Signal concentrator device

A gateway device having a baseband processor for processing a plurality signals carrying a digital information modulated in the form of chirp signal, the chirp signals being either base chirps, for which the frequency changes from an initial instant to a final instant according to a predetermined base chirp function or modulated chirps, whose instantaneous frequencies vary according to one of a plurality of a functions that differ from said base chirp function, characterized in that the gateway device is arranged for simultaneously demodulating a plurality of signals having received at a same frequency and exhibiting different bitrates.

REFERENCE DATA

The present application claims priority from European patent application EP14177644.3 of Jul. 18, 2014 in the name of the applicant, the contents whereof are hereby incorporated in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns, in embodiments, a receiver and transmitter system for a wireless data network and in particular, but not exclusively, a gateway system capable of dealing with a plurality of messages encoded as modulated radio chirps.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Digital wireless data transmission is used in a wide variety of systems that present a great variability in both in data rate, transmission range, and power consumption. There is however a need of a digital transmission scheme that allies a long transmission range with low power consumption, and can be realized with simple receivers and transmitters.

Spread-spectrum modulation techniques are used to improve the immunity to noise and interferences in radio communication, the various Bluetooth® protocols are examples of such techniques. These modulation schemes use frequency-hopping spread-spectrum and achieve low consumption and good bandwidth, but their range is limited to a few meters.

Direct-sequence spread-spectrum techniques are also known and can reach very high levels of coding gain. In some cases, like in GPS system, have shown excellent noise immunity over long ranges. Limitation of these techniques are however the comparatively high complexity of the receivers, the acquisition times that can be very long for weak signals, and their power consumption.

European patent application EP2449690 describes a communication system using digitally-synthesized chirp symbols as modulation, and a suitable FFT based receiver.

Chirp generation in various kind of radiofrequency circuits is known, for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,549,562 describes a method for generating modulated chirp signal, while EP0952713 shows a synchronisation process based on chirp signals.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,940,893 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,614,853, among others, describe generation and use of chirp signal by passing an impulsive signal through a dispersive filter, and communication schemes based thereupon.

Chirp modulation systems like or similar to those disclosed by EP2449690 lend themselves to the realization of low-power long-distance transmitters, and can be used to realize distributed multi-node networks comprising a plurality of nodes spread across a large area, in communication with a gateway system. It is often the case that the individual nodes are simple sensors with an autonomous power source, for example in the nature of a battery or a solar panel unit, which communicate relatively infrequently with the gateway, in order to preserve their energy resources.

Distributed network of this kind can be used for example in Many applications including, but not limited to, asset tracking, surveillance, energy metering, surveillance, environmental measurements, and in many other applications. Since in these applications the end nodes or sensor rely on an autonomous and limited energy supply, low consumption is of paramount importance.

The volume of traffic at the gateway, however, increase together with the number of nodes and it is important that the gateway be able to receive and decode a number as high as possible of communications, avoiding as far as possible errors and retransmissions that would slow the system and increase the power consumption at the end nodes.

There is therefore a need for a gateway system that is able to deal with a large number of simultaneous communications in an efficient manner.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the invention, these aims are achieved by means of the object of the appended claims.

Central to the present invention is a digital modulation technique that is based on the emission and reception of frequency chirps and is commercially known as ‘LoRa’. This document will therefore use the name ‘LoRa’ to indicate this modulation technique in general and for the easy of reading, although it must be understood that the invention is not limited to a specific standardised modulation scheme, but is applicable to all modulation techniques as indicated in the claims.

Several aspects of the chirp modulation technique employed in the present invention are described in European Patent Application EP2763321 that is hereby incorporated by reference, and will be reminded here summarily.FIG. 1represents, in schematized simplified fashion a conceptual one-channel radio transceiver that can operate the chirp modulation that is used in the invention. Even if the invention primarily deals with the transmission and reception of multiple simultaneous data packets, the circuit ofFIG. 1will now be described as a non-limiting example of the LoRa modulation.

