Programmable modem apparatus for transmitting and receiving digital data, design method and use method for the modem

• US 6,597,727 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2001
• Issued: 07/22/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc., SAIT Systems
• Original Assignee: IMEC International, SAIT Systems
• Inventors: De Man, Hugo, Vanhoof, Jan, Van Himbeeck, Carl, Philips, Lieven, Wouters, Maryse, Gyselinckx, Bert, Bolsens, Ivo, De Wulf, Rik, Derudder, Veerle
• Primary Examiner(s): Ghebretinsae, Temesghen
• Application Number:
  US09/972,060
• Publication Number:
  US 20020067757A1
• Time in Patent Office: 655 Days
• Field of Search: 375/130, 375/140, 375/147, 375/222, 375/316, 375/324, 375/345
• US Class Current: 375/147
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/30 Circuit design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/33 Design verification, e.g. functional simulation or model checking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/3308 using simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/10 Requirements analysis; Specification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/707 using direct sequence modulation
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2201/7071 with dynamic control of receiver resources

Abstract

The programmable modem for digital data of the present invention provides a highly programmable, digital modem implemented in an integrated circuit which can be customized to specific applications. The programmable modem uses spread spectrum techniques and is specifically programmable to alter the parameters of the modem to improve performance. The present invention also provides a systematic method and development kit to provide rapid customization of a modem for a particular application or for rapid specification of a high-performance application specific integrated circuit mode.

Claims

1. A signal receiving system comprising:

a receiver chain with a down-converter, a receiver filter, and a gain control;

a receiver chain clock generator coupled to said receiver chain;

means for programming said receiver chain and said clock generator; and

a processor programmed to selectively complete pilot demodulation, traffic demodulation and noise estimation on signals received from the receiver chain.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said system is realized as an integrated circuit.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising supporting circuitry connected to the signal receiving system to form a position determination device.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein said position determination device is a Global Position Determination terminal.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the down-converter is configured to operate at a programmable frequency.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein said means for programming said receiver chain and said clock generator act as a feedback control system by providing said programmable frequency.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said pilot and traffic demodulations are independent of each other.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the pilot demodulation is performed on a pilot channel, and wherein the pilot channel is used for synchronization purposes and network management.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the pilot demodulation is performed on a pilot channel, or wherein the pilot channel is selectively discarded depending on the demodulation scheme.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the pilot channel is discarded for synchronous code division multiple access (CDMA) or non-CDMA operation.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the results of the pilot demodulation are not directly applied to the results of the traffic demodulation.

12. A customizable signal receiving system comprising:

a programmable receiver chain with a down-converter, a receiver filter, and a gain control;

a programmable receiver chain clock generator coupled to said receiver chain; and

a programmable processor configured to selectively complete at least one of pilot demodulation, traffic demodulation and noise estimation on signals received from the receiver chain.

13. The signal receiving system of claim 12, further comprising a programming module configured to program said receiver chain and said clock generator.

14. The signal receiving system of claim 12, further comprising a terminal configured to program said receiver chain and said receiver chain clock generator.

15. The signal receiving system of claim 14, wherein the terminal comprises a computer and user interface.

16. The signal receiving system of claim 12, wherein the programmable processor is configured to program said receiver chain and said clock generator.

17. The signal receiving system of claim 12, wherein the programmable processor performs application specific digital functions.

18. The signal receiving system of claim 17, wherein the application specific functions include at least one of final demodulation and deformatting, error correction, or voice processing.

19. The signal receiving system of claim 12, wherein the pilot demodulation is performed on a pilot channel, and wherein the pilot channel is used for synchronization purposes and network management.

20. The signal receiving system of claim 12, wherein the pilot demodulation is performed on a pilot channel, or wherein the pilot channel is selectively discarded depending on the demodulation scheme.

21. The signal receiving system of claim 20, wherein the pilot channel is discarded for synchronous code division multiple access (CDMA) or non-CDMA operation.

22. A customizable signal receiving system comprising:

a receiver chain with a down-converter, a receiver filter, and a gain control;

a receiver chain clock generator coupled to said receiver chain;

means for programming said receiver chain and said clock generator; and

a processor programmed to selectively complete pilot demodulation, traffic demodulation and noise estimation on signals received from the receiver chain, wherein pilot information resulting from the pilot demodulation is selectively discarded.

23. A customizable signal receiving system comprising:

a receiver chain with a down-converter, a receiver filter, and a gain control;

a receiver chain clock generator coupled to said receiver chain;

means for programming said receiver chain and said clock generator; and

a processor programmed to selectively complete pilot demodulation, traffic demodulation and noise estimation on signals received from the receiver chain, wherein pilot information resulting from the pilot demodulation is used for synchronization purposes.

24. A customizable signal receiving system comprising:

a receiver chain with a down-converter, a receiver filter, and a gain control;

a receiver chain clock generator coupled to said receiver chain;

means for programming said receiver chain and said clock generator having a clock frequency memory; and

a processor programmed to selectively synchronize pilot demodulation, traffic demodulation and noise estimation of signals received from the receiver chain by calculating control values for the clock frequency memory.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising supporting circuitry connected to the signal receiving system to form a position determination device.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the position determination device is a Global Positioning system device.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein the means for programming said receiver chain and said clock generator further comprises a gain control memory configured to store a gain control factor, a down-converter frequency storage memory configured to maintain a down-converter frequency, a demodulation procedure selection memory configured to control a receiver demodulation protocol, and a decimation factor storage memory configured to store a decimating filter factor.