Apparatus and associated method for providing communication bandwidth in communication system

• US 9,356,774 B2
• Filed: 06/22/2012
• Issued: 05/31/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Sexton, Thomas, Dhakal, Sagar, Lusina, Paul James
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoang, Thai
• Application Number:
  US13/531,250
• Publication Number:
  US 20130343208A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,439 Days
• Field of Search: 370252-253, 370329-330, 370/312
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/309 Measuring or estimating channel quality parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/0262 Arrangements for detecting the data rate of an incoming signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0048 Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/04 Speed or phase control by synchronisation signals H04L7/0075 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/386 centralized, e.g. when the radio network controller or equivalent takes part in the power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/50 at the moment of starting communication in a multiple access environment
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 70/30 Systems integrating technologies related to power network operation and communication or information technologies for improving the carbon footprint of the management of residential or tertiary loads, i.e. smart grids as climate change mitigation technology in the buildings sector, including also the last stages of power distribution and the control, monitoring or operating management systems at local level

Abstract

An apparatus and an associated method selects rates at which received signals are sampled in a multi-user communication system. The signals are sampled at initial sampling rates during a first period. An estimate is made of the number of received signals, and selection is made of an updated sampling rate, based in part upon the estimate.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication, said method comprising:

collecting at a receiver associated with a base station samples of first portions of a received signal, sampled at an initial sampling rate;

estimating at the receiver a number of wireless device transmissions in the collected samples; and

selecting an updated sampling rate at which to sample additional portions of the received signal.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the received sample whose samples are collected during said collecting is transmitted at initial power levels.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the initial power levels are of levels permitting error-free decoding.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the samples are collected during a first time period.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising sampling the additional portions of the received signal at the updated sampling rate during a second time period.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the received signal comprises a pilot signal followed by data words, wherein said collecting samples of the first portions comprises collecting samples of the first words of the data words.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending a message to a wireless device containing an indication of power levels at which to transmit additional portions of data.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising providing indication of the updated sampling rate to samplers that sample the wireless-device-sourced data collected during said collecting.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising recovering informational content of the received signal.

10. An apparatus for wireless communications, said apparatus comprising:

a collector associated with a base station, the collector configured to collect samples of first portions of a received signal;

an estimator configured to estimate the number of wireless device transmissions in collected samples collected by said collector; and

a selector configured to select an updated sampling rate at which to sample additional portions of the received signal.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein said collector is further configured to collect samples of second portions of the plurality of the received signal at the updated sampling rate.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising a parameter setter and sender that sets a wireless, power-related parameter and sends a wireless-device-terminated message that contains the wireless, power-related parameter.

13. An apparatus for wireless communications between a base station and a plurality of wireless devices, said apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

collect at a receiver at the base station samples of first portions of a plurality of a received signal at an initial sampling rate;

estimate the number of wireless device transmissions in the collected samples; and

select an updated sampling rate to sample additional portions of the received signal.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said processor is configured to collect the samples of the first portions of the received signal during a first time period.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said processor is further configured to sample the additional portions of the received signal at the updated sampling rate during a second time period.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the received signal comprises a pilot signal followed by data words and wherein said processor is configured to collect samples of the first words of the data words.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein said processor is configured to select the updated sampling rate at which to sample second words of the data words.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute wireless communication, said method comprising:

collecting at a receiver associated with a base station samples of first portions of a received signal, sampled at an initial sampling rate;

estimating at the receiver a number of wireless device transmissions in the collected samples; and

selecting an updated sampling rate at which to sample additional portions of the received signal.