Method and system for utilization of an outer decoder in a broadcast services communication system

• US 7,787,389 B2
• Filed: 08/20/2001
• Issued: 08/31/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/20/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Odenwalder, Joseph P., Tiedemann, Edward G. Jr., Wei, Yongbin, Chen, Tao, Butler, Brian K., Wolf, Jack K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Juntima; Nittaya
• Application Number:
  US09/933,912
• Publication Number:
  US 20030035389A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,298 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328, 370/331, 370/335, 370/389, 370/342, 370/252, 370/338, 714/746, 714/753, 714/755, 455436-437, 455442-443, 455/440
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/09 Error detection only, e.g. using cyclic redundancy check [CRC] codes or single parity bit
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/2909 Product codes
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/293 with erasure setting
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/3715 Adaptation to the number of estimated errors or to the channel state
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/30 by a single channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0219 where the power saving management affects multiple terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/322 Power control of broadcast channels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A Method and System for Utilization of an Outer Decoder in a Broadcast Services Communication System is described. An outer decoder and an inner decoder encode a block of information to be transmitted, to improve protection by adding redundancy. The redundancy permits decoding of the information from less than a complete encoded block of information. Consequently, the receiving station determines when sufficient amount of information for successful decoding has been received, and utilizes the time remaining before the next block of information arrives to perform other activities, e.g., hard handoff on a broadcast channel, inter-frequency hard handoff, and other activities. Alternatively, the receiving station can cease reception, thus decrease power consumption. Furthermore, part of the information block may be utilized for transmission of signaling information.

Claims

1. A method for reducing power consumption of a subscriber station, comprising:

determining a number of frames that must be received and decoded correctly by an inner decoder for an outer decoder to correctly decode the received frames; and

terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said determining a number of frames that must be received correctly comprises:

determining an amount of redundancy; and

determining the number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein said determining an amount of redundancy comprises:

providing the amount of redundancy independently of the received frames.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein said determining an amount of redundancy comprises:

determining an encoding rate of received frames; and

determining the amount of redundancy in accordance with the encoding rate.

5. The method as claimed in claim 2 wherein said determining the number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy comprises:

determining a minimum number of frames that must be received correctly.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising:

increasing said determined minimum number of frames that must be received correctly by a first number.

7. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein said determining an encoding rate of received frames comprises:

determining an encoding rate of received frames in accordance with the received frames.

8. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein said determining an encoding rate of received frames comprises:

providing an encoding rate of received frames independently of the received frames.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein said terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly comprises:

terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly and a time during which the subscriber station is obligated to receive the frames expired.

10. A method for performing hard handoff on a common broadcast channel comprising:

receiving at a subscriber station frames transmitted on the common broadcast channel from a first sector;

determining at the subscriber station a need for handoff;

identifying at the subscriber station at least one sector belonging to a soft handoff group different from a soft handoff group including the first sector;

determining a number of frames from a current buffer that must be received correctly;

terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly; and

beginning reception of frames from the identified at least one sector.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein said determining a number of frames that must be received correctly comprises:

determining an amount of redundancy; and

determine said number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein said determining an amount of redundancy comprises:

providing the amount of redundancy independently of the received frames.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein said determining an amount of redundancy comprises:

determining an encoding rate of received frames; and

determining the amount of redundancy in accordance with the encoding rate.

14. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein said determining said number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with a determined amount of redundancy comprises:

determining a minimum number of frames that must be received correctly.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising:

increasing said determining minimum number of frames that must be received correctly by a first number.

16. The method as claimed in claim 13 wherein said determining an encoding rate of received frames comprises:

determining an encoding rate of received frames in accordance with the received frames.

17. The method as claimed in claim 13 wherein said determining an encoding rate of received frames comprises:

providing an encoding rate of received frames independently of the received frames.

18. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein said terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly comprises:

terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly and a time during which the subscriber station is obligated to receive the frames expired.

