Adaptive, multimode rake receiver for dynamic search and multipath reception

• US 20020181559A1
• Filed: 05/31/2001
• Published: 12/05/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cornami, Inc.
• Original Assignee: QuickSilver Controls, Inc.
• Inventors: Heidari-Bateni, Ghobad, Plunkett, Robert Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 6,618,434 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/148
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/711 the interference being multi-path interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7113 Determination of path profile
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7117 Selection, re-selection, allocation or re-allocation of paths to fingers, e.g. timing offset control of allocated fingers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/712 Weighting of fingers for combining, e.g. amplitude control or phase rotation using an inner loop
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/70709 with discontinuous detection

Abstract

The present invention concerns a new type of rake receiver, namely, a multimode rake receiver, which may be included within either a mobile station or a base station, and which has dynamic pilot signal searching and multipath reception and combining capability, for CDMA, cdma2000, W-CDMA, or other mobile communication systems. The adaptive, multimode rake receiver includes a network interface, a plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers, and a multimode processor. Each adaptive multimode rake finger and the multimode processor are responsive to first configuration information (a first mode signal) to configure for a path reception functional mode and are further responsive to second configuration information (a second mode signal) to configure for a searcher functional mode, providing the multimode rake receiver with acquisition, traffic, and idle modes. In the preferred embodiment, the multimode rake receiver is implemented using a new category of integrated circuitry for adaptive or reconfigurable computing, providing a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements coupled to an interconnection network, to form adaptive and reconfigurable multimode rake fingers and a multimode processor, for a plurality of different functional modes, including pilot signal searching and multipath reception and combination.

Claims

1. A multimode rake receiver, comprising:

a network interface;

a plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers operably coupled to the network interface, each adaptive multimode rake finger of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers responsive to a first mode signal to configure for a path reception functional mode and further responsive to a second mode signal to configure for a searcher functional mode; and

a multimode processor operably coupled to the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers, the multimode processor responsive to the first mode signal to configure for the path reception functional mode and further responsive to the second mode signal to configure for the searcher functional mode.

2. The multimode rake receiver of claim 1, wherein when the multimode rake receiver is in an acquisition mode, all adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode.

3. The multimode rake receiver of claim 1, wherein when the multimode rake receiver is in a traffic mode:

a first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and a first portion of the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode; and

a second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the path reception functional mode and a second portion of the multimode processor is configured for the path reception functional mode.

4. The multimode rake receiver of claim 3, wherein the second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for path reception functional mode corresponds to a number of multipaths determined by the first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers and the first portion of the multimode processor when configured for the searcher functional mode.

5. The multimode rake receiver of claim 3;

wherein the first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for the searcher functional mode and the second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for path reception functional mode are dynamically determined based upon at least one channel-dependent parameter selected from a plurality of channel-dependent parameters, the plurality of channel-dependent parameters comprising a pilot signal relative power level, a number of identified multipaths, a number of identified base stations, received traffic signal-to-noise ratio, and received traffic error rate.

6. The multimode rake receiver of claim 1, wherein when the multimode rake receiver is in an idle mode:

a first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and a first portion of the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode;

a second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the path reception functional mode and a second portion of the multimode processor is configured for the path reception functional mode; and

a third subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers and a third portion of the multimode processor are configured for comparatively lower power consumption.

7. The multimode rake receiver of claim 1 wherein the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers further comprise:

a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements including a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture.

8. The multimode rake receiver of claim 7, wherein the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers further comprise:

an interconnection network coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the interconnection network operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for the path reception functional mode in response to first configuration information, and the interconnection network further operative to reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for the searcher functional mode in response to second configuration information.

9. The multimode rake receiver of claim 7, wherein the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements further comprise:

a pseudorandom noise sequence and orthogonal code generator;

a timing adjuster operably coupled to the pseudorandom noise sequence and orthogonal code generator;

a pilot signal correlator operably coupled to the pseudorandom noise sequence and orthogonal code generator;

a phase estimator operably coupled to the pilot signal correlator;

a channel correlator operably coupled to the pseudorandom noise sequence and orthogonal code generator and the timing adjuster; and

a phase adjuster operably coupled to the channel correlator.

10. The multimode rake receiver of claim 9, wherein a plurality of outputs, the plurality of outputs including a first output from the timing adjuster, a second output from the pilot signal correlator, and a third output from the channel correlator, and a fourth output from the phase adjuster, are further operably coupled to a multiplexer, the multiplexer responsive to the first configuration information to select the fourth output from the plurality of outputs to provide the path reception functional mode and the multiplexer responsive to the second configuration information to select the first output, the second output, and the third output from the plurality of outputs to provide the searcher functional mode.

