Abstract:
In a method and a system for transmission of information, broad band frequency sweeps are used. A certain sweep then denotes a certain symbol. The frequencies between which the sweeps occur are varied according to a pseudo-random scheme. Furthermore, a receiver for efficient detection of such broad band sweeps comprises reference oscillators in different receiving channels. The system has very good performance in terms of data rate, time delay, use of a large channel bandwidth, low probability of detection and low risk of tapping and good noise immunity.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a device and a method for transmission of information by means of using a spread spectrum technique. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In broadband data transmission, the transmission often has to meet certain requirements, and such requirements can be: 
     high data rate 
     short delay 
     exploitation of a large channel band width 
     low risk of detection or tapping 
     good noise immunity 
     Frequency hopping is a recognized method for creating a spread spectrum having a linear spectrum in an efficient manner, seen over a longer period. Frequency hopping is carried out by means of changing the transmitter and receiver carrier frequency in a predetermined manner. This puts high demands on time synchronization. 
     Frequency hopping does, however, not guarantee a high momentary band width and thereby high information band width. In order to obtain a high information band width, a modulation method, having a band width adapted to the requirements on information band width, in combination with the frequency hopping, is required. 
     A very large spread spectrum through frequency hopping also requires long hop sequences, which will result in practical limitations. The noise suppression of the method is directly dependent on the relationship: 
     
       
         signal energy * spread spectrum factor/noise energy 
       
     
     Furthermore, one drawback of the method is that it puts high demands on modulator and de-modulator, respectively, in order to change the frequency fast. 
     Another problem with this technique is that it is difficult to avoid detection, due to the high power density within a small frequency band, which results in that narrow band receivers also can be used for detecting such on-going traffic. 
     Another way of obtaining a spread spectrum is by means of direct sequence modulation. Direct sequence modulation is primarily used for obtaining a spread spectrum having a large momentary band width, thereby allowing a high information band width. 
     The direct sequence modulation is carried out by means of modulating the signal with a long, repeatable, random-like code sequence having a very high autocorrelation function. Since demodulation is carried out in a corresponding manner the signal will be re-created and possible noise will at the same time be suppressed by a factor corresponding to the length of the code sequence, i.e. more efficiently the longer the code sequence or direct sequence length are. 
     Hence, extreme broadband modulation will require extremely long code sequences, which will result in that, in particular, the demodulator becomes very complex. It can therefore be suitable to implement the demodulator in hardware instead of, which is commonly done, in software. However, also a hardware solution becomes very complex for long code sequences, having large circuit solutions as a result and thereby high costs. 
     The noise suppression is in the case of direct sequence modulation directly dependent on the relationship: 
     
       
         signal energy * direct sequence length/noise energy 
       
     
     A drawback of this method is that it puts high requirements on the accuracy of the synchronization in the receiver. 
     A further drawback is that the spectrum of the direct sequence spread spectrum signal is not linear, which reduces the theoretical process gain of the spread spectrum. 
     By means of combining direct sequence spread spectrum with frequency hop spread spectrum it is possible to obtain a larger spread spectrum than with the methods per se, since the implementations of the methods are limited by different factors, i.e. the limitations described above for the two methods. 
     In a combination of spread spectrum methods the spread spectrum is formed by the product of the two spread spectrum factors of the applied methods. Typically, the direct sequence modulation can provide for the power of the signal being spread over 10-20 MHz and the frequency can hop in the magnitude of GHz. 
     However, this technique also has some drawbacks. These mainly consist of higher implementation costs, but also in that even if the spectrum of the signal becomes relatively spread, it will still contain some spikes. This results in that the risk for detection becomes lower than, e.g. for pure frequency hop techniques, but still not minimum, due to the existence of the spikes in the spectrum. 
     Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,046 describes a spread spectrum technique which can be used for transmission of information by means of simultaneous sweeping from an intermediate frequency to the upper boundary of the channel and from the lower boundary of the channel to said inter-mediate frequency. Information is transmitted by modulating the sweep signals by means of phase switching. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,294 describes an optical transmission system which transmits and receives digital ones and zeros, as wave length shifted signals. 
     Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,792 discloses a method and apparatus for data transmission, using chirped frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation. In order to overcome the problem resulting from i.a. continuous wave (CW) carriers in power line communication systems, the offset frequency of the carrier frequency, representing the information, i.e. being responsive to a particular logic value of a data bit to be transmitted, is swept during the transmission time of the data bit. Thus, by slowly varying the offset frequency in the FSK modulation during transmission of the data bit the interference resulting from CW carriers is reduced. 
     SUMMARY 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a device and a transmission system which overcome the problems with the prior art and which at the same time fulfil the requirements mentioned in the introduction, viz. a transmission system which can provide 
     high data rate 
     short delay 
     exploitation of a large channel band width 
     low risk of detection or tapping 
     good noise immunity 
     This object is obtained by transmitting data coded as pre-determined frequency sweeps in relation to a pre-determined frequency, a certain sweep corresponding to a certain symbol. Decoding is then carried out in a device comprising a corresponding number of receiver channels where sweeping reference oscillators, which generate reference signals, are used for verifying the presence of the transmitted, into frequency sweeps coded, symbols. The transmitter then transmits predetermined frequency sweeps during time intervals having a pre-determined duration. The receiver is then able to determine which symbol has been transmitted by means of determining the frequency sweep direction and/or the duration of the frequency sweep. 
     In order to shorten the time for synchronization in the receiver, each receiver channel can be equipped with a number of reference oscillators, which moreover can be made to follow different frequency sweep signals being displaced in time in relation to each other. 
     In order to further increase the channel band width and to make tapping and detection more difficult the selected given frequency can also be made to vary according to a pseudo-random scheme. In a preferred embodiment several reference oscillators are provided in each receiver channel, whereby the synchronization time can be reduced and also several, different, in relation to each other delayed, frequency sweep signals can be transmitted in the same frequency band. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will now be described by way of non-limiting embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 a  shows the momentary transmitted frequency in a transmission system using two coded symbols and the 
     FIGS. 1 b  and  1   c  show the momentary frequency of corresponding reference oscillators in decoding of the transmitted symbols. 
     FIG. 2 a  shows the momentary transmitted frequency in a transmission system using four coded symbols and 
     FIGS. 2 b - 2   e  show the momentary frequency of the corresponding reference oscillators in the decoding of the transmitted symbols. 
     FIG. 3 a  shows the momentary transmitted frequency in a transmission system using four coded symbols, two of which are intended for a first receiver and the other two for a second receiver and 
     FIGS. 3 b - 3   e  show the momentary frequency of the corresponding reference oscillators in decoding of the transmitted symbols. 
     FIGS. 4 a - 4   c  show the momentary frequency of a transmitter and a receiver, respectively, during transmission of a sweep synchronization sequence. 
     FIGS. 5 a - 5   c  show the momentary frequency of a transmitter and a receiver, respectively, during transmission of a frame synchronization sequence. 
     FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram of a receiver for reception of two different symbols. 
     FIG. 7 is a general block diagram of a transmission system using frequency sweeping for transmission of information. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In FIGS. 1 a - 1   c  diagrams of the frequency as a function of time for point-to-point-transmission over a channel are shown. Two symbols, in FIG. 1 a.  denoted a and b, are transmitted modulated by means of broad band sweeping upwards and downwards, respectively, from a certain centre frequency (f 0 ). 
     The centre frequency (f 0 ) can either be pre-set to a fixed frequency or also vary according to a pseudo-random scheme in order to reduce the risk of detection or in order to make tapping impossible, in the case someone finds the correct centre frequency. In order to accomplish this the centre frequency is changed at suitable times, for example once/second, which is controlled in a known manner by internal synchronizing clocks inside the transmitter and the receiver, respectively. 
     During a sweep, which in the examples below last for 1 microsecond (1 μs), the transmitted signal sweeps, preferably linearly, from the centre frequency upwards or downwards over, in this case, 100 MHz. 