19. The method as claimed in claim 10, further comprising:

determining whether at least some decoded packets received from the at least one sector are identical to at least some decoded packets received from the first sector; and

discarding the identical packets.

20. A method for a handoff from an area covered by an origination system into an area covered by a destination system comprising:

receiving at a subscriber station service on a channel from a sector in the origination system;

determining at the subscriber station a need for handoff;

identifying at the subscriber station a destination system;

determining a number of frames from a current buffer that must be received correctly;

terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly;

tuning to a frequency of the destination system; and

receiving service on a channel from at least one sector if the at least one sector of the destination system is acquired at the subscriber station.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, further comprising:

determining a time to restart receiving at a subscriber station service on the channel from the sector in the origination system.

22. The method as claimed in claim 20, further comprising:

storing signals received at the frequency of the destination system;

retuning to the frequency of the origination system;

at the subscriber station concurrently;

receiving service on the channel from the sector in the origination system; and

analyzing the stored signals to identify a sector in a destination system that can provide service;

if no sector of the destination system is acquired at the subscriber station.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22 wherein said retuning to the origination frequency of the origination system comprises:

retuning to the origination frequency before the time to restart receiving service on a channel from a sector in the origination system.

24. The method as claimed in claim 22, further comprising:

performing hard handoff if the sector in a destination system is identified.

25. An apparatus for reducing power consumption of a subscriber station, comprising:

a processor; and

a storage medium communicatively coupled to said processor and comprising a set of instructions executable by said processor to;

determine a number of frames that must be received and decoded correctly by an inner decoder for an outer decoder to correctly decode the received frames; and

cause termination of reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly.

26. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25 wherein said processor is configured to determine a number of frames that must be received correctly by executing a set of instructions to:

determine an amount of redundancy; and

determine the number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy.

27. The apparatus as claimed in claim 26 wherein said processor is configured to determine an amount of redundancy by executing a set of instructions to:

determine the amount of redundancy independently of the received frames.

28. The apparatus as claimed in claim 26 wherein said processor is configured to determine an amount of redundancy by executing a set of instructions to:

determine an encoding rate of received frames; and

determine the amount of redundancy in accordance with the encoding rate.

29. The apparatus as claimed in claim 26 wherein said processor is configured to determine the number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy by executing a set of instructions to:

determine a minimum number of frames that must be received correctly.

30. The apparatus as claimed in claim 29 wherein said processor is further configured to execute a set of instructions to:

increase said determined minimum number of frames that must be received correctly by a first number.

31. The apparatus as claimed in claim 28 wherein said processor is configured to determine an encoding rate of received frames by executing a set of instructions to:

determine an encoding rate of received frames in accordance with the received frames.

32. The apparatus as claimed in claim 28 wherein said processor is configured to determine an encoding rate of received frames by executing a set of instructions to:

determine an encoding rate of received frames independently of the received frames.

33. The apparatus as claimed in claim 25 wherein said processor is configured to cause termination of reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly by executing a set of instructions to:

cause termination of reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly and a time during which the subscriber station is obligated to receive the frames expired.

34. An apparatus for performing hard handoff on a common broadcast channel comprising:

a processor; and

a storage medium communicatively coupled to said processor and comprising a set of instructions executable by said processor to;

cause a subscriber station to receive frames transmitted on a common broadcast channel from a first sector;

determine a need for handoff;

identify at least one sector belonging to a soft handoff group different from a soft handoff group including the first sector;

determine a number of frames from a current buffer that must be received correctly;

cause the subscriber station to terminate reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly; and

cause the subscriber station to begin reception of frames from the identified at least one sector.

35. The apparatus as claimed in claim 34 wherein said processor is configured to determine a number of frames that must be received correctly by executing a set of instructions to:

determine an amount of redundancy; and

determine the number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy.

36. The apparatus as claimed in claim 35 wherein said processor is configured to determine an amount of redundancy by executing a set of instructions to:

determine the amount of redundancy independently of the received frames.

