Incremental Redundancy With Resegmentation

• US 20090128377A1
• Filed: 11/19/2007
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Tran, Phat
• Granted Patent: US 8,301,964 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 341/50
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/2957 Turbo codes and decoding
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/3761 using code combining, i.e. using combining of codeword portions which may have been transmitted separately, e.g. Digital Fountain codes, Raptor codes or Luby Transform [LT] codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/6306 Error control coding in combination with Automatic Repeat reQuest [ARQ] and diversity transmission, e.g. coding schemes for the multiple transmission of the same information or the transmission of incremental redundancy H03M13/3761, H03M13/3769 and H03M13/635 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0007 by modifying the frame length
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0059 Convolutional codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0066 Parallel concatenated codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0068 by puncturing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1819 with retransmission of additional or different redundancy
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1845 Combining techniques, e.g. code combining

Abstract

Different transmissions based on different content blocks which were segmented from the same digital content according to different segmentation schemes, where each of the content blocks has any substring in common with at least one of the other content blocks, are received by a receiving radio communication station, for example a mobile telephone or a mobile network base station. Certain encoded received bits derived from different ones of the transmissions are combined into combined bits. Other encoded received bits derived from one or more of the different transmissions are provided together with the combined bits to a decoder.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving different transmissions based on different content blocks which were segmented from the same digital content according to different segmentation schemes, where each of the content blocks has any substring in common with at least one of the other content blocks;

combining into combined bits certain encoded received bits derived from the different transmissions; and

providing other encoded received bits derived from one or more of the different transmissions together with the combined bits to a decoder,

wherein the certain encoded received bits and the other encoded received bits result from encoding according to a turbo code and the certain encoded received bits are systematic bits.

2. A method comprising:

receiving a first transmission based on a first content block which was segmented from digital content according to a first block segmentation scheme, and deriving first encoded received bits from the first transmission;

after receiving said first transmission, receiving a second transmission based on a second content block which was segmented from the digital content according to a second block segmentation scheme that differs from the first block segmentation scheme, where the first content block and the second content block have a substring in common, and deriving second encoded received bits from the second transmission;

combining into combined bits at least certain of the first encoded received bits that relate to bits of the substring and certain of the second encoded received bits that relate to corresponding bits of the substring; and

providing other encoded received bits derived from the first transmission together with the combined bits to a decoder.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second content block and a third content block, which was segmented from the digital content according to the second block segmentation scheme, are non-overlapping proper substrings of the first content block, and the first content block is identical to a concatenation of the second content block and the third content block.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein prefix bits and suffix bits are appended to content blocks prior to encoding, the method further comprising:

selecting as the bits to be combined those encoded received bits that are unaffected by prefix bits, unaffected by suffix bits and unaffected by any content bits that are not common to the first content block and the second content block.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

providing other encoded received bits derived from the second transmission together with the combined bits to the decoder; and

determining whether to use output of the decoder resulting from providing the other encoded received bits derived from the first transmission together with the combined bits to the decoder or output of the decoder resulting from providing and the other encoded received bits derived from the second transmission together with the combined bits to the decoder.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the first content block is a proper substring of the second content block.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the second content block is a proper substring of the first content block.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein the first content block is not a proper substring of the second content block and the second content block is not a proper substring of the first content block.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the encoded received bits are soft decision bits.

10. The method of claim 2, wherein the encoded received bits are hard decision bits.

11. The method of claim 2, wherein the encoded received bits result from encoding according to a convolutional code without recursiveness.

12. The method of claim 2, wherein the encoded received bits result from encoding according to a turbo code and the certain encoded received bits combined into the combined bits are systematic bits.

13. A method comprising:

receiving a first transmission based on a first content block which was segmented from digital content according to a first block segmentation scheme, and deriving first encoded received bits from the first transmission;

receiving a second transmission based on a second content block which was segmented from the digital content according to a second block segmentation scheme that differs from the first block segmentation scheme, where the first content block and the second content block have a substring in common, the first content block is not a proper substring of the second content block and the second content block is not a proper substring of the first content block, and deriving second encoded received bits from the second transmission;

combining into combined bits at least certain of the first encoded received bits that relate to bits of the substring and certain of the second encoded received bits that relate to corresponding bits of the substring; and

providing other encoded received bits derived from the second transmission together with the combined bits to a decoder.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein prefix bits and suffix bits are appended to content blocks prior to encoding, the method further comprising:

selecting as the bits to be combined those encoded received bits that are unaffected by prefix bits, unaffected by suffix bits and unaffected by any content bits that are not common to the first content block and the second content block.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

providing other encoded received bits derived from the first transmission together with the combined bits to the decoder; and

determining whether to use output of the decoder resulting from providing the other encoded received bits derived from the first transmission together with the combined bits to the decoder or output of the decoder resulting from providing and the other encoded received bits derived from the second transmission together with the combined bits to the decoder.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the encoded received bits are soft decision bits.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the encoded received bits are hard decision bits.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the encoded received bits result from encoding according to a convolutional code without recursiveness.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the encoded received bits result from encoding according to a turbo code and the certain encoded received bits combined into the combined bits are systematic bits.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the first transmission is received before the second transmission.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the second transmission is received before the first transmission.

22. A method comprising:

receiving a first transmission based on a first content block which was segmented from digital content according to a first block segmentation scheme, and deriving first encoded received bits from the first transmission;

receiving a second transmission based on a second content block which was segmented from the digital content according to a second block segmentation scheme that differs from the first block segmentation scheme, where the first content block is a proper substring of the second content block and complement of the proper substring in the second content block is not contiguous in the second content block, and deriving second encoded received bits from the second transmission;

combining into combined bits at least certain of the first encoded received bits that relate to bits of the substring and certain of the second encoded received bits that relate to corresponding bits of the substring; and

providing other encoded received bits derived from the second transmission together with the combined bits to a decoder.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein prefix bits and suffix bits are appended to content blocks prior to encoding, the method further comprising:

selecting as the bits to be combined those encoded received bits that are unaffected by prefix bits, unaffected by suffix bits and unaffected by any content bits that are not common to the first content block and the second content block.

24. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

providing other encoded received bits derived from the first transmission together with the combined bits to the decoder; and

determining whether to use output of the decoder resulting from providing the other encoded received bits derived from the first transmission together with the combined bits to the decoder or output of the decoder resulting from providing and the other encoded received bits derived from the second transmission together with the combined bits to the decoder.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the encoded received bits are soft decision bits.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the encoded received bits are hard decision bits.

27. The method of claim 22, wherein the encoded received bits result from encoding according to a convolutional code without recursiveness.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the encoded received bits result from encoding according to a turbo code and the certain encoded received bits combined into the combined bits are systematic bits.

29. The method of claim 22, wherein the first transmission is received before the second transmission.

30. The method of claim 22, wherein the second transmission is received before the first transmission.

31. A method comprising:

successfully determining the bits of a first content block from a first stream of encoded bits that represents the first content block and a second stream of encoded bits that represents a second content block, even though the first stream of encoded bits is not decodable and the second stream of encoded bits is not decodable,

where the first content block and the second content block are not identical and have a substring in common.