US9271259B2 - Method and device for testing moving speed of terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided are a method and device for testing the moving speed of a terminal, which are used for testing the moving speed of a terminal according to the pilot and noise power, thereby improving measurement accuracy. The method comprises: a receiving end receiving a signal which comprises a pilot sequence and is sent by a sending end; according to the known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence, the receiving end determining an estimated value of a time-domain channel corresponding to each pilot symbol of the pilot sequence in a transmission process, and selecting a time-delay path according to the estimated value of the time-domain channel; and according to the time-delay path selected in a preset time length, the receiving end determining the moving speed of a terminal.

Description

This application is a US National Stage of International Application No. PCT/CN2013/078394, filed on 28 Jun. 2013, designating the United States, and claiming the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 201210365083.5, filed with the Chinese Patent Office on Sep. 26, 2012 and entitled “Method and device for testing moving speed of terminal”, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communications and particularly to a method and device for testing the moving speed of a terminal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a communication system, a terminal may move at a high speed so that a considerable Doppler shift will occur, and the amplitude of a signal may fade rapidly and the phase of the signal may vary rapidly particularly in a multi-path scenario, thus deteriorating the performance of the system. It is thus necessary for a receiving end to adjust adaptively algorithms related to channel estimation and signal detection dependent upon the current moving speed of the terminal, and to this end, an algorithm to measure the speed accurately is required to support such an adaptive adjustment strategy. At present there are the following algorithms to measure the speed:

A. Crossing Rate Algorithm

The crossing rate algorithm is very simple in principle and easy to perform and has been widely applied in real communication systems. The Doppler shift may result in a temporally fluctuating signal so that generally there is a deep fading of the amplitude of the signal once the terminal moves over a distance of half the wavelength. The number of times Le that the level fades per unit time can be counted to thereby estimate the speed. With a carrier frequency fc and the velocity of light c, the speed can be estimated as v=c/fc*Le.

B. Correlation Algorithm

The moving speed may result in the Doppler dispersion of the signal in the frequency-domain, and there is the following relationship between time-domain autocorrelation of the received signal and the Doppler dispersion over a Rayleigh channel:
ρ_x(τ)=σ² J ₀(2πf _mτ)  (1)

Where f_m represents the largest Doppler dispersion, τ represents a correlation time, ρ_x(τ) represents autocorrelation of the signal, σ² represents noise power, and J₀(•) represents a Bessel function of the first kind of order zero with a curve as illustrated in FIG. 1. Thus a statistic of a time-domain autocorrelation value of the signal is made from the time-domain autocorrelation characteristic of the signal, and the Doppler dispersion f_m is estimated against a lookup table of Bessel function curves to thereby estimate the moving speed. The equation (1) has to be revised for use in view of a direction of arrival distributed non-uniformly and affected by a Rician factor K over a Rician channel.

A general problem with the crossing rate algorithm is how to count Le accurately. There may be a large number of observable burrs of the signal in time-domain being affected by noise and the channel. The number of times that the level fades can be counted accurately only after the signal is de-noised, de-burred, etc. Moreover the accuracy in estimation of the speed may also be affected by the statistic operation for the level crossing rate. The signal has to be preprocessed in the algorithm nevertheless at low precision.

The count characteristic in the correlation algorithm can only be applicable to the Rayleigh channel but not to the Rician channel, so the algorithm has to be revised by the Rician factor in the other scenarios, but the Rician factor K may not be easy to determine, thus complicating the algorithm. Moreover the Bessel curve is not a monotonic function, and in order to estimate the speed accurately, 2πf_mτ<4 shall be guaranteed, and if there is a significant Doppler dispersion f_m at a high speed, then the Doppler dispersion can be estimated only if the value of τ is very small, so that the correlation algorithm may be restricted greatly at a high speed. Moreover the statistic operation for autocorrelation may also affect the precision of the algorithm.

Furthermore with both of the methods above, generally after channel estimation is performed on respective received signals, a statistic of derived channel response values throughout the bandwidth has to be made with a considerable effort of calculation, and a current calculation result can only be applicable, at some delay in time, to next channel estimation and channel detection

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention provide a method for testing a moving speed of a terminal so as to measure the moving speed of the terminal according to pilots, and noise power.

An embodiment of the invention provides a method for testing a moving speed of a terminal, the method including:

receiving, by a receiving end, a signal including a pilot sequence transmitted by a transmitting end;

determining, by the receiving end, a time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to a known pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence and selecting a delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and

determining, by the receiving end, the moving speed of the terminal according to the delay path selected in a preset length of time.

An embodiment of the invention provides a device for testing a moving speed of a terminal, the device including:

a communicating module configured to receive a signal including a pilot sequence transmitted by a transmitting end;

a delay path determining module configured to determine a time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to a known pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence and to select a delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and

a speed determining module configured to determine the moving speed of the terminal according to the delay path selected in a preset length of time.

