such as terminal Global Positioning System (GPS) location or time-of-day. In addition, the state of the radio itself may want to be observed. These include exception conditions, processor loading or system temperature for example. Further, any encryption status or related information may be observed.
- Often, it is desirable to provide security measures in order to prevent unauthorized access to the waveform data or associated metadata. However, although it may be desirable to allow access to and analysis of the stored waveform data with no or limited security measures, it may be desirable to restrict access to the metadata, which in some circumstances may contain highly sensitive information. Difficulties may arise when both the waveform data and the associated metadata are provided the same access rights or are stored in the same storage entity.
- The present disclosure advantageously provides a method and waveform handling apparatus for capturing and securely storing data waveforms and associated metadata, such that the waveforms and associated metadata can be independently protected for access and analysis.
- In one aspect of the disclosure, a method for associating waveform data with corresponding metadata is provided. The method includes receiving waveform data and metadata. The waveform data corresponds to a demodulated data burst and the metadata corresponds to the waveform data. A waveform data record is created from the received waveform data. The waveform data is associated with corresponding metadata and a metadata record is created from the corresponding metadata. The waveform data in the waveform data record is caused to be stored in a first data repository and the corresponding metadata in the metadata record is caused to be stored in a second data repository. The waveform data and the corresponding metadata accessible for analysis.
- In another aspect of the disclosure, a waveform handling apparatus is provided. The waveform handler includes an interface and processing circuitry. The interface is configured to receive waveform data and metadata. The waveform data corresponds to a demodulated data burst and the metadata corresponds to the waveform data. The processing circuitry includes a processor, and a memory for storing instructions that, when executed, configure the processor to create a waveform data record from the received waveform data, associate the waveform data with corresponding metadata, create a metadata record from the corresponding metadata, and cause the waveform data in the waveform data record to be stored in a first data repository and the corresponding metadata in the metadata record to be stored in a second data repository. The waveform data and the corresponding metadata are accessible for analysis.
- In accordance with still another aspect, the disclosure provides a waveform handling apparatus, the waveform handling apparatus having an interface and processing circuitry. The interface is configured to receive waveform data and metadata in which the waveform data corresponds to a demodulated data burst and the metadata corresponding to the waveform data. The processor circuitry includes a processor and a memory storing instructions that, when executed, configure the processor to, create a waveform data record from the received waveform data, associate the waveform data with corresponding metadata, create a metadata record from the corresponding metadata and cause the waveform data in the waveform data record to be stored in a first data repository and the corresponding metadata in the metadata record to be stored in a second data repository. The waveform data and the corresponding metadata are independently accessible for analysis based on separate access rights for the waveform data and the metadata.
- A more complete understanding of the present disclosure, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:
-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a typical digital wireless receiver; -
FIG. 2 is a block diagram including the addition of a waveform handler module attached to the demodulation and decode block of a digital receiver utilizing the principles of the present disclosure; -
FIG. 3 is a block diagram including the addition of the waveform handler module interfacing with storage components over an Internet Protocol (IP) network utilizing the principles of the present disclosure; -
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure used in a satellite based radio access network; -
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary radio network, with several terminal types, where the waveform data is saved in storage along with metadata though the IP network; -
FIG. 6 is a diagram depicting the waveform storage and playback embodiments of the present disclosure; -
FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the disclosure that corresponds to the block diagrams as described inFIG. 1 ,FIG. 2 andFIG. 3 ; -
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure that corresponds to the waveform storage and playback embodiment ofFIG. 6 ; -
FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process performed by waveform handling apparatus the present disclosure; and -
FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a waveform handling apparatus that may be used to capture data waveforms and determine associated metadata incorporating the principles of the present disclosure. - In order to aid understanding the disclosure, examples of use with a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) digital wireless radio are described. The specific details of the blocks of the digital radio are provided solely for example purposes and it is contemplated that uses in many other digital communications systems can be made based on the disclosures made herein. The present disclosure provides a way to create metadata records that correspond to signal records and provides a way to securely store the signal's metadata. A collection of such signals and metadata could be used to diagnose problems and improve system performance.
