Method and a device for relaying in a communications network

• US 9,319,187 B2
• Filed: 08/09/2011
• Issued: 04/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Original Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Inventors: Hatefi, Atoosa, Visoz, Raphal, Berthet, Antoine
• Primary Examiner(s): Kerveros, James C
• Application Number:
  US13/817,767
• Publication Number:
  US 20130250776A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,715 Days
• Field of Search: 714/748, 714/749, 714/780
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H03M 13/093 CRC update after modification of the information word
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/15521 combining by calculations packets received from different stations before transmitting the combined packets as part of network coding network coding aspects for detection or prevention of errors in the information received H04L1/0076; network traffic management with optimizing of information sizing, e.g. header compression, by using assembly and disassembly of packets H04W28/065
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0061 Error detection codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0083 Formatting with frames or packets; Protocol or part of protocol for error control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/244 test sequence generators
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2001/0097 Relays
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

A method and device for selective relaying in a communications network having a plurality of sources, a relay, and a reception device. The method includes the following steps: the relay receives messages transmitted respectively by the sources in order to obtain an estimate of the messages; the relay detects errors in the estimated messages; the relay transmits a representative signal to the reception device, the signal being representative of only those messages for which no error was detected and resulting from a non-bijective surjective function applied to the messages detected without error, the function including interleaving and encoding; and the representative signal being transmitted by the relay to the reception device with a control signal indicating which messages are represented in the representative signal.

Claims

1. A selective relaying method in a communications network having a plurality of sources, a relay, and a reception device, the method comprising the following acts:

receiving, by the relay, messages transmitted respectively by the sources in order to obtain estimated messages;

detecting errors in the estimated messages, by the relay;

transmitting, by the relay, a signal to the reception device, the signal being representative of only messages detected without error and resulting from a network and channel coding comprising a modulo-2 addition of the messages detected without error; and

wherein the signal is transmitted by the relay to the reception device with a control signal indicating the at least one message represented in the transmitted signal.

2. The selective relaying method according to claim 1, wherein, in the event of at least two messages being detected without error, the transmitted signal results from a network and channel coding function that depends on the number of messages detected without error and that is applied to those messages for which no error was detected.

3. The selective relaying method according to claim 1, wherein act of detecting errors is performed by using a CRC type code.

4. The selective relaying method according to claim 1, wherein the modulo-2 addition of the messages is performed together with their respective CRC codes.

5. A selective relaying device for a communications network having a plurality of sources and a reception device, the relaying device comprising:

means for receiving messages transmitted respectively by the sources to obtain estimated messages;

means for detecting errors in the estimated messages;

means for transmitting a signal to the reception device, the signal being representative of only messages detected without error and resulting from a network and channel coding comprising a modulo-2 addition of the messages detected without error; and

wherein the signal is transmitted by said relay device to the reception device with a control signal indicating the at least one message represented in the transmitted signal.

6. A communications system including at least one relaying device according to claim 5 and at least one reception device comprising:

means for receiving messages from the sources and for receiving the transmitted signal and the control signal from the relaying device;

means for jointly detecting/decoding the messages received from the sources and the received signal from the relaying device in an iterative manner and under control of the control signal received from the relaying device.

7. A method of receiving messages, the message-reception method being implemented in a reception device of a MARC system having a plurality of sources and a relay, the method comprising:

receiving messages by the reception device from the sources;

receiving a signal by the reception device from the relay,

wherein the signal is representative of only messages received from the sources and detected without error by the relay and is the result of a network and channel coding comprising a modulo-2 addition of those messages detected without error,

receiving a control signal by the reception device from the relay, wherein the control signal indicates which of the messages are represented in the signal; and

applying detection/decoding by the reception device jointly to the received messages coming from the sources and to the received signal from the relay, under control of the control signal coming from the relay.

8. A reception device for a communications network having a plurality of sources and a relay, the device comprising:

means for receiving messages from the sources and for receiving a signal and a control signal from the relay, wherein the signal is representative of only messages received from the sources and detected without error by the relay and is the result of a network and channel coding comprising a modulo-2 addition of those messages detected without error, and the control signal indicates which of the messages are represented in the signal;

means for jointly detecting/decoding messages received from the sources and the received signal from the relay in an iterative manner and under control of the control signal received from the relay.

9. The reception device according to claim 8, wherein the means for jointly detecting/decoding comprise decoders with soft inputs and soft outputs.