The transceiver ofFIG. 1includes a baseband section200and a radiofrequency section100. Concentrating on the transmitter part, the baseband modulator150generates, based on the digital data152that are present at its input, a baseband signal whose I and Q component are converted to the desired transmission frequency by the RF section100amplified by the power amplifier120, and transmitted by the antenna, selected by the RF switch120. The architecture presented allows several variants and modifications, without departing from the frame of the invention, and is provided as non-limiting example.

The conversion of the signal from the baseband to the intended frequency is done, in this example, by mixing in mixer110the signal provided by amplifiers154with the in-phase and quadrature components of a local carrier generated by circuit190, and linked to a reference clock129.

Once the signal is received on the other end of the radio link, it is processed by the receiving part of the transceiver ofFIG. 1comprising a low noise amplifier160followed to a down-conversion stage that generates a baseband signal comprising a series of chirps that is then processed by the baseband demodulator180, whose function is the reverse of that of the modulator150, and provides a reconstructed digital signal182.

As discussed in EP2763321, the modulator150synthesizes a baseband signal that comprises a series of chirps whose frequency changes, along a predetermined time interval, from an initial instantaneous value ƒ0to a final instantaneous frequency ƒ1. It will be assumed, to simplify the description, that all the chirps have the same duration T, although this is not an absolute requirement for the invention.

The chirps in the baseband signal can be described by the time profile ƒ(t) of their instantaneous frequency or also by the function φ(t) defining the phase of the signal as a function of the time. Importantly, the modulator150can generate chirps having a plurality of different profiles, each corresponding to a symbol in a predetermined modulation alphabet.

According to an important feature of the invention, the modulator150can generate either base chirp (also called unmodulated chirps in the following) that have specific and predefined frequency profile, or one out of a set of possible modulated chirps, obtained from base chirps by time-shifting cyclically the base frequency profile.FIG. 2aillustrates, by way of example, possible frequency and phase profiles of a base chirp and of one modulated chirps between the time instant t=t0at the beginning of a chirp and the instant t=t1at the end of the chirp, whileFIG. 2bshows the corresponding baseband signals in the domain of time.

In the example depicted, the frequency of a base chirps increases linearly from an initial value ƒ0=−BW/2, to a final value ƒ1=BW/2, where BW stands for the amount of bandwidth spreading, but descending chirps or other chip profiles are also possible. Thus, the information is encoded in the form of chirps that have one out of a plurality of possible cyclic shifts with respect to a predetermined base chirp, each cyclic shift corresponding to a possible modulation symbol.

Preferably, the modulator is also arranged to synthesize and insert in the signal conjugate chirps that is chirps that are complex-conjugate of the base unmodulated chirp. One can regard these as down-chirps, in which the frequency falls from a value of ƒ0=+BW/2 to ƒ1=−BW/2.

More preferably, the phase of the chirps is described by a continuous function φ(t) that has the same value at the beginning and at the end of a chirp: φ(t0)=φ(t1). Thanks to this, the phase of the signal is continuous across symbol boundaries, a feature that will be referred to in the following as inter-symbol phase continuity. In the example shown inFIG. 2a, the function ƒ(t) is symmetrical, and the signal has inter-symbol phase continuity. As is explained in more detail by EP2763321, the structure of the signal described above allows the demodulator unit180in the receiver to align its time references with that of the transmitter, and the determination of the amount of cyclical shift imparted to each chirp by multiplying for a complex conjugate of the base chirp, and performing a FFT. The position of the maximum of the FFT is indicative of the shift, and of the modulation value. Thus, “cyclic shift value” may be used in the following to indicate the modulation in the time domain, and “modulation position”, or “peak position” represents it in the frequency domain.

The length N of the symbol, which is directly related to the spreading factor, can be fixed in the modulation/demodulation protocol. As to the bandwidth, the LoRa standard accommodates multiple bandwidths of chirps, selectable according to the application and circumstances, for example 125, 250, and 500 KHz, the invention is not limited to a particular bandwidth or set of bandwidths, however.