     The information is then contained only in the sweep itself, i.e. sweep start frequency, sweep end frequency and the length of the time interval during which the sweep lasts, in this case 1 μs. In the shown preferred embodiment the frequency sweeps, depending on the transmitted symbol, either upwards or downwards from the given centre frequency during this 1 μs time interval. The following two sweeps are possible, wherefore the capacity of the transmission is 1000000 baud or 1 Mbit/s, the two sweeps representing the value of one symbol, i.e. for example a logical one and a logical zero. 
     a (0) Positive sweep from centre frequency (f 0 →f 0 +100 MHz) 
     b (1) Negative sweep from centre frequency (f 0 →f 0 −100 MHz) 
     In demodulation a receiver having two channels, which each comprises a sweeping reference oscillator, and each receiver channel being used for detecting a certain sweep, see FIGS. 1 b  and  1   c,  in order to recreate the transmitted symbol sequence. Thus, in FIG. 1 b  a diagram of frequency sweeps which a first reference oscillator generates is shown as a function of time and in FIG. 1 c  corresponding frequency sweeps which a second reference oscillator generates in the second receiver channel is shown. 
     In FIGS. 2 a - 2   e  a method which is a variant of the one in FIGS. 1 a - 1   c,  where four different symbols can be transmitted point-to-point on a channel, is shown. The information is in this case contained both in start frequency and sweep direction. The following four sweeps are possible, wherefore the capacity of the transmission is 2000000 baud or 4 Mbit/s. The four sweeps represent the value of a symbol, which for example consists of two binary bits, each being a logical one or logical zero. 
     a (00) Positive sweep from centre frequency (f 0 →f 0 +100 MHz) 
     b (01) Negative sweep from centre frequency (f 0 →f 0 −100 MHz) 
     c (10) Positive sweep towards centre frequency (f 0 −100 MHz) 
     d (11) Negative sweep towards centre frequency (f 0 +100 MHz→f 0 ) 
     A transmitted sequence modulated according to this method is illustrated in FIG. 2 a,  which shows the transmitted frequency as a function of time. In demodulation four receiver channels are used in the receiver which each is used for verifying the presence of a certain sweep, see FIGS. 2 b - 2   e  which show the oscillator frequencies as a function of time for the four different receiver channels. 
     The method described above can also be used for providing transmission intended for transmission on two independent channels in the same frequency band, which is illustrated by the diagrams in FIGS. 3 a - 3   e.  By using this method two transmitters can transmit to one or several receivers simultaneously in the same frequency band. 
     Thus, the same frequency band can be used for simultaneously transmitting information from two different transmitters to one and the same receiver or the frequency band can be used for simultaneously transmitting information from two different transmitters to two different receivers by means of using the method shown in FIG. 3 a.    
     Modulation is also in this case carried out by means of broad band sweeping by, in the chosen example, a 100 MHz sweep during the time of 1 microsecond. 
     The information for each of the two channels is here contained both in start frequency and sweep direction, see FIG. 3 a.  For example, the sweeps shown in FIGS. 3 b - 3   e  can be used for transmission on the two different channels, wherefore the capacity of the transmission is 1000000 baud or 1 Mbit/s per channel. The four sweeps represent the value of one symbol for the two channels, i.e. for example a logical one or a logical zero. 
     In demodulation four receiver channels each comprising a sweeping reference oscillator are used, as in the embodiment described in FIGS. 2 b - 2   e,  each oscillator being used to detect a certain sweep, see FIGS. 3 b - 3   e.  Channel  1  in the shown example corresponds to the continuous line on which the symbols a and b are transmitted, whereas channel  2  corresponds to the dotted line on which the symbols c and d are transmitted. 
     In all of the above described examples, a synchronization of the sweep oscillators of the receivers with the received signal and the synchronization of transmitted frames is required. For synchronization detection of the received signals a multitude of sub-receivers can be arranged per receiver channel and be used independently of each other if one-channel transmission or multi-channel transmission is used. I.e., in each receiver channel a multitude of reference oscillators having mutually delayed start times are arranged. Depending on the utilization of the transmission this gives different performance regarding synchronization times. The limitation in such an embodiment lies in the receiving equipment and depends on the number of available sub-receivers. 