- The present disclosure, as illustrated in
FIGS. 2-9 and described below, provides a method and waveform handling apparatus that is configured to receive waveform data and associated metadata, store each in a separate database repository and, in some embodiments, provide one level of security access to the stored waveform data and a separate, independent level of security access to the stored metadata. In some embodiments, the level of security access for the stored waveform data is the same as the level of security access for the stored metadata. In some embodiments, the level of security access for the stored waveform data is different from the level of security access for the stored metadata. By storing the waveform data independently from its associated metadata, the waveform data can be analyzed and played back without having to access the associated metadata which, in some circumstances, may contain sensitive information. This allows, for example, an analyzing entity to analyze the waveform data while preventing the analyzing entity from having access to sensitive metadata. -
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of this disclosure that shows adigital wireless receiver 200 that includes awaveform handler block 203 in communication with the demodulation and decodeblock 112 of thedigital receiver 100 described inFIG. 1 . Twoadditional outputs block 112. Thedata samples 110 and theframe number 111 are input to the demodulator anddecoder block 112 which converts thedata samples 110 into decoded and demodulateddata bits 114 together with the associatedframe number 113. The decoded and demodulateddata bits 114 may be in an encrypted format and if so, the de-encryption is carried out bydecryption block 115.Waveform data 201, which could be in the form of data samples or symbols correspond to theinput data samples 111 and themetadata 202 output includes data that is information that is associated with thewaveform data 201. For example, themetadata 202 may include the frame number and may also include the encryption key, as well as an indication that encryption was enabled, as provided byinput signal 205 which comes from the upperlayer protocol block 117. - In this embodiment, each selection of
waveform data 201 will have associatedmetadata 202. In a further embodiment of this disclosure, themetadata 202 may be associated with a burst that includes a block of data rather than a sample or symbol. The twooutputs demodulator decoder block 112 are input to thewaveform handler 203, which captures thewaveform data 201 in either the sample I/Q form or in the symbol form, and associates each set ofwaveform data 201 with the correspondingmetadata 202. For example, a waveform record may have associated metadata in the logical sense, e.g., the data was received at 3:00 pm by User A and it was received with an SNR of 10 dB. A physical database association can then be made between the waveform record and the metadata record by thewaveform handler 203. Thewaveform handler 203 may carry out such tasks as discarding any retries and encapsulating thewaveform data 201 together with themetadata 202 associated with thatwaveform data 201 into, for example, an Internet Protocol (IP) data packet intended for communication over a communications network, such as, for example an IP network, i.e., the Internet. In one embodiment, aGPS receiver 206 may be connected to thewaveform handler 203 so as to provide further metadata associated with thewaveform data 201, such as, for example, information regarding the GPS location and the GPS time of the terminal from where a particular data burst was sent. During the analysis of the waveform data, the location of the terminal that transmitted the data burst, and the time the data burst was transmitted may be of interest. Note thatindication signal 118 provides indication if encryption has been enabled for that particular data burst. This may be used for post processing of thewaveform data 201.Other Layer 2 information may also be provided.Blocks - Information regarding which data bursts or data frames were the result of a retransmission request may also be used. This information may also be provided by
input signal 205. - In one embodiment, the
metadata 202 may include the state of the radio during burst reception. Such state information may include the profile of the Radio Processor CPU, e.g., the number of tasks running, the processor utilization and amount of memory being used, the amount of memory blocks and or cache being used and/or whether there are any exception conditions. - In one embodiment, the
