Signal constellation time division multiplexing arrangement
First Claim
1. Apparatus for processing a data signal for transmission, said data signal comprising symbols representing data bits from a plurality of different sources of data bits including a first source and a second source, said apparatus comprising:
- means for converting data bits from each source of data bits into symbols in a different signal constellation, at least one of these constellations having an intersymbol separation that is different from that of another of these constellations, said converting means utilizing error control coding in a manner so as to provide a) a first desired level of error protection for the data bits from the first source, b) a second desired level of error protection for data bits from the second source, c) a first time delay no greater than a first amount of time for the data bits from the first source, and d) a second time delay no greater than a second amount of time for the data bits from the second source, wherein the first amount of time is greater than the second amount of time and the first desired level of error protection is equal to the second desired level of error protection; and
means for time-division-multiplexing the symbols of said data signal.
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Abstract
Data to be transmitted is converted into symbols using a plurality of data-to-symbol conversion processes. The symbols from these processes are then time-division multiplexed. Advantageously, at least one of these conversion processes incorporate coding in a manner which provides the same degree of error protection for each process. In the disclosed embodiments, the data originates from two independent sources and the data from each source is converted into symbols using a different data-to-symbol conversion process.
21 Citations
22 Claims
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1. Apparatus for processing a data signal for transmission, said data signal comprising symbols representing data bits from a plurality of different sources of data bits including a first source and a second source, said apparatus comprising:
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means for converting data bits from each source of data bits into symbols in a different signal constellation, at least one of these constellations having an intersymbol separation that is different from that of another of these constellations, said converting means utilizing error control coding in a manner so as to provide a) a first desired level of error protection for the data bits from the first source, b) a second desired level of error protection for data bits from the second source, c) a first time delay no greater than a first amount of time for the data bits from the first source, and d) a second time delay no greater than a second amount of time for the data bits from the second source, wherein the first amount of time is greater than the second amount of time and the first desired level of error protection is equal to the second desired level of error protection; and means for time-division-multiplexing the symbols of said data signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11)
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8. The apparatus of 5 wherein said first coding means includes a trellis coder concatenated with a Reed-Solomon coder.
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12. A method for processing a data signal for transmission, said data signal representing a plurality of different sources of data bits including a first source and a second source, said method comprising the steps of;
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converting bits from each source of data bits into symbols in a different signal constellation, at least one of these constellations having an intersymbol separation that is different from that of another constellation, said converting step utilizing error control coding in a manner so as to provide a) a first desired level of error protection for the data bits from the first source, b) a second desired level of error protection for data bits from the second source, c) a first time delay no greater than a first amount of time for data bits from the first source, and d) a second time delay no greater than a second amount of time for data bits from the second source, wherein the first amount of time is greater than the second amount of time and the first desired level of error protection is equal to the second desired level of error protection; and time-division-multiplexing the symbols formed in said conversion step.
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13. Apparatus for processing a received signal comprising symbols representative of data from a plurality of different sources including a first source and a second source, said apparatus comprising:
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means for time division demultiplexing said received signal into a plurality of symbol streams, each of said symbol streams including symbols in a different signal constellation, at least one of these constellations having an intersymbol separation that is different from that of another of these constellations;
said symbols having been coded from their representative data in a manner so as to provide a) a first desired level of error protection for the data from the first source, b) a second desired level of error protection for the data from the second source, c) a first time delay no greater than a first amount of time for the data from the first source, and d) a second time delay no greater than a second amount of time for the data from the second source, wherein the first amount of time is greater than the second amount of time and the first desired level of error protection is equal to the second desired level of error protection; andmeans for converting each symbol stream into data from the respective source. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of processing a received signal comprising symbols representative of information from a plurality of different sources including a first source and a second source, said method comprising the steps of;
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time division demultiplexing said received signal into a plurality of symbol streams, each of said symbol streams including symbols in a different signal constellation, at least one of these constellations having an intersymbol separation that is different from that of another of these constellations, said symbols having been coded from their representative data so that a) a first desired level of error protection is provided for the information from the first source, b) a second desired level of error protection is provided for the information from the second source, c) a first time delay no greater than a first amount of time is applied to the information from the first source, and d) a second time delay no greater than a second amount of time is applied to the information from the second source, wherein the first amount of time is greater than the second amount of time and the first desired level of error protection is equal to the second desired level of error protection; and converting each symbol stream into a corresponding bit stream representing information from the respective source.
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Specification