System and method for real-time spectrum analysis in a communication device
First Claim
1. A signal detector circuit comprising:
- a. a peak detector that receives as input spectral information for successive time intervals of activity in a frequency band, detects one or more peaks in the spectral information and outputs information identifying peaks for each time interval; and
b. a plurality of pulse detectors each coupled to receive as input the output of the peak detector, wherein each pulse detector detects signal pulses that satisfy one or more characteristics based on the output of the peak detector.
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Abstract
A spectrum analysis engine (SAGE) that comprises a spectrum analyzer component, a signal detector component, a universal signal synchronizer component and a snapshot buffer component. The spectrum analyzer component generates data representing a real-time spectrogram of a bandwidth of radio frequency (RF) spectrum. The signal detector detects signal pulses in the frequency band and outputs pulse event information entries output, which include the start time, duration, power, center frequency and bandwidth of each detected pulse. The signal detector also provides pulse trigger outputs which may be used to enable/disable the collection of information by the spectrum analyzer and the snapshot buffer components. The snapshot buffer collects a set of raw digital signal samples useful for signal classification and other purposes. The universal signal synchronizer synchronizes to periodic signal sources, useful for instituting schemes to avoid interference with those signals.
89 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A signal detector circuit comprising:
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a. a peak detector that receives as input spectral information for successive time intervals of activity in a frequency band, detects one or more peaks in the spectral information and outputs information identifying peaks for each time interval; and
b. a plurality of pulse detectors each coupled to receive as input the output of the peak detector, wherein each pulse detector detects signal pulses that satisfy one or more characteristics based on the output of the peak detector. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system comprising:
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a. a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) block that receives as input a digital signal representing activity in the frequency band and computes FFT values for a plurality of frequency bins for a time interval; and
b. a power calculation block coupled to the FFT block that computes the power at each frequency bin at each time interval, wherein the power is supplied as input to the peak detector;
c. a peak detector that receives as input output of the power calculation block for successive time intervals of activity in a frequency band, detects one or more peaks in the spectral information and outputs information identifying peaks for each time interval; and
d. at least one pulse detector coupled to the peak detector, the pulse detector detects signal pulses that satisfy one or more characteristics based on the output of the peak detector. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for detecting signal pulses comprising steps of:
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a. detecting one or more peaks in spectral information representing activity in a frequency band;
b. detecting signal pulses that meet one or more characteristics from the detected one or more peaks; and
c. outputting for each detected signal pulse, one or more of the power, bandwidth, center frequency and duration of the signal pulse. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A processor readable medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps of:
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a. detecting one or more peaks in spectral information representing activity in a frequency band;
b. detecting signal pulses that meet one or more characteristics from the detected one or more peaks; and
c. outputting for each detected signal pulse, one or more of the power, bandwidth, center frequency and duration of the signal pulse.
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- 30. A method for buffering digital signals representing samples of received radio frequency energy in a radio frequency band, comprising a step of, storing the digital signals and data indicating time of occurrence of the digital signals in a first-in first-out buffer in response to a trigger signal.
Specification