Upstream (US) transient impairment localization and detection within communication systems

• US 20160050127A1
• Filed: 08/14/2015
• Published: 02/18/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Prodan, Richard Stephen
• Granted Patent: US 9,553,683 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/40 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/10 of transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/46 Monitoring; Testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2601 Multicarrier modulation systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6118 involving cable transmission, e.g. using a cable modem
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic

Abstract

A communication device (alternatively, device) includes a processor configured to support communications with other communication device(s) and to generate and process signals for such communications. In some examples, the device includes a communication interface and a processor, among other possible circuitries, components, elements, etc. to support communications with other communication device(s) and to generate and process signals for such communications. A device directs an analog to digital converter (ADC) to perform a sample capture of a communication channel and processes that sample capture to generate a detected power. The device performs an integrate-and-dump (I&D) operation on the detected power over at least one time period to generate an integrated power and then generates an integrated power histogram of the communication channel that includes the integrated power. This integrated power histogram characterizes noise generated by the device, noise entering the device, noise associated with the communication channel, etc.

Claims

1. A communication device comprising:

an analog to digital converter (ADC); and

a processor configured to;

direct the ADC to perform a sample capture of a communication channel between the communication device and another communication device;

process the sample capture to generate a detected power;

perform an integrate-and-dump operation on the detected power over at least one time period to generate an integrated power; and

generate an integrated power histogram of the communication channel that includes the integrated power, wherein the integrated power histogram characterizes at least one of first noise generated by the communication device or second noise entering the communication device.

2. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a transmission symbol having a predetermined integrated power;

transmit the transmission symbol into the communication channel;

direct the ADC to perform another sample capture of the communication channel during transmission of the transmission symbol into the communication channel;

process the another sample capture to generate another detected power;

perform another integrate-and-dump operation on the another detected power over at least one other time period to generate another integrated power;

subtract the predetermined integrated power from the another integrated power to generate an adjusted integrated power; and

update the integrated power histogram of the communication channel using the adjusted integrated power.

3. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a transmission symbol having a predetermined integrated power within a subset of sub-carriers of a plurality of sub-carriers that spans a full bandwidth of a usable frequency spectrum within the communication channel between the communication device and another communication device;

transmit the transmission symbol into the communication channel via the subset of sub-carriers;

direct the ADC to perform another sample capture of the communication channel during transmission of the transmission symbol into the communication channel;

process the another sample capture to generate another detected power;

perform another integrate-and-dump operation on the another detected power over at least one other time period to generate another integrated power;

subtract a first integrated power from the another integrated power to generate a second integrated power, wherein the first integrated power is determined from a measured integrated power of a symbol that spans the full bandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum scaled by a ratio of the predetermined integrated power of the transmission symbol to another predetermined signal power of another symbol that spans the full bandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum; and

update the integrated power histogram of the communication channel using the second integrated power.

4. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a probe symbol that spans a full bandwidth of a usable frequency spectrum within the communication channel between the communication device and another communication device;

direct the ADC to perform another sample capture of the communication channel during transmission of the probe symbol into the communication channel;

process the another sample capture to generate probe detected power;

perform another integrate-and-dump operation on the probe detected power over at least one other time period to generate a probe integrated power; and

generate a calibration integrated power histogram of the communication channel that includes the probe integrated power, wherein the calibration integrated power histogram characterizes the at least one of the first noise generated by the communication device or the second noise entering the communication device during transmission of the probe symbol that spans the full bandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum within the communication channel.

5. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

update the integrated power histogram of the communication channel using a plurality of other integrated powers associated with a plurality of other sample captures of the communication channel between the communication device and another communication device to generate an updated integrated power histogram;

analyze the updated integrated power histogram, after the update of the integrated power histogram, to identify whether any cumulative sum of the updated integrated power histogram exceeds at least one threshold; and

identify erroneous operation of the communication device when the updated integrated power histogram includes the at least one value that exceeds the at least one threshold.

6. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit the integrated power histogram that characterizes the at least one of the first noise generated by the communication device or the second noise entering the communication device to and for use by at least one of the another communication device or a proactive network maintenance (PNM) communication device to determine at least one characteristic associated with performance of at least one of the communication channel or the communication device.

