Abstract: Circuitry, and an associated method, for permitting simultaneous transmission of multiple forms of information, such as that generated during operation of a multi-media communication device. Signal bits of the different forms of information are together mapped onto symbols of a multi-level, multi-phase modulation symbol set. Transmission of signals representative of the symbols are transmitted, thereby to effectuate the simultaneous transmission of the multiple forms of information.

Abstract: A method and system for increasing the signal margin of a radiocommunication link to provide a short message service which is reliable, even under non-ideal conditions. According to the method, short alphanumeric messages can be transmitted over the broadcast control channel of a digital radiocommunication link, or another communication channel consisting of one or more slots from successive frames in a TDMA communication link. An increase in transmission power is used in combination with repetition to increase effective signal margin without complications in the mobile unit design, significant delay, or co-channel interference. Where a more significant increase in signal margin is desired, when a longer message is required, or for voice messages, the message may be stored and the mobile unit alerted of the message.

Abstract: A communication system is disclosed which reduces loop delay when a first wireless phone calls a second wireless phone wherein the first and second phones are served by the same relay station. The communication system includes a relay station for communicating with the first and second wireless phones. A transponder located in the relay station relays signals received from one mobile station on a first frequency band to another mobile station on a second frequency band. In addition, the transponder sends the received signals to a controller which controls the operation of the transponder using control information.

Abstract: An antenna assembly, and an associated method, facilitates communication of a radiotelephone operable in a satellite communication system, such as a satellite-cellular communication system. A patch antenna is rotatably coupled to a radiotelephonic housing of the radiotelephone. The patch antenna exhibits circular polarization characteristics, best to detect and to transmit communication signals to a satellite-based transceiver. By positioning patch antennas at opposing sides of the radiotelephone, down-link signals transmitted to the radiotelephone are detectable irrespective of the orientation of the radiotelephone.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for establishing a key sequence for secure communication through a communication channel between a first transceiver and a second transceiver. Each transceiver transmits to the other transceiver a plurality of tones having predetermined phases and frequencies. Each transceiver transmits back to the other transceiver, without substantial change, the plurality of tones transmitted by the other transceiver. The transceivers determine a key based on the differences in the phases of transmitted and received plurality of tones.

Abstract: A mobile local area network (LAN) of tracked assets utilizing minimal power and bandwidth allows a large number of assets to be tracked in a practical manner. The mobile LAN is established between a plurality of tracking units in close proximity. Assets are approximately located according to their connection in the mobile LAN where the exact location of at least one of the network nodes is known. Each tracked asset has capability to independently determine and report its position to a central station, and each asset also has capability to communicate locally with other cooperative assets via the LAN. The LAN is dynamically reconfigurable so that as other cooperative assets come into proximity, they can join the network, and as others move away, they can leave the network. Within the network, a protocol is followed which assigns one of the assets to be the "master" and all others to be "slaves".

Abstract: A diversity scheme for allowing a transmitter/receiver, such as a mobile unit in a mobile telecommunications system, to exchange communication signals with more than one control station, such as a base station or satellite. According to an exemplary embodiment of the diversity scheme, the mobile unit scans for the control channel of a second satellite during idle time slots while communicating with a first satellite during active time slots. Once the mobile unit detects a control channel from a second satellite, the mobile unit stores synchronization information and establishes a communication link with the second satellite if shadowing or other severe fading causes signal quality over a communication link established with a first satellite to fall below a threshold level. The diversity scheme also allows the mobile unit to communicate simultaneously with two satellites, using alternate TDMA frames.

Abstract: Characteristics of the radio channel are used to establish key sequences for use in encrypting communicated information. These characteristics are the short-term reciprocity and rapid spatial decorrelation of phase of the radio channel. The keys can be established with computations equivalent to a bounded distance decoding procedure, and the decoder used to establish a key may be used for processing the subsequent data transmission. Compared to classical and public-key systems, an alternative mechanism for establishing and sharing key sequences that depends on a physical process is provided in which each party need not generate a pseudorandom quantity because the necessary randomness is provided by the temporal and spatial non-stationarity of the communication channel itself. By using a channel decoder, the probability of two users establishing the same secret key is substantially unity, and the probability of an eavesdropper establishing the same key is substantially zero.