Importantly, signal transmitted at different bit rates, for example because they are characterized by different spreading factors or by different chirp lengths, are orthogonal, in the sense that they can be transmitted and received simultaneously without interference on the same data channel; to a LoRa demodulator adapted to receive and decode signal having a stated bit rate, signals having a different bit rate appear as noise. Thus, the chirp modulation system presented above offer on one single frequency a plurality of independent channels having different bit rate.

The orthogonality property mentioned above should not be construed as implying that all combination of spreading factor and bandwidth are orthogonal and, in fact, some non-diagonal combination of spreading factor and bandwidth in the LoRa modulation are not orthogonal, as illustrated in Table 1. Provided non-orthogonal combinations are avoided, however, messages having different spreading factors and/or bandwidths can be received independently from one another.

TABLE 1non-orthogonal (‘X’) combinations of LoRa channels characterized by spreading factor (SF) and bandwidth (BW) in kHzSF070809101112070809101112070809101112BW12512512512512512525025025025025025050050050050050050007125xxx08125xxx09125xx10125xx11125x12125x07250xx08250xx09250xxx10250xxx11250xx12250xx07500x08500x09500xx10500xx11500xxx12500xxx

When the chirp modulation is used in a distributed network comprising a plurality of nodes spread across a large area, the orthogonality property discussed above enable multiple concurrent transmission and is especially advantageous. Even more advantageously, the transmissions between the distributed nodes and gateway can preferably use chirps having different frequencies, for example centred about one of a plurality of possible sub-carriers.

LoRa signals having different chirp bandwidth are also orthogonal, and can be received and transmitted at the same time, even if their frequency spectra overlap: a LoRa receiver adapted to receive signals having a determined bandwidth will only decode signals modulated with that, and other LoRa signals having different bandwidths, will appear to it as noise, even if their frequency spectrum overlaps that of the received signals.

FIG. 3shows schematically a possible structure of a baseband processor281in a gateway according to the present invention. The role of this gateway is to serve as hub of an asynchronous star network of >104wireless nodes, each node uses a random channel and a different data rate for each transmission, according to the transmission conditions.

Typically nodes located near the gateway will use the highest possible data rate in a predetermined bandwidth compatibly with a stated chirp-based modulation system. To provide a non-limiting concrete example, the chirp bandwidth can be fixed at 125 kHz bandwidth, and the data rates can range, in predetermined discrete steps, from 6 kbit/s to a minimum of 300 bits/s. Preferably, the individual nodes are arranged to choose autonomously an adapted data rate based on the perceived signal quality, channel condition, range to the hub, or any suitable parameter, the adapted data rate being for example, the fastest rate that allows reliable communication given the instantaneous signal quality.

The baseband processor281is preferably implemented in a single chip, preferably combinable with other chips of the same type or of compatible type to increase the capacity. The baseband processor281includes a packet arbiter microcontroller281that assigns available demodulation resources to the various reception path. Since the demodulators237are limited in number, and the detected packet can exceed the number of demodulators, the arbiter is preferably arranged for assigning the available demodulators according to suitable priority rules that may include giving priority to:predetermined spreading factor and/or bandwidth;higher signal/noise ratio in the channel;new signals in a previously unoccupied channel, defined for example by a combination of frequency, bandwidth, and spreading factor;the list is not exhaustive. The invention is not limited to a rule-driven arbitration algorithm, either, and the packet arbiter could also have a non-deterministic behaviour, for example.

The packet arbiter MCU281is preferably realized by a dedicated processor, but it could also, in the frame of the invention, be a general-purpose controller that attends also to other functions. Also, the packet arbiter could be embodied by a collection of cooperating hardware and software resources of the baseband processor281not organized as a is also microcontrollers or MCU, but the invention could be realized also by a chip having one single microcontroller unit attending to the necessary function, or any number of microcontroller units. The microcontroller or microcontrollers are capable of communicating with an external host system260by means of a suitable data connection, for example a SPI bus.

