Patents by Inventor Francis Dominique

Francis Dominique has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7558229
    Abstract: A method is provided for controlling communications between a base station and a mobile device. The method comprises determining the actual transmission gap and only discarding slots and/or frames that overlap with the actual transmission gap. Slots and/or frames that overlap with a scheduled transmission gap but are outside the actual transmission gap are transmitted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2009
    Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.
    Inventors: Rainer Bachl, Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong, Walid Nabhane
  • Patent number: 7532685
    Abstract: A method of tracking on-time errors may include producing first and second metrics from accumulated signal samples of a received data frame, and calculating a sum of, and a difference between, the first and second metrics. The calculated difference and sum values may be used to determine an estimated on-time error for the received data frame and a corrected timing error control value to be applied to the on-time error. The accuracy of the estimated on-time error may be evaluated based a signal quality metric to determine whether the corrected timing error control value is to be applied to the estimated on-time error or whether the timing adjustment for the on-time error is to be stopped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2009
    Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Yi Hsuan
  • Patent number: 7519382
    Abstract: In a method of controlling transmit power for a user call migrating between a first entity and a second entity in a base station of a wireless communication system, power control may be performed, as a call of the user is migrated from the first to the second entity, or vice versa, based on an adjustment ratio value. Parameters for balancing transmit power as the user call is migrated from the first entity to the second entity may be selected so that any difference in transmit power does not adversely affect system performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2009
    Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwel Kong, Walid E. Nabhane
  • Patent number: 7499433
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for detecting discontinued transmission (DTX) frames in data frames received over a link or channel, is described, where a DTX frame is a frame that does not carry data and which is transmitted with zero power over the link or channel. The method and apparatus determines whether a received data frame is a DTX frame based on a plurality of metrics. Based on the metrics, the method and apparatus may effectively discriminate a case where a data frame is received as an erasure (e.g., data frame received with errors), and a case where a transmitted data frame is received as a DTX frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2009
    Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent USA Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Martin Howard Meyers, Leonard Piazzi, Alexandro Salvarani
  • Publication number: 20090034483
    Abstract: A first transceiver determines whether a second transceiver has properly decoded at least one of a received data packet and control information associated with the corresponding data packet based on an estimated probability. The estimated probability is indicative of whether the second transceiver has properly decoded at least one of the data packet and associated control information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 3, 2007
    Publication date: February 5, 2009
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong, Ashok Armen Tikku
  • Publication number: 20080268918
    Abstract: In a method for power reduction at a receiver, a first radio frame is processed to recover transmitted data based on transport format information. The transport format information is determined based on a combination of transport format information associated with a plurality of received radio frames rather than a single frame. In another method for power reduction at a receiver, whether transport format information associated with a first radio frame is different from transport format information associated with a second radio frame is determined. The transport channel data is then processed based on the determination. The first radio frame is received prior to the second radio frame, and the transport format information indicates a transport format for transport channel data received in the first and second radio frames.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2007
    Publication date: October 30, 2008
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong
  • Publication number: 20080205328
    Abstract: A method of scaling soft symbols of an uplink E-DCH is provided, where the E-DCH is received from a user in a network for processing in a base station receiver in the network employing a log-MAP turbo decoding algorithm to process the E-DCH. The E-DCH includes an E-DPDCH from which the soft symbols are generated at the base station receiver, and an E-DPCCH used to transmit control information associated with the E-DPDCH, which along with configuration information from a radio network controller (RNC) of the network enables the base station receiver to determine a reference amplitude ratio linked to the actual power offset of the E-DPDCH from the legacy DPCCH. In the method, a reference E-DPDCH to DPCCH amplitude ratio is multiplied by a value greater than 1 to output a scaling factor, and the soft symbols are scaled by the scaling factor for processing by the log-MAP turbo decoding algorithm in the base station receiver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2007