As can be apparent from the technical solutions above, in the embodiments of the invention, the receiving end receives a signal including a pilot sequence transmitted by the transmitting end; the receiving end determines a time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to a known pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence and selects a delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and the receiving end determines the moving speed of the terminal according to the delay path selected in a preset length of time. Thus the receiving end in the embodiments of the invention can measure the moving speed of the terminal according to the pilots and the noise power, and with this method, the calculation can be performed simply using the available received pilots, and the statistic of the delay path can be made simply, accurately and adaptively to easily get a high precision without being affected by any factor of the algorithm; with this method, only the statistic of the channel response values of the frequencies at which the pilots are located will be made to thereby lower an effort of calculation; and moreover the algorithm with a low delay can be applicable to scenarios at different delays and different speeds, and the process of testing the speed can be performed before the channel estimation is performed on the signal, and the result thereof can be applicable directly to the current channel estimation and signal detection processes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic flow chart of a method for testing a moving speed of a terminal according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic flow chart of a particular embodiment of a method for testing a moving speed of a terminal according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic flow chart of another particular embodiment of a method for testing a moving speed of a terminal according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic structural diagram of a device for testing a moving speed of a terminal according to an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 5 illustrates another schematic structural diagram of a device for testing a moving speed of a terminal according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the invention provide a method for testing a moving speed of a terminal so as to measure the moving speed of the terminal according to pilot and noise power to thereby improve the precision in measurement.

Referring to FIG. 1, a method for testing a moving speed of a terminal according to an embodiment of the invention includes:

Operation S101: A receiving end receives a signal including a pilot sequence transmitted by a transmitting end;

Operation S102: The receiving end determines a time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence, according to a known pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence and selects a delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and

Operation S103: The receiving end determines the moving speed of the terminal according to the delay path selected in a preset length of time.

There are typically a number of transmission paths with different delays in transmission over a real space channel, and these different transmission paths are embodied as corresponding power values at different points of time in time-domain channel estimation, where a peak point with a power value above some threshold is referred to as a delay path.

Preferably the operation S101 furthermore includes: the receiving end determines noise power when the signal including the pilot sequence is received, and a signal to noise ratio corresponding to the noise power; and the operation S102 is performed by the receiving end upon determining that the signal to noise ratio is above a first preset threshold, that is, furthermore the noise power when the signal including the pilot sequence is received and the signal to noise ratio corresponding to the noise power is required to be determined, and it is determined that the signal to noise ratio is above the first preset threshold, before the operation S102.

Preferably in the operation S102, the receiving end determines a frequency-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence, according to the known pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence; and

The receiving end determines the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol according to the frequency-domain channel estimation value corresponding to the pilot symbol.

Preferably the delay path is selected in the operation S102 as follows:

The receiving end selects the delay path with the highest power for each pilot symbol; and

The receiving end determines the location of the selected delay path with the highest power, and if the receiving end determines that locations of delay paths selected for pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location are different,

Then the receiving end determines one of the locations of the delay paths and determines the delay path corresponding to the location as the delay path selected for the pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location, or selects the location of the delay path maximizing the sum of power of the delay paths corresponding to the pilots at the same frequency-domain location and determines the delay path corresponding to the location as the delay path selected for the pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location.

Where the location of the delay path refers to a point of time corresponding to the delay path in time-domain channel estimation.

Preferably the operation S103 includes: the receiving end determines an average variation of the delay path selected in the preset length of time according to the delay path in the preset length of time; and

The receiving end determines the moving speed of the terminal according to the average variation of the delay path.

Preferably the receiving end determines the average of the variation of the delay path selected in the preset length of time according to the delay path in the preset length of time as follows:

The receiving end groups together a plurality of pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location determined in the preset length of time and calculates variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by a preset number of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the respective groups;

The receiving end determines the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups; and

The receiving end determines the average variation of the delay path in the preset length of time according to the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups.

Preferably if the determined moving speed of the terminal is below a second preset threshold, then the receiving end increases the preset number of spacing OFDM symbols and recalculates the average of the variation of the delay path.

Preferably the receiving end determines the moving speed of the terminal according to the average variation of the delay path as follows:

The receiving end determines the moving speed of the terminal according to the average variation of the delay path, and a pre-stored relationship between the average variation of the delay path and the moving speed of the terminal.

Preferably the receiving end determines the noise power when the signal including the pilot sequence is received;

The receiving end determines the average noise power in the preset length of time according to the noise power; and

After the receiving end determines the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups, the method further includes:

The receiving end revises the average of the variation of the delay path by the average noise power in the preset length of time.

Preferably the receiving end determines the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups as follows:

The receiving end calculates the averages of the variations in the respective groups according to the variations of the delay path in the respective groups;

The receiving end calculates the squares of the differences between the variations in the respective groups and the averages;

The receiving end removes the variations with the squares of the differences above a third preset threshold; and

The receiving end determines the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively by averaging the variations of the delay path remaining after the variations with the squares of the variations above the third preset threshold in the respective groups are removed.

