Low cost method for receiving broadcast channels with a cellular terminal

• US 8,000,675 B2
• Filed: 05/18/2004
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Sanders, Stuart B., East, Allen M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Lana
• Application Number:
  US10/848,329
• Publication Number:
  US 20050233765A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,646 Days
• Field of Search: 455132-140, 455/141, 455/142, 455/188.1, 4555521-5531, 455313-334, 455/3.02, 455/186.1
• US Class Current: 455/313
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0057 using diplexing or multiplexing filters for selecting the desired band
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/006 using switches for selecting the desired band H04B1/0057 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/27 specially adapted for broadcast systems covered by groups H04H20/53 - H04H20/95
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality

Abstract

A wireless communication terminal includes a broadcast signal frequency converter that is communicatively coupled to the terminal'"'"'s communication signal receiver and is configured to use its communication receiver to process received broadcast signals. In an exemplary embodiment, the converter includes a frequency shifting circuit, e.g., a block frequency converter, that shifts broadcast signal bands into communication signal bands, such that received broadcast signals are shifted into a frequency range compatible with the communication receiver'"'"'s signal path. Moreover, the significant digital domain signal processing capability of the communication receiver can be used to receive broadcast television and/or radio signals, provide signal enhancements, and extract other types of information such as RDBS, IBOC, etc. Further, the terminal can be configured to maintain communication network monitoring while receiving broadcast signals by switching the receiver back to a communication network signal long enough to check for pages, etc.

Claims

1. A wireless communication terminal comprising a cellular receiver and a broadcast signal frequency converter coupled to the cellular receiver, wherein the terminal is configured to receive and process wireless communication signals in one or more communication signal frequency bands via the cellular receiver, and is further configured to receive a broadcast signal in a broadcast frequency band, the broadcast signal comprising one of a broadcast FM radio signal, a broadcast AM radio signal, a broadcast television signal, and a broadcast shortwave radio signal, shift the received broadcast signal into one of the communication signal frequency bands via the broadcast signal frequency converter, and process the shifted broadcast signal via the cellular receiver.

2. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal comprises one or more processing circuits operatively associated with the cellular receiver and configured to switch the cellular receiver between processing the communication signals and processing the shifted broadcast signal.

3. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal is configured to generate at least one of an audio signal and a video signal responsive to digitizing and processing the shifted broadcast signal.

4. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal is configured to perform signal enhancement for the received broadcast signal via digital signal processing in the cellular receiver.

5. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal is configured to extract non-audio signal information from the received broadcast signal via digital signal processing performed in the cellular receiver.

6. The terminal of claim 5, wherein the terminal is configured to extract non-audio information as one or more of Radio Data Broadcast System (RDBS) information and In Band On Channel (IBOC) information.

7. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal is configured to continue monitoring transmissions from a wireless communication network while receiving and processing the received broadcast signal based on periodically temporarily switching the cellular receiver from processing the incoming broadcast signal to processing incoming wireless communication signals.

8. The terminal of claim 7, wherein the terminal is configured to generate signal information locally to fill broadcast signal reception gaps caused by periodically temporarily switching the cellular receiver from processing the incoming broadcast signal to processing the incoming wireless communication signals.

9. A method of receiving broadcast signals in a wireless communication terminal comprising:

frequency shifting a received broadcast signal into a frequency band compatible with a communication signal receive path of the terminal to obtain a shifted signal, the received broadcast signal comprising one of a broadcast FM radio signal, a broadcast AM radio signal, a broadcast television signal, and a broadcast shortwave radio signal; and

