Patent Publication Number: US-2007115910-A1

Title: Radio communication system and transmitter

Description:
This application is a Divisional of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/473,169 filed on Sep. 29, 2003, and for which priority is claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 120. Application Ser. No. 10/473,169 is the national phase of PCT International Application No. PCT/JP02/12766 filed on Dec. 5, 2002, under 35 U.S.C. § 371. The entire contents of each of the above-identified applications are hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD  
      The present invention relates to a radio communication system including a mobile phone, and a transmitter that constitutes the radio communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a radio communication system and a transmitter, which use a plurality of carriers or a plurality of SCPC (single channel per carrier) carriers for an uplink.  
     BACKGROUND ART  
      A mobile communication system generally includes a base station and a mobile terminal. Each of the base station and the mobile terminal has a transmitting function and a receiving function. In general, a radio link from a transmitter of the base station to a receiver of the mobile terminal is called a “downlink”, and a radio link from a transmitter of the mobile terminal to a receiver of the base station is called an “uplink”.  
       FIG. 10  is a schematic diagram of a conventional mobile communication system. The conventional mobile communication system includes a base station  13 , an antenna for the base station  14 , a mobile terminal  15 , and an antenna for the mobile terminal  16 . The base station  13  transmits a signal to the mobile terminal  15  for a downlink, and receives a signal from the mobile terminal  15  for an uplink, via the base station antenna  14 . The mobile terminal  15  transmits a signal to the base station  13  for an uplink, and receives a signal from the base station for a downlink, via the mobile terminal antenna  16 .  
       FIG. 11  is a timing chart of an uplink of a TDMA (time division multiple access) system.  FIG. 12  illustrates frequency bands of an uplink and a downlink in the system shown in  FIG. 11 . The TDMA system is also called a TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)/TDMA system including the uplink and the downlink. The system operations are explained in detail in “TDMA Communications”, written by Heiichi Yamamoto, et al. (Edition of IEICE (The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers), Chapter 2, 1989).  
       FIG. 11  illustrates a state in which six users (i.e., channels) use the same frequency at the same time by dividing a time frame. For example, in frame #A, a communication is conducted based on a time division from #A 0  to #A 5 . In a case of a downlink based on the TDM system, a single base station transmits signals based on the time division. Therefore, there is no influence of a relative timing error attributable to a distance. However, in a case of an uplink based on the TDMA system, since a plurality of different mobile terminals communicates with the base station simultaneously, and distances between the base station and each of mobile terminals are different, a reception timing in a reception channel (i.e., burst) at the base station becomes different. Therefore, since it is necessary to secure an assumed difference between a maximum delay time and a minimum delay time as a guard time in providing services, a time width that each mobile terminal can utilize becomes narrower than ⅙ of a frame length.  
      Although the problem can be relieved to a certain extent if transmission timing is controlled in each mobile terminal based on a time alignment processing, the processing is quite complicated. Furthermore, the frequency arrangement of an uplink and a downlink based on the TDM/TDMA system is a single signal spectrum as shown in  FIG. 12 .  
       FIG. 13  is a block diagram of a communication from a transmitter to a receiver, comprising a transmission signal input terminal  1 , a transmitter  2 , a transmitter antenna  4 , a receiver  5 , a receiver antenna  6 , and a modulator  100 .  FIG. 14  illustrates a relation between a transmission signal and a reception signal in a frequency domain in the communication shown in  FIG. 13 .  
      The modulator  100  of the transmitter  2  modulates a signal that is input through the transmission signal input terminal  1 . The transmitter  2  transmits the modulated signal via the transmitter antenna  4 . The signal receives a phase change or an amplitude change due to a fading or the like. The receiver antenna  6  receives the signal, and the receiver  5  demodulates the received signal. When a delay time due to a reflection is ignorable as compared to a symbol period, the reception signal shows the same spectrum as that of the transmission signal, as shown in  FIG. 14 , although there is a slight variation in the electric field. In other words, when the same data are transmitted in the #A 0  burst and the #A 1  burst, and even when the receiver combines the two burst signals, it is not possible to effectively suppress a level fluctuation due to the fading.  
       FIG. 15  is another block diagram of communication from a transmitter to a receiver, comprising a transmitter  2 A, a first transmitter antenna  4 A, a second transmitter antenna  4 B, a first modulator  100 A, and a second modulator  100 B.  FIG. 16  illustrates a relation between a transmission signal and a reception signal in the frequency domain in the communication shown in  FIG. 15 .  