37. The apparatus as claimed in claim 35 wherein said processor is configured to determine an amount of redundancy by executing a set of instructions to:

determine an encoding rate of received frames; and

determine the amount of redundancy in accordance with the encoding rate.

38. The apparatus as claimed in claim 35 wherein said processor is configured to determine the number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy by executing a set of instructions to:

determine a minimum number of frames that must be received correctly.

39. The apparatus as claimed in claim 38 wherein said processor is further configured to execute a set of instructions to:

increase said determined minimum number of frames that must be received correctly by a first number.

40. The apparatus as claimed in claim 37 wherein said processor is configured to determine an encoding rate of received frames by executing a set of instructions to:

determine an encoding rate of received frames in accordance with the received frames.

41. The apparatus as claimed in claim 37 wherein said processor is configured to determine an encoding rate of received frames by executing a set of instructions to:

determine an encoding rate of received frames independently of the received frames.

42. The apparatus as claimed in claim 34 wherein said processor is configured to cause the subscriber station to terminate reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly by executing a set of instructions to:

cause the subscriber station to terminate reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly and a time during which the subscriber station is obligated to receive the frames expired.

43. The apparatus as claimed in claim 34 wherein said processor is further configured to execute a set of instructions to:

determine whether at least some decoded packets received from the at least one sector are identical to at least some decoded packets received from the first sector; and

discard the identical packets.

44. An apparatus for a handoff from an area covered by an origination system into an area covered by a destination system comprising:

a processor; and

a storage medium communicatively coupled to said processor and comprising a set of instructions executable by said processor to;

cause a subscriber station to receive service on a channel from a sector in the origination system;

determine a need for handoff;

identify a destination system;

determine a number of frames from a current buffer that must be received correctly;

cause the subscriber station to terminate reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly;

cause the subscriber station to tune to a frequency of the destination system; and

cause the subscriber station to receive service on a channel from at least one sector if the at least one sector of the destination system is acquired at the subscriber station.

45. The apparatus as claimed in claim 44 wherein said processor is further configured to execute a set of instructions to:

determine a time to cause the subscriber station to restart receiving service on the channel from the sector in the origination system.

46. The apparatus as claimed in claim 44 wherein said processor is further configured to execute a set of instructions to:

store signals received at the frequency of the destination system;

cause the subscriber station to retune to a frequency of the origination system and receive service on the channel from the sector in the origination system; and

analyze the stored signals to identify a sector in a destination system that can provide service;

if no sector of the destination system is acquired at the subscriber station.

47. The apparatus as claimed in claim 46 wherein said processor is configured to cause the subscriber station to retune to a frequency of the origination system and receive service on the channel from the sector in the origination system by executing a set of instructions to:

cause the subscriber station to retune to the frequency of the origination system before the time to restart receiving service on a channel from a sector in the origination system.

48. The apparatus as claimed in claim 46 wherein said processor is further configured to execute a set of instructions to:

cause the subscriber station to perform hard handoff if the sector in a destination system is identified.

49. An apparatus for reducing power consumption of a subscriber station, comprising:

means for determining a number of frames that must be received and decoded correctly by an inner decoder for an outer decoder to correctly decode the received frames; and

means for terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly.

50. The apparatus as claimed in claim 49 wherein said means for determining a number of frames that must be received correctly comprises:

means for determining an amount of redundancy; and

means for determining the number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy.

51. The apparatus as claimed in claim 49 wherein said means for terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly comprises:

means for terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames was received correctly and a time during which the subscriber station is obligated to receive the frames expired.

52. The apparatus as claimed in claim 50 wherein said means for determining an amount of redundancy comprises:

means for providing the amount of redundancy independently of the received frames.

53. The apparatus as claimed in claim 50 wherein said means for determining an amount of redundancy comprises:

means for determining an encoding rate of received frames; and

means for determining the amount of redundancy in accordance with the encoding rate.