processing the shifted signal via the communication signal receive path.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the terminal comprises a cellular radio terminal, and wherein frequency shifting a received broadcast signal into a frequency band compatible with a communication signal receive path of the terminal comprises block converting a broadcast signal frequency band into a cellular radio band such that received signals in the broadcast signal frequency band are shifted into the cellular radio band.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein processing the shifted signal via the communication signal receive path comprises inputting the shifted signal into a radio front-end of the communication signal receive path to obtain corresponding digital samples of the shifted signal, and processing the digital samples to recover any analog and digital information conveyed by the received broadcast signal.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the received broadcast signal conveys an analog audio signal, and wherein processing the digital samples to recover any analog and digital information conveyed by the received broadcast signal comprises processing the digital samples to recover the analog audio signal for audio output at the terminal.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the received broadcast signal conveys digital data, and wherein processing the digital samples to recover any analog and digital information conveyed by the received broadcast signal comprises processing the digital samples to recover the digital data for further processing by the terminal.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein further processing of the recovered digital data by the terminal includes displaying information related to the recovered digital data on a display screen of the terminal.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein further processing of the recovered digital data by the terminal includes generating an analog audio output signal from the recovered digital data for output at the terminal.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the received broadcast signal comprises a broadcast television signal, and wherein processing the digital samples to recover any analog and digital information conveyed by the received broadcast signal comprises processing the digital samples to recover an analog television signal for display at the terminal.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the received broadcast signal comprises a FM radio signal, and wherein processing the shifted signal via the cellular receive path comprises sampling the shifted signal to obtain digital samples, and processing the digital samples to recover analog signal information conveyed in the received FM radio signal.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising processing the digital samples to recover Radio Data Broadcast Signal information conveyed in the received FM radio signal.

19. The method of claim 9, wherein the received broadcast signal comprises an In Band On Channel (IBOC) signal, and wherein processing the shifted signal via the cellular receive path comprises digitizing the shifted signal to obtain digital samples, and processing the digital samples to recover IBOC data.

20. The method of claim 9, further comprising interrupting reception of the broadcast signal as needed to communicate with a cellular network.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein interrupting reception of the broadcast signal as needed to communicate with a cellular network comprises periodically interrupting reception of the broadcast signal to monitor transmissions from the cellular network.

22. The method of claim 9, further comprising generating signal information to fill signal gaps resulting from the interruptions in reception of the broadcast signal.

23. A wireless communication terminal comprising:

a broadcast signal frequency converter configured to receive a broadcast signal and shift the broadcast signal from a broadcast frequency band into a communication signal frequency band, the broadcast signal comprising one of a broadcast FM radio signal, a broadcast AM radio signal, a broadcast television signal, and a broadcast shortwave radio signal; and

a communication signal receiver configured to process communication signals received from a wireless communication network in a first mode, and to process the frequency shifted broadcast signal in a second mode.

24. The terminal of claim 23, wherein the terminal further comprises a controller that is configured to control selection of the first and second modes.

25. The terminal of claim 24, wherein the controller is configured to control selection of the first and second modes responsive to user input.

26. The terminal of claim 24, wherein the controller is configured to temporarily switch from the second mode to the first mode to monitor transmissions from the wireless communication network while generally operating in the second mode.

27. The terminal of claim 26, wherein a signal processing circuit of the communication signal receiver is configured to generate data to fill reception gaps in broadcast signal being received by the terminal caused by temporarily switching from the second mode to the first mode.

28. The terminal of claim 23, wherein the broadcast signal frequency converter comprises a low-noise amplifier configured to generate an analog signal corresponding to the received broadcast signal, and further comprises a frequency conversion circuit configured to shift that analog signal into a communication signal frequency band.

29. The terminal of claim 23, wherein the frequency conversion circuit comprises a block converter that is configured to shift one or more broadcast signal frequency bands into one or more communication signal frequency bands.

30. The terminal of claim 23, wherein the communication signal receiver is configured to process the frequency shifted broadcast signal to extract analog signal information conveyed therein for audio or video output by the terminal.

31. The terminal of claim 23, wherein the communication signal receiver is configured to process the frequency shifted broadcast signal to extract one or more of the following

types of information:

Radio Data Broadcast System (RDBS) information, In Band On Channel (IBOC) information, and sideband signaling information.

32. The terminal of claim 23, wherein the communication signal receiver is configured to adjust its digital signal processing as a function of operating in the first mode or the second mode.

33. The terminal of claim 23, wherein the terminal is configured to display a television signal recovered from a received broadcast television signal via processing by its communication signal receiver.