The invention can also be applicable to a communication system in which a signal including a pilot is transmitted, e.g., a Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), a Long Term Evolution (LTE), a Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), etc. Since the data transmitted in the pilot is known, an accurate channel estimation value can be derived directly in the simple Least Square (LS) method, and since the speed is measured before channel estimation is performed on the signal, the current speed measurement result can be applied directly to the current channel estimation and signal detection processes. Several particular embodiments of the invention will be given below.

In a first particular embodiment, referring to FIG. 2, in the scenario of an LTE system or an LTE-A system, the transmitting end can be a base station, and the receiving end can be a terminal; or the transmitting end can be a terminal, and the receiving end can be a base station. The moving speed of the terminal can be measured particularly in the following steps:

Operation S201: The receiving end receives a signal including a pilot sequence transmitted by the transmitting end; and

Also the receiving end obtains and stores noise power P_noise of the receiving end upon reception of the signal.

The receiving end determines power of the received signal and determines a corresponding signal to noise ratio according to the power of the received signal and the noise power. Since the precision in measurement may be degraded at a low signal to noise ratio, it can be specified for the signal to noise ratio that the precision in measurement is determined to be satisfactory when the signal to noise ratio is above a first preset threshold, and at this time measurement of the speed can be initiated; otherwise, a default or null value can be applied.

Operation S202: A received signal r_p(i) on Resource Elements (REs) where the pilot sequence is located in the same sub-frame of the signal is taken, where i represents the time-domain index of a pilot, and if the speed is measured according to pilots of the port 0 in a sub-frame of the LTE system, then i=1, 2, 3, 4 and a frequency-domain channel estimation value H_p(i) corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence is derived according to a known pilot sequence r_seq(i) in the equation of H_p(i)=r_p(i)/r_seq(i).

Operation S203: A time-domain channel estimation value h_i is derived according to the frequency-domain channel estimation value H_p(i) corresponding to each pilot symbol, estimated according to the pilots, particularly by performing N_pilot Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) on the frequency-domain channel estimation values H_p(i) of the respective pilot symbols, where N_pilot represents the number of pilots in the frequency-domain, in the equation of:
h _i(n)=IFFT(H _p(i)), n=1,L,N _pilot.

Operation S204: A delay path with the highest power (simply referred to as the strongest path) is selected. That is, the strongest path is determined respectively for h_i of each pilot symbol, and taking the pilots in the operation S202 as an example, the locations of selected delay paths for h₁, h₂, h₃ and h₄ are the value of n corresponding to

$\underset{n=1,L,N_{\mathrm{pilot}}}{\max }\left|h_1\left(n\right)\right|,$
the value of n corresponding to

$\underset{n=1,L,N_{\mathrm{pilot}}}{\max }\left|h_2\left(n\right)\right|,$
the value of n corresponding to

$\underset{n=1,L,N_{\mathrm{pilot}}}{\max }\left|{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="h"\; filenames="US09271259-20160223-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">h</figure-callout>}}_3\left(n\right)\right|,$
and the value of n corresponding to

$\underset{n=1,L,N_{\mathrm{pilot}}}{\max }\left|h_4\left(n\right)\right|,$
respectively. Typically the locations of the strongest paths as a result of channel estimation on pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location are the same, and if they are different, then some symbol can be taken as a reference, or the value of n corresponding to

$\underset{n=1,L,N_{\mathrm{pilot}}}{\max }\left[\left|h_{i_1\left(k\right)}\left(n\right)\right|+\left|h_{i_2\left(k\right)}\left(n\right)\right|\right]$
can be taken, so that there is only one location of the selected strongest path with a corresponding value of n denoted as n₀(k), where i₁(k),i₂(k) represents the indexes of a group of symbols at the same frequency-domain location, and k represent the number of the group; and channel estimation is performed on each group of two symbols at the same frequency-domain location. Taking the LTE as an example, there are two groups of i₁,i₂, i.e., i₁(1)=1, i₂ (1)=3 and i₁(2)=2, i₂(2)=4. The values h_{i 1 (k)}(n₀(k)) and h_{i 2 (k)}(n₀(k)) of the n₀(k)-th path in each group are stored.

It is judged whether a preset length of time for which pilot symbols are received expires, and if so, the flow proceeds to the following operations; otherwise, the flow exits for the current sub-frame.

Operation S205: Variations of the delay path of adjacent pilot symbols in respective sub-frames are obtained by calculating time-domain channel variations according to the stored delay path with the highest power for time-domain channel estimation, taking the downlink LTE system as an example, as follows:

Since the frequency-domain locations of the first and third columns of pilot symbols are the same, and the frequency-domain locations of the second and fourth columns of pilot symbols are the same, the first and third columns are grouped together, and the second and fourth columns are grouped together, and the variations of the delay path of the adjacent pilot symbols are calculated.

