Abstract:
A method, apparatus and computer program product for predicting received signal strength in a wireless mobile receiver. The invention bounds the range of allowed values for a next predicted signal. The bounded prediction compensates for erroneous values from multipath fading. The predicted signal strength is used to set the mobile receiver amplifier gain to the desired level.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to wireless telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of predicting received signal strength in a discontinuous radio transmission system.  
           [0003]    2. Background Art  
           [0004]    The present invention is directed particularly to discontinuous radio transmission systems. One such system in common use is known as GSM. In 1982, a study group called the Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSM) was formed to study and develop a pan-European public land mobile system. In 1990, phase I of the GSM specifications were published. Commercial service was started in mid-1991, and by 1993 there were 36 GSM networks in 22 countries. Although standardized in Europe, GSM is not only a European standard. Over 200 GSM networks (including DCS1800 and PCS1900) are operational in 110 countries around the world. In the beginning of 1994, there were 1.3 million subscribers worldwide, which had grown to more than 55 million by October 1997. With North America making a delayed entry into the GSM field with a derivative of GSM called PCS1900, GSM systems exist on every continent, and the acronym GSM now aptly stands for Global System for Mobile communications.  
           [0005]    The GSM network can be divided into three broad parts. The mobile station is carried by the subscriber. The base station subsystem controls the radio link with the mobile station. The network subsystem, the main part of which is the mobile services switching center, performs the switching of calls between the mobile users, and between mobile and fixed network users.  
           [0006]    Since radio spectrum is a limited resource shared by all users, a method must be devised to divide up the bandwidth among as many users as possible. The method chosen by GSM is a combination of Time- and Frequency-Division Multiple Access (TDMA/FDMA). One or more carrier frequencies are assigned to each base station. Each of these carrier frequencies is then divided in time, using a TDMA scheme. The fundamental unit of time in this TDMA scheme is called a burst period and it lasts 15/26 ms. Eight burst periods are grouped into a TDMA frame, which forms the basic unit for the definition of logical channels. One physical channel is one burst period per TDMA frame.  
           [0007]    Minimizing co-channel interference in a cellular system allows better service for a given cell size, or the use of smaller cells, thus increasing the overall capacity of the system. Discontinuous transmission (DTX) is a mode of operation that takes advantage of the fact that a person speaks less that 40 percent of the time in normal conversation, by turning the transmitter off during silence periods. Reducing the transmission time through DTX reduces co-channel interference. An added benefit of DTX is that power is conserved at the mobile unit.  
           [0008]    Another method used to conserve power at the mobile station is discontinuous reception. The paging channel, used by the base station to signal an incoming call, is structured into sub-channels. Each mobile station needs to listen only to its own sub-channel. In the time between successive paging sub-channels, the mobile can go into sleep mode, when almost no power is used.  
           [0009]    A common implementation of a mobile station receiver has an analog section that amplifies the received signal such that it can be quantized with minimal quantization or saturation noise. The amount of amplification required is inversely proportional to the received signal power.  
           [0010]    In a DTX system the mobile station does not know the signal strength of the next received signal. The signal strength or received power must be predicted to correctly set the level of receiver amplification. Using the last received signal power to set receiver amplification could cause excessive saturation or quantization noise.  
           [0011]    At the assigned 900 MHz frequency band, GSM radio waves bounce off objects such as buildings, hills, cars, airplanes, etc. Thus many reflected signals, each with a different phase, can reach an antenna. The interference caused by these reflected signals is known as multipath fading.  
           [0012]    One of the variables affecting received power is the multipath fading that occurs in the GSM radio frequency channel. Multipath fading follows a Rayleigh distribution, if only locally reflected waves are taken into account, and therefore multipath fading is frequently called Rayleigh fading.  
           [0013]    Rayleigh fading has the property of having larger attenuation, but for a shorter duration, than gain relative to its mean. The previously received signal may have been subject to large attenuation (known as a deep fade) because of Rayleigh fading. Therefore, this power level is not a good estimate of the next signal to be received.  
           [0014]    What is needed is a simple and reliable method to predict the power of a next received signal. The method should be applicable to a discontinuous transmission system and mitigate the previously discussed errors.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0015]    The invention comprises a method and apparatus to predict the next received signal strength in a discontinuous transmission system. The method measures the currently received signal power, then calculates the difference between the currently received power and a predicted power. This difference is compared with a preselected value. If the difference is greater than the preselected value, the next predicted power is set equal to the current predicted power minus the preselected value. If the difference is less than the preselected value, the next predicted power is set equal to the current received power. The next predicted power is used to set the gain of an amplifier.  
           [0016]    The predictor comprises a slew limit selector, a comparator, a delay and a gain selector. The predictor sets a positive and a negative slew limit on the next predicted power based on an allowed change between consecutively received signals. The output of the predictor, next predicted power, is used to set receiver gain for the next received signal.  
           [0017]    The invention also comprises a computer usable medium having computer readable program code means for causing an application program to predict a next received signal power, and then set the gain of a low noise amplifier based on the next predicted power.  
