Transceiver for amplification between stationary and mobile stations with radio channel recognition

• US 6,574,472 B1
• Filed: 12/17/1999
• Issued: 06/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Littlefeet, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Littlefeet, Inc.
• Inventors: Scheinert, Stefan
• Primary Examiner(s): VUONG, QUOCHIEN B
• Application Number:
  US09/446,236
• Time in Patent Office: 1,264 Days
• Field of Search: 455/7, 455/9, 455/11.1, 455/15, 455/20, 455/21, 455/22, 455/23, 455/25, 455/67.1, 455/67.3, 455/73, 455/150.1, 455/154.1, 455/161.1, 455/161.3, 455/226.1, 455/226.2, 455/422, 455/423, 455/434, 455/571, 455/550
• US Class Current: 455/434
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/2643 using time-division multiple access [TDMA] H04B7/2615, H04B7/2618 take precedence

Abstract

The invention is directed towards a transmitting/receiving device for amplification of the transmitted signals between a stationary transmitting station and a mobile transmitting station in a full-coverage radio network and also towards an operating process for said transmitting/receiving device.

Claims

1. An improved transmitting/receiving device for amplification of transmitted signals between a stationary, uplink-side, transmitting station and a mobile, downlink-side transmitting station in a full-coverage radio network, the device having at least one aerial for linkage to the stationary transmitting station, at least one channel-selective filter connected to the aerial, at least one circuit connected to the filter output for measuring the received field strength of a channel, at least one radio signal demodulator/decoder for filtering the radio signal in a channel selective manner and a circuit connected thereto for recognizing the radio channels or radio frequencies which are used in a radio cell of the radio network, wherein the improvement comprises:

the circuit for recognizing the radio channels or radio frequencies which are used in a radio cell of the radio network includes means for ascertaining the received field strength of the channels which are allocated to the radio network and for ascertaining one or more broadcast control channels from the channels having the greatest received field strength and subsequently decoding the broadcast control channels to ascertain, on the basis of information transmitted therein, the channels or frequencies of one or more slow dedicated control channels and/or traffic channels.

2. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 1 having at least one parallel and/or antiparallel transmitting/receiving branches.

3. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 2, wherein the bandwidth of the transmitting/receiving branches comprises at least one radio channel in each case.

4. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 2 or claim 3 wherein transmitting frequencies of the transmitting/receiving branches are capable of being set independently of one another.

5. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 2 wherein each transmitting/receiving branch has uplink-side and downlink-side radio interfaces having frequencies capable of being set independently of one another.

6. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 5 and further comprising an uplink-side aerial and a downlink-side aerial integrated within a housing.

7. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 5 and further comprising a common aerial for the uplink-side and the downlink-side radio interfaces.

8. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 2 wherein the circuits for measuring the received field strength are each assigned to a transmitting/receiving branch.

9. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 2 wherein each demodulator/decoder is assigned to a transmitting/receiving branch.

10. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 1 and further comprising modular units for comparing the radio channel assigned to a channel frequency which is actually used with a channel-number that is received on a frequency and demodulated or decoded.

11. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 10, wherein modular comparison units are each assigned to a transmitting/receiving branch.

12. Transmitting/receiving device according to claim 1 and further comprising a memory for storing the recognised radio channels or radio frequencies.

13. Process for operating the channel-recognition circuit of a transmitting/receiving device for amplification of transmitted signals between a stationary, uplink-side, transmitting station and a mobile, downlink-side transmitting station in a full-coverage radio network, the device having at least one aerial for linkage to the stationary transmitting station, at least one channel-selective filter connected to the aerial, at least one circuit connected to the filter output for measuring the received field strength of a channel, at least one radio signal demodulator/decoder for filtering the radio signal in a channel selective manner and a circuit connected thereto for recognizing the radio channels or radio frequencies which are used in a radio cell of the radio network the process comprising:

ascertaining the received field strength of the channels which are allocated to a radio network and one or more broadcast control channels from the channels having the greatest received field strength and subsequently decoding said broadcast control channels in order to ascertain, on the basis of the information transmitted there, the channels or frequencies of one or more slow dedicated control channels and/or traffic channels.

14. Process according to claim 13, wherein messages are transmitted on the broadcast control channels at predetermined time-intervals which contain information about the channels or frequencies which are used in a radio cell and these messages are evaluated by the channel-recognition circuit.

15. Process according to claim 13 or 14, wherein messages are transmitted on the broadcast control channels at predetermined time-intervals which contain information about whether a frequency-converting repeater is installed in a radio cell and these messages are evaluated by the channel-recognition circuit.

16. Process according to claim 13, wherein messages are transmitted on the broadcast control channels at predetermined time-intervals which contain particular frequency-offset values which are used in a radio cell and these messages are evaluated by the channel-recognition circuit.

17. Process according to claim 13, wherein messages are transmitted on the broadcast control channels at predetermined time-intervals which contain recommendations with regard to the assignment to particular channels which are provided for a radio cell and these messages are evaluated by the channel-recognition circuit.

18. Process according claim 13, wherein traffic on the channels is measured and messages are transmitted on the broadcast control channels at predetermined time-intervals which indicate the utilisation at full capacity or the overloading of individual channels pertaining to a radio cell and are evaluated by the channel-recognition circuit.

19. Process according to claim 13, wherein channel commands are transmitted on the broadcast control channels and are evaluated by the channel-recognition circuit.

20. Process according to claim 13, wherein as a result of decoding of the broadcast control channels the frequency thereof is ascertained and is compared with the channel frequency that is actually received.

21. Process according to claim 20, wherein a search is made for a broadcast control channel, the actual channel frequency of which does not coincide with the transmitted channel-number.

22. Process according to claim 20 or 21, an uplink-side transmitting/receiving device is tuned to an actual channel frequency of a channel, and a downlink-side transmitting/receiving device is tuned to a channel having the transmitted channel-number.

23. Process according to claim 13, wherein an actual channel frequency of a slow dedicated control channel and/or traffic channel, to the extent that the latter does not coincide with a transmitted channel frequency, is ascertained by comparison of transmitted messages with messages transmitted on further channels which are selected with regard to their received field strength.

24. Process according to claim 23, wherein messages transmitted sequentially during a connection set-up are drawn upon for the comparison.

25. Process according to claim 23 or 24, wherein for the comparison a comparison channel is received and demodulated in a second receiving device.

26. Process according to claim 13, wherein channel-numbers and actual channel frequencies corresponding to one another are stored in assigned form.

27. Process according to claim 13, wherein the transmitting/receiving device has a number of transmitting branches which is smaller than the number of frequency channels which are used in its associated radio cell, and wherein an identification-number is transmitted from a mobile station and is evaluated, in order to enable a mobile-station-selective change-over of channels.