System and method for channel bonding in multiple antenna communication systems

• US 20050105632A1
• Filed: 12/10/2004
• Published: 05/19/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/17/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Catreux-Erces, Severine, Winters, Jack, Roux, Pieter, Erceg, Vinko, Rooyen, Pieter Van
• Granted Patent: US 7,391,832 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/267
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0615 of weighted versions of same signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0842 Weighted combining
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0848 Joint weighting
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/42 in systems with time, space, frequency or polarisation diversity

Abstract

Systems and methods that provide channel bonding in multiple antenna communication systems are provided. In one embodiment, a method for signal transmission over a plurality of antennas of a transmitter may include, for example, one or more of the following: demultiplexing an input signal into a plurality of signal components; assigning each of the signal components to one of a plurality of logical channels; weighting each of the signal components with transmit baseband weight values; combining ones of the resultant weighted signal components to form a plurality of transmit weighted signals, each of the plurality of transmit weighted signals being assigned to one of the plurality of logical channels; and combining groups of the plurality of transmit weighted signals to form a plurality of output signals capable of being used to generate a plurality RF output signals.

Claims

1. A method for signal transmission over a plurality of antennas of a transmitter, comprising:

demultiplexing an input signal into a plurality of signal components;

assigning each of the signal components to one of a plurality of logical channels;

weighting each of the signal components with transmit baseband weight values;

combining ones of the resultant weighted signal components to form a plurality of transmit weighted signals, each of the plurality of transmit weighted signals being assigned to one of the plurality of logical channels; and

combining groups of the plurality of transmit weighted signals to form a plurality of output signals capable of being used to generate a plurality RF output signals.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of logical channels is of a uniform type selected from at least one of a frequency bandwidth, a time slot and a code number.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a first subset of the transmit baseband weight values are multiplied with ones of the signal components assigned to a first of the plurality of logical channels, each value within the first subset of the transmit baseband weight values being a function of propagation channel path gains corresponding to the first of the plurality of logical channels.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the input signal comprises a plurality of substreams created upon demultiplexing of a spatially-multiplexed input signal.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

weighting ones of the plurality of RF output signals in accordance with a set of transmit RF weighting values to generate a plurality of weighted RF output signals; and

combining ones of the weighted RF output signals into combined RF output signals transmitted through the plurality of antennas.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the set of transmit RF weighting values is computed to maximize, at a receiver adapted to receive the combined RF output signals, a signal-to-noise ratio characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the set of transmit RF weighting values is computed to minimize, at a receiver adapted to receive the combined RF output signals, a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the set of transmit RF weighting values is computed to maximize, at a receiver adapted to receive the combined RF output signals, a throughput capacity characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein the set of transmit RF weighting values is computed to minimize, at a receiver adapted to receive the combined RF output signals, a maximum of a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas for connection to the plurality of RF output signals, the subset of antennas being selected based upon a predefined selection criterion.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the predefined selection criterion comprises at least one of (i) maximizing, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a capacity or a signal-to-noise ratio characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels, and (ii) minimizing, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the predefined selection criterion comprises minimizing, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a maximum of a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the assigning comprises mixing each of the signal components in the RF domain with a signal of a frequency corresponding to a center frequency of one of the plurality of logical channels.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the assigning comprises mixing each of the signal components in the baseband domain with a signal of a frequency corresponding to a center baseband frequency of one of the plurality of logical channels.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of RF output signals comprises one of:

a code division multiple access signal, a single carrier signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal and an ultra-wideband signal.

16. A method for receiving a transmitted RF signal based on an input signal, the transmitted RF signal being received by a plurality of antennas of a receiver, the antennas being adapted to produce a corresponding plurality of receive RF signals in response to the transmitted RF signal, the method comprising:

splitting each of the plurality of received RF signals into a plurality of signal components;

identifying which one of a plurality of logical channels is assigned to each of the signal components;

weighting each of the signal components with receive baseband weight values;

combining ones of the resultant weighted signal components to form a plurality of receive weighted signals, each of the receive weighted signals being assigned to one of the plurality of logical channels; and

multiplexing the plurality of receive weighted signals to obtain an estimate of the input signal.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of logical channels is of a uniform type selected from at least one of a frequency bandwidth, a time slot and a code number.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein a first subset of the receive baseband weight values are multiplied with ones of the signal components assigned to a first of the plurality of logical channels, each value within the first subset of the receive baseband weight values being a function of propagation channel path gains corresponding to the first of the plurality of logical channels.