     The synchronization is carried out in two steps, a sweep synchronization where the sweep generator of the receiver is synchronized with the sweep of the incoming signal followed by a frame synchronization where the frames, i.e. the delimiting elements of the information blocks, are identified in order to synchronize the channel coding, i.e. the error-correcting coding in the information transmission itself. 
     Before the sweep synchronization has been carried out the receiver is in a synchronization searching mode when the receiver searches over the time domain by delaying the sweep start time for the reference oscillators by inserting a time shift thereon, for example by inserting a delay constituting a part of the time interval between the start time for two consecutive frequency sweeps, for example a 0.1 μs long delay after each group of 10 sweeps before the next group of 10 sweeps starts. The effective band width of the receiver is in this example 10 MHz which results in that  100  sweeps may be required before sweep synchronization can take place. This results in that an expected synchronization time becomes approximately 50 * 1 μs=50 μs. 
     The synchronization sequence consists of a number of repeated identical sweep patterns. When the receivers detect a sweep they are automatically synchronized to this sweep. 
     FIGS. 4 a - 4   c  show a sweep synchronization sequence which is received, see FIG. 4 a,  in order to be compared to the signals which are generated by the sweep oscillators of the receiver, see FIGS. 4 b  and  4   c.  Thereupon the receivers switch to automatically follow the centre frequency and time position, in case this varies with time. This is carried out by means of reading and correcting the remaining errors in sweep start time and sweep start frequency for the upwards and downwards directed frequency sweep of the reference oscillators. 
     However, the synchronization time can be reduced if, in accordance with above, each receiver channel is equipped with a number of sub-receivers, which preferably have starting times delayed by 1/M μs in relation to each other, where M is the number of sub-receivers in each receiver channel. 
     By using such an arrangement a reduction of the expected value for the synchronization time to approximately 50/M μs is obtained. Furthermore, by using such an arrangement the receiver can be made to receive traffic from several transmitters simultaneously. This is obtained in the following manner: 
     First one set of sweep oscillators in a sub-receiver detects that a signal is transmitted. These are then locked on this signal and continues to follow this until the signal traffic ends. The rest of the sub-receivers continue to search the time domain for other signals which are displaced in time in relation to the first signal. This method is repeated until all sub-receivers follow their own signal. In this manner the entire channel band width of the receiver can be used. 
     Furthermore, the same frequency band can be used by different transmitters if the transmitted frequency sweeps from the different transmitters are transmitted during unequally long time periods, i.e. the sweep duration is different for different transmitters. Thus, a first transmitter could transmit a frequency sweep lasting during 1 μs and second transmitter could transmit the same frequency sweep but spread over another time interval, for example 2 μs. This, however, of course, requires that the receiver which is to receive the transmitted frequency sweeps has knowledge about the length of the frequency sweeps which a transmitter transmits, and that the corresponding reference oscillators which generate reference signals having a corresponding duration are arranged in the receiver. 
     After that the demodulators of the receiver have been synchronized according to the above the receivers switch to search for a special frame synchronization sequence. The received sequence is then compared to a particular sequence having a high autocorrelation function, for example a Gold sequence. Frame synchronization then takes place when the cross correlation between the received sequence and the sequence of the receiver exceeds a certain threshold value or when maximal cross correlation has been found. This comparison is carried out in a correlator intended therefor, which measures the cross correlation between a received sequence and the predetermined sequence. 
     After that a frame synchronization has been carried out the channel is in traffic mode, i.e. transmission of information has begun, which is shown in FIGS. 5 a - 5   c.    
     Frame synchronization is in a preferred embodiment carried out not only in the initial stage of the communication but is repeated periodically. In case of an absent frame synchronization the receiver returns to synchronization searching mode after a predetermined time period. 
     Each transmission is terminated with an end sequence or EOT-sequence (End Of Transmission) which makes it possible for the receivers to rapidly change from traffic mode to synchronization searching mode. In case a not received EOT-sequence transition from traffic mode to synchronization searching mode is carried out after that the frame synchronization has been absent for a predetermined time period. 