           [0018]    The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following, more particular description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0019]    In the figures, the left most digit of each reference number indicates the number of the figure in which the number is first referenced.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 illustrates the fading characteristics of a mobile radio signal.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2A illustrates details of negative slew limited signal prediction.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2B illustrates details of positive slew limiting signal prediction.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3A illustrates an embodiment of the predictor circuit.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3B illustrates an embodiment of the gain selector  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method of predicting a next received signal and setting an amplifier gain.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating details of determining a next predicted power where a lower slew limit is used.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating details of determining a next predicted power where an upper slew limit is used. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0028]    [0028]FIG. 1 illustrates a mobile radio signal  100 . Mobile radio signal  100  is artificially characterized by two components based on natural phenomena. A local mean  110  represents the variation due to terrain contour between the base station and the mobile station. A multipath fading  120  is caused by the radio waves reflected from surrounding buildings and other structures. Multipath fading  120  is often called Rayleigh fading. A deep fade  130  is caused by characteristics of a Rayleigh distribution and can cause sudden, short duration decreases in the mobile radio received signal power.  
         [0029]    One method of predicting a next received signal would assume that the power in the next received signal is equal to the previous signal&#39;s power without Rayleigh fading plus the expected value of the Rayleigh fading attenuation. Unfortunately the mobile station cannot accurately estimate the power in the previously received signal without fading by simply taking the mean of the powers in a number of previously received signals. The number of signals sampled would be so large that the mean would no longer be close to the actual value because, even without Rayleigh fading, the power in the received signal changes with time. However, if the predictor is only allowed to decrease a predetermined limit per update, then a deep fade would cause the predicted signal to lose only the predetermined value of gain in the next receive period, rather than the full magnitude of the deep fade.  
         [0030]    An algorithm limiting a change in output regardless of the change in input, is known as slew-rate limiting. The example above, where the algorithm limits the predictor from decreasing too quickly is known as negative slew rate limiting. The algorithm can also limit the predictor output from increasing too quickly. This is known as positive slew rate limiting. The positive slew rate limit can be greater than the negative limit to allow the predictor algorithm to return from deep fade  130  or a series of deep fades to a value closer to local mean  110  after fewer prediction iterations.  
         [0031]    The optimal value of a slew limit depends upon the time between signal transmissions, properties of the radio channel, the mobile station&#39;s speed, and other factors that cause signal power to change over time. If the positive slew limit is set too large, then the receiver saturation noise will increase. If the positive slew limit is too small, then not enough amplification is applied by the mobile station, increasing the quantization noise. If the negative slew limit is set too large, then the receiver quantization noise will increase and if the negative slew limit is set too small, then the receiver saturation noise will increase.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 2A illustrates negative slew rate limiting  200  on mobile radio signal  100 . At time T 0  a previously predicted power  220  is delayed by a time )t to be a current predicted power  240  at a time T 1 . At time T 1  a current received power  230  is measured. Current received power  230  is compared with current predicted power  240  to determine a power difference )P. A negative slew limit SL N  is predetermined and set to the value required to minimize receiver saturation and quantization noise. If power difference )P is greater than negative slew limit SL N  then a next predicted power  250  for a time T 2  is set equal to current predicted power  240  less negative slew limit SL N . If power difference )P is less than or equal to negative slew limit SL N  then next predicted power  250  is set equal to current received power  230 .  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 2B illustrates positive slew rate limiting  201  on mobile radio signal  100 . At time To previously predicted power  260  is delayed by a time )t to be current predicted power  262  at time T 1 . At time T 1  current received power  264  is measured. Current received power  264  is compared with current predicted power  262  to determine power difference )PN. Positive slew limit SL P  is predetermined and set to a value allowing next predicted power  266  to rapidly recover towards signal mean  110  after a series of deep fades. If power difference )PN is greater than positive slew limit SL P  then next predicted power  266  for time T 2  is set equal to current predicted power  262  plus positive slew rate limit SL P . If power difference )PN is less than or equal to positive slew limit SL P  then next predicted power  266  is set equal to current received power  264 .  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 3A illustrates a predictor circuit  300 , for predicting received signal power. Predictor  300  comprises a comparator  350  coupled to a current received power input  310 , to a current predicted power input  320 , to a next predicted power output  360  and to a slew limit selector  330 . Next predicted power output  360  is coupled to an amplifier gain selector  340  and a delay  370 . Delay  370  is coupled to current predicted power input  320 . Slew limit selector  330  sends a signal representing positive slew limit SL P  and a signal representing negative slew limit SL N  to comparator  350 . Comparator  350  subtracts current received power  230  at current received power input  310  from current predicted power  240  or  262  at current predicted power input  320 . The result is power difference )P or )PN.  
         [0035]    If current received power  230  is less than current predicted power  240  and power difference )P is greater than negative slew limit SL N , comparator  350  sets next predicted power  250  equal to current predicted power  240  less negative slew limit SL N . Comparator  350  sends next predicted power  250  to next predicted power output  360 . If power difference )P is less than or equal to negative slew limit SL N  comparator sets next predicted power  250  equal to current received power  240  and sends current received power  240  to next predicted output  360  and gain selector  340 .  
