Training sequence for symbol boundary detection in a multicarrier data transmission system

• US 7,817,730 B2
• Filed: 06/09/2004
• Issued: 10/19/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Marvell Asia Pte Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Original Assignee: Marvell World Trade Limited (Marvell Technology Group Limited)
• Inventors: Sands, Nicholas Philip, Leung, Pak Hei Matthew, Tang, Eugene Yuk-Yin, Chow, Jacky S., Luk, King-Fuk
• Primary Examiner(s): Payne; David C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Flores; Leon
• Application Number:
  US10/865,256
• Publication Number:
  US 20050276339A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,323 Days
• Field of Search: 375/260, 375/261, 375/267, 375/295, 455/91, 455/101, 455/132, 370/334
• US Class Current: 375/260
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2607 Cyclic extensions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2613 Structure of the reference signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2662 Symbol synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/2691 involving interference determination or cancellation

Abstract

An improved training sequence for acquiring symbol boundary timing at a receiver of a data transmission system is disclosed. One aspect pertains to an improved training sequence wherein groups of identical symbols are transmitted by a transmitter. These symbols can be supplied to the transmitter in a time domain or a frequency domain manner. The improved training sequence facilitates symbol boundary determination at a receiver.

Claims

1. A system for using a training protocol for use in estimating symbol boundary timing at a receiver of a multicarrier data transmission system, wherein said system comprises:

a transmitter that transmits a training set of consecutive training symbols, wherein a first and a second training symbol of the training set are generated to be identical symbols and a third training symbol of the training set is generated to be independent of the identical first and second training symbols, wherein the third training symbol is transmitted between the identical first and second training symbols, wherein the transmitted first, second, and third training symbols are separated only by other training symbols in the training set.

2. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the multicarrier data transmission system is digital subscriber line system.

3. A system as recited in claim 2, wherein the training symbols include at least one of a cyclic prefix and a cyclic suffix.

4. A system as recited in claim 2, wherein the training symbols are Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) symbols or Phase Shift Keying (PSK) symbols.

5. A system as recited in claim 2, wherein the training symbols in a frequency domain include training information on at least one subcarrier.

6. A system as recited in claim 5, wherein the training symbols in the frequency domain further include non-training information on at least one other subcarrier.

7. A system as recited in claim 2, wherein the training symbols in the frequency domain include training information on a first set of subcarriers and non-training information on a second set of subcarriers.

8. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the training symbols are randomly or pseudo-randomly generated, wherein the third training symbol is randomly or pseudo-randomly generated such that the third training symbol is independent of the identical first and second randomly or pseudo-randomly generated training symbols.

9. A system as recited as claim 1, wherein the identical first and second training symbols are adjacent symbols in the set, wherein the independent third symbol is adjacent to either the first or second training symbol.

10. A system as recited as claim 1, wherein the identical first and second training symbols and the third training symbol are positioned to form a first sequence, wherein the set includes a second sequence having first, second and third symbols, wherein the first and second symbols of the second sequence are identical to each other and different from the first and second training symbols of the first sequence, and wherein the third training symbol in the second sequence is different from the third training symbol in the first sequence.

37. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the training symbols of the training set are transmitted when the transmission system is in a training mode.

38. A system as recited in claim 1, wherein the symbols in the training set of consecutive training symbols are transmitted in succession.

11. A method for transmitting a training protocol for use in a multicarrier data transmission system to acquire a symbol timing boundary, said method comprising:

(a) obtaining a set of consecutive training symbols; and

(b) transmitting the set of consecutive training symbols such that a first and a second training symbol are generated to be identical training-symbols and a third training symbol is generated to be independent of the identical first and second training symbols, wherein the third symbol is transmitted between the identical first and second training symbols, wherein the transmitted first, second, and third training symbols are separated only by other training symbols in the training set.

12. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein said transmitting (b) comprises:

(b1) selecting one of the training symbols; and

(b2) transmitting the training symbol one or more times.

13. A method as recited in claim 12, wherein said transmitting (b) comprises:

(b3) repeating said selecting (b1) and said transmitting (b2) for other of the training symbols.

14. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein said transmitting (b) comprises:

(b1) selecting one of the training symbols; and

(b2) transmitting the training symbol twice in succession.

15. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the training symbols are Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) symbols or Phase Shift Keying (PSK) symbols.