7. The communication device of claim 1 further comprising:

a cable modem, wherein the another communication device is a cable headend transmitter or a cable modem termination system (CMTS).

8. The communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

support communications within at least one of a satellite communication system, a wireless communication system, a wired communication system, a fiber-optic communication system, or a mobile communication system.

9. A communication device comprising:

an analog to digital converter (ADC); and

a processor configured to;

generate an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmission symbol having a predetermined integrated power, wherein the OFDM transmission symbol includes a cyclic prefix (CP), a data portion, and a cyclic suffix (CS);

transmit the OFDM transmission symbol into a communication channel between the communication device and another communication device;

direct the ADC to perform a first sample capture of the communication channel during transmission of the OFDM transmission symbol into the communication channel and to synchronize the first sample capture to begin after transmission of the CP and to end before transmission of the CS;

process the second sample capture to generate a first detected power;

perform a first integrate-and-dump operation on the first detected power over a first at least one time period to generate a first integrated power;

subtract the predetermined integrated power from the first integrated power to generate a first modified integrated power;

direct the ADC to perform a second sample capture of the communication channel when the communication device is not transmitting any signal into the communication channel;

process the second sample capture to generate a second detected power;

perform a second integrate-and-dump operation on the second detected power over a second at least one time period to generate a second integrated power;

generate an integrated power histogram of the communication channel that includes the first modified integrated power and the second integrated power, wherein the integrated power histogram characterizes at least one of first noise generated by the communication device or second noise entering the communication device;

analyze the integrated power histogram to identify whether any cumulative sum of any contiguous power bins of the integrated power histogram that include a relatively highest power bin exceeds at least one threshold; and

identify erroneous operation of the communication device when the integrated power histogram includes the at least one value that exceeds the at least one threshold.

10. The communication device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate another OFDM transmission symbol having another predetermined integrated power within a subset of sub-carriers of a plurality of sub-carriers that spans a full bandwidth of a usable frequency spectrum within the communication channel between the communication device and another communication device, wherein the another OFDM transmission symbol includes another CP, another data portion, and another CS;

transmit the another OFDM transmission symbol into the communication channel via the subset of sub-carriers;

direct the ADC to perform a third sample capture of the communication channel during transmission of the another OFDM transmission symbol into the communication channel and to synchronize the third sample capture to begin after transmission of the another CP and to end before transmission of the another CS;

process the third sample capture to generate a third detected power;

perform a third integrate-and-dump operation on the third detected power over a third at least one time period to generate a third integrated power;

subtract a first other integrated power from the third integrated power to generate a second other integrated power, wherein the first other integrated power is determined from a measured integrated power of a symbol that spans the full bandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum scaled by a ratio of the another predetermined integrated power to at least one other predetermined signal power of at least one other symbol that spans the full bandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum; and

update the integrated power histogram of the communication channel using the second other integrated power.

11. The communication device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

generate a probe symbol that spans a full bandwidth of a usable frequency spectrum within the communication channel between the communication device and another communication device;

direct the ADC to perform another sample capture of the communication channel during transmission of the probe symbol into the communication channel;

process the another sample capture to generate probe detected power;

perform another integrate-and-dump operation on the probe detected power over at least one other time period to generate a probe integrated power; and

generate a calibration integrated power histogram of the communication channel that includes the probe integrated power, wherein the calibration integrated power histogram characterizes the at least one of the first noise generated by the communication device or the second noise entering the communication device during transmission of the probe symbol that spans the full bandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum within the communication channel.

12. The communication device of claim 9 further comprising:

a cable modem, wherein the another communication device is a cable headend transmitter or a cable modem termination system (CMTS).

13. The communication device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

support communications within at least one of a satellite communication system, a wireless communication system, a wired communication system, a fiber-optic communication system, or a mobile communication system.

