Apparatus for compensating for signal transit time differences of digital transmission devices

• US 6,252,890 B1
• Filed: 06/24/1997
• Issued: 06/26/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Alger-Meunier, Michael, Ammar, Yousif, Brueckmann, Dieter, Hoefer, Gerald
• Primary Examiner(s): Marcelo, Melvin
• Assistant Examiner(s): KWOH, JASPER C
• Application Number:
  US08/881,222
• Time in Patent Office: 1,463 Days
• Field of Search: 370/350, 370/503, 370/507, 370/508, 370/516-519, 375/356, 375/371
• US Class Current: 370/503
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/67 Common-wave systems, i.e. using separate transmitters operating on substantially the same frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0682 by delay compensation, e.g. by compensation of propagation delay or variations thereof, by ranging

Abstract

An apparatus transmits digital signals between a higher-ranking station and one or more subordinate stations through transmission devices. A signal transit time is automatically measured in the transmission devices, differences in transit time are automatically compensated for and useful signals in the various subordinate stations are automatically synchronized with one another.

Claims

1. An apparatus for transmitting digital signals between higher-ranking and subordinate base stations, comprising:

a higher-ranking base station;

at least one subordinate base station;

a transmission line between said higher-ranking base station and each of said at least one subordinate base station; and

each of said at least one subordinate base station including a transmitting and receiving device for transmitting signals to said higher-ranking base station, and a computing device having a synchronizing device and a compensating device, said synchronizing device automatically synchronizing data transmission in each of said at least one subordinate base station and having a memory, said compensating device automatically calculating signal transit time differences from a difference between an assumed maximum signal transit time and respective actual signal transit times in said transmission line and automatically inserting a delay, corresponding to the signal transit time difference, into said memory of said synchronizing device, and said transmitting line automatically delaying the signals transmitted on an output side by the delay stored in memory.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said devices for automatically measuring signal transit times, said synchronizing device and said compensating device are coupled for interference-free transmission of signals between said at least one subordinate base station and mobile parts.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said higher-ranking base station has a measuring devices in said higher-ranking base station for automatically measuring signal transit times in said transmission line.