54. The apparatus as claimed in claim 50 wherein said means for determining the number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy comprises:

means for determining a minimum number of frames that must be received correctly.

55. The apparatus as claimed in claim 53 wherein said means for determining an encoding rate of received frames comprises:

means for determining an encoding rate of received frames in accordance with the received frames.

56. The apparatus as claimed in claim 53 wherein said means for determining an encoding rate of received frames comprises:

means for providing an encoding rate of received frames independently of the received frames.

57. The apparatus as claimed in claim 54, further comprising:

means for increasing said determined minimum number of frames that must be received correctly by a first number.

58. An apparatus for performing hard handoff on a common broadcast channel comprising:

means for receiving at a subscriber station frames transmitted on the common broadcast channel from a first sector;

means for determining at the subscriber station a need for handoff;

means for identifying at the subscriber station at least one sector belonging to a soft handoff group different from a soft handoff group including the first sector;

means for determining a number of frames from a current buffer that must be received correctly;

means for terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly; and

means for beginning reception of frames from the identified at least one sector.

59. The apparatus as claimed in claim 58 wherein said means for determining a number of frames that must be received correctly comprises:

means for determining an amount of redundancy; and

means for determining number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with said determined amount of redundancy.

60. The apparatus as claimed in claim 58 wherein said means for determining a number of frames that must be received correctly in accordance with a determined amount of redundancy comprises:

means for determining a minimum number of frames that must be received correctly.

61. The apparatus as claimed in claim 58 wherein said terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly comprises:

terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly and a time during which the subscriber station is obligated to receive the frames expired.

62. The apparatus as claimed in claim 58, further comprising:

means for determining whether at least some decoded packets received from the at least one sector are identical to at least some decoded packets received from the first sector; and

means for discarding the identical packets.

63. The apparatus as claimed in claim 59 wherein said means for determining an amount of redundancy comprises:

means for providing the amount of redundancy independently of the received frames.

64. The apparatus as claimed in claim 59 wherein said means for determining an amount of redundancy comprises:

means for determining an encoding rate of received frames; and

means for determining the amount of redundancy in accordance with the encoding rate.

65. The apparatus as claimed in claim 60, further comprising:

means for increasing said determining minimum number of frames that must be received correctly by a first number.

66. The apparatus as claimed in claim 64 wherein said means for determining an encoding rate of received frames comprises:

means for determining an encoding rate of received frames in accordance with the received frames.

67. The apparatus as claimed in claim 64 wherein said means for determining an encoding rate of received frames comprises:

providing an encoding rate of received frames independently of the received frames.

68. An apparatus for a handoff from an area covered by an origination system into an area covered by a destination system comprising:

means for receiving at a subscriber station service on a channel from a sector in the origination system;

means for determining at the subscriber station a need for handoff;

means for identifying at the subscriber station a destination system;

means for determining a number of frames from a current buffer that must be received correctly;

means for terminating reception of the frames when said determined number of frames were received correctly;

means for tuning to a frequency of the destination system; and

means for receiving service on a channel from at least one sector if the at least one sector of the destination system is acquired at the subscriber station.

69. The apparatus as claimed in claim 68, further comprising:

means for determining a time to restart receiving at a subscriber station service on the channel from the sector in the origination system.

70. The apparatus as claimed in claim 68, further comprising:

means for storing signals received at the frequency of the destination system;

means for retuning to the frequency of the origination system;

at the subscriber station concurrently;

means for receiving service on the channel from the sector in the origination system; and

means for analyzing the stored signals to identify a sector in a destination system that can provide service;

if no sector of the destination system is acquired at the subscriber station.

71. The apparatus as claimed in claim 70 wherein said means for retuning to the origination frequency of the origination system comprises:

means for retuning to the origination frequency before the time to restart receiving service on a channel from a sector in the origination system.

72. The apparatus as claimed in claim 70, further comprising:

means for performing hard handoff if the sector in a destination system is identified.