APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING AND REPRESENTING A SYNCHRONIZATION STATUS

• US 20100316106A1
• Filed: 12/11/2007
• Published: 12/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Company KG
• Original Assignee: Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Company KG
• Inventors: Feldhaus, Gregor, Roth, Matthias, Fischer, Volker, Steffens, Johannes
• Granted Patent: US 8,718,125 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 375/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2656 Frame synchronisation, e.g. packet synchronisation, time division duplex [TDD] switching point detection or subframe synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2662 Symbol synchronisation

Abstract

A device and method for determining and displaying on a display element the status of at least one synchronization implemented in an electronic measuring instrument or a telecommunications device is provided. The device includes several functional units provided within the electronic measuring instrument or the telecommunications device, and each functional unit determines at least one parameter, the value of which corresponds to the status of the synchronization implemented in the respective functional unit.

Claims

1. A device for the determination and display on a display element of a status of at least one synchronization implemented in an electronic measuring instrument or telecommunications device, wherein the device comprises several functional units provided within the electronic measuring instrument or telecommunications device, and

wherein each functional unit determines at least one parameter, the value of which corresponds to the status of the synchronization implemented in the respective functional unit.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the functional units are disposed in series within the measuring instrument or telecommunications device and fulfill different tasks.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the functional units are disposed in different branches within the measuring instrument or telecommunications device and fulfill different tasks.

4. The device according to claim 2, wherein the different tasks are implemented in a defined time sequence.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein each block on the display element represents a functional unit of the measuring instrument or telecommunications device.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein a block on the display element corresponds to an information block, wherein the information block presents an FFT (Fast Fourier Transformation) or an IFFT (inverse Fast Fourier Transformation).

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the information block adopts a fourth color status on the display element.

8. The device according to claim 5, wherein a serial arrangement of several blocks on the display element corresponds to the time sequence of the tasks.

9. The device according to claim 5, wherein the blocks on the display element are connected by arrows.

10. The device according to claim 5, wherein the blocks on the display element adopt a first color status or a second color status dependent upon their status.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the first color status of a block displays a result of the successfully-implemented synchronization corresponding to the block.

12. The device according to claim 10, wherein the second color status of a block displays a result of the unsuccessfully-implemented synchronization corresponding to the block.

13. The device according to claim 9, wherein the arrows, which connect the blocks, adopt a first color status, a second color status or a third color status.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the first color status of an arrow represents a successful succession of synchronizations implemented by the functional units of the preceding blocks.

15. The device according to claim 13, wherein the second color status of an arrow represents a synchronization unsuccessfully implemented by the functional units of the preceding blocks.

16. The device according to claim 5, wherein a bar diagram with a scale is provided within each of the blocks.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the scale provides at least two value fields.

18. The device according to claim 17, wherein the three value fields represent three different confidence-value ranges, wherein a confidence value indicates a probability for the occurrence of a status of the synchronization of the associated functional unit.

19. The device according to claim 1, wherein, through a selection of a block and a subsequent activation of the selected block on the display element, a detailed item of information regarding the determined status with reference to the synchronization implemented by the functional unit, which corresponds to the selected block, is reproduced.

20. The device according to claim 19, wherein the activation of the selected block on the display element is implemented by means of a mouse function or by means of a previously-programmed key-stroke combination or by means of a remote control command, such as an SCPI command via a GPIB interface or via a LAN interface.

21. A method for the determination and display on a display element of a status of at least one synchronization implemented in an electronic measuring instrument or telecommunications device, wherein the method comprises several procedural stages implemented by different functional units, and

wherein each functional unit determines at least one parameter, the value of which visualizes on a display element a probability for a given status of the synchronization implemented in the functional unit.

22. The method according to claim 21, wherein a content is read out from a reception buffer of an OFDM receiver.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the content of the receiver buffer is subjected to a signal identification, the result of which is the identified signal sequence.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the identified signal sequence is subjected to a cyclic prefix synchronization with regard to a cyclically-repeated signal portion, especially a guard interval, wherein the useful portion of a signal is disposed between two such signal portions.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein the useful portion of the signal is extracted from the cyclic prefix synchronization.

26. The method according to claim 24, wherein the useful portion of the signal is subjected to a Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT), from which the Fourier-transformed signal is obtained.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein the Fourier-transformed signal is subjected to a frame synchronization, from which a frame-synchronous Fourier-transformed signal is obtained.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein a channel estimation is implemented using the frame-synchronous, Fourier-transformed signal, wherein every noise-laden pilot symbol transmitted within the now-known frame is compared with a pilot symbol, which is present at the receiver end without transmission error.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein a transmission function for the radio channel is estimated from a result of the comparison of the two pilots symbols.

30. The method according to claim 29, wherein the frame-synchronous Fourier-transformed signal, which was equalized by means of the estimated transmission function, is demodulated with a demodulation method specified in the receiver.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the transmitted signal or respectively the transmitted data symbol is roughly estimated on the basis of a previously-defined threshold value.

32. The method according to claim 31, wherein the roughly-estimated data symbol is subjected to a refined estimation process.

33. The method according to claim 32, wherein, through the implementation of the rough and the refined estimation method, in each case, a recovered data symbol is further processed.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein every recovered data symbol is displayed after an analysis on the display element.