      The modulator  100 A and the modulator  100 B of the transmitter  2 A modulate a signal that is input through the transmission signal input terminal  1 , respectively. The transmitter  2 A transmits the modulated signals through the transmitter antennas  4 A and  4 B, respectively. The two signals receive a phase change or an amplitude change in different forms due to the fading or the like. The receiver antenna  6  receives the signals, and the receiver  5  demodulates the received signals. In this case, the signals transmitted from the transmitter antennas  4 A and  4 B receive different fading influences, respectively. The receiver antenna  6  receives the signals in a combined state. As a result, an average electric field of the received signal increases. The signals after being combined have characteristics of a flat fading, in a similar manner to a case that a single antenna transmits the signal. Therefore, it is not possible to make use of a diversity effect.  
      Therefore, when a delay time due to a reflection is ignorable as compared to a symbol period, the reception signal shows the same spectrum as that of the transmission signal as shown in  FIG. 16 , in a similar manner to that shown in  FIG. 14 , although there is a slight variation in the electric field. In other words, when the same data are transmitted in the #A 0  burst and the #A 1  burst, and even when the receiver combines the two burst signals, it is not possible to effectively suppress the level fluctuation due to the fading.  
      According to the conventional mobile communication system, unless a complex processing like the time alignment is employed, the frame utilization efficiency is deteriorated due to the guard time. Even when an arrangement is employed that limits the number of users who can utilize the mobile communication system and transmits the same data through a plurality of channels in parallel, it is not possible to make use of the diversity effect. In other words, with the conventional mobile communication system, it is difficult to realize high capacity and high quality communications due to the above reasons.  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide a radio communication system and a transmitter, which can realize high capacity and high quality communications without employing a complex time alignment processing.  
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION  
      It is an object of the present invention to solve at least the problems in the conventional technology.  
      The radio communication system according to one aspect of the present invention includes a base station, and a plurality of mobile terminals that communicate with the base station, wherein a time division multiplexing system is applied for a downlink from the base station to the mobile terminals, and a single channel per carrier system is applied for an uplink from the mobile terminals to the base station.  
      The radio communication system according to another aspect of the present invention includes a structure that allocates single channel per carrier carriers with different frequencies between mobile terminals to an uplink from mobile terminals to a base station.  
      The radio communication system according to still another aspect of the present invention includes a transmitter having a plurality of transmission antennas and a receiver having a mechanism to perform a diversity reception, wherein the transmitter further comprises a plurality of multi-modulators that allocate same transmission data to a plurality of carriers, combine all transmission signals obtained by weighting each of the carriers, and output combined transmission signals, wherein at least one of the weight values for the same transmission data is different between the multi-modulators in the weighting processing of the carriers.  
      The radio communication system according to still another aspect of the present invention includes a transmitter having a plurality of transmission antennas and a receiver having a mechanism to perform a diversity reception, wherein the transmitter further comprises a plurality of multi-modulators that allocate same transmission data to a plurality of carriers, combine all transmission signals obtained by weighting each of the carriers, and output combined transmission signals, wherein at least one of the weight values for the same transmission data is different between the multi-modulators in the weighting processing of the carriers, and adds a delay to at least one of the same data.  
      The radio communication system according to still another aspect of the present invention includes a transmitter having a plurality of transmission antennas, wherein the transmitter further comprises an encoder that encodes transmission data at a predetermined encoding rate, and a plurality of multi-modulators that allocate predetermined encoding data of a higher encoding rate than that of an encoding series that the encoder outputs to a plurality of carriers, combine all transmission signals obtained by weighting each carrier, and output combined transmission signals, wherein at least one of the weight values for the predetermined encoding data is different between the multi-modulators in the weighting processing of the carriers.  
      The transmitter according to still another aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of multi-modulators that allocate the same transmission data to a plurality of carriers, combine the whole transmission signals obtained after weighting the carriers, and output the signals after the combining, wherein at least one of the weight values for the same transmission data is different between the multi-modulators in the weighting processing of the carriers.  
      The transmitter according to still another aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of multi-modulators that allocate same transmission data to a plurality of carriers, combine all transmission signals obtained by weighting each of the carriers, and output combined transmission signals, wherein at least one of the weight values for the same transmission data is different between the multi-modulators in the weighting processing of the carriers, and adds a delay to at least one of the same data.  