19. The method according to claim 16, further comprising:

weighting ones of the plurality of received RF signals in accordance with a set of receive RF weighting values to generate a plurality of weighted RF receive signals; and

combining ones of the weighted RF receive signals to form a set of combined RF receive signals.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the set of receive RF weighting values is computed to maximize, at the receiver, a signal-to-noise ratio characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the set of receive RF weighting values is computed to maximize, at the receiver, a capacity or a throughput characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein the set of receive RF weighting values is computed to minimize, at the receiver, a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein the set of receive RF weighting values are computed to minimize, at the receiver, a maximum of a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

24. The method according to claim 16, further comprising:

selecting a subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas of the receiver for connection to the plurality of receive RF signals, the subset of antennas being selected based upon a predefined selection criterion.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the predefined selection criterion comprises at least one of (i) maximizing, at the receiver, a capacity or a signal-to-noise ratio characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels, and (ii) minimizing, at the receiver, a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein the predefined selection criterion comprises minimizing, at the receiver, a maximum of a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

27. The method according to claim 16, further comprising:

filtering the plurality of receive RF signals utilizing a filter having a frequency bandwidth encompassing a set of bandwidths associated with the plurality of logical channels.

28. The method according to claim 16, wherein the identifying comprises mixing each of the signal components in the RF domain with a signal having a frequency corresponding to a center frequency of one of the logical channels.

29. The method according to claim 16, wherein the identifying comprises mixing each of the signal components in the baseband domain with a signal having a frequency corresponding to a center baseband frequency of one of the plurality of logical channels.

30. The method according to claim 16, wherein the transmitted RF signal comprises one of:

a code division multiple access signal, a single carrier signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal and an ultra-wideband signal.

31. A signal reception method for use within a receiver, the receiver comprising a plurality of antennas adapted to produce a corresponding plurality of receive RF signals in response to an incidence of a transmitted RF signal, the transmitted RF signal originating from an input signal comprising a set of spatially-multiplexed signals, the method comprising:

splitting each of the plurality of receive RF signals into a plurality of signal components;

identifying which one of a plurality of logical channels is assigned to each of the signal components;

weighting each of the signal components with receive baseband weight values;

combining ones of the resultant weighted signal components to form a plurality of receive weighted signals, each of the receive weighted signals being assigned to one of the plurality of logical channels and being associated with one of the spatially-multiplexed signals;

multiplexing a group of the plurality of receive weighted signals corresponding to each of the spatially-multiplexed signals to form a plurality of multiplexed received signals; and

multiplexing the plurality of multiplexed received signals to obtain an estimate of the input signal.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein each of the plurality of logical channels is of a uniform type selected from at least one of a frequency bandwidth, a time slot and a code number.

33. The method according to claim 31, wherein a first subset of the receive baseband weight values is multiplied with ones of the signal components assigned to a first of the plurality of logical channels, each value within the first subset of the receive baseband weight values being a function only of propagation channel path gains corresponding to the first of the plurality of logical channels.

34. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:

weighting ones of the plurality of received RF signals in accordance with a set of receive RF weighting values to generate a plurality of weighted RF receive signals; and

combining ones of the weighted RF receive signals to form a set of combined RF receive signals.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein the set of receive RF weighting values is computed to maximize, at the receiver, a signal-to-noise ratio characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

36. The method according to claim 34, wherein the set of receive RF weighting values is computed to maximize, at the receiver, a capacity or a throughput characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

37. The method according to claim 34, wherein the set of receive RF weighting values is computed to minimize, at the receiver, a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

38. The method according to claim 34, wherein the set of receive RF weighting values are computed to minimize, at the receiver, a maximum of a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

39. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:

selecting a subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas for connection to the plurality of received RF signals, the subset of antennas being selected based upon a predefined selection criterion.

