Abstract: Techniques for tracking closely spaced multipath and preventing finger merge without monitoring relative positions between each of a plurality of fingers are disclosed. In one aspect, motion limits are determined for each finger. Time-tracking commands that would move the position of a finger outside its respective motion limits are suppressed. In another aspect, motion limits are updated dynamically, the motion limits of each finger determined in accordance with the motion limits of fingers adjacent to it. Various other aspects are also presented. These aspects have the benefit of preventing finger merge, which allows the allocation of multiple fingers to closely spaced multipath, thus increasing performance and system capacity, and mitigating misallocation of system resources.

Abstract: Techniques for power control that avoids outer loop wind-up are disclosed. In one aspect, wind-up of a target power level is detected, and the target power level is modified in response. In another aspect, unwinding of the target power level is detected, after which the target power level is determined without considering wind-up. Various other aspects are also presented, including wind-up and unwinding detection procedures, and target power level modification procedures. These aspects have the benefit of reducing the time that transmit power exceeds that which is necessary, thus increasing system capacity and performance, and mitigating misallocation of system resources.

Abstract: Techniques for segmented CDMA searching are disclosed. In one aspect, a searcher comprises a plurality of storage elements selectable for performing a plurality of segmentable search tasks, each storage element operable for storage of and access to state information for one of the plurality of search tasks. In another aspect, a first search task is interrupted in progress, the state information for the first task is stored, a second search task is performed, and the first search task is continued using the stored state information. In yet another aspect, a search task is segmented into smaller search segments, sized to fit within contiguous available time in the searcher. Various other aspects of the invention are also presented. These aspects have the benefit of circuit area and search-time efficiency which translate into reduced costs, increased standby time, increased acquisition speed, higher quality signal transmission, increased data throughput, decreased power, and improved overall system capacity.

Abstract: Techniques to filter pilot symbols for a pilot in an “adaptive” manner to provide an improved estimate of the response of a communication channel. A received signal may experience different channel conditions at different times, and different multipaths may also experience different channel conditions even when received close in time. A pilot filter with an adaptive response is used to provide an improved estimate of the channel response. Various adaptive pilot filtering schemes may be used. In a first scheme, the channel conditions are estimated based on the quality of the received pilot. In a second scheme, the channel conditions are estimated based on the quality of the pilot estimates (i.e., the filtered pilot symbols). For each scheme, a particular filter response is selected based on the estimated quality of either the received pilot or the pilot estimates.

Abstract: Techniques for improved handoff searching in asynchronous systems, such as W-CDMA, are disclosed. In one aspect, a two-step search procedure is used when a list of neighbor codes is known. In the first step, a received signal is correlated with a slot timing code to locate on or more pilots and the slot boundaries associated therewith. In the second step, the received signal is correlated with each of the list of codes at the slot boundaries identified with pilots in the first step to identify the pilot code and the frame timing associated with each pilot. Various other aspects of the invention are also presented. These aspects have the benefit of decreasing search time, which translates to increased acquisition speed, higher quality signal transmission, increased data throughput, decreased power, and improved overall system capacity.

Abstract: Techniques to more efficiently control the transmit power for a data transmission that uses a number of formats (e.g., rates, transport formats). Different formats for a given data channel (e.g., transport channel) may require different target SNIRs to achieved a particular BLER. In one aspect, individual target BLER may be specified for each format of each data channel. In another aspect, various power control schemes are provided to achieve different target SNIRs for different formats. In a first power control scheme, multiple individual outer loops are maintained for multiple formats. For each format, its associated outer loop attempts to set the target SNIR such that the target BLER specified for that format is achieved. In a second power control scheme, multiple individual outer loops are maintained and the base station further applies different adjustments to the transmit power levels for different formats.

Abstract: Techniques to improve the performance of a Turbo decoder when scale information for the bits in a code segment to be decoded is not known. A number of hypotheses are formed for the code segment, with each hypothesis corresponding to a particular set of one or more values for a set of one or more parameters used for decoding the code segment. For the MAP decoding scheme, these parameters may be for the sequence of scaling factors used to scale the bits prior to decoding and/or a scale used to evaluate a (e.g., min*) function for the MAP decoding. The code segment is decoded based on the MAP decoding scheme and in accordance with each hypothesis. The quality of the decoded result for each hypothesis is determined based on one or more performance metrics. The decoded bits for the best hypothesis are provided as the Turbo decoder output.

Abstract: Techniques to efficiently generate memory addresses for a Turbo code interleaver using a number of look-up tables. An interleaver includes a storage unit, sets of tables, and an address generator. The storage unit stores K elements for a data packet at locations representative of an R×C array, with the elements being stored in a first (e.g., linear) order and provided in a second (e.g., interleaved) order. A first set of table(s) stores sequences (e.g., inter-row permutation sequences PA, PB, PC, and PD) used to perform row permutation of the array to map from the first order to the second order. A second set of table(s) stores sequences (e.g., intra-row base sequences and prime number sequences) used to perform column permutation. The address generator receives a first address for the first order and generates a corresponding second address for the second order based on sequences stored in the tables.

Abstract: Techniques for detecting received sequences when certain signaling characteristics (e.g., transport formats, rates) are not known a priori at the receiver. In one method, a sequence for a transmitted message is received, and a metric value is computed for each of a number of hypothesized messages corresponding to a number of hypotheses for the unknown signaling characteristic of the transmitted message. The metric value is computed based on a MAP metric derived to approximately maximize a joint a posteriori probability between the received sequence and the hypothesized messages. The hypothesized message having the best metric value is selected as the transmitted message. The specific form of the MAP metric is dependent on the particular signaling scheme used to map the message to its corresponding sequence, and may be used for blind transport format detection (BTFD) in a W-CDMA system and blind rate detection in an IS-95 CDMA system.

Abstract: A buffer structure for storing intermediate results (i.e., APP data) for a Turbo decoder to increase access throughput, the buffer structure is designed to support concurrent access of APP data for two or more bits for each access cycle. This is achieved by partitioning the buffer into a number of banks, with each bank being independently accessible. To avoid access contentions, the banks are assigned to the rows and columns of a 2-dimensional array used for code interleaving such that APP data for consecutive bits are accessed from different banks. To support “linear” addressing, the banks can be arranged into two sets, which are assigned to even-numbered and odd-number columns of the array. To support “interleaved” addressing, the banks can be assigned to groups of rows of the array such that adjacent rows in the interleaved array are assigned to different groups.