14. A method for execution by a communication device, the method comprising:

directing an analog to digital converter (ADC) of the communication device to perform a sample capture of a communication channel between the communication device and another communication device;

processing the sample capture to generate a detected power;

performing an integrate-and-dump operation on the detected power over at least one time period to generate an integrated power; and

generating an integrated power histogram of the communication channel that includes the integrated power, wherein the integrated power histogram characterizes at least one of first noise generated by the communication device or second noise entering the communication device.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

generating a transmission symbol having a predetermined integrated power;

transmitting, via a communication interface of the communication device, the transmission symbol into the communication channel;

directing the ADC to perform another sample capture of the communication channel during transmission of the transmission symbol into the communication channel;

processing the another sample capture to generate another detected power;

performing another integrate-and-dump operation on the another detected power over at least one other time period to generate another integrated power;

subtracting the predetermined integrated power from the another integrated power to generate an adjusted integrated power; and

updating the integrated power histogram of the communication channel using the adjusted integrated power.

16. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

generating a transmission symbol having a predetermined integrated power within a subset of sub-carriers of a plurality of sub-carriers that spans a full bandwidth of a usable frequency spectrum within the communication channel between the communication device and another communication device;

transmitting the transmission symbol into the communication channel via the subset of sub-carriers;

directing the ADC to perform another sample capture of the communication channel during transmission of the transmission symbol into the communication channel;

processing the another sample capture to generate another detected power;

performing another integrate-and-dump operation on the another detected power over at least one other time period to generate another integrated power;

subtracting a first integrated power from the another integrated power to generate a second integrated power, wherein the first integrated power is determined from a measured integrated power of a symbol that spans the full bandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum scaled by a ratio of the predetermined integrated power of the transmission symbol to another predetermined signal power of another symbol that spans the full bandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum; and

updating the integrated power histogram of the communication channel using the second integrated power.

17. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

generating a probe symbol that spans a full bandwidth of a usable frequency spectrum within the communication channel between the communication device and another communication device;

directing the ADC to perform another sample capture of the communication channel during transmission of the probe symbol into the communication channel;

processing the another sample capture to generate probe detected power;

performing another integrate-and-dump operation on the probe detected power over at least one other time period to generate a probe integrated power; and

generating a calibration integrated power histogram of the communication channel that includes the probe integrated power, wherein the calibration integrated power histogram characterizes the at least one of the first noise generated by the communication device or the second noise entering the communication device during transmission of the probe symbol that spans the full bandwidth of the usable frequency spectrum within the communication channel.

18. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

transmitting, via a communication interface of the communication device, the integrated power histogram that characterizes the at least one of the first noise generated by the communication device or the second noise entering the communication device to and for use by at least one of the another communication device or a proactive network maintenance (PNM) communication device to determine at least one characteristic associated with performance of at least one of the communication channel or the communication device.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the communication device is a cable modem, and the another communication device is a cable headend transmitter or a cable modem termination system (CMTS).

20. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

operating the communication device to support communications within at least one of a satellite communication system, a wireless communication system, a wired communication system, a fiber-optic communication system, or a mobile communication system.

21. A communication device comprising:

a communication interface that includes an analog to digital converter (ADC), a digital to analog converter (DAC), and a power amplifier (PA); and

a processor configured to;

support communications, via the communication interface and via a communication channel, with another communication device; and

process at least one of an ADC input signal, an ADC output signal, a DAC input signal, a DAC output signal, a PA input signal, or a PA output signal to identify and characterize any upstream (US) transient impairment within the communication device.

22. The communication device of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to:

monitor at least one of the DAC output signal, the PA input signal, or the PA output signal;

attenuate the PA output signal based on the DAC output signal to generate an attenuated PA output signal;

subtract the DAC output signal from the attenuated PA output signal to remove a transmitted signal from a signal including noise that is detected at an input to the communication channel to generate a noise-only signal;

direct the ADC to sample the noise-only signal to generate a sample capture; and

process the sample capture to identify and characterize the any US transient impairment within the communication device.

23. The communication device of claim 21, wherein the processor is further configured to:

transmit, via the communication interface, information related to identification and characterization of the US transient impairment to at least one of the another communication device or a proactive network maintenance (PNM) communication device.

24. The communication device of claim 21 further comprising:

a cable modem, wherein the another communication device is a cable headend transmitter or a cable modem termination system (CMTS).

25. The communication device of claim 21, wherein the communication device is further configured to:

support communications within at least one of a satellite communication system, a wireless communication system, a wired communication system, a fiber-optic communication system, or a mobile communication system.