40. The method according to claim 39, wherein the predefined selection criterion comprises at least one of (i) maximizing, at the receiver, a capacity or a signal-to-noise ratio characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels, and (ii) minimizing, at the receiver, a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

41. The method according to claim 39, wherein the predefined selection criterion comprises minimizing, at the receiver, a maximum of a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

42. The method according to claim 31, further comprising:

filtering the plurality of received RF signals utilizing a filter having a frequency bandwidth encompassing a set of bandwidths associated with the plurality of logical channels.

43. The method according to claim 31, wherein the identifying comprises mixing each of the signal components in the RF domain with a signal having a frequency corresponding to a center frequency of one of the logical channels.

44. The method according to claim 31, wherein the identifying comprises mixing each of the signal components in the baseband domain with a signal having a frequency corresponding to a center baseband frequency of one of the plurality of logical channels.

45. The method according to claim 31, wherein the transmitted RF signal comprises at least one of a code division multiple access signal, a single carrier signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed signal and an ultra-wideband signal.

46. A method of signal transmission over a plurality of antennas of a transmitter, comprising:

demultiplexing an input signal into a first plurality of signal components representative of a corresponding second plurality of spatially-multiplexed signals;

assigning each of the signal components to one of a plurality of logical channels within the RF domain to produce a plurality of assigned RF signals;

combining groups of the assigned RF signals corresponding to each of the second plurality of spatially-multiplexed signals to generate a second plurality of combined RF signals;

splitting each of the combined RF signals;

weighting the resultant split signals with a set of transmit weighting values to generate a plurality of transmit weighted RF signals; and

combining sets of the plurality of transmit weighted RF signals to form a plurality of RF output signals capable of being transmitted through the plurality of antennas.

47. The method according to claim 46, wherein each of the plurality of logical channels is of a uniform type selected from at least one of a frequency bandwidth, a time slot and a code number.

48. The method according to claim 46, wherein the set of transmit weighting values is computed to maximize, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a signal-to-noise ratio characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

49. The method according to claim 46, wherein the set of transmit weighting values is computed to minimize, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

50. The method according to claim 46, wherein the set of transmit weighting values is computed to maximize, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a throughput capacity characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

51. The method according to claim 46, wherein the set of transmit weighting values is computed to minimize, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a maximum of a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

52. The method according to claim 46, further comprising:

selecting a subset of antennas from the plurality of antennas for connection to the plurality of RF output signals, the subset of antennas being selected based upon a predefined selection criterion.

53. The method according to claim 52, wherein the predefined selection criterion comprises at least one of (i) maximizing, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a capacity or a signal-to-noise ratio characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels, and (ii) minimizing, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

54. The method according to claim 52, wherein the predefined selection criterion comprises minimizing, at a receiver adapted to receive the plurality of RF output signals, a maximum of a bit error rate characterizing an aggregated channel comprising the plurality of logical channels.

55. The method according to claim 46, wherein the assigning comprises mixing each of the analog signal components in the RF domain with a signal of a frequency corresponding to a center frequency of one of the plurality of logical channels.

56. A multi-antenna transmitter, comprising:

a demultiplexer arrangement configured to produce a plurality of signal components in response to an input signal;

a digital signal processor operatively coupled to the demultiplexer arrangement, the digital signal processor being adapted to perform the following;

assigning each of the signal components to one of a plurality of logical channels,

weighting each of the signal components with transmit baseband weight values,

combining ones of the resultant weighted signal components to form a plurality of transmit weighted signals, each of the plurality of transmit weighted signals being assigned to one of the plurality of logical channels, and

combining groups of the plurality of transmit weighted signals to form a plurality of baseband output signals; and

means for generating a set of RF output signals in response to the plurality of baseband output signals.

57. The transmitter according to claim 56, wherein each of the plurality of logical channels is of a uniform type selected from at least one of a frequency bandwidth, a time slot and a code number.

