System and method for generating signal waveforms in a CDMA cellular telephone system

• US 5,103,459 A
• Filed: 06/25/1990
• Issued: 04/07/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Wheatley, Charles E. III, Gilhousen, Klein S., Padovani, Roberto, Jacobs, Irwin M., Viterbi, Andrew J., Weaver, Lindsay A. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gregory, Bernarr E.
• Application Number:
  US07/543,496
• Time in Patent Office: 652 Days
• Field of Search: 375/1, 375/37, 375/59, 375/68, 380/28, 380/33, 380/34, 380/49, 370/18, 370/19, 370/21, 370/22, 379/59, 455/33, 455/54
• US Class Current: 370/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3888 Arrangements for carrying or protecting transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/707 using direct sequence modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/70757 with increased resolution, i.e. higher than half a chip H04B1/70758 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/709 Correlator structure
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/7115 Constructive combining of multi-path signals, i.e. RAKE receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/70701 featuring pilot assisted reception
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/70703 using multiple or variable rates
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2618 using hybrid code-time division multiple access [CDMA-TDMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2628 using code-division multiple access [CDMA] or spread spectrum multiple access [SSMA] H04B7/2618 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2637 for logical channel control
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 13/0022 PN, e.g. Kronecker
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 13/0048 Walsh
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 13/10 Code generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 13/107 by concatenation
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 13/18 Allocation of orthogonal codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0006 by adapting the transmission format
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0046 Code rate detection or code type detection H04L1/0038 takes precedence; detection of the data rate H04L25/0262; for packet format H04L1/0091
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0065 Serial concatenated codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0068 by puncturing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0071 : Use of interleaving interleaving per se H03M13/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/06 : using space diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 : by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 23/02 : adapted for orthogonal signalling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/02 : Channels characterised by the type of signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/12 : the signals being represented by different phase modulations of a single carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/26 : using transmission rate or quality of service QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/50 : in wire-line communication networks, e.g. low power modes or reduced link rate

Abstract

A system and method for communicating information signals using spread spectrum communication techniques. PN sequences are constructed that provide orthogonality between the users so that mutual interference will be reduced, allowing higher capacity and better link performance. With orthogonal PN codes, the cross-correlation is zero over a predetermined time interval, resulting in no interference between the orthogonal codes, provided only that the code time frames are time aligned with each other. In an exemplary embodiment, signals are communicated between a cell-site and mobile units using direct sequence spread spectrum communication signals. In the cell-to-mobile link, pilot, sync, paging and voice channels are defined. Information communicated on the cell-to-mobile link channels are, in general, encoded, interleaved, bi-phase shift key (BPSK) modulated with orthogonal covering of each BPSK symbol along with quadrature phase shift key (QPSK) spreading of the covered symbols. In the mobile-to-cell link, access and voice channels are defined. Information communicated on the mobile-to-cell link channels are, in general, encoded, interleaved, orthogonal signalling along with QPSK spreading.

Claims

1. A system for modulating an information signal in a spread spectrum communication system, comprising:

means for generating an orthogonal function signal representative of an orthogonal function selected from a plurality of orthogonal functions;

means for generating a pseudorandom noise (PN) signal of a predetermined PN code;

means for combining said orthogonal function signal, said PN signal and an information signal, and for providing a resultant first modulation signal.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said plurality of orthogonal functions are Walsh functions.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein said PN signal is an augmented length maximal-length linear sequence PN code.

4. A spread spectrum modulator for modulating a digital user information signal for transmission to an intended recipient user, comprising:

orthogonal function generator means for generating a preselected Walsh function signal;

first combiner means for, receiving and combining said user information signal and said Walsh function signal, and providing a resultant intermediate modulation signal;

pseudorandom noise (PN) generator means for generating first and second PN signals of a code sequence different from one another; and

second combiner means for, receiving and combining said intermediate modulation signal respectively with said first and second PN signals, and providing resultant first and second output modulation signals.

5. The modulator of claim 4 further comprising encoder means for receiving and error correction encoding said user information signal, and providing an error correction encoded user information signal to said first combiner means for combination with said Walsh function signal.

6. The modulator of claim 5 further comprising interleaver means for receiving and interleaving said error correction encoded user information signal, and providing said interleaved error correction encoded user information signal to said first combiner means for combining with said Walsh function signal.