      The transmitter according to still another aspect of the present invention includes an encoder that encodes transmission data at a predetermined encoding rate, and a plurality of multi-modulators that allocate predetermined encoding data of a higher encoding rate than that of an encoding series that the encoder outputs to a plurality of carriers, combine all transmission signals obtained by weighting each carrier, and output combined transmission signals, wherein at least one of the weight values for the predetermined encoding data is different between the multi-modulators in the weighting processing of the carriers.  
      The other objects, features and advantages of the present invention are specifically set forth in or will become apparent from the following detailed descriptions of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates frequency bands of a downlink and an uplink in a communication system according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a frame structure of a specific SCPC carrier of the uplink shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a transmitter in a radio communication system according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of a multi-modulator;  
       FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a data conversion control circuit  8  according to a second embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 6  illustrates an example of modulation by a multi-modulator;  
       FIG. 7  illustrates another example of modulation by the multi-modulator;  
       FIG. 8  illustrates still another example of modulation by the multi-modulator;  
       FIG. 9  is a schematic diagram of a data conversion control circuit  8  according to a third embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 10  is a schematic diagram of a conventional mobile communication system;  
       FIG. 11  is a timing chart of an uplink in a TDMA system;  
       FIG. 12  illustrates frequency bands of a downlink and an uplink in the TDMA system;  
       FIG. 13  illustrates a communication from a transmitter to a receiver;  
       FIG. 14  illustrates frequency bands of a transmission signal and a reception signal in the condition shown in  FIG. 13 ;  
       FIG. 15  illustrates a communication from another transmitter to a receiver;  
       FIG. 16  illustrates frequency bands of a transmission signal and a reception signal in the condition shown in  FIG. 15 ;  
       FIG. 17  is a schematic diagram of a radio communication system according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 18  is a schematic diagram of a data conversion control circuit  8  according to the fourth embodiment;  
       FIG. 19  illustrates a puncture method according to the fourth embodiment; and  
       FIG. 20  illustrates a puncture method according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION  
      The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
      First, a radio communication system according to the first embodiment will be explained.  FIG. 1  shows a relationship between a frequency region of an uplink and a frequency region of a downlink in a communication system according to the present invention.  FIG. 2  shows a frame structure of a specific SCPC carrier of the uplink shown in  FIG. 1 . A structure of the communication system according to the present invention is similar to that of the conventional technique ( FIG. 13  and  FIG. 15 ) explained above.  
      In the present embodiment, a normal TDM system is used for the downlink, and an SCPC (single channel per carrier) system that allocates a single channel to each carrier is employed for the uplink. In other words, a plurality of carriers is prepared, and one radio carrier is allocated to one communication channel. While a maximum number of six users can utilize the SCPC system, it is also possible to arrange such that one user utilizes a plurality of SCPC carriers.  
      When the SCPC system is used for the uplink as explained above, even when delays of signals transmitted from the users are different, only reception timings of the frames in the SCPC carriers are different as shown in  FIG. 2 . Therefore, it is not necessary to introduce a guard time.  
      In other words, in the present embodiment, based on the utilization of the SCPC system for the uplink, it is not necessary to introduce a complex processing like time alignment. Therefore, it becomes possible to simply and speed up the processing. Further, in the present embodiment, signals do not arrive in burst, but arrive continuously. Therefore, it becomes easy to estimate a frequency error and bit timing. Consequently, it becomes possible to substantially improve demodulation precision.  
      A radio communication system according to the second embodiment will be explained below.  FIG. 3  shows a structure of a transmitter in the radio communication system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 3, 2B  denotes a transmitter, and  3 A and  3 B denote first and second multi-modulators respectively. Constituent portions similar to those in the first embodiment are attached with identical reference numerals, and their explanation will be omitted. Functions described below with reference to  FIG. 3  are limited to only the concept of functions that play important roles in the present invention. In the present embodiment, while two multi-modulators are used for the sake of convenience of the explanation, the number is not limited to this, and three or more multi-modulators may be used.  
       FIG. 4  shows an example of the multi-modulator. In  FIG. 4, 8  denotes a data conversion control circuit,  9 - 1 ,  9 - 2 , . . . , and  9 -N denote first, second, . . . , and N-th sub-modulators respectively,  10 - 1 ,  10 - 2 , . . . , and  10 -N denote first, second, . . . , and N-th weighting circuit respectively,  11  denotes a combining circuit, and  12  denotes a multiple modulation signal output terminal.  
