METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORWARD LINK GAIN CONTROL IN A POWER CONTROLLED REPEATER

• US 20080182511A1
• Filed: 04/03/2008
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Wheatley, Charles E., Adkins, Keith L.
• Granted Patent: US 8,032,172 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/9
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0604 with predefined switching scheme
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15507 Relay station based processing for cell extension or control of coverage area, network planning with network coordinated processing with regard to cell extension H04W16/26; network topologies using dedicated repeater stations H04W84/047; terminal devices adapted for relaying to or from an other terminal H04W88/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15535 Control of relay amplifier gain amplifier gain control in general H03G3/00; gain control reducing self - or loop interference H04B7/15578
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0071 Use of interleaving interleaving per se H03M13/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/06 using space diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0023 Time-frequency-space
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0042 intra-user or intra-terminal allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0044 allocation of payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0083 symbol-by-symbol
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/143 Downlink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/225 Calculation of statistics, e.g. average, variance
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/24 using SIR [Signal to Interference Ratio] or other wireless path parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/241 taking into account channel quality metrics, e.g. SIR, SNR, CIR, Eb/lo
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/242 taking into account path loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/245 taking into account received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/46 in multi hop networks, e.g. wireless relay networks

Abstract

A power controlled repeater is disclosed for use in a wireless communication system to control the forward link gain. The power controlled repeater includes a forward link for communications from a base station to a mobile station. In addition, the power controlled repeater includes a reverse link for communications from the mobile station to the base station. An embedded subscriber unit is used at the power controlled repeater and is inserted into the forward link. A microprocessor is in electronic communications with the subscriber unit and implements a method for controlling the forward link gain. The method for controlling the forward link gain includes using the embedded subscriber unit in the power controlled repeater to control the forward link gain.

Claims

1. A repeater comprising:

receive circuitry configured to receive signals including a pilot signal from a base station;

a signal detector configured to receive information indicative of the pilot signal from the base station and to determine a receive Ec/Io level indicative of the ratio of pilot energy per PN chip to the total received power spectral density (Ec/Io);

a total received power processor configured to determine a receive power level;

a processor configured to determine a forward link path loss based on the receive power level and the receive Ec/Io level, the processor further configured to output a control signal to maintain a substantially consistent forward link pilot output power through use of the forward link path loss.

2. The repeater of claim 1, wherein the processor comprises a microprocessor configured to receive control data from a subscriber unit, and wherein the signal detector and the total received power processor are included in the subscriber unit.

3. The repeater of claim 2, further comprising a variable gain amplifier to receive the control signal from the processor.

4. The repeater of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured to compare the forward link path loss to an associated forward link reference level, and wherein the processor is configured to generate a control signal to adjust a gain of the variable gain amplifier based on the comparing.

5. The repeater of claim 1, wherein the signal detector and the total received power processor are integrated in a single physical component.

6. The repeater of claim 1, wherein the signal detector and the total received power processor comprise program code stored in memory.

7. A method of adjusting forward link gain of a repeater comprising:

receiving a pilot signal from a base station at the repeater;

generating a receive Ec/Io level indicative of the ratio of pilot energy per PN chip to the total received power spectral density (Ec/Io);

determining a receive power level;

determining a forward link path loss based on the receive power level and the receive Ec/Io level; and

outputting a control signal to maintain a substantially consistent forward link pilot output power through use of the forward link path loss.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein outputting a control signal to maintain a substantially consistent forward link pilot output power comprises outputting a control signal to modify a forward link gain of the repeater based on a difference between a current forward link path loss and a reference forward link path loss.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

averaging the receive power level and the receive Ec/Io level to substantially remove fading.

10. A computer readable storage medium including instructions to cause one or more machines to perform operations comprising:

receiving information indicative of a pilot signal received from a base station at the repeater;

generating a receive Ec/Io level indicative of the ratio of pilot energy per PN chip to the total received power spectral density (Ec/Io);

determining a receive power level;

determining a forward link path loss based on the receive power level and the receive Ec/Io level; and

generating information indicative of a control signal to maintain a substantially consistent forward link pilot output power through use of the forward link path loss.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein generating the information indicative of the control signal to maintain a substantially consistent forward link pilot output power comprises generating the information indicative of the control signal based on a difference between a current forward link path loss and a reference forward link path loss.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise averaging the receive power level and the receive Ec/Io level to substantially remove fading.

13. A repeater comprising:

means for receiving information indicative of a pilot signal received from a base station at the repeater;

means for generating a receive Ec/Io level indicative of the ratio of pilot energy per PN chip to the total received power spectral density (Ec/Io);

means for determining a receive power level;

means for determining a forward link path loss based on the receive power level and the receive Ec/Io level; and

means for generating information indicative of a control signal to maintain a substantially consistent forward link pilot output power through use of the forward link path loss.

14. The repeater of claim 13, wherein the means for generating the information indicative of the control signal to maintain a substantially consistent forward link pilot output power comprises means for generating the information indicative of the control signal based on a difference between a current forward link path loss and a reference forward link path loss.

15. The repeater of claim 13, further comprising:

means for averaging the receive power level and the receive Ec/Io level to substantially remove fading.

16. The repeater of claim 13, wherein the means for generating a receive Ec/Io level indicative of the ratio of pilot energy per PN chip to the total received power spectral density (Ec/Io) and the means for determining a receive power level are included in a subscriber unit.

17. The repeater of claim 13, wherein the means for generating a receive Ec/Io level indicative of the ratio of pilot energy per PN chip to the total received power spectral density (Ec/Io) and the means for determining a receive power level are implemented at least partially as program codes stored in memory.

18. The repeater of claim 13, wherein the means for generating a receive Ec/Io level indicative of the ratio of pilot energy per PN chip to the total received power spectral density (Ec/Io) and the means for determining a receive power level are implemented as a single physical component.

19. The repeater of claim 18, wherein the single physical component is a digital signal processor.

20. The repeater of claim 13, further comprising means for receiving the control signal and changing a forward link gain of the repeater based on the control signal.