7. The modulator of claim 6 further comprising transmission means for modulating said first and second output modulation signals upon a carrier signal and transmitting said modulated carrier signal.

8. The modulator of claim 7 wherein said transmission means comprises:

signal conversion means for receiving and converting said first and second output modulation signals to analog form;

carrier modulation means for, receiving and modulating first and second carrier signals respectively with said analog first and second output modulation signals, and combining said modulated first and second carrier signals as a transmission signal;

frequency conversion means for receiving and converting said transmission signal to a higher frequency; and

antenna means for radiating said frequency converted transmission signal.

9. The modulator of claim 4 further comprising data scrambler means for generating a scrambling signal unique to said intended recipient user, and said first combining means further for receiving and combining said scrambling signal with said user information signal and said Walsh function signal.

10. The modulator of claim 9 wherein said data scrambler means comprises user PN generator means for generating as said scrambling signal a user PN code sequence unique to said intended recipient user.

11. The modulator of claim 4 wherein said digital user information signal is comprised of frames of variable rate vocoded voice data.

12. A code division multiple access (CDMA) transmission system for spread spectrum modulation and transmission of a plurality of input digital user information signals each intended for a respective recipient user, said transmission system comprising:

spreading means for generating first and second spectrum spreading signals;

pilot channel means for, generating a pilot channel orthogonal function signal representative of a first orthogonal function selected from a set of orthogonal functions, combining said first and second spectrum spreading signals with said pilot channel orthogonal function signal, and providing as an output first and second pilot channel output signals;

a plurality of user channel means each for, receiving a respective one of a plurality of user information signals, generating a user channel orthogonal function signal representative of a selected one of said orthogonal functions of said set of orthogonal functions wherein each user channel orthogonal function signal is of a different orthogonal function with respect to each other user channel orthogonal function signal and said pilot channel orthogonal function signal, combining said received user information signal with said generated user channel orthogonal function signal so as to provide a resultant user channel orthogonalized information signal, combining each resultant user channel orthogonalized information signal with said first and second spectrum spreading signals, and providing as an output from each respective user channel means corresponding first and second user channel output signals;

transmission means for, receiving and converting said first and second pilot channel output signals to analog form, receiving and converting each user channel means first and second user channel output signals to analog form, combining said analog first pilot channel output signal and each analog first user channel output signal to provide a first combined signal, combining said analog second pilot channel output signal and each analog second user channel output signal to provide a second combined signal, combining said first combined signal with a first carrier signal so as to provide a first modulated carrier signal, combining said second combined signal with a second carrier signal so as to provide a second modulated carrier signal, combining said first and second modulated carrier signals as a composite modulated carrier signal, and transmitting said composite modulated carrier signal.

13. The transmission system of claim 12 further comprising at least one auxiliary channel means each for, receiving a respective auxiliary channel information signal, generating an auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal representative of a selected one of said orthogonal functions of said set of orthogonal functions wherein each auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal is of a different orthogonal function with respect to each other auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal, each user channel orthogonal function signal and said pilot channel orthogonal function signal, combining said received auxiliary channel information signal with said generated auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal so as to provide a resultant auxiliary channel orthogonalized information signal, combining each auxiliary channel orthogonalized information signal with said first and second spectrum spreading signals, and providing as an output from each respective auxiliary channel means first and second auxiliary channel output signals to said transmission means;

and

said for transmission means further for, receiving and converting each auxiliary channel means first and second auxiliary channel output signals to analog form, combining each analog first auxiliary channel output signal with said analog first pilot channel output signal and each analog first user channel output signal in said first combined signal, combining each analog second auxiliary channel output signal with said analog second pilot channel output signal and each second user channel output signal in said second combined signal

14. The modulator of claim 13 wherein each user channel means is further for forward error correction encoding and interleaving data bits of said user information signal.

15. The modulator of claim 14 wherein each user channel means is further for generating and combining an intended recipient user specific scrambling signal with said encoded and interleaved user information signal.

16. The transmission system of claim 14 wherein said spreading means comprises:

first pseudorandom noise (PN) generator means for generating said first spectrum spreading signal of an In-Phase PN chip code;

second PN generator means for generating said second spectrum spreading signal of a Quadrature-Phase PN chip code; and

wherein said In-Phase and said Quadrature-Phase PN chip codes are each of a different polynomial function.

