Patent MX-2016014037-A (MX)
Title: Method and apparatus for determining propagation delay in a communications network.
Inventor: STEFANO RUFFINI
IPC: H04L12/26
Filed: 2014-05-08
Abstract: A method and apparatus for determining propagation delay of a first path and or of a second path which connect a first transceiver unit associated with a first clock to a second transceiver unit associated with a second clock in a communications network. The apparatus comprises a control unit configured to cause the first transceiver unit to transmit a first signal to the second transceiver unit over the first path and to receive a reply to the first signal from the second transceiver unit over the second path, and to transmit a second signal to the second transceiver unit over the second path and to receive a reply to the second signal from the second transceiver unit over the first path. The apparatus further comprises a receiving unit configured to receive a first time reference representing the time of transmission of the first signal from the first transceiver unit, a second time reference representing the time of receipt of the first signal at the second transceiver unit, a third time reference representing the time of transmission of the reply to the second signal from the second transceiver unit and a fourth time reference representing the time of receipt of the reply to the second signal at the first transceiver unit. The apparatus further comprises a determining unit configured to determine a propagation delay of the first path and or of the second path using the first time reference, the second time reference, the third time reference and the fourth time reference. A method and apparatus for determining propagation delay of a first path and or of a second path which connect a first transceiver unit associated with a first clock to a second transceiver unit associated with a second clock in a communications network. The apparatus comprises a control unit configured to cause the first transceiver unit to transmit a first signal to the second transceiver unit over the first path and to receive a reply to the first signal from the second transceiver unit over the second path, and to transmit a second signal to the second transceiver unit over the second path and to receive a reply to the second signal from the second transceiver unit over the first path. The apparatus further comprises a receiving unit configured to receive a first time reference representing the time of transmission of the first signal from the first transceiver unit, a second time reference representing the time of receipt of the first signal at the second transceiver unit, a third time reference representing the time of transmission of the reply to the second signal from the second transceiver unit and a fourth time reference representing the time of receipt of the reply to the second signal at the first transceiver unit. The apparatus further comprises a determining unit configured to determine a propagation delay of the first path and or of the second path using the first time reference, the second time reference, the third time reference and the fourth time reference. The present invention relates to a network device (1) for joint decoding of received signals in a cellular wireless communication system (50) comprising a plurality of spatially distributed base stations (10) interconnected to said network device (1) by means of at least one backhaul interface having a round-trip delay being larger than a transmission interval for a HARQ cycle of a HARQ algorithm employed by the cellular wireless communication system (50), said network device (1) comprising a processor ()adapted to: receive a plurality of baseband signals (BBSs) corresponding to uplink signals received by said plurality of base stations (10) in uplink radio links, said uplink signals being associated with an uplink transmission (ULT) from a user device (20); and decode said uplink transmission (ULT) from said user device (20) by combining said plurality of baseband signals (BBSs). Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a corresponding method, a computer program, and a computer program product.