Preferably, although not represented inFIG. 3, the baseband processor281is also arranged for sending commands to the radio units connected to inputs ‘A’ and ‘B’, for example for tuning their respective frequency bands and setting their amplification gain, thereby implementing an AGC function. This function could be implemented by additional dedicated SPI connections and a specialized controller in the baseband processor281.

In the presented example, the processor281comprises a plurality of configurable reception paths231,238,239with different levels of programmability and use cases. Preferably, the reception path receive one or several streams of digital I&Q baseband or low-IF signals from a suitable number of radio receiver units. InFIG. 3, the baseband processor is arranged to be coupled to two radio units, and two input terminals for such baseband or low-IF signals are indicated with A and B. It must be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to a determined number of inputs.

The radio receivers connected to the A and B units can be arranged to receive signals in a suitable portion of the radio spectrum.FIGS. 4aand 4bshow two possible arrangements that can be obtained by using two radio receiver units.

InFIG. 4a, the radio units A and B are tuned in order to cover two adjacent non overlapping intervals in the 863-870 MHz SRD bands, for example 866.6-867.5 MHz for radio ‘A’ and 868.0-868.8 MHz for radio ‘B’. In these intervals, the radio units are arranged to receive eight multi-bitrate LoRa channels138located in separate frequency sub-bands with a bandwidth of 125 kHz; one 250 kHz-wide single-bitrate LoRa channel133and one legacy 250 kHz-wide FSK channel135. Channels133and135are used as backhaul to transmit data between gateway stations in a network, while multi-bitrate LoRa channels131serve to the communication between the gateway and the end nodes. Importantly, the eight multi-bitrate channels138can support more than eight communications at the same time, due to the orthogonality of the different bitrates.

FIG. 4bshows how the radios ‘A’ and ‘B’ can be tuned on partially overlapping intervals in order to cover a continuous interval of radio spectrum, which comprises eight multi-bitrate LoRa channels138having a bandwidth of 125 kHz each and one fixed-bitrate LoRa backhaul channel having a bandwidth of 500 kHz. Due to the orthogonality property mentioned above, the backhaul channel133and the node channels131can overlap.

It is clear that the two examples presented are not to be construed as limitations of the invention that could also admit embodiments with a different number of radios, alternative frequency distributions, in other parts of the radio spectrum as well. The radio units are preferably arranged not only to receive, but also to transmit modulated data in the aforementioned LoRa and FSK channels, although this function could conceivably be implemented by separate hardware resources without leaving the scope of the invention.

Accordingly, the gateway device of the invention could include one or more modulation units, for encoding a digital message into a modulated signal in the baseband in which the information is encoded as transmitted chirp signals. The transmission could be possible on several channels and towards a plurality of targets at the same time, similarly to what will be described below with respect to the reception, or one packet at a time.

According to another aspect of the invention, the transmitted signals is organised in frames that include a preamble and a data section.FIG. 5illustrates a possible frame structure for the invention. It must be understood, however that this frame structure is provided as an example, the invention allows embodiment that deviate from this special structure, without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the claims.

Each rectangle inFIG. 5represents a chirp symbol in a time series that runs, conventionally, from left to right. The preamble begins with a detect sequence411of base (i.e. un-modulated, or with cyclic shift equal to zero) symbols. The detect sequence411is used in the receiver to detect the beginning of the signal and, preferably, perform a first synchronisation of its time reference with the time reference in the transmitter. By multiplying the demodulated detect sequence by a locally-synthesized conjugate chirp, and performing a FFT operation, the receiver is able to determine a shift amount.

The length of the detect sequence can be arbitrarily long. This is used in application in which communications are sparse and separated by long intervals of inactivity during which the receivers are in low-power standby modes. The receiver exhibits in general an idle time, upon reception of a first signal, for commuting from the standby state into a fully awake state. The preamble is preferably chosen longer than the idle time of receivers, which ensures a high probability of preamble detection.