11. The multimode rake receiver of claim 7, wherein the first fixed architecture and the second fixed architecture are selected from a plurality of specific architectures, the plurality of specific architectures including functions for memory, addition, multiplication, complex multiplication, subtraction, configuration, reconfiguration, control, input, output, and field programmability.

12. The multimode rake receiver of claim 1, wherein the multimode processor further comprises:

a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements including a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture.

13. The multimode rake receiver of claim 12, wherein the multimode processor further comprises:

an interconnection network coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the interconnection network operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for the path reception functional mode in response to the first configuration information, and the interconnection network further operative to reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for the searcher functional mode in response to second configuration information.

14. The multimode rake receiver of claim 12, wherein the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements further comprise:

a multipath combiner; and

a mode and path assignment processor.

15. The multimode rake receiver of claim 12, wherein the first fixed architecture and the second fixed architecture are selected from a plurality of specific architectures, the plurality of specific architectures including functions for memory, addition, multiplication, complex multiplication, subtraction, configuration, reconfiguration, control, input, output, and field programmability.

16. The multimode rake receiver of claim 1, wherein the multimode rake receiver is embodied within a mobile station.

17. The multimode rake receiver of claim 1, wherein the multimode rake receiver is embodied within a base station.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first fixed architecture and the second fixed architecture are selected from a plurality of specific architectures, the plurality of specific architectures including functions for memory, addition, multiplication, complex multiplication, subtraction, configuration, reconfiguration, control, input, output, and field programmability.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the interconnection network reconfigurably routes data and control information between and among the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements.

21. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

a controller coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements and to the interconnection network, the controller operative to direct and schedule the configuration of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for the multipath reception functional mode and the reconfiguration of the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for the searcher functional mode.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

a memory coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements and to the interconnection network, the memory operative to store the first configuration information and the second configuration information.

23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein:

the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements and the interconnection network are configured to form a plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers and configured to form a multimode processor operably coupled to the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers;

each adaptive multimode rake finger of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers is responsive to the first configuration information to configure for the multipath reception functional mode and further responsive to the second configuration information to configure for the searcher functional mode; and

the multimode processor is responsive to the first configuration information to configure for the multipath reception functional mode and further responsive to second configuration information to configure for the searcher functional mode.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein when the apparatus is in an acquisition mode, all adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein when the apparatus is in a traffic mode:

a first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and a first portion of the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode; and

a second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the path reception functional mode and a second portion of the multimode processor is configured for the path reception functional mode.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for path reception functional mode corresponds to a number of multipaths determined by the first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers and the first portion of the multimode processor when configured for the searcher functional mode.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for the searcher functional mode and the second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for path reception functional mode are dynamically determined based upon at least one channel dependent parameter selected from a plurality of channel-dependent parameters, the plurality of channel-dependent parameters comprising a pilot signal relative power level, a number of identified multipaths, a number of identified base stations, received traffic signal-to-noise ratio, and received traffic error rate.

28. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein when the apparatus is in an idle mode:

a first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and a first portion of the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode;

a second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the path reception functional mode and a second portion of the multimode processor is configured for the path reception functional mode; and

a third subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers and a third portion of the multimode processor are configured for comparatively lower power consumption.

29. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements further comprise:

a pseudorandom noise sequence and orthogonal code generator;

a pilot signal correlator operably coupled to the pseudorandom noise sequence and orthogonal code generator;

a phase estimator operably coupled to the pilot signal correlator;

a timing adjuster operably coupled to the pseudorandom noise sequence and orthogonal code generator;

a channel correlator operably coupled to the pseudorandom noise sequence and orthogonal code generator and to the timing adjuster; and

a phase adjuster operably coupled to the channel correlator.

30. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements further comprise:

a multipath combiner; and

a mode and path assignment processor.

31. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the first fixed architecture and the second fixed architecture are selected from a plurality of specific architectures, the plurality of specific architectures including functions for memory, addition, multiplication, complex multiplication, subtraction, configuration, reconfiguration, control, input, output, and field programmability.

32. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

a second plurality of heterogeneous computational elements coupled to the interconnection network; and

wherein the interconnection network is further operative to configure the second plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for the multipath reception functional mode, to configure the second plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for the searcher functional mode, and to configure the second plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a third functional mode, the third functional mode selected from a plurality of functional modes, and the third functional mode being a non-rake reception mode.

33. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the apparatus is embodied within a mobile station.

34. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the apparatus is embodied within a base station.

36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:

in response to the first configuration information, configuring a multimode processor as a multipath combiner for the path reception functional mode to provide output data from the multipath reception of the incoming signal; and

in response to second configuration information, configuring the multimode processor for a searcher functional mode to select a preferred pilot signal from the plurality of pilot signal determinations from the incoming signal.

37. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

in an acquisition mode, configuring all adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers for the searcher functional mode and configuring the multimode processor is the searcher functional mode.