(δH′)² ₍₁₎ and (δH′)² ₍₂₎ are calculated in the equations of:

${\left(\delta H^{\prime }\right)}_{\left(1\right)}^2=\frac{{\left({\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="h"\; filenames="US09271259-20160223-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">h</figure-callout>}}_3\left(n_0\left(1\right)\right)-h_1\left(n_0\left(1\right)\right)\right)}^2}{|h_3(n_0\left(1\right)||h_1(n_0\left(1\right)|}$ ${\left(\delta H^{\prime }\right)}_{\left(2\right)}^2=\frac{{\left(h_4\left(n_0\left(2\right)\right)-h_2\left(n_0\left(2\right)\right)\right)}^2}{|h_4(n_0\left(2\right)||h_2(n_0\left(2\right)|}.$

The respective groups of (δH′)² _(k) of N sub-frames for the statistic operation, calculated in the preset length of time are averaged respectively to get the averages E[(δH′)² _(k)] of the respective groups of variations of the delay path.

In order to make the results more accurate, a smoothing process can be further performed to remove the sub-frames for the statistic operation, with errors above a third threshold and then average the results, particularly as follows: the averages E′[(δH′)² _(k)] of the respective variations in the respective groups of (δH′)² _(k) are calculated respectively; the squares of the differences δ₁, δ₂, δ₃ . . . δn between the respective variations in each group of (δH′)² _(k) and the average E′[(δH′)² _(k)] are calculated; the sub-frames for the statistic operation corresponding to δm(1≦m≦n) above the third threshold are removed; and the variations corresponding to the remaining sub-frames in the respective groups of (δH′)² _(k) are averaged again to get the averages E[(δH′)² _(k)] of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups.

Since two columns of pilots at a small spacing are applied at a low speed, so that there is a low difference between their time-domain channel responses, thus resulting in a significant error in measurement. Preferably a threshold is applied to the measurement, and if the value of the measured speed is below a second preset threshold, e.g., 30 km/h, then the spacing between each group of pilots for calculation is increased, the statistic operation is performed again, and the measurement result is processed. The following description will be presented taking the LTE downlink system as an example:

In the original algorithm, pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location are grouped together so that the pilots in the group are spaced by 7 OFDM symbols, and if the measurement result is below the threshold, then a low-speed scenario can be determined, and at this time if pilot symbols spaced by one sub-frame are grouped together, then the pilots in the group are spaced by 14 OFDM symbols, i.e., twice the original spacing, and accordingly the measurement result obtained by referring to a lookup table or the substitution into the equation is also halved.

Alternatively if pilot symbols spaced by one radio frame are grouped together, then the pilots in the group are spaced by 140 OFDM symbols, i.e., 20 times the original spacing, and accordingly the measurement result obtained by referring to a lookup table or the substitution into the equation is also reduced by a factor of 20, i.e., the real speed.

Where the method in which the pilot symbols spaced by one sub-frame shall be supported a configuration in which there are two consecutive downlink sub-frames.

Operation S206: E[(δH′)² _(k)] is revised by the average noise power.

Firstly the noise power values P_noise at the receiving end in the N sub-frames for the statistic operation are averaged to get the average noise power σ², and then the average E[(δH′)² _(k)] is revised by the average noise power:

${\Delta }_k=E\left[{\left(\delta H^{\prime }\right)}_{\left(k\right)}^2\right]-\frac{2{\sigma }^2}{E(|h_{i_2\left(k\right)}\left(n_0\left(k\right)|\right)·E(|h_{i_1\left(k\right)}\left(n_0\left(k\right)|\right)}.$

Operation S207: The obtained respective groups of Δ_k are averaged to get the average variation E(Δ_k) of the delay path in the preset length of time, the square root of which is ΔH=√{square root over (E[Δ_k])}.

Operation S208: ΔH is substituted into the equation of {circumflex over (v)}=F(ΔH) or the “ΔH−V” relationship table is referred to according to ΔH to thereby estimate the current moving speed of the terminal, and in order to improve the precision, a plurality of tables or equations can be stored corresponding to different delay scenarios, and then correspondingly one of the tables or the equations can be selected for the current delay measurement value.

The relationship between ΔH and the moving speed v in different channel scenarios can be represented in the form of an equation or a table generated by simulating the statistic averages ΔH at different moving speed v, at high signal to noise ratios and in different delay scenarios while the terminal is moving at a constant speed, and creating the fitting equation of {circumflex over (v)}=F(ΔH), or the “ΔH−V” relationship table, in the different delay scenarios according to the statistic averages, and storing the equation or the table into the terminal for which the speed needs to be measured. ΔH can be calculated in the simulation particularly as follows:

A statistic of the channel variations is made to get the square modulus (δH′)² of the differences in the time-domain channel estimations between the adjacent pilot symbols, where (δH′)² is calculated as in the algorithm to measure the speed; and (δH′)² of M radio frames are averaged, and since the simulation is performed in a scenario with a high signal to noise ratio (>30 dB), it will not be necessary to revise the result of the average of (δH′)² by the noise power, but instead the square root thereof can be taken directly as ΔH=√{square root over (E[(δH′)²])}, where there is M>>N since higher precision is required for fitting equation or creating table.