17. The transmission system of claim 16 wherein said pilot channel means comprises:

pilot channel Walsh function generator means for generating said pilot channel orthogonal function signal comprised of a Walsh function chip sequence of zero state chips;

pilot channel first combiner means for receiving and combining said first spectrum spreading signal with said pilot channel orthogonal function signal, and providing said first pilot channel output signal; and

pilot channel second combiner means for receiving and combining said second spectrum spreading signal with said pilot channel orthogonal function signal, and providing said second pilot channel output signal.

18. The transmission system of claim 17 wherein each user channel means comprises:

user channel Walsh function generator means for generating said respective user channel orthogonal function signal comprised of a selected Walsh function chip sequence of zero and one state chips;

user channel first combiner means for receiving and combining said respective user information signal with said generated user channel orthogonal function signal, and providing said user channel orthogonalized information signal;

user channel second combiner means for receiving and combining said first spreading spectrum signal with said user channel orthogonalized information signal, and providing said first user channel output signal; and

user channel third combiner means for receiving and combining said second spectrum spreading signal with said generated user channel orthogonalized information signal, and providing said second user channel output signal.

19. The transmission system of claim 18 wherein each auxiliary channel means comprises:

auxiliary channel Walsh function generator means for generating said respective auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal comprised of a selected Walsh function chip sequence of zero and one state chips;

auxiliary channel first combiner means for receiving and combining said respective auxiliary information signal with said generated auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal, and providing said auxiliary channel orthogonalized information signal;

auxiliary channel second combiner means for receiving and combining said first spectrum spreading signal with said auxiliary channel orthogonalized information signal, and providing said first auxiliary channel output signal; and

auxiliary channel third combiner means for receiving and combining said second spectrum spreading signal with said generated auxiliary channel orthogonalized information signal, and providing said second auxiliary channel output signal.

20. The modulator of claim 12 wherein each user information signal is comprised of a sequence of fixed time frames of data wherein each data frame is comprised of a variable number of bits of variable rate vocoded voice data.

21. The modulator of claim 20 wherein each input user information signal frame of data further comprises a cyclic redundancy check code (CRCC) bits, said CRCC computed based upon each respective frame data bits.

22. The modulator of claim 21 wherein certain input user information signal data frames of is further comprised of power control bit data.

23. In a code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular telephone system, a cell-site transmission system for spread spectrum modulation and transmission of a plurality of input digital user information signals each containing user information intended for a respective recipient user, said transmissin system comprising:

a spectrum spreading signal generator comprising;

(a) an In-Phase channel pseudorandom noise (PN) generator having an output; and

(b) an Quadrature-Phase channel PN generator having an output;

a pilot channel signal generator comprising;

(a) a pilot channel Walsh function generator having an output;

(b) pilot channel first and second exclusive-OR gates each having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of each of said pilot channel first and second exclusive-OR gates coupled to said pilot channel Walsh function generator output, another input of said pilot channel first exclusive-OR gate input coupled to said In-Phase channel PN generator output, and another input of said pilot channel second exclusive-OR gate input coupled to said Quadrature-Phase channel PN generator output;

(c) pilot channel first and second finite impulse response (FIR) filters each having an input and an output, said pilot channel first FIR filter input coupled to said pilot channel first exclusive-OR gate output and said pilot channel second FIR filter input coupled to said pilot channel second exclusive-OR gate output; and

(d) pilot channel first and second gain control elements each having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of each of said pilot channel first and second gain control elements receiving a respective one of a plurality of gain control signals, another input of said pilot channel gain first control element coupled to said pilot channel first FIR filter output, and another input of said pilot channel second gain control element coupled to said pilot channel second FIR filter output;

a plurality of user channel signal generators each comprising;

(a) a user channel Walsh function generator having an input and an output, each user channel Walsh function generator input receiving a function select signal;

(b) a user channel first exclusive-OR gate having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of said user channel first exclusive-OR gate for receiving a respective input digital user information signal and another input of said user channel first exclusive-OR gate coupled to said user channel Walsh function generator output;

(c) user channel second and third exclusive-OR gates each having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of each of said user channel second and third exclusive-OR gates coupled to said user channel first exclusive-OR gate output, another input of said user channel second exclusive-OR gate input coupled to said In-Phase channel PN generator output, and another input of said user channel third exclusive OR gate input coupled to said Quadrature-Phase channel PN generator output;