Abstract: A radio receiver for demodulating and equalizing digital information is disclosed. The receiver receives radio signals and processes the signals to produce data samples which are then stored. Reference values that model what the receiver should receive for various transmitted symbol sequence hypotheses are also stored. The receiver equalizes the received data using the stored reference values to produce symbol detection information, and updates the reference values based on the symbol detection information.

Abstract: A low complexity adaptive equalizer for use in U.S. digital cellular radios demodulates .pi./4-shifted differentially encoded quadrature phase shift keyed (DQPSK) encoding in the presence of intersymbol interference (ISI) with reduced decoding complexity by employing an estimated received constellation which takes into account channel changes over time and ISI. The complexity is reduced by tracking a reduced number of estimated reference symbol constellation points and taking advantage of the geometry to estimate the remaining symbol constellation points. Branch metrics are also determined with a reduced number of computations.

Abstract: A low complexity adaptive equalizer for use in U.S. digital cellular radios demodulates .pi./4-shifted differentially encoded quadrature phase shift keyed (DQPSK) encoding in the presence of intersymbol interference (ISI) with reduced decoding complexity by employing an estimated received constellation which takes into account channel changes over time and ISI. The decoding complexity is reduced by tracking a reduced number of estimated reference constellation points and taking advantage of the geometry to estimate the remaining symbol constellation points. A slot of symbols is decoded, employing unique filtering, in segments from the beginning in a forward direction and from the end in a reverse direction meeting at a fade point. This isolates a fade and allows the equalizer to perform more reliably.

Abstract: A digital radio communications system employs a digital information source for providing digital information such as message bits, a transmitter for transmitting encoded digital information into data symbols in a radio-frequency (RF) signal to a plurality of antennae which sense the transmitted RF signal. A post detection measure of signal quality, the signal-to-impairment ratio, (SIR), is utilized by the receiver to perform post detection combining of signals received by a plurality of antennae. The antennae are coupled to a receiver which for each received signal: digitizes the signal, determines phase angles of the digitized signal, converts the signal to unit vectors, determines a signal-to-impairment ratio (SIR) estimates .gamma..sup.j of the digitized signals. The SIR estimate .gamma..sup.j is weighted by combining weight computation element and multiplied by each unit vector to provide an in-phase is component and a quadrature component for each signal.

Abstract: A method of estimating the quality of a communication channel from a differential phase angle between a received signal and the corresponding transmitted phase angle employs determining a signal to impairment ratio (SIR) as an indicator of channel state information (CSI). A maximum likelihood estimation procedure is employed to calculate this CSI metric as a function of the differential phase angle between the received signal and transmitted signal. An alternate embodiment employs a estimation that incorporates average SIR information for a Rayleigh fading channel. Since CSI is derived from the phase angle of the received signal, and does not require signal amplitude information, it is attractive for use with differential detectors, phase-locked loops (PLLs) and hard-limited signals. The CSI provided can be used for implementing post detection selection diversity, by selecting the signal from a plurality of antennae which has the best SIR.

Abstract: A digital time division multiple access (TDMA) radio communications system employs a digital information source for providing digital information, a transmitter for transmitting encoded digital information in a radio-frequency (RF) signal to a receiver which demodulates the encoded symbols into digital information to be utilized by an output device. The receiver, synchronizes, compensates for frequency drift, samples and divides the samples into halfslots of samples. The halfslots are subdivided into subslots numbered from 1 to N, where N represents the last received subslot. Subslots 1 and N are demodulated into digital information in a forward and reverse direction, respectively with metrics calculated. If the metrics indicate a signal with a larger signal-to-noise ratio from subslot N, subslot N-1 is demodulated in a reverse sense with another reverse metric calculated, and vice versa.

