Encoding Information In Beacon Signals

• US 20080101264A1
• Filed: 06/15/2007
• Published: 05/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Richardson, Thomas, Laroia, Rajiv, Li, Junyi
• Granted Patent: US 8,520,567 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/310
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/261 Details of reference signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0051 of dedicated pilots, i.e. pilots destined for a single user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0064 Rate requirement of the data, e.g. scalable bandwidth, data priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate transmitting at least two different types of information in a single signal, whereby the different types of information can be encoded and decoded independently. Thus, changes to one type of information does not affect a second type of information.

Claims

1. A method of operating a base station, comprising:

assigning a first value to a first information stream;

assigning a second value to a second information stream;

combining the first information stream and the second information stream;

producing a composite value from the combined information streams; and

transmitting a waveform as a function of the composite value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information stream represents a first subset of broadcast information and the second information stream represents a second subset of broadcast information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the waveform includes a high-energy beacon signal, a transmission power of the beacon signal per degree of freedom being at least 10 dB higher than a transmission power of other signals sent by the base station.

4. The method of claim 1, the waveform occupies a small degree of freedom.

5. The method of claim 1, combining the first information stream and the second information stream is performed by utilizing equation Z_i={X_i}*Q+{Y_i}, where {Y_i} represents the first value, {X_i} represents the second value, and Q represents a maximum value of the first information stream.

6. The method of claim 1, assigning a first value to a first information stream, further comprising:

coding each of a plurality of information bits {c_i}; and

determining a sequence of bits {Y_i} from {c_i}, wherein {Y_i} represents a single bit.

7. The method of claim 1, assigning a second value to a second information stream, further comprising:

coding an information bit {b_i}; and

creating a signal {X_i} from {b_i}.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the first value to a first information stream comprises determining a sequence of {Y_i} bits and assigning the second value of the second information stream comprises creating a signal {X_i}.

9. The method of claim 8, the signal {X_i} has a periodicity that is independent of a periodicity of the sequence of {Y_i} bits.

10. The method of claim 1, combining the first value and the second value creates a broadcast signal that occupies a space that is larger than a space of the first information stream and a space of the second information stream.

11. A wireless communications apparatus that produces two information streams that represent a waveform, comprising:

a memory that retains instructions related to determining a first value for a first information stream, determining a second value for a second information stream, combining the values to produce a composite value and transmitting a waveform as a function of the composite value; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

12. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein determining the first value is performed independently from determining the second value.

13. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, the second value provides a timing sequence that might repeat at a different interval than a timing sequence of the first value.

14. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the waveform includes a high energy beacon signal, a transmission power of the beacon signal per degree of freedom being at least 10 dB higher than a transmission power of other sent signals.

15. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the memory further retains instructions for creating a signal {X_i} from a first coding scheme {b_i} and creating a sequence of {Y_i} bits from a second coding scheme {c₁}, wherein {Y_i} represents a single bit.

16. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the memory further retains instructions for creating a value Z_i by utilizing equation Z_i={X_i}*Q+{Y_i}, where {Y_i} represents the first value, {X_i} represents the second value, and Q represents a maximum value of the first information stream.

17. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:

means for assigning independent values to a first information stream and a second information stream;

means for combining the independent values to produce a composite value; and

means for outputting a waveform that is a function of the composite value, the waveform includes a high-energy beacon signal.

18. The wireless communications apparatus 17, further comprising means for assigning a periodicity to the first information stream that is different from a periodicity of the second information stream.

19. The wireless communications apparatus 17, the means for outputting the waveform that includes a high-energy beacon signal provides a transmission power of the beacon signal per degree of freedom being at least 10 dB higher than a transmission power of other signals sent at substantially a same time.

20. The wireless communications apparatus 17, further comprising means for representing the first value as a signal {X_i} and representing the second value as a sequence of {Y_i} bits, wherein the means for combining the independent information stream values utilizes an equation Z_i={X_i}*Q+{Y_i}, where Q represents a maximum value of the first information stream.

21. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 20, wherein {X_i} indicates a chosen block of a broadcast message and {Y_i} indicates a location within the chosen block.