       FIG. 5  shows one example of the data conversion control circuit  8  according to the second embodiment. In  FIG. 5, 17  denotes a serial-to-parallel conversion circuit,  18 - 1 ,  18 - 2 , etc. denote first, second, and other copying circuits respectively, and  19 - 1 ,  19 - 2 ,  19 - 3 ,  19 - 4 , . . . , and  19 -N denote first, second, third, fourth, . . . , and N-th sub-modulation signal output terminals respectively. As shown in the drawing, the sub-modulation signal output terminals ( 19 - 1  to  19 -N) correspond to outputs from the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit  17  or outputs from the copying circuits. While each copying circuit has two outputs in this example, the number of outputs is not limited to this, and each copying circuit may have three or more outputs. In this case, each copying circuit outputs a plurality of the same data.  
      The operation of the radio communication system according to the second embodiment shown in  FIG. 3  will be explained below. In the transmitter, the plurality of multi-modulators (two including  3 A and  3 B in this example) modulates a signal input to the transmission signal input terminal  1 . The transmitter transmits the modulated signals using the plurality of transmitter antennas (two including  4 A and  4 B in this example).  
      The operation of the multi-modulators ( 3 A, and  3 B) will be explained in detail below. In each multi-modulator, first, the data conversion control circuit  8  carries out a serial-to-parallel conversion and a copying of a signal that the transmission signal input terminal  1  receives. The data conversion control circuit  8  outputs results of the processing to the sub-modulators ( 9 - 1  to  9 -N). Specifically, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit  17  converts the signal that the transmission signal input terminal  1  receives, into a plurality of parallel signals. The serial-to-parallel conversion circuit  17  outputs a part of the parallel signals to some of the sub-modulation signal output terminals (i.e., some of  19 - 1  to  19 -N). The copying circuits  18 - 1 ,  18 - 2 , etc. copy received parallel signals, generate a plurality of the same signals (two signals in this example), and output the same signals to the rest of the sub-modulation signal output terminals. Based on this, a plurality of parallel data of the same data is generated.  
      The sub-modulators ( 9 - 1  to  9 -N) receive the parallel data, and modulate the data in mutually different modulation frequencies. The weighting circuits ( 10 - 1  to  10 -N) corresponding to the individual sub-modulators give weights (including complex numbers) to the received modulated signals. In the present embodiment, in the weighting of the carriers, at least one of weights for the same data is different between the multi-modulators. The combining circuit  11  combines the whole signals after the weighting, and outputs the combined result as a multiple modulation signal from the multiple modulation signal output terminal  12 .  
      Examples of modulation that the multi-modulators ( 3 A and  3 B) carry out will be explained below in detail. In an example shown in  FIG. 6 , the multi-modulator  3 A adds weights other than zero to the zero, second, and fourth SCPC carriers respectively, and adds a weight of zero to the first, third, and fifth SCPC carriers respectively. On the other hand, the multi-modulator  3 B adds weights other than zero to the first, third, and fifth SCPC carriers respectively, and adds a weight of zero to the zero, second, and fourth SCPC carriers respectively. In this case, reception levels of the signals transmitted from the two transmitter antennas are different when it is assumed that the antennas are not correlated. In other words, the reception level of the zero SCPC carrier and the reception level of the first SCPC carrier vary independently.  
      Therefore, when the same data are transmitted to the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier by using the outputs from the copying circuits shown in  FIG. 5 , the receiver diversity combines the reception signals of the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier. As a result, it is possible to obtain a diversity gain of two branches.  
      In  FIG. 7 , as a next example of modulation that the multi-modulators ( 3 A and  3 B), the multi-modulator  3 A adds weights other than zero to the zero, second, third, and fifth SCPC carriers respectively, and adds a weight of zero to the first and fourth SCPC carriers respectively. On the other hand, the multi-modulator  3 B adds weights other than zero to the first, second, fourth, and fifth SCPC carriers respectively, and adds a weight of zero to the zero and third SCPC carriers respectively. In this case, reception levels of the signals transmitted from the two transmitter antennas are different when it is assumed that the antennas are not correlated. In other words, the reception levels of the zero SCPC carrier, the first SCPC carrier, and the second SCPC carrier respectively vary independently.  
      Therefore, when the same data are transmitted to the zero SCPC carrier, the first SCPC carrier, and the second SCPC carrier, the receiver diversity combines the reception signals of the zero SCPC carrier, the first SCPC carrier, and the second SCPC carrier. As a result, it is possible to obtain a diversity gain of three branches.  