(d) user channel first and second FIR filters each having an input and an output, said user channel first FIR filter input coupled to said user channel second exclusive-OR gate output and said user channel second FIR filter input coupled to said user channel third exclusive-OR gate output; and

(e) user channel first and second gain control elements each having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of each of said user channel first and second gain control elements receiving a respective one of said plurality of gain control signals, another input of said user channel first gain control element coupled to said user channel first FIR filter output, and another input of said user channel second gain control element coupled to said user channel second FIR filter output; and

a transmit power amplifier comprising;

(a) first and second sets of digital to analog (D/A) converters, each D/A converter having an input and an output, each D/A converter of said first set having an input coupled to an output of a respective one of said pilot channel first gain control element and said user channel first gain control elements, and each D/A converter of said second set having an input coupled to an output of a respective one of said pilot channel second gain control element and said user channel second gain control elements;

(b) first summer and second summers each having a plurality of inputs and an output, each one of said first summer inputs coupled to an output of a respective D/A converter of said first set of D/A converters and said second summer inputs coupled to an output of a respective D/A converter of said second set of D/A converters;

(c) first and second mixers each having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of said first mixer coupled to said first summer output, another input of said first mixer receiving a first local oscillator signal, one input of said second mixer coupled to said second summer output, and another input of said second mixer receiving a second local oscillator signal;

(d) a third summer having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of said third summer coupled to said first mixer output and another input of said third summer coupled to said second mixer output;

(e) a third mixer having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of said third mixer coupled to said third summer output and another input of said third mixer for receiving an RF carrier signal;

(f) a bandpass filter having an input and an output, said bandpass filter input coupled to said third mixer output; and

(g) a variable gain RF amplifier having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of said RF amplifier coupled to said bandpass filter output, another input of said RF amplifier for receiving an RF power gain control signal and said RF amplifier output for coupling to an antenna system.

24. The transmission system of claim 23 wherein said In-Phase channel PN generator generates from a first polynomial function an In-Phase PN signal and said Quadrature-Phase channel PN generator generates a Quadrature-Phase channel PN signal of a second and different polynomial function.

25. The transmission system of claim 24 wherein said pilot channel Walsh function generator generates a pilot channel Walsh function signal representative of a predetermined Walsh function, and each of said user channel Walsh function generators generate, in response to a respectively received function select signal, a respective user channel Walsh function signal representative of a different Walsh function with respect to one another and said pilot channel Walsh function.

26. The transmission system of claim 25 wherein each user channel further comprises:

a convolutional encoder having an input and an output, said convolutional encoder input receiving said respective input digital user information signal;

a convolutional interleaver having an input and an output, said convolutional interleaver input coupled to said convolutional encoder output;

a user channel PN generator having an output and capable of generating a user channel PN signal of a user specific PN code;

a user channel fourth exclusive-OR gate having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of said user channel fourth exclusive-OR gate coupled to said user channel PN generator output, another input of said user channel fourth exclusive-OR gate coupled to said convolutional interleaver output, and said user channel fourth exclusive-OR gate output coupled to said one input of said user channel first exclusive-OR gate.

27. The transmission system of claim 23 wherein said pilot channel Walsh function generator generates a pilot channel Walsh function signal representative of a predetermined Walsh function, and each of said user channel Walsh function generators generate, in response to a respectively received function select signal, a respective user channel Walsh function signal representative of a different Walsh function with respect to one another and said pilot channel Walsh function.

28. The transmission system of claim 23 wherein each user channel further comprises:

a convolutional encoder having an input and an output, said convolutional encoder input receiving said respective input digital user information signal; and

a convolutional interleaver having an input and an output, said convolutional interleaver input coupled to said convolutional encoder output and said convolutional interleaver output coupled to said one input of said first user channel exclusive-OR gate.

29. The transmission system of claim 28 wherein each user channel further comprises:

a user channel PN generator having an output and capable of generating a user channel PN signal of a user specific PN code;

a user channel fourth exclusive-OR gate disposed between said convolutional interleaver and said user channel first exclusive-OR gate, said user channel fourth exclusive-OR gate having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of said user channel fourth exclusive-OR gate coupled to said user channel PN generator output, another input of said user channel fourth exclusive-OR gate coupled to said convolutional interleaver output, and said user channel fourth exclusive-OR gate output coupled to said one input of said user channel first exclusive-OR gate.

