Patents Examined by Lawrence Williams
  • Patent number: 8218683
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for compensation for any phase and/or amplitude error in a receiver having a complex processing branch and a complex-conjugate processing branch, wherein an error-compensated complex signal component is determined by subtraction of a complex-conjugate signal component and to which a correction parameter is applied, from a complex signal component. The correction parameter is determined on the basis of a function of a quotient of the complex signal component and the complex-conjugate signal component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventors: Andreas Menkhoff, Bernhard Aumayer
  • Patent number: 8149902
    Abstract: Methods to relax the second order intercept point of transceivers for multi-carrier and OFDM (such as IEEE 802.11a/g and 802.16) based zero IF wireless receivers that need to work in an environment with strong jamming signals, such as, for example, WLAN modules in Smart Phones. Due to the poor IP2 of WLAN (wireless local area network) receivers, unacceptable DC signals are produced in the I,Q quadrature paths when a strong out-of-band signal is received, e.g., from a co-located GSM phone. This completely destroys the received WLAN packet, resulting in an unacceptably high PER (packet error rate). In one aspect, the mixer reference for the receiver is effectively shifted (corrected) to accurately match the carrier of the received signal. In another aspect, the carrier is uncorrected for transmission. In still another aspect, a continuous DC correction is made on a per symbol basis. In still another aspect, the DC correction and the frequency correction are used together. Various embodiments are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 3, 2012
    Assignee: Maxim Integrated Products, Inc.
    Inventor: Rishi Mohindra
  • Patent number: 8121237
    Abstract: An integrated circuit device includes a delay circuit, sampling circuit and delay control circuit that cooperate to carry out adaptive timing calibration. The delay circuit generates a timing signal by delaying an aperiodic input signal for a first interval. The sampling circuit samples a data signal in response to the timing signal to generate a sequence of data samples, and also samples the data signal in response to a phase-shifted version of the timing signal to generate a sequence of edge samples. The delay control circuit adjusts the first interval based, at least in part, on a phase error indicated by the sequence of data samples and the sequence of edge samples.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2006
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: Rambus Inc.
    Inventors: Bret G. Stott, Craig E. Hampel, Frederick A. Ware
  • Patent number: 8116352
    Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for chaotic communication in a wireless personal area network, A chaotic information carrier is generated for a first predetermined frequency range using a ring-structure oscillator. The ring structure oscillator includes a non-linear element. Chaotic pulses are generated by modulating the chaotic information carrier for the first predetermined frequency range with a data signal. A shape of a spectral density envelope of the chaotic information carrier for the first predetermined frequency range is determined based on a set of parameters which include a first set of values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2012
    Assignees: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics of Ras
    Inventors: Seong-soo Lee, Young-hwan Kim, Alexander Dmitriev
  • Patent number: 8107580
    Abstract: A phase detector generates a phase dependent control signal according to the phase relationship between a first and second clock signal. The phase detector includes first and second phase detector circuits receiving the first and second clock signals and generating select signals having duty cycles corresponding to the phase relationship between the clock edges of the first and second clock signals. The phase detector also includes a charge pump that receives select signals from the phase detector circuits and produces an increasing or decreasing control signal when the first and second clock signals do not have the predetermined phase relationship, and a non-varying control signal when the first and second clock signals do have the predetermined phase relationship. The control signal may be used to adjust the delay value of a voltage-controlled delay circuit in order to adjust the phase relationship between the first and second clock signals to have a predetermined phase relationship.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2012
    Assignee: Round Rock Research, LLC
    Inventor: Ronnie M. Harrison
  • Patent number: 8102906
    Abstract: Decision feedback equalization (DFE) circuits are disclosed for use with fractional-rate clocks of lesser frequency than the data signal. For example, a one-half-rate clocked DFE circuit utilizes two input data paths, which are respectively activated on rising and falling edges of an associated half-rate clock. Each of the input data paths has a pair of comparators with differing reference voltage levels. The comparators in each input data path output to a multiplexer, which picks between the two comparator outputs depending on the logic level of the previously received bit. The output of each input data path is sent as a control input to the multiplexer of the other data path. Thus, the results from previously-detected bits affect which comparator's output is passed to the output of the circuit, even though the synchronizing clock is half the frequency of the data. A quarter-rate DFE circuit is also disclosed which operates similarly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2012
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy M. Hollis
  • Patent number: 8098772
    Abstract: In a multivalue modulation type with one pilot symbol inserted for every 3 or more symbols, signal points of each one symbol immediately before and after a pilot symbol are modulated using a modulation type different from that for pilot symbols. In this way, it is possible to suppress deterioration of the accuracy in estimating the reference phase and amount of frequency offset by pilot symbols and improve the bit error rate characteristic in the signal to noise ratio in quasi-coherent detection with symbols whose symbol synchronization is not completely established.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yutaka Murakami, Shinichiro Takabayashi, Masayuki Orihashi, Akihiko Matsuoka
  • Patent number: 8098774
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for performing LLR value computations in a pipeline. Portions of a metric used to compute LLR values are computed in one pipeline part. The portions correspond to all permutations of some received signal streams. The portions are combined with one permutation x2 of the received signal stream that was not included in the previous pipeline computation in a subsequent pipeline part to produce M values associated with a particular bit position. At each subsequent clock cycle, a different permutation of x2 is combined with the previously computed portions producing different M values. State values corresponding to different values of bit positions of the received stream are computed by finding the minimum among the M values, in each clock cycle, that affect a particular bit position. The state values are combined to compute the LLR values for the bit position in a final pipeline part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Marvell International Ltd.