    Publication date: August 28, 2008
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong, Walid E. Nabhane
  • Publication number: 20080205329
    Abstract: A method of scaling soft symbols of an uplink E-DCH is provided, where the E-DCH is received from a user in a network for processing in a base station receiver in the network employing a log-MAP turbo decoding algorithm to process the E-DCH. The E-DCH includes an E-DPDCH from which the soft symbols are generated at the base station receiver, and an E-DPCCH used to transmit control information associated with the E-DPDCH, which along with configuration information from a radio network controller (RNC) of the network enables the base station receiver to determine a reference amplitude ratio linked to the actual power offset of the E-DPDCH from the legacy DPCCH. In the method, an estimated E-DPDCH to DPCCH amplitude ratio that represents a scaling factor for the soft symbols is determined, and the soft symbols are scaled by the scaling factor to enable the soft symbols to be processed by the log-MAP turbo decoding algorithm in the base station receiver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2007
    Publication date: August 28, 2008
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong, Walid E. Nabhane
  • Patent number: 7403745
    Abstract: In one embodiment of the method, a channel quality metric for a first subframe is estimated based at least in part on a channel quality metric for a previous subframe, and a channel quality metric for a second subframe is estimated based at least in part on the channel quality metric for the previous subframe. Here, the second subframe is later in time than the first subframe. Then, a channel quality metric for a time slot located between the first and second subframes is estimated based on the channel quality metrics for the first and second subframes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2008
    Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwel Kong, Walld E. Nabhane
  • Publication number: 20080159237
    Abstract: Whether a receiver supports blind data channel detection is determined, and transmission of control channel information associated with a data channel is disabled if the determining step determines the receiver is capable of detecting the data channel without the use of control channel information. Data is transmitted to the receiver on the data channel without the control channel information after disabling of the transmission of the control channel information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2006
    Publication date: July 3, 2008
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Shirish Nagaraj, Hongwei Kong, Walid Elias Nabhane
  • Publication number: 20080160951
    Abstract: Whether to process a control channel corresponding to a data channel carrying transmitted data based on a re-transmission indicator and a threshold value is determined at the receiver. The re-transmission indicator indicates a number of times the transmitted data has been transmitted. Control information received on the control channel is then selectively processed based on the determining step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2006
    Publication date: July 3, 2008
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Shirish Nagaraj, Hongwei Kong, Walid Elias Nabhane
  • Publication number: 20080161003
    Abstract: A method of determining handoff of a user equipment (UE) to a transferee serving station from a transferor serving station at the transferee serving station is provided. The transferee serving station (e.g., a Node B) measures an energy level in a first portion of an uplink channel (e.g., an uplink high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH)), the first portion of the uplink channel associated with the transferee serving station. In an example, the first portion of the uplink channel is where a channel quality indicator (CQI) is expected to be reported from the UE for the transferee serving station. The transferee serving station also measures an energy level in a second portion of the uplink channel, the second portion of the uplink channel associated with the transferor serving station. In an example, the second portion of the uplink channel is where a CQI is expected to be reported from the UE for the transferor serving station.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2006
    Publication date: July 3, 2008
    Inventors: Stefan Brueck, Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong, Walid Elias Nabhane
  • Publication number: 20080160917
    Abstract: One embodiment includes determining a channel quality prediction error indicative a channel quality for a first time interval. The first time interval includes of a plurality of subframes, and the channel quality prediction error is calculated based on a first channel quality indicator associated with a first sub-frame and a second channel quality indicator associated with a second sub-frame. The first subframe and the second sub-frame are temporally spaced from one another. For example, the first subframe and the second subframe are temporally spaced apart by at least the length of the first time interval. More specifically, the second subframe may be received the first time interval after the first subframe.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2006
    Publication date: July 3, 2008
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Nandu Gopalakrishnan, Srinivas Kadaba, Hongwei Kong, Walid Nabhane
  • Patent number: 7395492