30. The transmission system of claim 23 further comprising a sync channel signal generator, said sync channel signal generator comprising:

(a) a sync channel Walsh function generator having an output;

(b) a sync channel first exclusive-OR gate having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of said sync channel first exclusive-OR gate for receiving an input digital sync channel information signal bearing system information, and another input of said sync channel first exclusive-OR gate coupled to said sync channel Walsh function generator output;

(c) sync channel second and third exclusive-OR gates each having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of each of said sync channel second and third exclusive-OR gates coupled to said sync channel first exclusive-OR gate output, another input of said sync channel second exclusive-OR gate input coupled to said In-Phase channel PN generator output, and another input of said sync channel third exclusive-OR gate input coupled to said Quadrature-Phase channel PN generator output;

(d) sync channel first and second FIR filters each having an input and an output, said sync channel first FIR filter input coupled to said sync channel second exclusive-OR gate output and said sync channel second FIR filter input coupled to said sync channel third exclusive-OR gate output; and

(e) sync channel first and second gain control elements each having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of each of said sync channel first and second gain control elements receiving a respective one of said plurality of gain control signals, another input of said sync channel first gain control element coupled to said sync channel first FIR filter output, another input of said sync channel second gain control element coupled to said sync channel second FIR filter output, and wherein said sync channel first FIR filter output is coupled to an input of a corresponding D/A converter of said first set and said second sync channel FIR filter output coupled to a corresponding D/A converter of said second set.

31. The transmission system of claim 30 further comprising a paging channel signal generator, said paging channel signal generator comprising:

(a) a paging channel Walsh function generator having an output;

(b) a paging channel first exclusive-OR gate having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of said paging channel first exclusive-OR gate for receiving an input digital paging channel information signal bearing intended recipient user communication request information, and another input of said paging channel first exclusive-OR gate coupled to said paging channel Walsh function generator output;

(c) channel second and third paging exclusive-OR gates each having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of each of said paging channel second and third exclusive-OR gates coupled to said paging channel first exclusive-OR gate output, another input of said paging channel second exclusive-OR gates input coupled to said In-Phase channel PN generator output, and another input of said paging channel third exclusive-OR gate input coupled to said Quadrature-Phase channel PN generator output;

(d) paging channel first and second FIR filters each having an input and an output, said paging channel first FIR filter input coupled to said paging channel second exclusive-OR gate output and said paging channel second FIR filter input coupled to said paging channel third exclusive-OR gate output; and

(e) paging channel first and second gain control elements each having a pair of inputs and an output, one input of each of said paging channel first and second gain control elements receiving a respective one of said plurality of gain control signals, another input of said paging channel first gain control element coupled to said paging channel first FIR filter output, another input of said paging channel second gain control element coupled to said paging channel second FIR filter output, and wherein said paging channel first FIR filter output is coupled to an input of a corresponding D/A converter of said first set and said second paging channel FIR filter output coupled to a corresponding D/A converter of said second set.

32. The transmission system of claim 31 wherein said pilot channel Walsh function generator generates a pilot channel Walsh function signal representative of a first predetermined Walsh function, said sync channel Walsh function generator generates a sync channel Walsh function signal representative of a second predetermined Walsh function, said paging channel Walsh function generator generates a paging channel Walsh function signal representative of a third predetermined Walsh function, and each of said user channel Walsh function generators generate, in response to a respectively received function select signal, a respective user channel Walsh function signal representative of a different Walsh function with respect to one another and said first, second and third predetermined Walsh functions.

33. A method for modulating a digital user information signal for transmission to an intended recipient user, comprising the steps of:

generating a Walsh function signal representative of a Walsh function selected from a plurality of Walsh functions;

combining a user information signal and said Walsh function signal, so as to provide a resultant intermediate modulation signal;

generating at least one spectrum spreading PN signal; and

combining said intermediate modulation signal respectively with each of said spectrum spreading PN signals so as to provide corresponding resultant output modulation signals for transmission to an intended recipient user.

34. The method of claim 33 further comprising the step of error correction encoding said user information signal.

35. The method of claim 34 further comprising the step of interleaving said error correction encoded user information signal.

36. The method of claim 33 further comprising the steps of:

generating a carrier signal;

modulating said first and second output modulation signals upon said carrier signal; and

transmitting said modulated carrier signal.

