SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING SPREAD SPECTRUM SIGNALS IN A WIRELESS ENVIRONMENT

• US 20100316092A1
• Filed: 06/11/2009
• Published: 12/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommScope Technologies, LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Andrew LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Hannan, Ariful, Carlson, John
• Granted Patent: US 8,660,165 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/142
• 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

Abstract

An apparatus for detecting a spread spectrum signal in a wireless signal environment includes at least one antenna for receiving spread spectrum signals, such as UMTS signals, from a signal source in the wireless signal environment. In one embodiment, a detection circuit is configured for correlating a code in signal received by the apparatus with a set of possible codes for spread spectrum signals in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal. In another embodiment, a detection circuit is configured for obtaining at least one reference frame of data from a received signal. The detection circuit is further operable for correlating a segment of the reference frame with a repeated segment of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal. A repeater might incorporate such an apparatus wherein the variable gain of the repeater is adjusted based upon the correlation and the detection of a spread spectrum signal.

Claims

1. A repeater for repeating signals between multiple sources, the repeater comprising:

a donor antenna and a coverage antenna for transceiving signals that are repeated between the multiple sources;

an amplification circuit positioned between donor and coverage antennas for amplifying the repeated signals, the amplification circuit having a variable gain;

a detection circuit configured for correlating a code in an uplink signal to the repeater with a set of possible codes for spread spectrum signals that are handled by the repeater in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal;

the amplification circuit varying the gain based upon the correlation and the detection of a spread spectrum signal.

2. The repeater of claim 1 wherein the spread spectrum signal is a UMTS signal.

3. The repeater of claim 2 wherein the code is a preamble code for the UMTS signal.

4. The repeater of claim 3 wherein the preamble code is a preamble code for PRACH channel of the UMTS signal, and the detection circuit correlates the PRACH preamble code with all possible PRACH preamble codes for UMTS signals handled by the repeater.

5. A method for repeating signals between multiple sources, the method comprising:

transceiving signals repeated between the multiple sources with a donor antenna and a coverage antenna;

amplifying the repeated signals between the antennas with an amplification circuit having a variable gain;

correlating a code that is in a signal from at least one source with a set of possible codes for spread spectrum signals in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal;

varying the gain based upon the correlation and the detection of a spread spectrum signal.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising increasing the gain when a spread spectrum signal is detected based on the correlation.

7. The method of claim 5 further comprising decreasing the gain when a spread spectrum signal is not detected based on the correlation.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein the spread spectrum signal is a UMTS signal.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising correlating a preamble code with a set of possible preamble codes for spread spectrum signals that are handled by the repeater.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the preamble code is a preamble code for PRACH channel of the UMTS signal, and further comprising correlating the PRACH preamble code with all possible PRACH preamble codes for UMTS signals handled by the repeater.

34. The method of claim 9 wherein the preamble code is a preamble code for PRACH channel of the UMTS signal, and further comprising correlating the PRACH preamble code with a set of possible PRACH preamble codes for UMTS.

11. A repeater for repeating signals between multiple sources, the repeater comprising:

a donor antenna and a coverage antenna for transceiving signals that are repeated between the multiple sources;

an amplification circuit positioned between donor and coverage antennas for amplifying the repeated signals, the amplification circuit having a variable gain;

a detection circuit configured for obtaining at least one reference frame of data in an uplink signal to the repeater, the detection circuit operable for correlating a segment of the at least one reference frame with a repeated segment of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal;

the amplification circuit varying the gain based upon the correlation and the detection of a spread spectrum signal.

12. The repeater of claim 11 wherein the spread spectrum signal is a UMTS signal.

13. The repeater of claim 12 wherein the segment of the at least one reference frame includes pilot bits, the detection circuit operable for correlating the pilot bits of the at least one reference frame with repeated pilot bits of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

14. The repeater of claim 11 wherein the detection circuit is configured for obtaining a plurality of reference frames of data in an uplink signal and is operable for correlating segments of each of the plurality of reference frames with repeated segments of multiple subsequent frames of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

15. The repeater of claim 14 wherein the detection circuit is configured for obtaining at least five reference frames of data for correlation with subsequent data frames.