The end of the detect sequence is marked by one or more, preferably two, frame synchronisation symbols412. According to another aspect of the invention, the preamble includes preferably frequency synchronisation symbols413that consist in one or more, preferably two chirps that are complex-conjugate of the base unmodulated chirp. Optionally, the header further includes fine synchronisation symbols414that are unmodulated base chirps, for example. More information on the synchronisation can be found in European application EP2763321.

The payload416is preferably preceded by a header415that describes how to decode the information bits, together with all sort of data useful to decode the payload.

Reverting now toFIG. 3, the digital I&Q samples present at input terminals ‘A’ and ‘B’ are pre-processed by two decimation units215and copied in an input sample bus or buffer221, whence they are available to a plurality of converters and demodulators The frequency converter239can be connected to any of the radio inputs A or B using any arbitrary IF in the allowed range, and its output is connected to a decimation unit d and to a LoRa demodulator219; the demodulation bandwidth is programmable, that is this channel can be adapted to demodulate chirp-based signals having a variety of possible bandwidth, for example 125, 250, or 500 kHz, and the data rate can be configured to any available data rates of the used modulation standard, but this channel will be capable receiving and demodulating only the configured data rate, and will ignore any signal modulated according to another data rate. This demodulation chain correspond to the radio channels133presented inFIGS. 4aand 4b, and is intended to serve as high-speed backhaul to other gateways or equipment.

Another reception channel comprising frequency converter238, decimation unit212and (G)FSK demodulator218is functionally similar to the previous one, except that it is arranged to demodulate legacy FSK or GFSK formatted signals. The demodulator is configurable in bandwidth, bitrate, and other parameters. This correspond to the legacy backhaul channel155ofFIG. 4a.

A bank230comprises a plurality of frequency converters individually connectable to radio A or B. The channel bandwidth of each of those is fixed, for example 125 kHz and each channel IF can be configured individually, such that each channel is capable of receiving chirp-modulated signal on a predetermined frequency sub-channel. These converters are tuned to receive the node LoRa channels131presented inFIGS. 4aand 4b, for example.

Preferably each of the IF0-IF7channels is capable of receiving any allowable data rate without prior configuration. Several packets using different data rates can be demodulated simultaneously even on the same channel, thanks to the orthogonality of different data rates in the chirp modulation of the invention.

The baseband-converted samples generated by the converters230are processed by a decimation unit216routed by a switch fabric unit248to a plurality of fixed-bandwidth LoRa demodulators237under control of the packet arbiter MCU241. The preamble search engine235scans the signals generated form the230converters for preambles of all data rates at all time. As discussed above, the preamble can be a series of unmodulated base chirps and, in this case, the preamble search engine is operatively arranged to detect series of unmodulated base chirps for all possible data rates at the same time and, once a preamble is detected, cause the data packet, including the preamble and the subsequent payload to be demodulated in one of the units comprised in the multiple LoRa demodulator237.

Since the chip preamble detection is separated by demodulation, the system can detect all preambles at all data rates on each of the channel but it is capable of demodulating up to N packets simultaneously, where N is ne number of independent demodulators. In a preferred realization, the demodulator unit237comprises eight independent demodulators, but this number is not an essential limitation of the invention.

The multi-data rate multi-channel demodulation allows innovative network architectures: end-points can change frequency with each transmission, according to any pattern, or else at random. This improves the system robustness to interferers. Since detection is guaranteed no matter what the frequency and the data rate, the receiver needs not know the transmission frequencies in advance and these can be entirely non-predictable and non-deterministic.

End-points can dynamically adapt the data rate according to their link margin, without adding to the protocol complexity. In effect the receiver need not know beforehand the data rate of any received packet. There is no need to maintain a table of link rates per each end point, since all the rates are demodulated in parallel.

The gateway can employ antenna diversity to improve performance.

Received packets are tagged with additional information and stored in a FIFO structure249that is implemented, for example, by a shared memory area and a table of start, end pairs, or in any other suitable manner. The packet can be transferred to the host micro-controller via the SPI interface. Additional information added to received packets can include, for example, the demodulation channel number, SNR avf/min/max, RSSI, a timestamp, or any other information.

REFERENCE NUMBERS