With M>>N, the value of M shall be large enough to guarantee higher precision of the created equation or table and consequentially the precision in measurement, where it can be judged whether the value of M is sufficiently large by judging whether the statistic result of ΔH is stable as M is further increased (the M is typically on the order of a thousand of frames or more in the LTE system); and the value of N is decided by the acceleration available to the UE and the precision required for the measurement. Typically if the acceleration of the UE is high, then the value of N shall be set small (in the LTE system, if the highest acceleration is 2.8 km/s², then a potentially introduced error in measurement is 10 km/s² at N of 100) so that a delay of the measurement value relative to the real value and consequentially the resulting largest error in measurement will not be too large. The larger the value of N is, the higher the precision in measurement will be, while the UE is moving at a constant speed.

The operations in the embodiment of the invention can be improved and further described as follows:

(1) The scenario distinguished by the fitting equation of {circumflex over (v)}=F(ΔH) or the “ΔH−V” relationship table is decided by the type of delay distinguished by the algorithm to measure the delay, and if an algorithm to estimate the largest multi-path delay is unavailable to the receiving end, then the simulation needs to be performed by averaging the statistic results of ΔH in the respective delay scenarios and further creating a unique fitting equation of {circumflex over (v)}=F(ΔH) or the “ΔH−V” relationship table common to the respective scenarios.

(2) A smoothing process can be performed on a number of results of testing the speed for higher precision in measurement.

(3) When the base station in the LTE system measures the speed upon uplink data, if pilots of a service channel can not be obtained periodically, then it will be feasible to measure the speed using pilots of a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or a Sounding Reference Symbol (SRS).

In this particular embodiment, since the speed can be measured using the delay path in a simple calculation procedure at a low delay, applicable to scenarios at different delays and different speeds, and the process of testing the speed can be performed before channel estimation is performed on the signal, the result thereof can be applicable directly to the current channel estimation and signal detection processes; and moreover since the result is revised in view of the noise and removing the variations of the delay path with significant mean squared errors, etc., thereby improving the precision in measurement of the speed. The precision of the measurement result can be guaranteed even at a low speed by increasing the spacing between the pilots while performing the calculation.

In a second particular embodiment, when the moving speed of a terminal in a China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) system is measured, referring to FIG. 3, the moving speed of the CMMB terminal is measured using a CMMB downlink broadcast signal particularly in the following operations:

Operation S301: The terminal receives a CMMB broadcast signal including a pilot sequence, where pilot symbols of the CMMB signal are consecutive; and

Also the terminal obtains and stores noise power P_noise of the receiving end upon reception of the signal.

Operation S302: The terminal derives frequency-domain channel estimation values according to the received pilot symbols and known pilot symbols, derives time-domain channel estimation values h_i according to the frequency-domain channel estimation values, and then selects a delay path with the highest power from h_i and determines the location n_i of the delay path with the highest power for h_i where n_i represents the value of n corresponding to

$\underset{n=1,L,N_{\mathrm{pilot}}}{\max }\left|h_i\left(n\right)\right|,$
and i=0, 1, . . . , 52. If the locations of delay paths with the highest power for pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location are different, then an uniform location of a uniform delay path for use in calculation can be applied under some rule, for example, the location of the delay path with the highest power for the first symbol can be taken as a reference.

Moreover firstly noise reduction can be performed on the received signal in the frequency-domain before this operation to thereby improve the precision of data.

The following operations are performed after a preset length of time for which pilot symbols are received expires:

Operation S303: The pilot symbols of the CMMB signal are consecutive, including odd pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location and even pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain locations, so channel estimation is performed on every four symbols grouped together, which are denoted as h₀, h₁, h₂ and h₃, and results of (δH′)² of the odd and even symbols are calculated respectively as variations of the delay path with the highest power in the equations of:

${\left(\delta H^{\prime }\right)}_{\mathrm{even}}^2=\frac{{\left(h_0\left(n_0\right)-h_2\left(n_0\right)\right)}^2}{\left|h_0\left(n_0\right)||h_2\left(n_0\right)\right|},{\mathrm{and}\left(\delta H^{\prime }\right)}_{\mathrm{odd}}^2=\frac{{\left(h_1\left(n_1\right)-{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="h"\; filenames="US09271259-20160223-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">h</figure-callout>}}_3\left(n_1\right)\right)}^2}{\left|h_1\left(n_1\right)||{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="h"\; filenames="US09271259-20160223-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">h</figure-callout>}}_3\left(n_1\right)\right|}.$

Operation S304: (δH′)² of the N symbols for the statistic operation are averaged to get E((δH′)² _even) and E((δH′)² _odd).