58. The transmitter according to claim 56, wherein the digital signal processor is adapted to multiply a first subset of the transmit baseband weight values with ones of the signal components assigned to a first of the plurality of logical channels, each value within the first subset of the transmit baseband weight values being a function only of propagation channel path gains corresponding to the first of the plurality of logical channels.

60. The transmitter according to claim 56, wherein the means for generating comprises at least one of (i) means for weighting ones of the plurality of RF output signals in accordance with a set of RF weighting values to generate a plurality of weighted RF output signals, and (ii) means for combining ones of the weighted RF output signals into combined RF output signals transmitted through the plurality of transmit antennas.

61. A multi-antenna receiver comprising a plurality of antennas adapted to produce a corresponding plurality of receive RF signals in response to an incidence of a transmitted RF signal originating from an input signal, the receiver comprising:

an RF processing arrangement adapted to split each of the plurality of received RF signals into a plurality of signal components and to identify which one of a plurality of logical channels is assigned to each of the signal components;

a digital signal processor coupled to the RF processing arrangement, the digital signal processor adapted to weight each of the signal components with receive baseband weight values and to combine ones of the resultant weighted signal components to form a plurality of receive weighted signals, each of the receive weighted signals being assigned to one of the plurality of logical channels; and

a multiplexer arrangement adapted to multiplex the plurality of receive weighted signals to obtain an estimate of the input signal.

62. The receiver according to claim 61, wherein each of the plurality of logical channels is of a uniform type selected from at least one of a frequency bandwidth, a time slot and a code number.

63. The receiver according to claim 61, wherein the digital signal processor is adapted to multiply a first subset of the receive baseband weight values with ones of the signal components assigned to a first of the plurality of logical channels, each value within the first subset of the receive baseband weight values being a function only of propagation channel path gains corresponding to the first of the plurality of logical channels.

64. The method according to claim 61, wherein the RF processing arrangement is adapted to perform at least one of (i) weighting ones of the plurality of received RF signals in accordance with a set of receive RF weighting values to generate a plurality of weighted RF receive signals, and (ii) combining ones of the weighted RF receive signals to form a set of combined RF receive signals.

65. A multi-antenna receiver comprising a plurality of antennas adapted to produce a corresponding plurality of received RF signals in response to an incidence of a transmitted RF signal, the transmitted RF signal originating from an input signal comprising a set of spatially-multiplexed signals, the receiver comprising:

an RF processing arrangement adapted to split each of the plurality of received RF signals into a plurality of signal components and to identify which one of a plurality of logical channels is assigned to each of the signal components;

a digital signal processor coupled to the RF processing arrangement, the digital signal processor adapted to weight each of the signal components with receive baseband weight values and to combine ones of the resultant weighted signal components to form a plurality of receive weighted signals, each of the receive weighted signals being assigned to one of the plurality of logical channels and being associated with one of the spatially-multiplexed signals;

a multiplexing arrangement coupled to the digital signal processor, the multiplexing arrangement being adapted (i) to multiplex a group of the plurality of receive weighted signals corresponding to each of the spatially-multiplexed signals to form a plurality of multiplexed received signals, and (ii) to multiplex the plurality of multiplexed received signals to obtain an estimate of the input signal.

66. A multi-antenna transmitter, comprising:

a demultiplexer arrangement adapted to demultiplex an input information signal into a first plurality of signal components representative of a corresponding second plurality of spatially-multiplexed signals;

an RF channelization arrangement coupled to the demultiplexer arrangement, the RF channelization arrangement being configured to assign each of the signal components to one of a plurality of logical channels within the RF domain to produce a plurality of assigned RF signals and to combine groups of the assigned RF signals corresponding to each of the second plurality of spatially-multiplexed signals to generate a second plurality of combined RF signals; and

an RF processing module coupled to the RF channelization arrangement, the RF processing module being adapted to perform the following;

splitting each of the combined RF signals,

weighting the resultant split signals with a set of transmit weighting values to generate a plurality of transmit-weighted RF signals, and

combining sets of the plurality of transmit-weighted RF signals to form a plurality of RF signals capable of being transmitted through a plurality of transmit antennas of the transmitter.