waveform data 201 is stored in afirst storage repository 207 and themetadata 202 is stored in asecond storage repository 208. In one embodiment,first storage repository 207 andsecond storage repository 208 are located inwaveform handler 203. In another embodiment, one offirst storage repository 207 andsecond storage repository 208 resides inwaveform handler 203 while the other is located remotely. In yet another embodiment, both firstdata storage repository 207 andsecond data repository 208 are located remote fromwaveform handler 203. In one embodiment, firstdata storage repository 207, which contains thewaveform data 201, may have separate, i.e., different, access rights thansecond data repository 207 which containsmetadata 202. For example, themetadata 202 may include information regarding the GPS location and the GPS time of the terminal from where a particular data burst was sent. In this case, this information, which could be stored as channel statistics, could be considered sensitive information. In addition, themetadata 202 may include the channel type, coding rate and/or modulation rate of this particular burst as well as the encryption key and/or encryption string that would be a part of themetadata 202 for the burst signals. - Since the
metadata 202 may be stored in a physically separate location from thewaveform data 201 in some embodiments, it may be desirable to associate themetadata 202 to these signal datasets. This may include a reference number attached to the preamble signal dataset or watermark or other signals embedded in the waveform itself. Further, in one embodiment, it may desirable to backhaul thewaveform data 201, which may be voluminous, from the wireless terminal. Thisdata 201 may be sampled based on movement of the terminals or observed degradations in performance of the handset, for example. The backhaul operation could be performed in non-real time, for example, when network traffic levels are low, or over another network altogether. For example, the waveform and metadata records may be sent over a local Wi-Fi network. -
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present disclosure that shows the addition of acommunication layer 300 to thewaveform handler 203. Thecommunication layer 300 may create an IP data packet from data produced by the waveform handler 203 (and containing both thewaveform data 201 and associatedmetadata 202 and communicate the encapsulated packet via acommunications network 312 todata storage 315.Data storage 315 may includedata repositories waveform data 201 from the encapsulated data packet is stored indata repository 207 and associatedmetadata 202 is stored indata repository 208. Thus,data repositories same storage location 315 butwaveform data 201 andmetadata 202 are each maintained in a separate data repository. In another embodiment, one ofdata repository database 208, may be maintained in aremote storage location 316 and the IP data packet transmitted to theremote storage location 316 via aseparate communications network 310. The IP data packet may be communicated over, for example, a wired Ethernet connection or via a wireless local area network (WLAN), or over any wireless or wired medium. Once stored, thewaveform data 201 stored indata repository 207 indata storage 315 can be accessed via, for example, anaccess control signal 314, ether locally or remotely. - Hence, the
waveform data 201 is originally detected by thedigital wireless receiver 200 as shown inFIG. 2 and then is input to thewaveform handler 203, shown inFIG. 2 , along withmetadata 202 that is associated with thewaveform data 201. In one embodiment, thewaveform data 201 together with its associatedmetadata 202, are encapsulated into IP data format by thewaveform handler 203, inFIG. 2 andFIG. 3 , and communicated via thecommunication layer 300 inFIG. 3 todata storage 315 which containslocal storage repositories 207 and/or 208. Themetadata 202 may be stored at a separate location from thewaveform data 201, for example,storage repository 207 may be used to store thewaveform data 201 andstorage repository 208 may be used for themetadata 202. The storage repositories may also be local to thereceiver 200 and, in one embodiment, the encapsulation may not necessarily be in the form of an IP datagram but may be in a form where themetadata 202 and the sample orwaveform data 201 can be associated together. For example, a reference to themetadata 202 may be appended as a header to the data symbol orsample waveform data 201. This header may have address information that can be used to access the associated metadata signal at a later time. In another embodiment, to associate the captured data burst, a number of samples of the burst may be selected and used to represent a “fingerprint” of the signal. This fingerprint may be assessed using, for example, a hash table to find the stored burst metadata. In another embodiment, a watermark signal may be added to the burst before the signal is saved. -
FIG. 4 is a diagram of another embodiment of this disclosure which depicts a satellite based radio access network that includes asatellite 410, aground station 411, awireless transmitter receiver 420, awireless repeater 450 and a hand heldwireless device 460. On the receive side oftransmitter receiver 420, the receiveddata waveforms 413 are processed by theRF block 421 and down converted by DDC 427. The components oftransmitter receiver 420 may be similar todigital wireless receiver 200 described with respect toFIG. 2 . The waveforms are then demodulated and decoded bydemodulator decoder block 112. From the demodulator anddecoder block 112, thewaveform data 201 is input to thewaveform handler 203 together with themetadata 202 associated with thewaveform data 201. Thewaveform handler 203 may include thecommunications layer 300 shown inFIG. 3 . The encapsulated data packets that include both thewaveform data 201 and the associatedmetadata 202 produced by thewaveform handler 203 may be stored indata storage 315 via acommunications network 432.Data storage 315 may includedata repositories FIG. 3 . In one embodiment,waveform data 201 from the encapsulated data packet is stored indata repository 207 and associatedmetadata 202 is stored indata repository 208. Thus,data repositories same storage location 315 butwaveform data 201 andmetadata 202 are each maintained in a separate data repository. In another embodiment, either ofdata repository - In another embodiment, the encapsulated data packets may be transmitted over a