      A next example of modulation that the multi-modulators ( 3 A and  3 B) carry out will be explained. In  FIG. 8 , the multi-modulator  3 A adds weights other than zero to all the SCPC carriers. On the other hand, the multi-modulator  3 B adds weights to the zero, second, and fourth SCPC carriers respectively, and adds inverted weights to the first, third, and fifth SCPC carriers respectively. In this case, reception levels of the signals transmitted from the two transmitter antennas are different when it is assumed that the antennas are not correlated. In other words, the reception level of the zero SCPC carrier and the reception level of the first SCPC carrier vary independently.  
      Therefore, when the same data are transmitted to the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier by using the outputs from the copying circuits shown in  FIG. 5 , the receiver diversity combines the reception signals of the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier. As a result, it is possible to obtain a diversity gain of two branches.  
      As explained above, according to the present embodiment, at least one of the weights for the same data is different between the multi-modulators in the weighting of the carriers. Based on this, it is possible to obtain a larger diversity gain. Consequently, it is possible to realize communications in high quality.  
      A radio communication system according to the third embodiment will be explained below.  FIG. 9  shows one example of the data conversion control circuit  8  according to the third embodiment. Delay circuits  20 - 1 ,  20 - 2 , etc. shown in  FIG. 9  denote first, second and other delay circuits respectively. In the present embodiment, as shown in the drawing, the sub-modulation signal output terminals ( 19 - 1  to  19 -N) correspond to outputs from the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit  17 , outputs from the copying circuits, or outputs from the delay circuits. While each copying circuit has two outputs in this example, the number of outputs is not limited to this, and each copying circuit may have three or more outputs. While a delay circuit is disposed at one of the outputs of each copying circuit, the position is not limited to this, and whether the delay circuit is to be disposed at each output of the copying circuit can be suitably changed. In this case, each copying circuit outputs a plurality of the same data, and the output timing is different depending on presence or absence of a delay circuit.  
      The structures of the radio communication system (refer to  FIG. 3 ) and the multi-modulators (refer to  FIG. 4 ) according to the present embodiment are similar to those in the second embodiment. Therefore, corresponding portions are attached with identical reference numerals, and their explanation will be omitted. The data conversion control circuit  8  having a structure different from that of the second embodiment will be explained in detail below.  
      First, the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit  17  converts the signal that the transmission signal input terminal  1  receives, into a plurality of parallel signals. The serial-to-parallel conversion circuit  17  outputs a part of the parallel signals to some of the sub-modulation signal output terminals (i.e., some of  19 - 4  afterward). The copying circuits  18 - 1 ,  18 - 2 , etc. copy received parallel signals, generate a plurality of the same signals (two signals in this example), and output one of the copy signals to the corresponding sub-modulation signal output terminal ( 19 - 1 ,  19 - 3 , etc.). The copying circuits  18 - 1 ,  18 - 2 , etc. transmit the other copy signal to the delay circuits ( 20 - 1 ,  20 - 2 , etc.) respectively. The delay circuits add a predetermined delay to the received copy signals, and output the delay-added copy signals to the sub-modulation signal output terminals ( 19 - 2 ,  19 - 4 , etc.). In the present embodiment, a delay is added to at least one of the same data. Based on this, the same data of different timings are generated.  
      The sub-modulators ( 9 - 1  to  9 -N) receive the parallel data, and modulate the data in mutually different modulation frequencies. The weighting circuits ( 10 - 1  to  10 -N) corresponding to the individual sub-modulators give weights (including complex numbers) to the received modulated signals. In the present embodiment, in the weighting of the carriers, at least one of weights for the same data is different between the plurality of multi-modulators. The combining circuit  11  combines the whole signals after the weighting, and outputs the combined result as a multiple modulation signal from the multiple modulation signal output terminal  12 .  
      Examples of modulation that the multi-modulators ( 3 A and  3 B) carry out will be explained below in detail. A weighting processing is carried out in a similar manner to that according to the second embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 . Then, reception levels of the zero SCPC carrier and the second SCPC carrier, and reception levels of the first SCPC carrier and the third SCPC carrier vary independently. In the present embodiment, the same data are transmitted to the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier. The same signals having the same delay are transmitted to the second SCPC carrier and the third SCPC carrier. In this case, the copying circuit has four outputs, and delay circuits are disposed at two outputs out of the four.  