    Abstract: The need for separate CRC bits is eliminated by taking advantage of what has been determined to be an embedded error detection capability of the tail bits generated by the constituent encoders of a turbo coder to perform error detection following turbo decoding. Specifically, it has been recognized that the tail bits are similar to CRC bits that would be generated by a CRC encoder that uses as its generating polynomial the feedback polynomial used by the turbo encoder. At the turbo decoder, after a final turbo decoding iteration cycle, a check is performed on the decoded systematic information bits by calculating the tail bits from the decoded information bits using that generating polynomial and bit-by-bit comparing the calculated tail bits with the systematic tail bits decoded by the turbo decoder. If a mismatch occurs at one or more bit positions, an error is indicated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2008
    Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong
  • Publication number: 20080144741
    Abstract: A method for detecting transmission power reduction in a physical channel including at least a non-enhanced data channel portion, a non-enhanced control channel portion, an enhanced control channel portion and an enhanced data channel portion is provided. The method includes estimating a ratio of a transmission power associated with the enhanced data channel to transmission power associated with the non-enhanced control channel portion, comparing the estimated ratio with a threshold, the threshold being determined based on a format indicator associated with the enhanced data channel portion, and detecting a transmission power reduction in the enhanced data channel portion based on the comparing step.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 19, 2006
    Publication date: June 19, 2008
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong, Walid Elias Nabhane
  • Patent number: 7376208
    Abstract: A decoding method is carried out in a receiver configured to accept format information relating to sequences of input data, to use format information in the decoding of each input sequence, and to issue an acknowledgement signal in the event that an input sequence is successfully decoded. The method involves receiving a format message pertaining to a new input sequence, searching a candidate set of format indices an index best satisfying a criterion for matching to the format message, and selecting the index giving the best match. Before searching, the receiver reads the acknowledgement signals issued in response to the decoding or attempted decoding of recent input sequences. If the acknowledgement signals satisfy an appropriate condition, the search is limited to fewer than all the indices in the candidate set. The format information that corresponds to the selected index is used in decoding the new input sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2008
    Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong, Ashok Armen Tikku
  • Patent number: 7356749
    Abstract: A decision as to whether a mobile terminal has transmitted an ACK, a NACK or a NULL from a received signal at a base station is made by successively eliminating one of the three possible transmitted symbols by sequentially applying decision rules that maximize network throughput by minimizing the sum of the weighted costs of making a decision based on the magnitude of the received signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2008
    Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Srinivas R. Kadaba, Hongwei Kong
  • Publication number: 20080075046
    Abstract: In a method of detecting whether a transmitted data frame is a discontinuous transmission (DTX) frame, a signal metric corresponding to the transmitted data frame is generated in a decoding operation used to decode the data frame from a signal carrying the frame that is received by a base station receiver. A signal energy of the transmitted data frame is determined based on the signal metric, and used for determining whether the transmitted data frame is a DTX frame.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 26, 2006
    Publication date: March 27, 2008
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong
  • Patent number: 7317702
    Abstract: The channel quality indicator (CQI) transmitted by a mobile terminal to a base station is indicative of the Ec/Nt pilot SNR of the pilot signal transmitted by the base station and measured by the mobile terminal. The base station uses the CQI for purposes such as determining a downlink rate, a modulation scheme, and downlink power. Knowledge by the base station of whether the received and detected CQI is likely to be “good” or “bad” would be useful in determining how and whether the value of the received and detected CQI should be used. In a first embodiment, at the base station, a reliability of the received CQI that is detected from received soft symbol metrics is determined in conjunction with the detected CQI value for the received CQI word as a whole.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 8, 2008
    Assignee: Lucent Technologies Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Dominique, Hongwei Kong
  • Publication number: 20070250753
    Abstract: In a multiple access environment, to improve decoding efficiency for small code blocks by a constituent decoder, multiple code blocks may be concatenated to form a single larger code block. Example embodiments of the present invention concatenate code blocks for turbo codes I and II. Example embodiments of the present invention may also concatenate code blocks for convolutional code. Example embodiments of the present invention also disclose a system to concatenate the code blocks.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2006
    Publication date: October 25, 2007
    Inventors: Robert Bresalier, Francis Dominique, Emad Farag, Hongwei Kong