wireless communications network 432 to therepeater 450 where encapsulated data packets are received by theencapsulation block 454. Hence, the data may be transmitted to another location for analysis directly via asample processing layer 453, a digital up converter (DUC) 452 and RF block 451, or may be replayed later and transmitted through the same process. Therepeater 450 may be used to extend the coverage of thesatellite 410. This is shown inFIG. 4 by therepeater 450 relaying theoriginal transmission 413 to thewireless device 460 viatransmission signal 457. Thewireless device 460 may also use therepeater 450 to communicate with thesatellite 410 viatransmitter receiver 420 by the reverse process to that just described. In this instance, the transmission from thewireless device 460 is received by theRF block 451, down converted by the digital down converter (DDC) 456, processed and encapsulated by thesample processing layer 453 and theencapsulation layer 454, communicated viacommunication network 432 to thetransmitter receiver 420 via thewaveform handler 203 and, in some embodiments,communications layer 300 as shown inFIG. 3 , and then transmitted tosatellite 410 through a transmission chain that includesprotocol stack 426, theencoder 424,modulator 423, upconverter 422 and theRF block 421. -
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of anetwork 500 that demonstrates example uses of embodiments of the disclosure. Thenetwork 500 includes acommunications satellite 510 which is configured to receive signals from and send signals to aground station 515. Other devices that may be in communication withsatellite 510 are awireless device 511, and a modem 512 while amonitor station 513 is used to listen to the communications of thewireless device 511 and the modem 512. Each or any of the devices, 511, 512 and 513 may includewaveform handler 203 shown inFIG. 4 and described herein, as well ascommunications layer 300 shown inFIG. 3 , embodied into their architectures. Further, the receiver at theground station 515 may also includewaveform handler 203 andcommunications layer 300. Thewireless device 511 may send its encapsulatedwaveforms 201 andmetadata 202, as shown inFIG. 4 , viacommunications network 521, such as, for example, the Internet, to a waveform controller/server 522. In the case of thewireless device 511, the communications link tocommunications network 521 may use a WLAN connection, for example a WLAN connection conforming to IEEE 802.11 (commonly known as Wi-Fi). Similarly, the modem 512, themonitor 513 and theground station 515 may send their encapsulatedwaveforms 201 andmetadata 202, viacommunications network 521, to the waveform controller/server 522, using, for example, either Ethernet or Wi-Fi. - The encapsulated data that is sent to the waveform controller/
server 522 is processed by the waveform controller/server 522 and then stored in thestorage facility 523. Thus, in one embodiment, the encapsulated data from waveform controller/server 522 is stored in asingle storage facility 523. In one embodiment, though stored in asingle storage facility 523, thewaveforms 201 and themetadata 202 each have different access rights. In another embodiment, encapsulated data is stored indata storage 315 where thewaveforms 201 andmetadata 202 are stored in separate storage repositories, 207 and 208 respectively. In one embodiment,waveforms 201 indata repository 207 have one level of access rights andmetadata 202 indata repository 208 have a different level of access rights. The stored data may be used to gather samples of the communications in thenetwork 500 for either real time analysis or for later analysis, or for both. For example, random timeslots of data may be examined so as to assess the quality of the service. This may be carried out, for example, if a problem with the service was reported and in this case the historical data may be examined. Also, in the case that the data is encrypted, the data may be gathered in its waveform state and then used for future post-decryption. The gathering operation of this disclosure may be performed by the devices themselves, as previously explained, or a central storage facility may be used as represented bystorage facility 523 in conjunction with waveform controller/server 522. In the case that thewireless device 511 and/or the modem 512 do not have thewaveform handler 203 andcommunications layer 300 embodied therein, communication signals 516 betweenwireless device 511 andsatellite 510 andcommunication signals 517 between modem 512 andsatellite 510 may be detected by aCPU 513, as shown by the communication signals 519 and 520.CPU 513, or a set of CPUs may therefore be used to detect the communications mentioned above and store and/or display any selectedwaveform data 201 andmetadata 202 in thenetwork 500. The waveform controller/server 522 may also be used to store thewaveform data 201 and also to replay it. -