16. A method as recited in claim 15, wherein the multicarrier data transmission system is a digital subscriber line system.

17. A method as recited in claim 16, wherein the training symbols include at least one of a cyclic prefix and a cyclic suffix.

18. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the training symbols are obtained in a random or pseudo-random manner, wherein the third training symbol is randomly or pseudo-randomly obtained such that the third training symbol is independent of the identical first and second randomly or pseudo-randomly obtained training symbols.

19. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the multicarrier data transmission system includes at least one recipient receiver, the recipient receiver receives received symbols based on the transmission of the training symbols whereby at least two identical training symbols are preceded or succeeded by different training symbols.

20. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the set of consecutive training symbols being obtained (a) are time domain symbols.

21. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the training symbols in the frequency domain include training information on at least one subcarrier.

22. A method as recited in claim 21, wherein the training symbols in the frequency domain further include non-training information on at least another subcarrier.

23. A method as recited in claim 21, wherein the training information is random or pseudo-random.

39. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the training symbols of the training set are transmitted when the transmission system is in a training mode.

40. A method as recited in claim 11, wherein the symbols in the training set of consecutive training symbols are transmitted in succession.

24. A method for transmitting a training protocol for use in a multicarrier data transmission system to acquire a symbol timing boundary, said method comprising:

(a) obtaining a training set of consecutive training symbols;

(b) selecting a first of the training symbols from the set of consecutive training symbols;

(c) transmitting the first training symbol a first time and a second time in a predetermined manner, wherein the predetermined manner is such that a second training symbol is transmitted after the first time and before the second time the first training symbol is transmitted;

(d) selecting the second training symbol from the set of consecutive training symbols, the second training symbol being generated to be independent from the first training symbol; and

(e) transmitting the second training symbol twice in the predetermined manner, wherein the second training symbol is transmitted after the first training symbol is transmitted the first time and before the first training symbol is transmitted the second time, wherein the transmitted first and second training symbols are separated only by other training symbols in the training set.

25. A method as recited in claim 24, wherein said method further comprises:

(f) selecting a next training symbol from the set of training symbols; and

(g) transmitting the next training symbol twice in the predetermined manner.

26. A method as recited in claim 25, wherein said method further comprises:

(h) repeating said selecting (f) and said transmitting (g) until the end of the set of consecutive training symbols.

27. A method as recited in claim 24, wherein the training symbols are Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) symbols or Phase Shift Keying (PSK) symbols.

28. A method as recited in claim 27, wherein the multicarrier data transmission system is a digital subscriber line system.

29. A method as recited in claim 28, wherein the training symbols include at least one of a cyclic prefix and a cyclic suffix.

30. A method as recited in claim 24, wherein the first training symbol is obtained in a random or pseudo-random manner, and the second training symbol is obtained in a random or pseudo-random manner.

31. A method as recited in claim 24, wherein the multicarrier data transmission system includes at least one recipient receiver, the recipient receiver receives a first pair of received symbols based on the transmission of the first training symbol twice in the predetermined manner, and the recipient receiver receives a second pair of received symbols based on the transmission of the first training symbol twice in the predetermined manner.

32. A method as recited in claim 24, wherein the set of consecutive training symbols being obtained (a) are time domain symbols.

33. A method as recited in claim 24, wherein the training symbols in the frequency domain include training information on at least one subcarrier.

34. A method as recited in claim 33, wherein the training symbols in the frequency domain further include non-training information on at least one other subcarrier.

35. A method as recited in claim 33, wherein the training information is random or pseudo-random.

41. A method as recited in claim 24, wherein the training symbols of the training set are transmitted when the transmission system is in a training mode.

42. A method as recited in claims 24, wherein the symbols in the training set of consecutive training symbols are transmitted in succession.

36. A computer readable medium encoded with at least computer program code for transmitting a training protocol for use in a data transmission system to acquire a symbol timing boundary, said computer readable medium comprising:

computer program code for obtaining a set of consecutive training symbols; and

computer program code for transmitting the set of consecutive training symbols such that a first and a second training symbol are generated to be identical training-symbols and a third training symbol is generated to be independent of the identical first and second training symbols, wherein the third symbol is transmitted between the identical first and second training symbols, wherein the transmitted first and second training symbols are separated only by other training symbols in the training set.