    Inventors: Konstantinos Sarrigeorgidis, Yanni Chen, Leilei Song, Kedar Shirali
  • Patent number: 8090060
    Abstract: A technique for low-complexity high-performance coherent demodulation of GFSK signals involves utilizing a novel phase and frequency tracking mechanism coupled with a trellis search technique to track signal memory in the demodulation process. A method according to the technique may include modeling modulation based upon a trellis. The method may further include estimating unknown parameters, selecting a maximum likelihood path through the trellis, and mapping the maximum likelihood path to an output bit sequence. The technique is also applicable to DSPK and other applicable known or convenient protocols.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2012
    Assignee: Quantenna Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: Fredrik Brannstrom, Andrea Goldsmith, Farrokh Farrokhi, Behrooz Rezvani
  • Patent number: 8081713
    Abstract: A DTV receiving system for processing digital broadcast data includes a tuner for receiving a broadcast signal from a DTV transmitter, an equalizer for compensating channel distortion of the broadcast signal using the known data sequences, and a decoder for decoding the equalized broadcast signal, wherein the broadcast signal results from generating a first data group including first, second and third regions; interleaving the first data group to generate a second data group including fourth, fifth and sixth regions; and trellis encoding the second data group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Jong Moon Kim, In Hwan Choi, Byoung Gill Kim, Won Gyu Song, Jin Woo Kim, Hyoung Gon Lee
  • Patent number: 8081718
    Abstract: An apparatus for adjusting the transmission bit rate and fragmentation threshold of a wireless station in response to transmission errors is disclosed. In particular, the illustrative embodiment of the present invention is based on a wireless station that employs both an IEEE 802.11 radio and a Bluetooth radio, and determines whether transmission errors of the IEEE 802.11 radio are due to fading, or interference from the Bluetooth radio. It will be clear to those skilled in the art how to make and use alternative embodiments of the present invention for protocols other than IEEE 802.11 and Bluetooth, as well as stations that employ wireline or non-RF-wireless transceivers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC
    Inventor: Timothy Gordon Godfrey
  • Patent number: 8081676
    Abstract: Method and apparatus for data reception are provided, retrieving digital values transmitted through a cable. In a data receiver, an equalizer equalizes an input signal based on a boost value to generate an equalized signal, and a data extractor samples the equalized signal to extract output values from each symbol period. The data extractor detects signal quality of the equalized signal to adjust the boost value accordingly. An optimal time point is detected within one symbol period where an output value is an ensured valid, and variation rate of the optimal time point is counted as an inverse indicator of the signal quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: Mediatek Inc.
