Signal Delay Estimator with Absolute Delay Amount and Direction Estimation
First Claim
1. A signal delay estimator, comprising:
- an adjustable delay element for delaying a first signal to obtain a delayed first signal;
a delay amount estimator configured to estimate a delay amount between the delayed first signal and a second signal that is similar and delayed relative to the first signal;
a leading signal determiner configured to determine whether the delayed first signal leads the second signal or vice versa, and generate a corresponding binary signal based thereon;
a selective inverter configured to selectively invert the delay amount based on the binary signal; and
a feedback element to the adjustable delay element configured to control a delay of the adjustable delay element based on an output of the selective inverter.
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Abstract
A signal delay estimator includes an adjustable delay element for delaying a first signal to obtain a delayed first signal, a delay amount estimator for estimating a delay amount between the delayed first signal and a second signal that is similar and delayed relative to the first signal, and a leading signal determiner for determining whether the delayed first signal leads the second signal or vice versa, and for generating a corresponding binary signal. A selective inverter is provided for selectively inverting the delay amount depending on the binary signal. The signal delay estimator also includes a feedback element to the adjustable delay element for controlling a delay based on an output of the selective inverter. Another exemplary signal delay estimator includes a closed control loop with an adjustable delay element and separate first and second processing paths for absolute delay amount and delay direction, respectively.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A signal delay estimator, comprising:
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an adjustable delay element for delaying a first signal to obtain a delayed first signal; a delay amount estimator configured to estimate a delay amount between the delayed first signal and a second signal that is similar and delayed relative to the first signal; a leading signal determiner configured to determine whether the delayed first signal leads the second signal or vice versa, and generate a corresponding binary signal based thereon; a selective inverter configured to selectively invert the delay amount based on the binary signal; and a feedback element to the adjustable delay element configured to control a delay of the adjustable delay element based on an output of the selective inverter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A signal delay estimator comprising:
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a closed control loop comprising an adjustable delay element as control element and separate first and second processing paths configured to ascertain an absolute delay amount and a delay direction, respectively, wherein the delay direction indicates whether a delayed version of a first signal leads a second signal, or vice versa, and wherein the second signal is similar and delayed relative to the first signal, wherein the second processing path for the delay direction comprises; a slope-selective error signal integrator configured to integrate an error signal between the delayed first signal and the second signal if a slope of the second signal is positive, and an integration result evaluator configured to evaluate whether an integration result provided by the slope-selective error signal integrator is greater than a threshold value and set a binary signal to a first value or a second value based on a result of the evaluation.
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17. A mobile communication device, comprising:
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an antenna port; a digital baseband processor; an RF-frontend coupled to the antenna port and to the digital baseband processor; and a signal delay estimator associated with the digital baseband processor and the RF-frontend, comprising; an adjustable delay element configured to delay a first signal to obtain a delayed first signal; a delay amount estimator configured to estimate a delay amount between the delayed first signal and a second signal that is similar and delayed relative to the first signal; a leading signal determiner configured to determine whether the delayed first signal leads the second signal or vice versa, and generate a corresponding binary signal; a selective inverter configured to selectively invert the delay amount based on the binary signal; and a feedback element to the adjustable delay element configured to control a delay based on an output of the selective inverter. - View Dependent Claims (18)
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19. A mobile communication device, comprising:
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an antenna port; a digital baseband processor; an RF-frontend coupled to the antenna port and to the digital baseband processor; and a signal delay estimator associated with the digital baseband processor and the RF-frontend, comprising; a closed control loop comprising an adjustable delay element a as control element and separate first and second processing paths configured to ascertain an absolute delay amount and a delay direction, respectively, wherein the delay direction indicates whether a delayed version of a first signal leads a second signal, or vice versa, and wherein the second signal is similar and delayed relative to the first signal, wherein the second processing path for the delay direction comprises; a slope-selective error signal integrator configured to integrate an error signal between the delayed first signal and the second signal if a slope of the second signal is positive, and an integration result evaluator configured to evaluate whether an integration result provided by the slope-selective error signal integrator is greater than a threshold value and set a binary signal to a first value or a second value based on a result of the evaluation.
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20. A method for estimating a delay between a first signal and a similar second signal, the method comprising:
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delaying the first signal by an adjustable delay to obtain a delayed first signal; estimating a delay amount between the delayed first signal and the second signal; determining whether the delayed first signal leads the second signal or vice versa and generating a corresponding binary signal based thereon; selectively inverting the delay amount based on the binary signal to obtain a conditionally inverted delay amount; and adjusting the adjustable delay used for delaying the first signal based on the conditionally inverted delay amount. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for estimating a delay between a first signal and a second signal, the method comprising:
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delaying the first signal by an adjustable delay to obtain a delayed first signal; determining an error signal between the delayed first signal and the second signal; integrating the error signal if a slope of one of the first signal, the delayed first signal, and the second signal is positive; and evaluating whether an integration result is greater than a threshold value and setting a binary signal to a first value or a second value depending on a result of the evaluation.
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Specification