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of anetwork 500 that demonstrates example uses of embodiments of the disclosure. Thenetwork 500 includes acommunications satellite 510 which is configured to receive signals from and send signals to aground station 515. Other devices that may be in communication withsatellite 510 are awireless device 511, and a modem 512 while amonitor station 513 is used to listen to the communications of thewireless device 511 and the modem 512. Each or any of the devices, 511, 512 and 513 may includewaveform handler 203 shown inFIG. 4 and described herein, as well ascommunications layer 300 shown inFIG. 3 , embodied into their architectures. Further, the receiver at theground station 515 may also includewaveform handler 203 andcommunications layer 300. Thewireless device 511 may send its encapsulatedwaveforms 201 andmetadata 202, as shown inFIG. 4 , viacommunications network 521, such as, for example, the Internet, to a waveform controller/server 522. In the case of thewireless device 511, the communications link tocommunications network 521 may use a WLAN connection, for example a WLAN connection conforming to IEEE 802.11 (commonly known as Wi-Fi). Similarly, the modem 512, themonitor 513 and theground station 515 may send their encapsulatedwaveforms 201 andmetadata 202, viacommunications network 521, to the waveform controller/server 522, using, for example, either Ethernet or Wi-Fi. - The encapsulated data that is sent to the waveform controller/
server 522 is processed by the waveform controller/server 522 and then stored in thestorage facility 523 ordata storage 315, as discussed above. The stored data may be used to gather samples of the communications in thenetwork 500 for either real time analysis or for later analysis, or for both. For example, random timeslots of data may be examined so as to assess the quality of the service. This may be carried out, for example, if a problem with the service was reported and in this case the historical data may be examined. Also, in the case that the data is encrypted, the data may be gathered in its waveform state and then used for future post-decryption. The gathering operation of this disclosure may be performed by the devices themselves, as previously explained, or a central storage facility may be used as represented bystorage facility 523 in conjunction with waveform controller/server 522. In the case that thewireless device 511 and/or the modem 512 do not have thewaveform handler 203 andcommunications layer 300 embodied therein, communication signals 516 betweenwireless device 511 andsatellite 510 andcommunication signals 517 between modem 512 andsatellite 510 may be detected by aCPU 513, as shown by the communication signals 519 and 520.CPU 513, or a set of CPUs may therefore be used to detect the communications mentioned above and store and/or display any selectedwaveform data 201 andmetadata 202 in thenetwork 500. The waveform controller/server 522 may also be used to store thewaveform data 201 and also to replay it for the purposes of investigating the quality of the communications or for post decryption of the data. -
FIG. 6 is a diagram that represents an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure that may be used to store and playback the encapsulatedwaveform data 201 andmetadata 202 as carried out by thewaveform handler 203 inFIG. 2 andFIG. 3 , or store and playback the encapsulatedwaveform data 201 andmetadata 202 as carried out by the waveform controller/server 522 inFIG. 5 . Apresentation layer 610 may communicate viainterface 617, with a computing device such as a personal computer, which may run a web interface or an application that interfaces to a user. The details of the program that runs on the user's computer do not form part of this disclosure. This disclosure includes methods and arrangements that storewaveform data 201 andmetadata 202, in a pure or condensed form, in separate databases, each of which can be examined for quality of service purposes or for post decryption purposes. A waveformpost processing layer 611 may be used to process the incoming encapsulated data packets or the stored packets so as to be suitable for storage or communication respectively. For example, theincoming waveform data 201 may be compressed either in thewaveform handler 203 in the device or in thewaveform processing layer 611 prior to storage. Similarly, the waveformpost processor layer 611 may expand the compressed storedwaveform 201 data prior to examination or post decryption. In one embodiment, anaccess control layer 612 may be used to allow only trusted authorities to gain access to themetadata 202 viainterface 618. In one embodiment,presentation layer 610, waveformpost processing layer 611 andaccess control layer 612 are all part of thewaveform handler 203 inFIG. 2 andFIG. 3 or the waveform controller/server 522 ofFIG. 5 . In this embodiment,storage 315 may be local but in the case that thestorage 315 is remote, theIP communication layer 613 is used to enable connectivity with thestorage 315. Thestorage 315 stores themetadata 202 andwaveform data 201 in one or more storage files. - In