         [0036]    If current received power  264  is greater than current predicted power  262  and power difference )PN is greater than positive slew limit SL P , comparator  350  sets next predicted power  266  equal to current predicted power  262  plus positive slew limit SL P  and sends next predicted power  266  to next predicted power output  360  and gain selector  340 . If power difference )PN is less than or equal to positive slew limit SL P , comparator  350  sets next predicted power  266  equal to current received power  264  and sends next predicted power  266  to next predicted power output  360  and gain selector  340 .  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 3B illustrates details of amplifier gain selector  340 . Amplifier gain selector  340  comprises an amplifier input  344  coupled to the input of a low noise amplifier LNA 1. The output of LNA 1 is coupled to the input of an LNA  2 , the output of LNA 2 is coupled to the input of an LNA 3 and the output of LNA 3 is coupled to the input of an LNA 4. The output of LNA 4 is coupled to an amplifier output  346 . Next predicted power  250  or  266  is coupled into the gain state inputs of LNA 1, LNA 2, LNA 3, and LNA 4. Next predicted power  250  or  266  sets the gain state of each amplifier. The aggregate gain of LNA 1, LNA 2, LNA 3, and LNA 4 determines the gain between amplifier input  344  and amplifier output  346 . For example, if the required receiver gain for the next received radio signal was  10 , next predicted power  250  or  266  would set the gain state of LNA 1 to 1, LNA 2 to 1, LNA 3 to 1, and LNA 4 to 10. The resulting receiver gain between  344  and  346  is 10. Other embodiments of gain selector  340  have a different number of gain stages. The gain of these alternate embodiments is responsive to next predicted power  250  or  266 .  
         [0038]    A preferred embodiment of predictor  300  comprises comparator  350  and slew limit selector  330  implemented as software functions. Additional embodiments can be implemented using hardware components to provide the functionality disclosed. One of skill in the art will understand how to provide the disclosed functionality in either hardware and software.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 4 illustrates a method of predicting a next received power  400  according to the present invention. In step  410 , the power of a current received signal is measured. In step  420 , the current received power is compared to a current predicted power. In step  430 , a next predicted power is determined. In step  440 , the gain of a low noise amplifier is set based on the next predicted power.  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 5 illustrates details of step  430 . In step  510 , if the result of step  410  is positive then step  515  is performed. If the result of step  410  is negative then step  520  is performed. In step  520 , an upper slew limit is set. In step  515 , the result of step  410  is compared to the negative slew limit. If the result of step  410  is greater than the negative slew limit then step  530  is performed. If the result of step  410  is less than the negative slew limit then step  540  is performed. In step  530 , the nest predicted power is set equal to the current predicted power less a negative slew limit. In step  540 , the next predicted power is set equal to the current received power.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 6 illustrates details of step  520 . In step  610 , the results of step  410  are compared with a positive slew limit. If the result of step  410  is greater than a positive slew limit, then perform step  620 . If the results of step  410  are less than the positive slew limit then perform step  630 . In step  620 , set the next predicted power to equal the current predicted power plus a positive slew limit. In step  630 , set the next predicted power equal to the current received power.  
         [0042]    A slew limited predictor provides a simple and effective way to predict the next received power. The predictor does not require a continuous signal to predict a future received signal and therefore can be used in a discontinuous communication system. The future signal strength is used to set receiver amplifier gain, eliminating the need, in non-predictive systems, for costly and complex circuitry to measure the received power and attempt to quickly set the required receiver gain as data is received. Finally, a slew limited predictor reduces the complexity and cost of the receiver amplifiers. Slew limiting bounds the predicted signal. Therefore, the receiver amplifiers do not need a sufficient dynamic bandwidth to amplify the entire potential range of received signal strengths, just the bounded range. This allows less expensive amplifiers to be used in the receiver.  
         [0043]    While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.  
         [0044]    For example, in addition to configurations using hardware, implementation of the invention may be embodied in software, disposed, for example, in a computer usable (e.g., readable) medium configured to store the software (i.e., a computer readable program code). The program code causes the enablement of the functions or fabrication, or both, of the systems and techniques disclosed herein. For example, this can be accomplished through the use of general programming languages (e.g., C or C++), hardware description languages (HDL) including Verilog HDL, VHDL, and so on, or other available programming and/or circuit (i.e., schematic) capture tools. The program code can be disposed in any known computer usable medium including semiconductor, magnetic disk, optical disk (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM) and as a computer data signal embodied in a computer usable (e.g., readable) transmission medium (e.g., carrier wave or any other medium including digital, optical, or analog-based medium). As such, the code can be transmitted over communication networks including the Internet and intranets.  
         [0045]    It is understood that the functions accomplished and/or structure provided by the systems and techniques described above can be represented in a core (e.g., a microprocessor core) that is embodied in program code and may be transformed to hardware as part of the production of integrated circuits. Also, the system and techniques may be embodied as a combination of hardware and software. Thus, the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.