Method and apparatus for mitigating port swapping during signal tracking

• US 20070153779A1
• Filed: 12/30/2005
• Published: 07/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: L-3 Communications Corporation (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: L-3 Communications Integrated Systems LP (L3Harris Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Adams, John, Thornton, Steven, Holden, Brian
• Granted Patent: US 8,588,220 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/359
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/00 Network traffic management; Network resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and apparatus for mitigating port swapping during signal tracking. The method and apparatus generally include acquiring a first signal characteristic corresponding to a signal assigned to a first port, comparing the first signal characteristic to a second previously acquired signal characteristic, and assigning the signal to a second port if the first and second signal characteristics vary. Such a configuration mitigates port swapping without requiring signals to include identification information, thereby enabling assignment of signals corresponding to any format or source.

Claims

1. A method of mitigating port swapping during signal tracking, the method comprising:

acquiring a first signal characteristic corresponding to a signal assigned to a first port;

comparing the first signal characteristic to a second previously acquired signal characteristic; and

if the first and second signal characteristics vary, assigning the signal to a second port.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first signal characteristic is selected from the group consisting of a geolocation, an angle of arrival, a direction of arrival, a time difference of arrival, a frequency difference of arrival, and combinations thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal is assigned to the second port if the first and second signal characteristics vary by a predetermined amount.

4. The method of claim 1, further including

acquiring a first set of signal characteristics corresponding to a plurality of signals assigned to a plurality of ports,

comparing the first set to a second set of previously acquired signal characteristics, and

assigning signals to the ports based on variances between the signals within the first set and the signals within the second set.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein signals having characteristics that exceed a minimum variance between acquired and previously acquired signal characteristics are assigned to different ports and signals having characteristics that correspond to minimum variances between acquired and previously acquired signal characteristics are retained on the same ports.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal corresponds to an audio signal and the ports correspond to audio ports.

7. The method of claim 1, further including acquiring a third signal characteristic corresponding to the signal, comparing the third characteristic to the first signal characteristic, and if the third and first signal characteristics vary, assigning the signal to the second port.

8. A computing element operable to mitigate port swapping during signal tracking, the computing element comprising:

a first port;

a second port;

a memory operable to store a second signal characteristic corresponding to a signal assigned to the first port; and

a processor coupled with the memory and the ports, the processor operable to

acquire a first signal characteristic corresponding to the signal,

compare the first and second signal characteristics, and

if the first and second signal characteristics vary, assign the signal to the second port.

9. The computing element of claim 8, wherein the memory is further operable to store a third signal characteristic corresponding to a second signal assigned to the second port and the processor is further operable to

acquire a fourth signal characteristic corresponding to the second signal,

compare the fourth signal characteristic to the second and third signal characteristics, and

if the fourth signal characteristic varies from the third signal characteristic more than the second signal characteristic, assign the second signal to the first port and assign the first signal to the second port.

10. The computing element of claim 8, wherein the processor is operable to be coupled with a collector element to acquire at least one of the signal characteristics.

11. The computing element of claim 8, wherein the first signal characteristic is selected from the group consisting of a geolocation, an angle of arrival, a direction of arrival, a time difference of arrival, a frequency difference of arrival, and combinations thereof.

12. The computing element of claim 8, wherein the processor assigns the signal to the second port if the first signal and second signal characteristics vary by a predetermined amount.

13. The computing element of claim 8, wherein the memory is further operable to store the first signal characteristic and the processor is further operable to acquire a third signal characteristic corresponding to the signal, compare the third signal characteristic to the first signal characteristic, and if the third and first signal characteristics vary, assign the signal to the second port.

14. The computing element of claim 8, wherein the signal corresponds to an audio signal and the ports correspond to audio ports.

15. A computer program for mitigating port swapping during signal tracking, the computer program stored on a computer-readable medium for operating a computing element and comprising:

a code segment operable to be executed by the computing element to acquire a first signal characteristic corresponding to a signal assigned to a first port;

a code segment operable to be executed by the computing element to compare the first signal characteristic to a second previously acquired signal characteristic; and

a code segment operable to be executed by the computing element to assign the signal to a second port if the first and second signal characteristics vary.

16. The computer program of claim 15, wherein the first signal characteristic is selected from the group consisting of a geolocation, an angle of arrival, a direction of arrival, a time difference of arrival, a frequency difference of arrival, and combinations thereof.

17. The computer program of claim 15, wherein the code segment assigns the signal to the second port if the first and second signal characteristics vary by a predetermined amount.

18. The computer program of claim 15, further comprising

a code segment operable to be executed by the computing element to acquire a first set of signal characteristics corresponding to a plurality of signals assigned to a plurality of ports,

a code segment operable to be executed by the computing element to compare the first set to a second set of previously acquired signal characteristics, and

a code segment operable to be executed by the computing element to assign signals to the ports based on variances between the signals within the first set and the signals within the second set.

19. The computer program of claim 15, wherein the signal corresponds to an audio signal and the ports correspond to audio ports.

20. The computer program of claim 15, further including

a code segment operable to be executed by the computing element to acquire a third signal characteristic corresponding to the signal,

a code segment operable to be executed by the computing element to compare the third characteristic to the first signal characteristic, and

a code segment operable to be executed by the computing element to assign the signal to the second port if the third and first signal characteristics vary.