      When a fading time variation is fast, a sufficient time difference is given by inserting a delay. Consequently, the fading becomes independent. The receiver diversity combines the reception signals of the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier, and the reception signals of the second SCPC carrier and the third SCPC carrier for which delay time is compensated. As a result, it is possible to obtain a diversity gain of four branches.  
      A next example of modulation that the multi-modulators ( 3 A and  3 B) carry out will be explained. A weighting processing is carried out in a similar manner to that according to the second embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 . Then, reception levels of the zero SCPC carrier, the first SCPC carrier, and the second SCPC carrier vary independently. In the present embodiment, the same data are transmitted to the zero SCPC carrier, the first SCPC carrier, and the second SCPC carrier. The same signals having the same delay are transmitted to the third SCPC carrier, the fourth, and the fifth SCPC carrier. In this case, the copying circuit has three outputs, and delay circuits are disposed at the three outputs.  
      Therefore, when the receiver diversity combines the reception signals of the zero SCPC carrier, the first SCPC carrier, and the second SCPC carrier, and the reception signals of the third SCPC carrier, the fourth SCPC carrier, and the fifth SCPC carrier for which a delay time is compensated, it is possible to obtain a diversity gain of six branches.  
      As explained above, according to the present embodiment, at least one of the weights for the same data is different between the plurality of multi-modulators in the weighting of the carriers. Further, a delay is added to at least one of the same data. Based on this, it is possible to obtain a much larger diversity gain. Consequently, it is possible to realize communications in higher quality.  
      A radio communication system according to the fourth embodiment will be explained below.  FIG. 17  shows a structure of the radio communication system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. In  FIG. 17, 30  denotes transmission data, and  31  denotes a channel encoder. Constituent portions similar to those in the first to third embodiments are attached with identical reference numerals, and their explanation will be omitted. Internal structures of the multi-modulators  3 A and  3 B are similar to those of the multi-modulators explained in the second embodiment with reference to  FIG. 4 .  
       FIG. 18  shows a structure of the data conversion control circuit  8  according to the fourth embodiment. In  FIG. 18 ,  32 - 1 ,  32 - 2 ,  32 - 3 ,  32 - 4 , etc. denote first, second, third, fourth, and other puncture circuits respectively, and  33 - 1 ,  33 - 2 ,  33 - 3 , . . . , and  33 -N denote first, second, third, fourth, . . . , and N-th sub-modulation signal output terminals respectively. Constituent portions similar to those in the second embodiment explained with reference to  FIG. 5  are attached with identical reference numerals, and their explanation will be omitted.  
      The operation of the radio communication system according to the fourth embodiment shown in  FIG. 17  will be explained below. The channel encoder  31  carries out a channel encoding to the transmission data  30  to correct an error, and outputs the encoded data. The plurality of multi-modulators ( 3 A,  3 B, etc.) modulate the encoded data, and transmit the modulated data from the corresponding transmitter antennas ( 4 A,  4 B, etc.).  
      The operation of each multi-modulator will be explained below. In each multi-modulator, the data conversion control circuit  8  carries out a serial-to-parallel conversion, a copying, and a puncture processing to the encoded data, and outputs the processed data to the plurality of sub-modulators ( 9 - 1  to  9 -N). The data conversion control circuit  8  generates a plurality of parallel data including the same data. The sub-modulators ( 9 - 1  to  9 -N) receive the parallel data, and modulate the data in mutually different modulation frequencies. The weighting circuits ( 10 - 1  to  10 -N) corresponding to the individual sub-modulators give weights (including complex numbers) to the received modulated signals. In the present embodiment, in the weighting of the carriers, at least one of weights for the same data is different between the plurality of multi-modulators. The combining circuit  11  combines the whole signals after the weighting, and outputs the combined result as a multiple modulation signal from the multiple modulation signal output terminal  12 .  