     The principal construction of a receiver used for receiving transmission of two different kinds of symbols will now be described with reference to FIG. 6, where the transmitted signal is assumed to be generated as described in conjunction with FIG. 1 a.    
     Thus, the block scheme in FIG. 6 shows the construction of a receiver without sub-receivers for transmission of information coded by means of two different symbols consisting of a receiver channel for each wave form (sweep)  601  and  603  respectively, one sweep synchronization logic unit  605  common for the two receiver channels, one common frame synchronization detector  607  and a decoder  609 , which combines the output from the two receiver channels and decodes these into symbols which are output as a flow of output data. 
     An incoming signal  611  is fed via two lines  613  and  615 , respectively, to respective difference forming circuits  617  and  619 . In the difference forming circuits  617  and  619  the difference between the input signal and signals generated by two sweep generators  621  and  623  is formed. The sweep generators  621  and  623  generate signals corresponding to the transmitted symbols, i.e. the sweep generator  621  generates a positive sweep from the centre frequency (f 0 →f 0 +100 MHz) and the sweep generator  623  generates a negative sweep from the centre frequency (f 0 →f 0 −100 MHz) during a time interval corresponding to the time interval during which the transmitted frequency sweep lasts, i.e. in this case 1 μs. The output signals from the difference forming circuits  617  and  619  is then fed both to integrators  625  and  627  and to detectors  629  and  631 . The integrators  625  and  627  integrate the output signals from the difference forming circuits  617  and  619  over a time interval. In a preferred embodiment the output signals are integrated during a time interval from the sweep start time of the reference oscillators to the sweep end time of the reference oscillators or over integer multiples thereof. Thereupon the output signal from the integrators is fed to the sweep synchronization logic block  605 . 
     Depending on the signals from the integrators  625  and  627  the sweep synchronization logic block decides whether sweep synchronization is decided to be established or not. If sweep synchronization is established the sweep synchronization logic block locks the sweep synchronization generators  633  and  635  in this time position whereupon the sweep synchronization logic block  605  emits a signal to the decoder  609  indicating that sweep synchronization is now completed. If sweep synchronization is decided not to be established the sweep synchronization logic block emits a signal to the sweep synchronization generators  633  and  635 , respectively, indicating that these shall insert a time shift in the generated frequency sweep. 
     The decision about when shift synchronization is determined can either be established depending on if the output signal level from any of the integrators  625  and  627  goes below a certain threshold value or depending on the time shift which generates the lowest output signal level from some one of the integrators  625  and  627 . 
     When synchronization is established the decoder  609  starts to receive the data which are generated by the two detectors  629  and  631 . The detectors  629  and  631  decide for each sweep, if a symbol corresponding to the sweep generated in the sweep generators  621  or  623  has been received as an input signal or not. Such a decision is taken in response to the output signal from the circuits  617  and  619 . If a detector  629  or  631  decides that an input signal corresponding to the one generated by a receiver channel  601  or  603 , respectively, has arrived, the detector  629  or  631  emits a signal to the decoder  609  indicating that a symbol corresponding to this receiver channel  601  or  603  has been detected. 
     The signals corresponding to the different symbols are also fed to the frame synchronization detector  607 . This searches for a certain frame synchronization sequence. When this sequence has been found the frame synchronization detector  607  emits a signal to the decoder  609  indicating that frame synchronization is now established. Thereupon the decoder  609  starts to emit signals corresponding to the symbols which are detected in the detectors  629  and  631 . 
     Finally, in FIG. 7, a general block diagram of a transmission system which uses frequency sweeping for transmitting information is shown. Thus, a transmitter  701  which via an antenna  703  transmits a sequence of frequency swept signals  705  according to the above described coding method is shown. This sequence of frequency sweep is then received via an antenna  707  by a receiver  709  in which frequency sweep detection, demodulation and other signal processing then is carried out. 
     The above described technique can be used for one-channel transmission of information or for multi-channel transmission in a number of different types of information transmission systems, the application area being civil as well as military.