22. The wireless communications apparatus 20, wherein Z_i occupies a space that is larger than a space occupied by {X_i} and a space occupied by {Y_i}.

23. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions for:

assigning a first value to a first information stream;

assigning a second value to a second information stream that is independent from the value assigned to the first information stream;

combining the first value and the second value to produce a composite value; and

transmitting a waveform that includes a high-energy beacon signal, the waveform is a function of the composite value.

24. The machine-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the first value represents a first subset of broadcast information and the second value represents a second subset of broadcast information.

25. In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

assign independent values to a first information stream and a second information stream, wherein the independent values can be selectively coded and decoded; and

combine the independent values for transmission in a waveform that includes a high energy beacon signal, the waveform is a function of the combined independent values.

26. A method that facilitates receiving information from a base station, comprising:

receiving a high-level beacon signal included in a waveform, the waveform is a function of a first value and a second value;

interpreting the first value as a first information stream; and

interpreting the second value as a second information stream.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the first information stream represents a first subset of broadcast information and the second information stream represents a second subset of broadcast information.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the waveform occupies a small degree of freedom.

29. The method of claim 26, interpreting the first value as a first information stream, comprising:

determining a sequence of bits {Y_i} in {c_i}, wherein {Y_i} represents a single bit; and

decoding each of a plurality of information bits {c_i}.

30. The method of claim 26, interpreting the second value as a second information stream comprising:

receiving a signal that is a function of {X_i} included in {b₁}; and

decoding the information bit {b₁}.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein interpreting the first value comprises decoding a sequence of {Y_i} bits and interpreting the second value comprises decoding a signal {X_i}.

32. The method of claim 31, the signal {X_i} has a periodicity that is independent of a periodicity of the sequence of {Y_i} bits.

33. The method of claim 26, the combination of the first value and the second value comprises a waveform that occupies a space that is larger than a space of the first information stream and a space of the second information stream.

34. The method of claim 26, the high-level beacon signal is received at substantially a same time as other signals.

35. A wireless communications apparatus that selectively decodes information received in a beacon signal, comprising:

a memory that retains instructions related to receiving a waveform that includes a high-energy beacon signal, the waveform is a function of a composite value representing a first value and a second value, independently decoding the first value to obtain a first subset of information, and independently decoding the second value to obtain a second subset of information; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, configured to execute the instructions retained in the memory.

36. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 35, wherein the second coding value provides a timing sequence that might repeat at a different interval than a timing sequence of the first value.

37. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 35, wherein receiving the waveform includes identifying the beacon signal burst as being received at a high energy as compared to other received beacon signal bursts.

38. A wireless communications apparatus that enables deciphering two independent information streams that represent a waveform, comprising:

means for receiving a waveform that includes a high-energy beacon signal;

means for breaking the waveform into independent information stream values; and

means for deciphering a first value of a first information stream and a second value of a second information stream from the independent information stream values.

39. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 38, further comprising means for interpreting a periodicity of the first value that is different from a periodicity of the second value.

40. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 38, the means for receiving a high energy beacon signal receives other signals at substantially a same time as receiving the waveform mapping.

41. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 38, further comprising means for deciphering the first information stream as a signal {X_i} included in {b_i} and means for deciphering the second information stream as a sequence of {Y_i} included in {c_i}, where {Y_i} represents a single bit.

42. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 41, wherein {X_i} indicates a chosen block of a broadcast message and {Y_i} indicates a location within the chosen block.

43. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-executable instructions for:

receiving a waveform that includes a high-energy beacon signal, the waveform comprises a first value combined with a second value;

recreating the first value from the combined values to derive a first information stream; and

recreating the second value from the combined values to derive a second information stream.

44. The machine-readable medium of claim 43, further comprising receiving the beacon signal at a high energy as compared to other received beacon signals.

45. The machine-readable medium of claim 43, the first value represents a first subset of broadcast information and the second value represents a second subset of broadcast information.

46. In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive a waveform that includes a combination of two independent values;

decode a first independent value from the combination to obtain a first information stream; and

decode a second independent value from the combination to obtain a second information stream.