38. The method of claim 36, further comprising:

in a traffic mode, configuring a first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers for the searcher functional mode and configuring a first portion of the multimode processor for the searcher functional mode; and

in the traffic mode, configuring a second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers for the path reception functional mode and configuring a second portion of the multimode processor for the path reception functional mode.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for path reception functional mode corresponds to a number of multipaths determined by the first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers and the first portion of the multimode processor when configured for the searcher functional mode.

40. The method of claim 38;

wherein the first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for the searcher functional mode and the second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for path reception functional mode are dynamically determined based upon at least one channel dependent parameter selected from a plurality of channel-dependent parameters, the plurality of channel-dependent parameters comprising a pilot signal relative power level, a number of identified multipaths, a number of identified base stations, received traffic signal-to-noise ratio, and received traffic error rate.

41. The method of claim 36, wherein:

in an idle mode, configuring a first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers for the searcher functional mode and configuring a first portion of the multimode processor for the searcher functional mode;

in the idle mode, configuring a second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers for the path reception functional mode and configuring a second portion of the multimode processor for the path reception functional mode; and

in the idle mode, configuring a third subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers and configuring a third portion of the multimode processor for comparatively lower power consumption.

42. The method of claim 35, wherein the method occurs within a mobile station.

43. The method of claim 35, wherein the method occurs within a base station.

18. An apparatus for direct-sequence spread spectrum reception, the apparatus comprising:

a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements including a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture; and

an interconnection network coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the interconnection network operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a multipath reception functional mode in response to first configuration information, and the interconnection network further operative to reconfigure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements for a searcher functional mode in response to second configuration information.

35. A method for adaptive rake reception, the comprising:

receiving an incoming signal

in response to first configuration information, configuring a plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers for a path reception functional mode to provide multipath reception of the incoming signal; and

in response to second configuration information, configuring the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers for a searcher functional mode to provide a plurality of pilot signal determinations from the incoming signal.

44. An apparatus for direct-sequence spread spectrum code division multiple access wireless reception, the apparatus comprising:

a plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements including a first computational element and a second computational element, the first computational element having a first fixed architecture and the second computational element having a second fixed architecture, the first fixed architecture being different than the second fixed architecture; and

an interconnection network coupled to the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements, the interconnection network operative to configure the plurality of heterogeneous computational elements to form a plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers and to form a multimode processor operably coupled to the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein:

each adaptive multimode rake finger of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers is responsive to first configuration information to configure for a multipath reception functional mode and further responsive to second configuration information to configure for a searcher functional mode; and

the multimode processor is responsive to the first configuration information to configure for the multipath reception functional mode and further responsive to second configuration information to configure for the searcher functional mode.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein when the apparatus is in an acquisition mode, all adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode.

47. The apparatus of claim 45., wherein when the apparatus is in a traffic mode:

a first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and a first portion of the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode; and

a second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the path reception functional mode and a second portion of the multimode processor is configured for the path reception functional mode.

48. The apparatus of claim 47, wherein the first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for the searcher functional mode and the second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for path reception functional mode are dynamically determined based upon at least one channel dependent parameter selected from a plurality of channel-dependent parameters, the plurality of channel-dependent parameters comprising a pilot signal relative power level, a number of identified multipaths, a number of identified base stations, received traffic signal-to-noise ratio, and received traffic error rate.

49. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein when the apparatus is in an idle mode:

a first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and a first portion of the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode;

a second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the path reception functional mode and a second portion of the multimode processor is configured for the path reception functional mode; and

a third subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers and a third portion of the multimode processor are configured for comparatively lower power consumption.

50. A multimode rake receiver, comprising:

a network interface;

a plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers operably coupled to the network interface, each adaptive multimode rake finger of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers responsive to a first mode signal to configure for a path reception functional mode and further responsive to a second mode signal to configure for a searcher functional mode;

a multimode processor operably coupled to the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers, the multimode processor responsive to the first mode signal to configure for the path reception functional mode and further responsive to the second mode signal to configure for the searcher functional mode;

wherein when the multimode rake receiver is in an acquisition mode, all adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode;

wherein when the multimode rake receiver is in a traffic mode, a first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the searcher functional mode and a first portion of the multimode processor is configured for the searcher functional mode; and

a second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers of the plurality of adaptive multimode rake fingers are configured for the path reception functional mode and a second portion of the multimode processor is configured for the path reception functional mode; and

wherein the first subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for the searcher functional mode and the second subset of adaptive multimode rake fingers configured for path reception functional mode are dynamically determined based upon at least one channel-dependent parameter selected from a plurality of channel-dependent parameters, the plurality of channel-dependent parameters further comprising a pilot signal relative power level, a number of identified multipaths, a number of identified base stations, received traffic signal-to-noise ratio, and received traffic error rate.