37. The modulator of claim 33 further comprising the step of:

generating a scrambling signal unique to said intended recipient user; and

combining said scrambling signal with said user information signal and said Walsh function signal.

38. The modulator of claim 37 wherein said scrambling signal is of a user PN code sequence unique to said intended recipient user.

39. In a code division multiple access (CDMA) communication system, a method for spread spectrum modulation and transmission of a plurality of input digital user information signals each intended for a respective recipient user, said method comprising the steps of:

generating first and second spectrum spreading signals;

generating a pilot channel orthogonal function signal representative of a first orthogonal function selected from a set of orthogonal functions;

combining said first and second spectrum spreading signals with said pilot channel orthogonal function signal so as to form first and second pilot channel output signals;

receiving in parallel a plurality of user information signals each intended for a different recipient user;

generating for each received user information signal a respective user channel orthogonal function signal representative of a selected one of said orthogonal functions of said set of orthogonal functions wherein each user channel means orthogonal function signal is of a different orthogonal function with respect to each other user channel orthogonal function signal and said pilot channel orthogonal function signal;

combining each user information signal with a respective user channel orthogonal function signal so as to form a respective resultant user channel orthogonalized information signal;

combining each user channel orthogonalized information signal with said first and second spectrum spreading signals so as to form respective pairs of first and second user channel output signals;

converting said first and second pilot channel output signals to analog form;

converting each each pair of first and second user channel output signals to analog form;

combining said analog first pilot channel output signal and each analog first user channel output signal so as to form a first combined signal;

combining said analog second pilot channel output signal and each analog second user channel output signal so as to form a second combined signal;

generating first and second carrier signals;

combining said first combined signal with said first carrier signal so as to form a first modulated carrier signal;

combining said second combined signal with said second carrier signal, so as to form a second modulated carrier signal;

combining said first and second modulated carrier signals so as to form a composite modulated carrier signal; and

transmitting said composite modulated carrier signal.

40. The method of claim 39 further comprising the steps of:

receiving in parallel at least one respective auxiliary channel information signal;

generating for each received auxiliary channel information signal an auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal representative of a selected one of said orthogonal functions of said set of orthogonal functions wherein each auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal is of a different orthogonal function with respect to each other auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal, each user channel orthogonal function signal and said pilot channel orthogonal function signal;

combining each auxiliary channel information signal with a respective auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal so as to form a respective resultant auxiliary channel orthogonalized information signal;

combining each auxiliary channel orthogonalized information signal with said first and second spectrum spreading signals so as to form respective pairs of auxiliary channel first and second auxiliary channel output signals; and

converting each pair of first and second auxiliary channel output signals to analog form;

combining each analog first auxiliary channel output signal with said analog first pilot channel output signal and each analog first user channel output signal in said first combined signal;

combining each analog second auxiliary channel output signal with said analog second pilot channel output signal and each second user channel output signal in said second combined signal.

41. The method of claim 40 further comprising the steps of forward error correction encoding and interleaving data bits of said user information signal.

42. The method of claim 41 further comprising the steps of generating and combining an intended recipient user specific scrambling signal with said encoded and interleaved user information signal.

43. The method of claim 41 further comprising the step of providing each user information signal as a sequence of fixed time frames of data wherein each data frame is comprised of a variable number of bits of variable rate vocoded voice data.

44. The method of claim 43 further comprising the steps of:

generating, for each frame of each input user information signal, bits of a cyclic redundancy check code CRCC; and

providing said generated CRCC bits in each corresponding frame of each input user information signal.

45. The method of claim 44 further comprising the step of inserting, in certain input user information signal data frames, power control bit data.

46. The method of claim 41 wherein said first spectrum spreading signal is of an In-Phase pseudorandom noise (PN) chip code, said second spectrum spreading signal is of a Quadrature-Phase PN chip code, and said In-Phase and Quadrature-Phase PN chip codes are each generated from a different polynomial function.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein said said pilot channel orthogonal function signal is comprised of a Walsh function chip sequence of zero state chips.

48. The method of claim 47 wherein each user channel orthogonal function signal comprised of a selected Walsh function chip sequence of zero and one state chips.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein each auxiliary channel orthogonal function signal comprised of a selected Walsh function chip sequence of zero and one state chips.