Operation S305: (δH′)² is revised by the average noise power.

Firstly the noise power values P_noise of the N symbols for the statistic operation are averaged to get the average noise power σ², and Δ_odd and Δ_even are calculated as follows:

${\Delta }_{\mathrm{even}}={\left(\delta H^{\prime }\right)}_{\mathrm{even}}^2-\frac{2{\sigma }^2}{E(|\left(h_0\left(n_0\right)|\right)·E\left(\left|h_2\left(n_0\right)\right|\right)},\mathrm{and}$ ${\Delta }_{\mathrm{odd}}={\left(\delta H^{\prime }\right)}_{\mathrm{odd}}^2-\frac{2{\sigma }^2}{E(|\left(h_1\left(n_1\right)|\right)·E\left(\left|{\mathrm{<figure-callout\; id="3"\; label="h"\; filenames="US09271259-20160223-D00004.png"\; state="\{\{state\}\}">h</figure-callout>}}_3\left(n_1\right)\right|\right)}.$

Operation S306: The odd and even results are averaged to get E[Δ]=(Δ_even+Δ_odd)/2, the square root of which is ΔH=√{square root over (E[Δ])}.

Operation S307: “ΔH−V” relationship tables are referred to according to ΔH to thereby estimate the current moving speed of the terminal.

A signal to noise ratio or channel delay information will not be distinguished in the table, and the number of stored tables can be determined according to the number of levels into which the measured speed is divided, e.g., M levels, where only (M−1) ΔH−V relationship tables need to be stored.

If the signal to noise ratio is below some threshold, then the lowest measured speed can be determined directly without referring to any relationship table.

N, M, and the levels of the speed can be selected as required for the precision in measurement. For example, N=100 to 200, M=4, and the levels <30, 30 to 60, 60 to 120 and >120 of the speed can be selected.

Referring to FIG. 4, a device for testing a moving speed of a terminal according to an embodiment of the invention includes:

A communicating module 41 is configured to receive a signal including a pilot sequence transmitted by a transmitting end;

A delay path determining module 42 is configured to determine a time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to a known pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence and to select a delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and

A speed determining module 43 is configured to determine the moving speed of the terminal according to the delay path selected in a preset length of time.

Preferably the device further includes a first noise determining module configured to determine noise power when the signal including the pilot sequence is received, and to determine a signal to noise ratio corresponding to the noise power according to the noise power.

The delay path determining module 42 is configured:

To determine the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence, and to select the delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values, when the first noise determining module determines that the signal to noise ratio is above a first preset threshold.

Preferably referring to FIG. 5, the delay path determining module 42 includes:

A time-domain channel estimation value determining unit 51 is configured to determine a frequency-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence, and

To determine the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to the each pilot symbol according to the frequency-domain channel estimation value corresponding to the pilot symbol; and

A delay path selecting unit 52 is configured to select the delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values. Preferably the delay path selecting unit 52 is configured:

To determine the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence, and to select the delay path with the highest power according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and

To determine the location of the selected delay path with the highest power, and if it is determined that locations of delay paths selected for pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location are different, to select one of the locations of the delay paths and to determine the delay path corresponding to the location as the delay path selected for the pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location, or to select the location of the delay path maximizing the sum of power of the delay paths corresponding to the pilots at the same frequency-domain location and to determine the delay path corresponding to the location as the delay path selected for the pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location.

Preferably referring to FIG. 5, the speed determining module 43 includes:

A delay path calculating unit 53 is configured to determine an average variation of the delay path selected in the preset length of time according to the delay path in the preset length of time; and

A speed calculating unit 54 is configured to determine the moving speed of the terminal according to the average variation of the delay path.

Preferably the delay path calculating unit 53 is configured:

To group together a plurality of pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location determined in the preset length of time and to calculate variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by a preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups;

To determine the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups; and

To determine the average variation of the delay path in the preset length of time according to the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups.

Preferably the speed calculating unit 54 is configured:

To determine the moving speed of the terminal according to the average variation of the delay path, and a pre-stored relationship between the average variation of the delay path and the moving speed of the terminal.

Preferably the delay path calculating unit 53 is further configured:

If the determined moving speed of the terminal is below a second preset threshold, to increase the preset number;

To group together a plurality of pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location determined in the preset length of time and to calculate variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the increased preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups;

To determine the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the increased preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups; and

To determine the average variation of the delay path in the preset length of time according to the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups.

Preferably the device further includes:

A second noise determining module is configured to determine noise power when the signal including the pilot sequence is received, and to determine the average noise power in the preset length of time according to the noise power; and

After the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups is determined respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups, the delay path calculating unit 53 is further configured:

To revise the averages of the variations of the delay path by the average noise power determined by the second noise determining module.