FIG. 6 , two file storages are shown,metadata storage file 208 andwaveform storage file 207. In one embodiment,metadata 202 is stored inmetadata file storage 208 and may be encrypted or locked so as to prevent unauthorized access controlled by theaccess control layer 612. Thewaveform storage file 207 may be physically in the same location as themetadata storage file 208 or may be separately located. To replay the stored data, thestorage 315 may be accessed through thepresentation layer 610. If the storage 630 is remote then thepresentation layer 610 accesses the data throughcommunications network 620. -
FIG. 7 is aflow chart 700 depicting an embodiment of the disclosure that corresponds to the descriptions provided inFIG. 2 andFIG. 3 . Inblock 710, the next received burst signal is demodulated bydecode block 112 and thewaveform data 201 determined.Block 710 may include block 711. Inblock 711, the received burst signal is down converted, by, for example, a digital down converter, to I/Q data bits.Block 711 may be followed byblock 712 where the down converted data is demodulated intowaveform data 201 bydecode block 112 in the form of soft bits or samples.Block 712 may be followed by block 713 where the data is fed into a forward error correction decoder where errors in the received data may be corrected. Block 713 may be followed byblock 714 where the resultant hard bits are sent to the upper level protocol layer layers 117 for processing. The flow then returns to block 710 to await the next signal burst. The soft bits or samples produced inblock 712 may be input to block 720, which includes exemplary steps performed by thewaveform handler 203 inFIG. 2 andFIG. 3 .Block 720 may include block 721 where the soft bits orwaveform data 201 fromblock 712 are gathered into a waveform data record and stored, for example, indata repository 207.Block 721 may be followed byblock 722 where themetadata 202 associated with the waveform samples or soft bits stored inblock 721 are gathered together into a metadata record and is stored, for example, indata repository 208. Examples ofmetadata 202 that form the metadata record may be, for example, signal statistics, GPS information, ciphering and other information. In one embodiment the access rights for thismetadata 202 may then be set in block 723. In one embodiment, the access rights for accessingmetadata 202 are separate from the access rights for accessingwaveform data 201. At the conclusion ofblock 720, records of thewaveform 201 and the associatedmetadata 202 are present. -
Block 730 depicts exemplary steps performed by thecommunications layer 300 inFIG. 3 .Block 730 may include block 731 where a communications session, such as an IP connection tocommunications network 312, is established. This connection may be over a Wi-Fi network for example, although any communications network may be utilized.Block 730 may include block 732 which checks that the communication connection has been established. If the connection has been established, themetadata 202 recorded inblock 722 in the form of a metadata record may be sent to the appropriate repository, inblock 733, forexample data repository 208, inFIG. 2 andFIG. 3 . Similarly, if the communication connection has been established inblock 732 the waveform data recorded inblock 721 may be sent to the appropriate data repository, forexample data repository 207, inFIG. 2 andFIG. 3 . If the communication connection is not established inblock 732, then the metadata record and waveform record stored inblocks block 735. At the point, the records are either sent to their appropriate repositories or saved for future backhaul, and the process returns to block 710 to await the next received burst. -
FIG. 8 is a flow diagram 800 that depicts, in one embodiment, an exemplary process that may be performed by thepresentation layer 610 inFIG. 6 together withinterface 617. Theflow 800 may start withblock 810 where pre-presentation tasks are performed.Block 810 may include block 811, where a waveform analysis session is opened and the data prepared for presentation.Block 810 may include block 812 where a command from a computing device, for example viainterface 617, is received and accepted. The command may include a request to initiate the analysis of the waveform data for a particular device.Block 812 may be followed by block 813 where the user's rights to themetadata 202 are verified. This may take the form of a password or certificate. Block 813 may be followed byblock 814 which a search or searches for the waveform record and the associated metadata record is performed. Wild card searches may also be performed. Inblock 815, the waveform and metadata records are accessed, such that they can be accessed by an application running on the requesting computer.Block 815 may be followed byblock 816 which decompresses and/or decrypts the waveform data as required. -
