Patent ID: 7570713
Filing Date: 2009-08-04
Classification: H04B,H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of switching from a first receiver receiving a constant bit rate signal to a second receiver receiving the constant bit rate signal, comprising the steps of: (a) converting the signal from the first receiver to a first baseband signal; (b) converting the signal from the second receiver to a second baseband signal; (c) estimating a first signal quality metric of the first baseband signal; (d) estimating a second signal quality metric of the second baseband signal; (e) comparing the first signal quality metric to a predetermined threshold to determine if the first signal quality metric meets a signal quality; (f) comparing the first signal quality metric to the second signal quality metric; and (g) switching from the first baseband signal to the second baseband signal if the first signal quality metric does not meet the signal quality or, if the first signal quality metric meets the signal quality, switching from the first baseband signal to the second baseband signal based on the comparison of the first signal quality metric to the second signal quality metric; wherein the step of estimating the first signal quality metric comprises the steps of: (i) determining, for each of n symbols of the first baseband signal, a distance between a location of the symbol and an associated predetermined ideal symbol location wherein n is a number of symbols; (ii) determining a sum of the distances for the n symbols; and (iii) dividing the sum by n.