      The operation of the data conversion control circuit  8  that becomes the characteristics of the present embodiment will be explained below. In the data conversion control circuit  8  according to the present embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 18 , first, the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit  17  converts the encoded data into parallel signals. The serial-to-parallel conversion circuit  17  outputs a part of the parallel signals to the copying circuits  18 - 1 ,  18 - 2 , etc., and outputs the rest of the parallel signals to the sub-modulation signal output terminals (some of  33 - 1  to  33 -N). The copying circuits  18 - 1 ,  18 - 2 , etc. copy the received parallel signals thereby to generate a plurality of the same signals  34 - 1 ,  34 - 2 ,  34 - 3 ,  34 - 4 , etc. (in this example, one copying circuit generates two same signals), and output these signals to the individual puncture circuits  32 - 1 ,  32 - 2 ,  32 - 3 ,  32 - 4 , etc. The puncture circuits  32 - 1 ,  32 - 2 ,  32 - 3 ,  32 - 4 , etc. output the signals after the puncture processing to the rest of the sub-modulation signal output terminals. As a result, it is possible to generate the parallel data including the same data.  
       FIG. 19  shows a puncture method that each puncture circuit carries out according to the fourth embodiment. The channel encoder  31  channel encodes the transmission data  30  that is before the encoding, at an encoding rate of one third, and outputs the encoded data. For the channel encoding, a turbo code or a convolutional code is used.  
      Next, the serial-to-parallel conversion processing and the copying processing are carried out, thereby to generate the signals  34 - 1 ,  34 - 2 ,  34 - 3 ,  34 - 4 , etc. To simplify the explanation, it is assumed that “the encoded data=the signal  34 - 1 =the signal  34 - 2 ”. In other words, the serial-to-parallel conversion circuit  17  outputs the encoded data as it is.  
      Next, the puncture circuits  32 - 1  and  32 - 2  carry out a puncture processing to the same signals  34 - 1  and  34 - 2  in mutually different patterns, and generate sub-modulation signals. Specifically (refer to  FIG. 19 ), the puncture circuit  32 - 1  deletes bits of gray portions, and outputs a data series of white portions and black portions. On the other hand, the puncture circuit  32 - 2  deletes the bits of the black portions, and outputs a data series of the white portions and the gray portions. Consequently, the encoding rate after the puncture becomes one half.  
      After executing the above puncture method, as shown in  FIG. 6 , the multi-modulator  3 A adds weights other than zero to the zero (corresponding to the output from the sub-modulation signal output terminal  33 - 1 ), second, and fourth SCPC carriers respectively, and adds the weight of zero to the first, third, and fifth SCPC carriers respectively. On the other hand, the multi-modulator  3 B adds weights other than zero to the first (corresponding to the output from the sub-modulation signal output terminal  33 - 2 ), third, and fifth SCPC carriers respectively, and adds the weight of zero to the zero, second, and fourth SCPC carriers respectively. In this case, reception levels of the signals transmitted from the two transmitter antennas are different when it is assumed that the antennas are not correlated. In other words, the reception levels of the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier vary independently.  
      Therefore, when the receiver diversity combines the reception signals of the same data portions (i.e., the white portions in  FIG. 19 ) of the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier, it is possible to obtain a diversity gain of two branches. The receiver does not carry out the diversity combining of the different data portions (i.e., the black portions and the gray portions in  FIG. 19 ) of the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier. The receiver carries out the decoding of all the data portions (i.e., the white portions, the black portions, and the gray portions) that are included in the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier.  
      As explained above, in the present embodiment, the transmitter transmits a signal at the encoding rate of one half, and the receiver decodes the received signal at the encoding rate of one third. Therefore, it is possible to improve both the diversity gain and the encoding gain.  
      A radio communication system according to the fifth embodiment will be explained below. The present embodiment is different from the fourth embodiment in that only a puncture method that the puncture circuit carries out is different. Only the puncture method that is different from that of the fourth embodiment will be explained below.  
       FIG. 20  shows the puncture method according to the fifth embodiment. The puncture circuit  32 - 1  deletes the gray portions of the encoded data, and outputs a data series of the white portions. On the other hand, the puncture circuit  32 - 2  deletes the white portions of the encoded data, and outputs a data series of the gray portions. Therefore, an encoding rate after the puncture becomes two thirds.  
      As explained above, in the present embodiment, as the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier do not include the same data portion, it is not possible to obtain a diversity gain. On the other hand, the transmitter transmits the signal at the high encoding rate of the two thirds, and the receiver decodes this reception signal at the encoding rate of one third by using both the zero SCPC carrier and the first SCPC carrier. As a result, it is possible to substantially improve the encoding rate.  
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY  
      As explained above, the radio communication system according to the present invention is useful for a mobile communication system like a mobile phone. Particularly, the radio communication system is suitable for a transmitter of the radio communication system that uses a plurality of SCPC carriers for an uplink.