Process 800 may include block 820 where a selection of computer application options may be selected.Block 820 may include a selection of blocks that perform steps to correlate one or more metrics. For example, waveform quality may be correlated atblock 822, the system throughput may be correlated atblock 823 and the frame/burst error rate may be correlated atblock 824. In each case, each of these metrics may be correlated to one or more measurements such as, for example, the GPS position and time, CPU profile, memory utilization, signal power, velocity, and/or radio temperature.Block 820 may also includeblock 825 where the waveform data may be displayed or played back for post analysis. Analysis could be any type of data analysis including but not limited to displaying the waveform data, performing a fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis and displaying the results, performing an error vector magnitude (EVM) calculation and/or audio playback of the waveform data.Block 820 may also includeblock 826 where retransmission analysis may be performed. Once thewaveform data 201 together with themetadata 202 has been stored, a variety of post analysis options are available. - This disclosure describes additions to a radio or receiver to add the capability to store the modulated
waveform data 201 or the demodulated waveform together withmetadata 202 either locally or at a remote site. This stored information may be encapsulated for transmission over a communication network such as the Internet. This stored information may be used for future playback for quality purposes.Metadata 202 associated with thewaveform data 201 may also be stored, and in one embodiment, is stored in a separate location with separate access rights. This disclosure enables the ability to examine conditions when an outage or poor performance of the communication system was reported. By storing thewaveform data 201 and the associatedmetadata 202, the information contained in the waveforms is in its raw state and hence still in an encrypted form. The information contained may be decrypted at a future point in time. Methods, such as A-Law and u-Law, to compress waveforms are well known and hence the amount of saved data can be readily reduced by storing the demodulated soft bits in place of the radio burst data. When playing back the stored information, for the purposes of relay, or, for example, transferring the information to a particular location, the base waveforms may be up converted to a different carrier frequency than the original. -
FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating anexemplary process 900 for associatingwaveform data 201 withcorresponding metadata 202 performed bywaveform handler 203 in accordance with the principles of the present disclosure. The process includes receivingwaveform data 201 andmetadata 202, the waveform data corresponding to a demodulated data burst (step S910), creating a waveform data record from the received waveform data 201 (step S920), associating thewaveform data 201 with corresponding metadata 202 (step S930), creating a metadata record from the corresponding metadata 202 (step S940), and causing thewaveform data 201 in the waveform data record to be stored in afirst data repository 207 and thecorresponding metadata 202 in the metadata record to be stored in asecond data repository 208, where thewaveform data 201 and thecorresponding metadata 202 are accessible for analysis (step S950). In one embodiment, the waveform data and the metadata is encapsulated in an Internet Protocol data packet; and the IP packet transmitted over the communications network. In another embodiment, the method further includes determining access rights for thewaveform data 201 and determining access rights for themetadata 202, where the access rights for the waveform data are separate from the access rights for the metadata. In another embodiment, themetadata 202 may include at least one of channel type, coding rate, modulation rate, encryption key and encryption string of the data burst. In another embodiment, the method includes receiving GPS data from a GPS receiver, updating the waveform data record to include the GPS data, creating additional metadata based on the received GPS data, and updating the metadata record to include the additional metadata. - In another embodiment, the method further includes receiving additional metadata, aggregating the additional metadata with the received metadata to provide an aggregate metadata record, and analyzing the aggregate metadata record independent of the received waveform data. Thus, various metadata from different devices may be gathered together and aggregated for post processing independent of signal data. For example, the GPS position and time metadata could be gathered with the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or quality. Then these data sets are aggregated from all the wireless devices used in the network to determine if there is a correlation to position/time and/or quality. Thus, it may be seen that at a certain time, or location, signal quality is degraded.