16. The repeater of claim 11 wherein the detection circuit is configured for aligning a boundary of the at least one reference frame of data with a boundary of the at least one subsequent frame of data for correlation purposes.

17. A method for repeating signals between multiple sources, the method comprising:

transceiving signals repeated between the multiple sources with a donor antenna and a coverage;

amplifying the repeated signals between the antennas with an amplification circuit having a variable gain;

correlating a segment of at least one reference frame in an uplink signal to the repeater with a repeated segment of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal;

varying the gain based upon the correlation and the detection of a spread spectrum signal.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising increasing the gain when a spread spectrum signal is detected based on the correlation.

19. The method of claim 17 further comprising decreasing the gain when a spread spectrum signal is not detected based on the correlation.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the spread spectrum signal is a UMTS signal.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the segment of the at least one reference frame includes pilot bits, and further comprising correlating the pilot bits of the at least one reference frame with repeated pilot bits of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

22. The method of claim 17 further comprising correlating segments of each of a plurality of reference frames with repeated segments of multiple subsequent frames of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

23. The method of claim 22 correlating over at least five reference frames of data.

24. The method of claim 17 further comprising aligning a boundary of the at least one reference frame of data with a boundary of the at least one subsequent frame of data for correlation purposes.

25. An apparatus for detecting a spread spectrum signal in a wireless signal environment, the apparatus comprising:

at least one antenna for receiving UMTS signals from a signal source in the wireless signal environment;

a detection circuit configured for correlating a code in a UMTS signal received by the apparatus with a set of possible codes for spread spectrum UMTS signals in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein the code is a preamble code for the UMTS signal.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the preamble code is a preamble code for a PRACH channel of the UMTS signal, and the detection circuit is configured for correlating the PRACH preamble code with all possible PRACH preamble codes for UMTS signals handled by the repeater.

28. The apparatus of claim 25 further comprising an amplification circuit for amplifying the received UMTS signal, the apparatus configured for increasing the gain of the amplification circuit when a spread spectrum signal is detected based on the correlation.

29. A method for detecting a spread spectrum signal in a wireless signal environment, the method comprising:

receiving UMTS signals from a signal source in the wireless signal environment;

correlating a code in a UMTS signal from a signal source with a set of possible codes for spread spectrum UMTS signals to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

30. The method of claim 29 further comprising varying the gain of an amplification circuit that amplifies the received UMTS signal based upon the correlation and the detection of a spread spectrum signal.

31. The method of claim 29 further comprising increasing the gain when a spread spectrum signal is detected based on the correlation.

32. The method of claim 29 further comprising decreasing the gain when a spread spectrum signal is not detected based on the correlation.

33. The method of claim 29 further comprising correlating a preamble code with a set of possible preamble codes for spread spectrum signals.

35. An apparatus for detecting a spread spectrum signal in a wireless signal environment, the apparatus comprising:

at least one antenna for receiving UMTS signals from a signal source in the wireless signal environment;

a detection circuit configured for obtaining at least one reference frame of data from a received UMTS signal;

the detection circuit operable for correlating a segment of the at least one reference frame with a repeated segment of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 further comprising an amplification circuit having a variable gain, the amplification circuit operable for varying the gain based upon the correlation and the detection of a spread spectrum signal.

37. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein the segment of the at least one reference frame includes pilot bits, the detection circuit operable for correlating the pilot bits of the at least one reference frame with repeated pilot bits of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

38. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein the detection circuit is configured for obtaining a plurality of reference frames of data from the signal and is operable for correlating segments of each of the plurality of reference frames with repeated segments of multiple subsequent frames of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

39. A method for detecting a spread spectrum signal in a wireless signal environment, the method comprising:

receiving UMTS signals from a signal source in the wireless signal environment;

correlating a segment of at least one reference frame in the received signal with a repeated segment of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising amplifying the received signals with an amplification circuit having a variable gain and varying the gain based upon the correlation and the detection of a spread spectrum signal.

41. The method of claim 39 wherein the segment of the at least one reference frame includes pilot bits, and further comprising correlating the pilot bits of the at least one reference frame with repeated pilot bits of at least one subsequent frame of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.

42. The method of claim 39 further comprising correlating segments of each of a plurality of reference frames with repeated segments of multiple subsequent frames of data in order to detect the existence of a spread spectrum signal.