Abstract:
An estimator of the throughput of a channel equalizer in a wireless receiver, wherein the estimator is dependent on a number of NACK messages transmitted by the receiver.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to an estimator of the throughput of a channel equalizer, a Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) channel equalizer optimizer, method of optimizing the rank of a Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) channel equalizer. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , in a mobile telecommunication system, data is typically transmitted from a base station (Node B)  10  to wireless receiver (User Equipment UE)  12  through a propagation channel. However, a direct channel path  14  between the base station  10  and the receiver  12  is rare, because of signal reflectance from buildings  16 ,  18 , vehicles etc. Instead, a signal transmitted by the base station  10 , normally travels by a number of different paths  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26  to the receiver  12 , wherein the paths introduce different degrees of attenuation and phase shift into the signal. 
         [0003]    A channel equalizer builds an adaptive model (R) of a communications channel (whose characteristics represent those of all the signal pathways between a base station and a receiver) and inverts the model to regenerate an originally transmitted signal (x) from a received signal (h). To calculate the coefficients of an MMSE equalizer, it is necessary to solve a linear system whose size is at least equal to the channel length. This can be done, for example, by inverting the received signal covariance matrix (whose size is equal to the channel delay spread). However, these channel inversion calculations may consume most of the resources of a digital signal processor (DSP) chip in a wireless receiver. A Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) channel equalizer is an optimal linear equalizer in terms of mean squared error (MSE). To avoid the above problem, the coefficients of a reduced-rank MMSE equalizer can be calculated by inverting a matrix whose size is less than that of the covariance matrix. The size of the smaller matrix is known as the “rank”. With this approach, the length of the equalizer remains the same, but the number of degrees of freedom to be optimized is reduced. The performance of a channel equalizer is dependent on its rank (or number of optimized coefficients in its channel model R). Reduced-rank MMSE equalizers where studied by S. Chowdhury et al. (in  Proc.  43 rd IEEE Midwest Symp. on Circuits and Systems , 2000). In these receivers, the number of taps to be optimized is limited to D (D&lt;N). This allows a reduction in complexity and in some cases accelerated convergence. 
         [0004]    HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) is an evolution of the third generation mobile telecommunications protocol UMTS (Universal mobile telecommunication system) which can achieve data rates of up to 14 mega bits per second (Mbps). However, even with reduced-rank MMSE equalizers, the increased data rates of the HSDPA protocol are proving difficult to achieve. French Patent Application FR0105268 (and S. Burykh and K. Abed-Meraim,  EURASIP Journal on Applied Signal Processing  12 (2002), pp. 1387-1400), describe a method of adapting the rank of a reduced-rank filter to attain a target Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) in “short” code CDMA. However, in data packet networks (like HSDPA) the measure of performance is throughput (not SINR) and the codes are not “short” because of the presence of a scrambling code. 
         [0005]    In addition to the above problem, since throughput depends on the detection of many symbols of a same packet, the throughput will flatten after a certain rank (known as the limit rank). Beyond this point, further increases in rank produce no increases in throughput. Thus, even if SINR continues to increase, throughput does not. Referring to the example depicted in  FIG. 2 , the equalizer has a limit rank of four. In other words, in this example, there is no need to increase the rank of the equalizer beyond four, because the throughput of the equalizer remains substantially the same even with further increases in rank. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    According to the invention there is provided a an estimator of the throughput of a channel equalizer, a Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) channel equalizer optimizer, method of optimizing the rank of a Minimum Mean Squared Error (MMSE) channel equalizer. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    An embodiment of the invention is herein described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures in which: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a communication between as base station and a wireless receiver; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a graph of a relative throughout of a conventional reduced rank MMSE equaliser as a function of its rank; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of the equalizer adaptor of the present embodiment within a wireless receiver in communication with a base station; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart of the operation of a method of adapting a channel equalizer in accordance with the present embodiment in determining the minimum equalizer rank necessary to attain a predefined target throughput; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a flow chart of the operation of the method of adapting a channel equalizer in accordance with the present embodiment to determine the limit rank of the equaliser. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0013]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , an equalizer adaptor  30  of the present embodiment is provided within a wireless receiver  32  comprising a reduced rank equalizer  34  (or an equalizer in the case of downlink long code CDMA) and a decoding component  36 . In use, the equalizer adaptor  30  adapts the rank of the reduced rank equalizer  34  to attain a target throughput using the statistics of Positive Acknowledge (ACK) and negative Acknowledge (NACK) messages sent by the wireless receiver  32  to a base station  38 . 
         [0014]    More particularly, on receipt of a packet from the base station  38 , the decoding component  36  (of the wireless receiver  32 ) attempts to decode the packet, and if successful, transmits a positive Acknowledge (ACK) message to the base station  38 . Similarly, if the decoding component  36  is not successful, it transmits a Negative Acknowledge (NACK) message to the base station  38 . Over a period of time and for a given data rate, it is clear that if no NACKs are received by the base station  38 , then the throughput from the base station  38  to the wireless receiver  32 , is at a maximum since all the packets transmitted by the base station  38  have been successfully decoded by a wireless receiver  32 . Whereas, if the base station  38  receives only NACK messages, the throughput is zero since the wireless receiver  32  has not successfully decoded any packets. Thus, in between these two extremes, the throughput between a base station  38  and a wireless receiver  32  can be estimated from the number of NACKs (or the number of ACKs) received by the base station  38 . Accordingly, the equalizer adaptor  30  is in communication with the decoding component  36  to receive the ACK/NACK messages transmitted to the base station  38 . Depending on the statistics of the relative ratio of ACK to NACK messages, the equalizer adaptor  30  adapts the rank of the equalizer  34 . 
         [0015]    The equalizer adaptor  30  solves two problems, namely:
       (a) determining the minimum rank necessary to attain a predefined target throughput; and   (b) determining the limit rank of the equalizer (or reduced rank equalizer).       
 