    Inventors: Chien Ming Chen, Wen-Chang Chang
  • Patent number: 8081695
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for supplying a frequency-smoothed communications training signal. The method generates a frequency-smoothed unbiased training signal in a quadrature modulation transmitter. The frequency-smoothed unbiased training signal includes a plurality of pilot signal products, where each pilot signal product includes complex plane information represented by a reference frequency subcarrier, multiplying complex plane information represented by mirror frequency subcarrier. The sum of the plurality of pilot signal products is equal to zero. The method supplies the frequency-smoothed unbiased training signal so that it may be transmitted within a single symbol period. System and methods are also provided for using a frequency-smoothed training signal in the calculation of a receiver channel estimate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2011
    Assignee: QUALCOMM, Incorporated
    Inventors: Rabih Chrabieh, Samir S. Soliman
  • Patent number: 8077802
    Abstract: Device, system, and method of resource allocation in a wireless network. Embodiments include optimal space-frequency architectures for very high peak rates in wireless systems. For example, an apparatus for wireless communication in a power-limited, very wideband system includes a wireless communication device having a media access controller (MAC) and a physical layer (PHY) that are adapted for a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) communication scheme; a plurality of antennas, operationally coupled to said device, to send and receive wireless communication signals according to the MIMO-OFDMA communication scheme; and a resource allocator, to allocate transmission resources of the device into desired MIMO channels optimized according to at least one of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), bandwidth, number of users, and signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SINR).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Sumeet Sandhu, Feng Xue
  • Patent number: 8073041
    Abstract: A system and method that demodulates the phase characteristic of a carrier signal are described. The scrambling of the phase characteristic of each carrier signal includes associating a value with each carrier signal and computing a phase shift for each carrier signal based on the value associated with that carrier signal. The value is determined independently of any input bit value carried by that carrier signal. The phase shift computed for each carrier signal is combined with the phase characteristic of that carrier signal so as to substantially scramble the phase characteristic of the carrier signals. Bits of an input signal are modulated onto the carrier signals having the substantially scrambled phase characteristic to produce a transmission signal with a reduced PAR.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2011
    Assignee: Aware, Inc.
    Inventor: Marcos C. Tzannes
  • Patent number: 8068560
    Abstract: Provided is a QR decomposition apparatus and method that can reduce the number of computers by sharing hardware in an MIMO system employing OFDM technology to simplify a structure of hardware. The QR decomposition apparatus includes a norm multiplier for calculating a norm; a Q column multiplier for calculating a column value of a unitary Q matrix to thereby produce a Q matrix vector; a first storage for storing the Q matrix vector calculated in the Q column multiplier; an R row multiplier for calculating a value of an upper triangular R matrix by multiplying the Q matrix vector by a reception signal vector; and a Q update multiplier for receiving the reception signal vector and an output of the R row multiplier, calculating an Q update value through an accumulation operation, and providing the Q update value to the Q column multiplier to calculate a next Q matrix vector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
    Inventors: Yu-Ro Lee, Jung-Bo Son, Minho Cheong, Sok-Kyu Lee
  • Patent number: 8068561
    Abstract: A broadcast receiver and a method of processing broadcast data in the broadcast receiver are disclosed. The broadcast receiver includes a tuner for receiving a broadcast signal including mobile service data, main service data and known data sequences; an equalizer for compensating channel distortion of the broadcast signal using at least one of the known data sequences; a first decoder for decoding the mobile service data in the equalized broadcast signal; and a second decoder for CRC-decoding and RS-decoding the turbo-decoded mobile service data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2011
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Jong Moon Kim, In Hwan Choi, Kook Yeon Kwak, Byoung Gill Kim, Won Gyu Song, Jin Woo Kim, Hyoung Gon Lee
  • Patent number: 8064546
    Abstract: This invention is a method for preamble detection with estimation of UE timing advance (TA) and channel quality information (CQI) which uses a sliding window to detect the preamble and estimate user timing advance and channel quality information. The window length is set to the cyclic prefix length of data transmission. A preamble detection threshold is computed semi-analytically according to noise sample statistics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Texas Instruments Incorporated
    Inventors: Jing Jiang, Tarik Muharemovic, Pierre Bertrand
  • Patent number: 8064561
    Abstract: An apparatus including a circuit configured to determine a jitter of a first signal, and to determine a time interval between a feature in a second signal and a feature in the first signal based on the determined jitter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Infineon Technologies AG
    Inventor: Stephan Henzler
  • Patent number: 8031775
    Abstract: In order to analyze a digital video clip to determine candidate frames for subsequent key frame selection, a camera motion sensor is provided in the camera so that information is provided during image capture regarding camera motion including translation of the scene or camera, or scaling of the scene. The sensor includes an accelerometer or a lens motor sensor. A plurality of video segments is formed based on the global motion estimate and each segment is labeled in accordance with a predetermined series of camera motion classes. Thereafter, key frame candidates are extracted from the labeled segments and a confidence score is computed for each candidate by using rules corresponding to each camera motion class and a rule corresponding to object motion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2011
    Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
    Inventors: Jiebo Luo, Christophe E. Papin, Deniz E. Schildkraut, Majid Rabbani