Encoding information in beacon signals

• US 9,432,817 B2
• Filed: 04/02/2013
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Li, Junyi, Richardson, Thomas J., Laroia, Rajiv
• Primary Examiner(s): Figueroa, Marisol
• Application Number:
  US13/855,554
• Publication Number:
  US 20140126455A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,246 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/261 Details of reference signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0007 the frequencies being orthogonal, e.g. OFDM(A), DMT
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0051 of dedicated pilots, i.e. pilots destined for a single user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0053 Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0064 Rate requirement of the data, e.g. scalable bandwidth, data priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/30 Resource management for broadcast services

Abstract

Systems and methodologies are described that facilitate transmitting at least two different types of information in a single signal, whereby the different types of information can be encoded and decoded independently. Thus, changes to one type of information does not affect a second type of information.

Claims

1. A method that facilitates receiving information from a base station, comprising:

receiving a high-energy beacon signal included in a waveform, wherein the waveform is a function of a first value and a second value and the high-energy beacon signal is received on at least one resource that has a resource location based on the first value and the second value;

determining a bandwidth subset, of a plurality of bandwidth subsets, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received;

determining a degree of freedom, of a plurality of degrees of freedom, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received;

interpreting the first value as a first information stream based on the determined degree of freedom; and

interpreting the second value as a second information stream based on the determined bandwidth subset.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information stream represents a first subset of broadcast information and the second information stream represents a second subset of broadcast information.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the waveform occupies a small degree of freedom.

4. The method of claim 1, interpreting the first value as a first information stream, comprising:

determining a sequence of bits {Y_i} representing the first information stream {c_i}, wherein {Y_i} represents a single bit; and

decoding each of a plurality of information bits in the first information stream {c_i} based on the determined sequence of bits {Y_i}.

5. The method of claim 1, interpreting the second value as a second information stream comprising:

receiving a signal that is a function of {X_i} included in {b₁}; and

decoding the information bit {b₁}.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein interpreting the first value comprises decoding a sequence of {Y_i} bits and interpreting the second value comprises decoding a signal {X_i}.

7. The method of claim 6, the signal {X_i} has a periodicity that is independent of a periodicity of the sequence of {Y_i} bits.

8. The method of claim 1, the combination of the first value and the second value comprises a waveform that occupies a space that is larger than a space of the first information stream and a space of the second information stream.

9. The method of claim 1, the high-energy beacon signal is received at substantially a same time as other signals.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a first periodicity of the first information stream is used to obtain the first information stream or a second periodicity of the second information stream is used to obtain the second information stream.

11. A wireless communications apparatus that selectively decodes information received in a beacon signal, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to;

receive a waveform that includes a high-energy beacon signal, wherein the waveform is a function of a composite value representing a first value and a second value and the high-energy beacon signal is received on at least one resource that has a resource location based on the first value and the second value;

determine a bandwidth subset, of a plurality of bandwidth subsets, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received;

determine a degree of freedom, of a plurality of degrees of freedom, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received;

independently decode the first value to obtain a first subset of information based on the determined degree of freedom; and

independently decode the second value to obtain a second subset of information based on the determined bandwidth subset.

12. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the second value provides a timing sequence that repeats at a different interval than a timing sequence of the first value.

13. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is configured to identify the beacon signal as being received at an energy greater than other received signals.

14. A wireless communications apparatus that enables deciphering two independent information streams that represent a waveform, comprising:

means for receiving the waveform that includes a high-energy beacon signal, wherein the waveform is a function of a first value and a second value and the high-energy beacon signal is received on at least one resource that has a resource location based on the first value and the second value;

means for determining a bandwidth subset, of a plurality of bandwidth subsets, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received;

means for determining a degree of freedom, of a plurality of degrees of freedom, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received; and

means for breaking the waveform into independent information stream values, wherein the means for breaking is configured to;

decipher the first value as a first information stream based on the determined degree of freedom; and

decipher the second value as a second information stream based on the determined bandwidth subset.

15. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, further comprising means for interpreting a periodicity of the first value that is different from a periodicity of the second value.

16. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, wherein the means for receiving the waveform is configured to receive other signals at substantially a same time as receiving the waveform.

17. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 14, further comprising means for deciphering the first information stream as a signal {X_i} included in {b_i} and means for deciphering the second information stream as a sequence of {Y_i} included in {c_i}, where {Y_i} represents a single bit.

18. The wireless communications apparatus of claim 17, wherein {X_i} indicates a chosen block of a broadcast message and {Y_i} indicates a location within the chosen block.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer executable code for wireless communication, comprising code for:

receiving a waveform that includes a high-energy beacon signal, wherein the waveform is a function of a first value and a second value; and

the high-energy beacon signal is received on at least one resource that has a resource location based on the first value and the second value;

determining a bandwidth subset, of a plurality of bandwidth subsets, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received;

determining a degree of freedom, of a plurality of degrees of freedom, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received;

determining the first value from the waveform to derive a first information stream based on the determined degree of freedom; and

determining the second value from the waveform to derive a second information stream based on the determined bandwidth subset.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, further comprising code for receiving the high-energy beacon signal at an energy greater than other received beacon signals.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the first value represents a first subset of broadcast information and the second value represents a second subset of broadcast information.

22. In a wireless communication system, an apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive a waveform that includes a combination of two independent values, wherein the waveform includes a high-energy beacon signal that is received on at least one resource that has a resource location based on the two independent values;

determining a bandwidth subset, of a plurality of bandwidth subsets, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received;

determining a degree of freedom, of a plurality of degrees of freedom, on which the high-energy beacon signal was received;

decode a first independent value from the combination of the two independent values to obtain a first information stream based on the determined degree of freedom; and

decode a second independent value from the combination of the two independent values to obtain a second information stream based on the determined bandwidth subset.