Preferably the delay path calculating unit 53 configured to determine the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups is configured:

To calculate the averages of the variations in the respective groups according to the variations of the delay path in the respective groups;

To calculate the squares of the differences between the variations in the respective groups and the averages;

To remove the variations with the squares of the differences above a third preset threshold; and

To determine the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively by averaging the variations of the delay path remaining after the variations with the squares of the variations above the third preset threshold in the respective groups are removed.

In summary, in the embodiments of the invention, the receiving end receives a signal including a pilot sequence transmitted by the transmitting end; the receiving end determines a channel response function corresponding to the signal of each pilot sequence being transmitted, according to a pre-stored pilot sequence and the signal including the pilot sequence and determines a corresponding delay path according to the channel response function; and the receiving end determines the moving speed of the terminal according to the delay path. The embodiments of the invention provide a method and device for testing a moving speed of a terminal so as to measure the moving speed of the terminal according to pilots and noise power so as to improve the precision in measurement.

Those skilled in the art shall appreciate that the embodiments of the invention can be embodied as a method, a system or a computer program product. Therefore the invention can be embodied in the form of an all-hardware embodiment, an all-software embodiment or an embodiment of software and hardware in combination. Furthermore the invention can be embodied in the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer useable storage mediums (including but not limited to a disk memory, a CD-ROM, an optical memory, etc.) in which computer useable program codes are contained.

The invention has been described in a flow chart and/or a block diagram of the method, the device (system) and the computer program product according to the embodiments of the invention. It shall be appreciated that respective flows and/or blocks in the flow chart and/or the block diagram and combinations of the flows and/or the blocks in the flow chart and/or the block diagram can be embodied in computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be loaded onto a general-purpose computer, a specific-purpose computer, an embedded processor or a processor of another programmable data processing device to produce a machine so that the instructions executed on the computer or the processor of the other programmable data processing device create means for performing the functions specified in the flow(s) of the flow chart and/or the block(s) of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be stored into a computer readable memory capable of directing the computer or the other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner so that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory create an article of manufacture including instruction means which perform the functions specified in the flow(s) of the flow chart and/or the block(s) of the block diagram.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto the computer or the other programmable data processing device so that a series of operational steps are performed on the computer or the other programmable data processing device to create a computer implemented process so that the instructions executed on the computer or the other programmable device provide steps for performing the functions specified in the flow(s) of the flow chart and/or the block(s) of the block diagram.

Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, those skilled in the art benefiting from the underlying inventive concept can make additional modifications and variations to these embodiments. Therefore the appended claims are intended to be construed as encompassing the preferred embodiments and all the modifications and variations coming into the scope of the invention.

Evidently those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus the invention is also intended to encompass these modifications and variations thereto so long as the modifications and variations come into the scope of the claims appended to the invention and their equivalents.

Claims (18)

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for testing a moving speed of a terminal, wherein the method comprises:

receiving, by a receiving end, a signal comprising a pilot sequence transmitted by a transmitting end;

determining, by the receiving end, a time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to a known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence and selecting a delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and

determining, by the receiving end, the moving speed of the terminal according to the delay path selected in a preset length of time;

wherein before determining, by the receiving end, the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence and selecting the delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values, the method further comprises:

determining, by the receiving end, noise power when the signal comprising the pilot sequence is received, and determining a signal to noise ratio corresponding to the noise power according to the noise power; and determining that the signal to noise ratio is above a first preset threshold.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining, by the receiving end, the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence comprises:

determining, by the receiving end, a frequency-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence; and

determining, by the receiving end, the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol according to the frequency-domain channel estimation value corresponding to the pilot symbol.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining, by the receiving end, the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence and selecting the delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values comprises:

determining, by the receiving end, the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence, and selecting a delay path with a highest power according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and

determining, by the receiving end, a location of the selected delay path with the highest power, and if the receiving end determines that locations of delay paths selected for pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location are different, then selecting one of the locations of the delay paths and determining the delay path corresponding to the location as the delay path selected for the pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location, or selecting a location of a delay path maximizing a sum of power of delay paths corresponding to the pilots at the same frequency-domain location and determining the delay path corresponding to the location as the delay path selected for the pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining, by the receiving end, the moving speed of the terminal according to the delay path selected in the preset length of time comprises:

determining, by the receiving end, an average variation of the delay path selected in the preset length of time according to the delay path in the preset length of time; and

determining, by the receiving end, the moving speed of the terminal according to the average variation of the delay path.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein determining, by the receiving end, the average variation of the delay path selected in the preset length of time according to the delay path in the preset length of time comprises:

grouping together, by the receiving end, a plurality of pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location determined in the preset length of time and calculating variations of the delay path of pilot symbols spaced by a preset number of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, OFDM, symbols in the respective groups;

determining, by the receiving end, averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups; and

determining, by the receiving end, the average variation of the delay path in the preset length of time according to the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein determining, by the receiving end, the moving speed of the terminal according to the average of the variation of the delay path comprises:

determining, by the receiving end, the moving speed of the terminal according to the average variation of the delay path, and a pre-stored relationship between the average variation of the delay path and the moving speed of the terminal.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

determining, by the receiving end, noise power when the signal comprising the pilot sequence is received, and

determining, by the receiving end, an average noise power in the preset length of time according to the noise power; and

after the receiving end determines the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups, the method further comprises:

revising, by the receiving end, the averages of the variations of the delay path by the average noise power in the preset length of time.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the method further comprises:

increasing, by the receiving end, the preset number if the determined moving speed of the terminal is below a second preset threshold;

grouping together, by the receiving end, a plurality of pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location determined in the preset length of time and calculating variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the increased preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups;

determining, by the receiving end, the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the increased preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups; and

determining, by the receiving end, the average variation of the delay path in the preset length of time according to the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein determining, by the receiving end, the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective group comprises:

calculating, by the receiving end, the averages of the variations in the respective groups according to the variations of the delay path in the respective groups;

calculating, by the receiving end, squares of differences between the variations in the respective groups and the averages;

removing, by the receiving end, a variation with a square of difference above a third preset threshold; and

determining, by the receiving end, the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively by averaging the variations of the delay path remaining after the variation with the square of difference above the third preset threshold in the respective groups is removed.

10. A device for testing a moving speed of a terminal, wherein the device comprises:

a communicating module configured to receive a signal comprising a pilot sequence transmitted by a transmitting end;

a delay path determining module configured to determine a time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to a known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence and to select a delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and

a speed determining module configured to determine the moving speed of the terminal according to the delay path selected in a preset length of time;

wherein the device further comprises:

a first noise determining module configured to determine noise power when the signal comprising the pilot sequence is received, and to determine a signal to noise ratio corresponding to the noise power according to the noise power; and

the delay path determining module is configured:

to determine the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence, and to select the delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values, when the first noise determining module determines that the signal to noise ratio is above a first preset threshold.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the delay path determining module comprises:

a time-domain channel estimation value determining unit configured to determine a frequency-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence; and to determine the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol according to the frequency-domain channel estimation value corresponding to the pilot symbol; and

a delay path selecting unit configured to select the delay path according to the time-domain channel estimation values.

12. The device according to claim 10, wherein the delay path selecting unit is configured:

to determine the time-domain channel estimation value corresponding to each pilot symbol being transmitted, in the pilot sequence according to the known pilot sequence and the signal comprising the pilot sequence, and to select a delay path with a highest power according to the time-domain channel estimation values; and

to determine a location of the selected delay path with the highest power, and if it is determined that locations of delay paths selected for pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location are different, to select one of the locations of the delay paths and to determine the delay path corresponding to the location as the delay path selected for the pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location, or

to select a location of a delay path maximizing the sum of power of the delay paths corresponding to the pilots at the same frequency-domain location and to determine the delay path corresponding to the location as the delay path selected for the pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location.

13. The device according to claim 10, wherein the speed determining module comprises:

a delay path calculating unit configured to determine an average variation of the delay path selected in the preset length of time according to the delay path in the preset length of time; and

a speed calculating unit configured to determine the moving speed of the terminal according to the average variation of the delay path.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the delay path calculating unit is configured:

to group together a plurality of pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location determined in the preset length of time and to calculate variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by a preset number of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, OFDM, symbols in the respective groups;

to determine averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups; and

to determine the average variation of the delay path in the preset length of time according to the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups.

15. The device according to claim 13, wherein the speed calculating unit is configured:

to determine the moving speed of the terminal according to the average variation of the delay path, and a pre-stored relationship between the average variation of the delay path and the moving speed of the terminal.

16. The device according to claim 14, wherein the device further comprises:

a second noise determining module configured to determine noise power when the signal comprising the pilot sequence is received, and to determine an average noise power in the preset length of time according to the noise power; and

after the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups is determined respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups, the delay path calculating unit is further configured:

to revise the averages of the variations of the delay path by the average noise power determined by the second noise determining module.

17. The device according to claim 14, wherein the delay path calculating unit is further configured:

if the determined moving speed of the terminal is below a second preset threshold, to increase the preset number;

to group together a plurality of pilot symbols at the same frequency-domain location determined in the preset length of time and to calculate variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the increased preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups;

to determine the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the increased preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups; and

to determine the average variation of the delay path in the preset length of time according to the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups.

18. The device according to claim 14, wherein the delay path calculating unit configured to determine the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively according to the variations of the delay path of the pilot symbols spaced by the preset number of OFDM symbols in the respective groups is configured:

to calculate the averages of the variations in the respective groups according to the variations of the delay path in the respective groups;

to calculate squares of differences between the variations in the respective groups and the averages;

to remove a variation with a square of difference above a third preset threshold; and

to determine the averages of the variations of the delay path in the respective groups respectively by averaging the variations of the delay path remaining after the variation with the square of difference above the third preset threshold in the respective groups is removed.

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