Multi-dimensional signal encoding

• US 10,341,161 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2017
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TM IP Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: TM IP Holdings LLC
• Inventors: Gerdes, Richard C., Woodsum, Harvey C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lam, Kenneth T
• Application Number:
  US15/816,940
• Publication Number:
  US 20190013990A1
• Time in Patent Office: 592 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/0008 arrangements for allowing a transmitter or receiver to use more than one type of modulation negotiating modulation type for two-way transmission paths H04L5/1453
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/122 using digital generation of carrier signals digital function generators G06F1/02, H04L17/10; generating pulses having stepped portions using digital techniques H03K4/026
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2092 with digital generation of the modulated carrier (does not include the modulation of a digitally generated carrier)
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/34 Amplitude- and phase-modulated carrier systems, e.g. quadrature-amplitude modulated carrier systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/36 Modulator circuits; Transmitter circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/38 Demodulator circuits; Receiver circuits

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for communicating signals using a multi-dimensional symbol constellation. In one example, a process for modulating a carrier signal includes the actions of mapping data to symbols of a multi-dimensional symbol constellation that includes at least three dimensions, each dimension of the constellation represented by a respective modulation signal. The dimensions of the constellation include first and second dimensions each of which are represented by respective in-phase modulation values and quadrature phase modulation values of a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal, and a third dimension represented by a transpositional modulation (TM) signal. The method further includes modulating a carrier signal with the TM signal and the QAM signal.

Claims

1. A transmitter comprising:

at least one processor; and

a data store coupled to the at least one processor having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

mapping data to symbols of a multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprising at least three dimensions, each dimension of the constellation represented by a respective modulation signal, the dimensions including;

first and second dimensions each of which are represented by respective in-phase modulation values and quadrature phase modulation values of a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal, and

a third dimension represented by phase values of a transpositional modulation (TM) signal; and

modulating a carrier signal with the TM signal and the QAM signal.

2. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the TM signal is a first TM signal,

wherein the carrier signal includes an in-phase portion and a quadrature-phase portion, and

wherein a fourth dimension of the multi-dimensional symbol constellation is represented by a second TM signal, and wherein modulating the carrier signal with the TM signal comprises:

modulating the one of the in-phase portion of the carrier signal with one of the first TM signal or the second TM signal, and

modulating the quadrature-phase portion of the carrier signal with the other one of the first TM signal or the second TM signal.

3. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein a fourth dimension of the multi-dimensional symbol constellation is represented by amplitude values of the TM signal.

4. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprises a plurality of layers of two-dimensional QAM constellations and modulation values of the TM signal represent particular QAM constellation layers.

5. The transmitter of claim 4, wherein the multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprises at least four layers of 16-ary QAM constellations.

6. The transmitter of claim 4, wherein the multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprises at least eight layers of 256-ary QAM constellations.

7. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein adjacent symbols in the multi-dimensional constellation are encoded using Gray coding.

8. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise encoding the data using an error correction coding scheme before mapping the data to symbols of the multi-dimensional constellation.

9. A transmitter comprising:

at least one processor; and

a data store coupled to the at least one processor having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

mapping bits of an input data stream to symbols of a multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprising at least three dimensions, symbol coordinates in two of the at least three dimensions represented by in-phase and quadrature phase coordinates of a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) constellation and symbol coordinates in a third dimension represented by a phase value of a transpositional modulation (TM) signal; and

modulating a carrier signal with the TM signal and with the in-phase and quadrature phase coordinates of the QAM signal.

10. The transmitter of claim 9, wherein the multi-dimensional constellation comprises four dimensions, and

wherein the respective sets of coordinates each further include a fourth coordinate associated with an amplitude value of the TM signal.

11. The transmitter of claim 9, wherein the multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprises a plurality of layers of two-dimensional QAM constellations and modulation values of the TM signal represent particular QAM constellation layers.

12. The transmitter of claim 9 wherein the operations further comprise encoding the data using an error correction coding scheme before mapping the data to symbols of the multi-dimensional constellation.

13. A transmitter comprising:

at least one processor; and

a data store coupled to the at least one processor having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

mapping data to symbols of a multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprising at least three dimensions, each dimension of the constellation represented by a respective modulation signal, the dimensions including;

first and second dimensions each of which are represented by respective in-phase modulation values and quadrature phase modulation values of a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal, and

a third dimension represented by amplitude values of a transpositional modulation (TM) signal; and

modulating a carrier signal with the TM signal and the QAM signal.

14. The transmitter of claim 13, wherein a fourth dimension of the multi-dimensional symbol constellation is represented by phase values of the TM signal.

15. The transmitter of claim 13, wherein the multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprises a plurality of layers of two-dimensional QAM constellations and modulation values of the TM signal represent particular QAM constellation layers.

16. The transmitter of claim 15, wherein the multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprises at least four layers of 16-ary QAM constellations.

17. The transmitter of claim 13, wherein adjacent symbols in the multi-dimensional constellation are encoded using Gray coding.

18. The transmitter of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise encoding the data using an error correction coding scheme before mapping the data to symbols of the multi-dimensional constellation.

19. A transmitter comprising:

at least one processor; and

a data store coupled to the at least one processor having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising;

mapping bits of an input data stream to symbols of a multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprising at least three dimensions, symbol coordinates in two of the at least three dimensions represented by in-phase and quadrature phase coordinates of a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) constellation and symbol coordinates in a third dimension represented by an amplitude value of a transpositional modulation (TM) signal; and

modulating a carrier signal with the TM signal and with the in-phase and quadrature phase coordinates of the QAM signal.

20. The transmitter of claim 19, wherein the multi-dimensional constellation comprises four dimensions, and

wherein the respective sets of coordinates each further include a fourth coordinate associated with a phase value of the TM signal.

21. The transmitter of claim 19, wherein the multi-dimensional symbol constellation comprises a plurality of layers of two-dimensional QAM constellations and modulation values of the TM signal represent particular QAM constellation layers.

22. The transmitter of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise encoding the data using an error correction coding scheme before mapping the data to symbols of the multi-dimensional constellation.