       Problem 1: Determining the Minimum Rank to Attain a Target Throughput 
       [0018]    Referring to  FIG. 4 , before commencing the operation of the equalizer adaptor, a target throughput (to for example, satisfy the demands of the telecommunications protocol being used) is established. Once communication occurs between the base station and wireless receiver, the equalizer adaptor receives  40  ACK/NACK messages from the decoding component of the wireless receiver. The equalizer adaptor counts  42  the number of NACK and ACK messages received over a pre-defined number of CDMA slots. If  44  the number of NACK messages exceeds a pre-defined threshold, the equalizer adaptor increases  46  the rank of the equalizer. Similarly, if  48  the number of NACK messages is less than another pre-defined threshold, the equalizer adaptor reduces  50  the rank of the equalizer. 
         [0019]    The pseudo-code for these operations is as follows: 
         [0000]                                            Maximum Throughput=A.           Initial RANK = D           Target Throughput= 0.5-0.6 A (for example)           Start receiving HSDPA.           Each T slots, calculate the statistics of ACK and NACKs,           If Number of NACKs &gt;50%,             Increase the equalizer rank             D=D+1;           Else if number of NACKs &lt;40%             Decrease the equalizer rank.             D=D−1;           End                        
This approach will allow a receiver to operate within the range 50%-60% of maximum throughput, while “minimizing” the equalizer rank (and thus the complexity)
 
         [0020]    It will also be recognised that the above optimisation procedure could also be implemented on the basis of the amount of time elapsed until a required number of ACK or NACK messages is received. In this case, the step of increasing or decreasing the equalizer rank is performed conditionally upon the elapsed time in question. 
       Problem 2: Determining the Limit Rank 
       [0021]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , in a first step, a first rank for the equalizer is established (not shown). Once communication occurs between the base station and wireless receiver, the equalizer adaptor receives  52  ACK/NACK messages from the decoding component of the wireless receiver. The equalizer adaptor counts  54  the number of NACK and ACK messages received over a pre-defined number of CDMA slots and calculates  55  a first throughput of the equaliser therefrom. 
         [0022]    The rank of the equalizer is then increased  56  by a predefined amount and on further communication between the base station and wireless receiver, the equalizer adaptor receives further  58  ACK/NACK messages from the decoding component of the wireless receiver. The equalizer adaptor counts  60  the number of NACK and ACK messages received over a pre-defined number of CDMA slots and calculates  62  a second throughput of the equaliser therefrom. 
         [0023]    The equalizer adaptor compares  64  the first and second throughputs. If a significant difference is found between the two throughputs, the rank of the equalizer is increased again  56  and the resulting throughput compared  64  against the previous throughput; and the rank of the equalizer incremented  56  again if substantial improvement in throughput is achieved. These steps of incrementing the rank of the equalizer and comparing the resulting throughputs of the equalizer based thereon are cyclically repeated until no further substantial increase in throughput is achieved  66  with increases in the rank of the equalizer. 
         [0024]    The pseudo-code for this approach is as follows: 
         [0000]                                            D= Initial RANK = 1           Start receiving HSDPA.           Each T slots, calculate the statistics of ACK and NACKs for rank D.           Increase D.           a) Calculate the statistics of ACK and NACKs for rank D+1             If NACK(D)=NACK(D+1) (approximately equal)               Decrease D.             Else               Increase D             End           Go to a)                        
This approach will allow us to converge to the smallest rank giving the maximum throughput. More generally, the above approach enables the dynamic setting of the rank of the equalizer to avoid wasting computational resources of the wireless receiver, since the setting of this parameter is a key for balancing performance vs. consumption or vs. capabilities of the receiver. Further, it will be appreciated that the above operations of the equalizer adaptor are not incompatible with the prior art methods and could in fact be combined therewith.
 
         [0025]    It will be recognised that as in the previous optimisation procedure, the present procedure for determining the limit rank of an equaliser could also be implemented on the basis of the amount of time elapsed until a required number of ACK or NACK messages is received. In this case, the step of increasing or decreasing the equaliser rank is performed conditionally upon the elapsed time in question. 
         [0026]    Modifications and alterations may be made to the above without departing from the scope of the invention.