-
FIG. 10 depicts an exemplarywaveform handling apparatus 203 configured to perform the methods described herein.Waveform handling apparatus 203 is configured to receivewaveform data 201 andmetadata 202 and associate thewaveform data 201 withcorresponding metadata 202 as described herein.Waveform handling apparatus 203 may include aninterface 1000 configured to receivewaveform data 201 andmetadata 202, thewaveform data 201 corresponding to a demodulated data burst.Waveform handling apparatus 203 may also includeprocessing circuitry 1010.Processing circuitry 1010 may include aprocessor 1020, and amemory 1030. In addition to a traditional processor and memory,processing circuitry 1010 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and/or control, e.g., one or more processors and/or processor cores and/or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and/or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry).Processing circuitry 1010 may comprise and/or be connected to and/or be configured for accessing (e.g., writing to and/or reading from)memory 1030, which may comprise any kind of volatile and/or non-volatile memory, e.g., cache and/or buffer memory and/or RAM (Random Access Memory) and/or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and/or optical memory and/or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).Such memory 1030 may be configured to store code executable by control circuitry and/or other data, e.g., data pertaining to communication, e.g., configuration and/or address data of nodes, etc.Processing circuitry 1010 may be configured to control any of the methods described herein and/or to cause such methods to be performed. -
Memory 1030 stores instructions that, when executed, configure theprocessor 1020 to create a waveform data record from the receivedwaveform data 201. Viaassociation module 1022,processor 1020 is further configured to associate thewaveform data 201 withcorresponding metadata 202, create a metadata record from the correspondingmetadata 202, and allow thewaveform data 201 in the waveform data record to be stored in afirst data repository 207 and thecorresponding metadata 202 in the metadata record to be stored in asecond data repository 208, thewaveform data 201 and thecorresponding metadata 202 accessible for analysis. - Although the above description uses a TDMA satellite system as an example, in no way should use of this system be construed as limiting the present disclosure to solely a TDMA satellite system. The methods and arrangements of the present disclosure can be applied to any wireless communication system where time division multiplexing (TDM) and bursts are used.
- The arrangements and methods disclosed herein solve the problems not addressed by the prior art. Specifically, the arrangements and methods disclosed herein allow for incoming data bursts to be demodulated and a data waveform created. Metadata is associated with the data waveform and records of each are created and stored in separate data repositories. Thus, the records in each repository can be provided with separate, i.e., different, access rights. This allows for providing a higher level of security for metadata that may, for example, contain sensitive information, while allowing the data waveform to have a lower level of access rights, thus allowing the data waveform to be analyzed separately.
- While the above description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope, but rather as an exemplification of several embodiments thereof. It is of course not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components and methodologies for the purposes of describing this disclosure and one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutations of the various embodiments are possible, including, for examples: the details of the receiver blocks, the waveform handler, the communications layer, the metadata, the waveform compression, the storage methods. Accordingly the scope should be determined not solely by the embodiments illustrated.
- As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, and/or computer program product. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD ROMs, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.
- Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create a specific purpose computer for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
- These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
- The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
- It is to be understood that the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.
- Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java® or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
- While the above description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope, but rather as an exemplification of several embodiments thereof. Many other variants are possible including, for examples: the criteria for determining a position as being a candidate for the transmission of a ranging packet, the calculation of the relative drift between clocks, the methods for updating the drift coefficient β, the details of the measuring receiver, the method of measuring the time of arrival, the use of the internal TSF timer and an external time source to increase the accuracy, the use of more than one measuring receiver, the details of the ranging transmission, the time of departure measurement for the ranging transmission. Accordingly the scope should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the claims and their legal equivalents.
- It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope.
Claims (21)
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