Abstract: A low complexity adaptive equalizer for use in U.S. digital cellular radios demodulates .pi./4-shifted differentially encoded quadrature phase shift keyed (DQPSK) encoding in the presence of intersymbol interference (ISI) with reduced decoding complexity by employing an estimated received constellation which takes into account channel changes over time and ISI. The decoding complexity is reduced by tracking a reduced number of estimated reference symbol constellation points and taking advantage of the geometry to estimate the remaining symbol constellation points. Reference symbol constellation points are updated directly to compensate for changes in the channel, instead of determining channel impulse response (CIR) coefficients, and convolving the CIR coefficients with received symbols to determine new reference symbol constellation points.

Abstract: A method of configuring an optimum communication system for communicating on adjacent frequency bands with minimal interference between adjacent channels comprises serially coupling a selected encoder to a mapper, a transmit filter, a low pass filter and a modulator, and constructing a receiver with a seriallycoupled receive filter and decoder. The transmit filter is optimized by choosing transmit filter coefficients d.sub.opt which maximize the inband to adjacent-band power. Transmitter coefficients d.sub.opt are obtained by solving an eigenvalue problem which takes into account the power spectrum of the encoder, mapper and receive filter. The optimum transmitter coefficients are then employed in the transmitter to shape the transmitted signal, increasing the adjacent channel interference protection ratio (ACIPR).

Abstract: A digital simulcast transmission is automatically aligned, at a simulcast receiver (22) that simultaneously receives a plurality of RF signals from a plurality of transmitters, each of the RF signals being modulated to convey identical digitally encoded information. An equalizer (24) adaptively equalizes the plurality of received RF signals to substantially correct for a misalignment in time between the received signals. The misalignment in time is due in part to a non-simultaneous transmission of the identical digitally encoded information from the plurality of transmitters. Equalizer embodiments include a Decision Feedback Equalizer (DFE) and an equalizer based on a Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimator (MLSE). Embodiments of the DFE are an Order Recursive Lattice-DFE and a Fast Kalman DFE.

Abstract: A method of estimating the quality of a communication channel from a differential phase angle between a received signal and the corresponding transmitted phase angle employs determining a signal to impairment ratio (SIR) as an indicator of channel state information (CSI). A maximum likelihood estimation procedure is employed to calculate this CSI metric as a function of the differential phase angle between be received signal and transmitted signal An alternate embodiment employs an estimation that incorporates average SIR information for a Rayleigh fading channel. Since CSI is derived from the phase angle of the received signal, and does not require signal amplitude information, it is attractive for use with differential detectors, phase-locked loops (PLLs) and hard-limited signals. The CSI provided can be used for implementing post detection selection diversity, by selecting the signal from a plurality of antennae which has the best SIR.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for digital radio communication employs separation of a frame of data to be transmitted into key bits, critical bits and unprotected bits. The key bits are processed to provide parity bits. The parity bits, and key bits are convolutionally encoded using a tail-biting scheme and merged with unprotected bits, and then transmitted. At the receiver, the decoder splits the received data into convolutionally encoded bits and unprotected bits, and trellis decodes the convolutionally encoded bits into a number of possible paths through a trellis using a generalized Viterbi algorithm. The tail-biting scheme reduces the number of bits that must be transmitted. Paths having errors in the key bits are rejected, and the path having the best metric without key bit errors is used in decoding the transmitted information. In the event that there is no such path, a previously selected path is substituted and decoded.

Abstract: A Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) radio system achieves synchronization by performing a two-step synchronization. A simplified frame/slot synchronization is followed by a symbol synchronization of higher accuracy. This symbol timing is passed to a frequency offset unit which determines the amount of frequency drift between the transmitter and receiver and compensates for the frequency drift. This results in improved receiver performance for the TDMA digital radio system.