Abstract: A receiver circuit (400, 500) receives a spread spectrum communication signal, such as a DS-CDMA signal, including a pilot channel and including a power control designator. The signal is despread and decoded. The pilot symbols on the pilot channel are provided to a channel estimator (408) for estimating the channel phase and channel gain of the communication channel. This estimate is provided to a demodulator (422) for demodulating the traffic channel symbols. The pilot symbols are provided to another channel estimator (410) for estimating channel phase and channel gain for the power control designator. This estimate is provided to a demodulator (424) for demodulating the power control designator. The traffic channel symbols are delayed a predetermined time in a delay element (420) before demodulating. The power control designator is delayed a short time or not at all in a short delay element (418) before demodulation.

Abstract: Registration operates by sensing (106) the availability of a first communication system. A quality factor of a channel of the system is measured (111). A channel of the first system is selected if the quality factor of the channel exceeds a threshold (113). If selected, the subscriber attempts to register the call (114). If the registration fails, the availability of a second communication system is sensed (107). A quality factor of a channel of the second system is measured (111) and selected (113), if the quality factor exceeds a threshold. The subscriber will then attempt to register (114) with the second system. Reassignment operates by determining if the first system has reached a capacity limit (126). If it has, it determines if a channel on the second system is available (128). If available, a transfer of the call from the first to the second system will be attempted (132).

Abstract: A dual mode radio communication unit for a digital communication system is provided having an error controller including an error detection encoder and a forward error correction encoder which encode an input information signal into an error protected data bit stream. In addition, the communication unit includes a mode selector which enables either the error detection encoder or the forward error correction encoder used with a particular mode of operation of the communication unit. Further, a corresponding dual mode radio communication unit is provided having an error controller for generating estimated information signal samples according to a group of algorithms consisting of either an error detection algorithm or an error correction algorithm. In addition, the corresponding communication unit includes a mode selector for receiving a signal according to a particular one of the group of algorithms which is associated with a particular mode of operation of the corresponding communication unit.

Abstract: A cellular communication system hops both signalling channels and traffics channels in a common hopping sequence. To obtain system information from the frequency hopping signalling channel, a subscriber unit waits on a predetermined frequency, or carrier, until the frequency hopped signalling channel arrives at the predetermined frequency. Once arrived, the subscriber unit obtains synchronization information, and information related to the hopping sequence, from the signalling channel during the hop. The subscriber unit may then hop in tandem with the system, obtaining further system information in subsequent hops. The cellular communication system supports mobile assisted handoff (MAHO) by allowing a subscriber unit to measure signalling channel of neighboring cells in a similar manner, and using the measurements to assist in communication handoff from a source cell to a neighboring cell.

Abstract: A system and method for correcting for Rayleigh interference of a signal transmitted upon a multi-path channel. The system adaptively calculates values of channel gain and noise variance of the channel upon which the signal is transmitted, and generates signals indicative of such calculations which are supplied to a decoder. The system may be utilized to form a portion of a coherent, or noncoherent receiver which receives encoded and differentially-encoded signals.

Abstract: There is provided a mechanism for Automatic Gain Control in a receiver. It comprises: determining, within a certain dynamic range, the difference in power between the desired signal and a signal received, and providing open loop gain control for the signal in response to the differential so determined, scaled by the receiver's gain characteristics, such that the signal is positioned within dynamic range so as to reduce saturation and noise.

Abstract: There is provided a method of digital Automatic Gain Control (AGC) in a receiver having limited dynamic range, particularly for discontinuous signals. The method comprises detecting the level of a received and AGC'd discontinuous signal, comparing the level of the AGC'd signal relative to the dynamic range of the receiver, and adjusting the AGC to establish a desired relationship between the AGC'd signal and the dynamic range limitation. There is also provided a method of handoff in a TDMA cellular-type transmission system utilizing this method of AGControl.

Abstract: A Viterbi equalizer for decoding a .pi./4 DQPSK modulated signal. Because symbol values of adjacent symbols of a .pi./4 DQPSK signal are offset in phase relative to one another, allowable values of succeeding states of a .pi./4 DQPSK signal are four in number. The signal paths of the Viterbi equalizer are thereby limited in number to four allowable next-states, and the Viterbi equalizer is operative to select certain ones of the paths connecting the states at the adjacent time intervals as survivor paths to form maximum likelihood paths thereby.

Abstract: A communications system receiver (100) is disclosed which receives a transmitted signal over a radio channel. The transmitted signal includes data and a predetermined synchronization sequence. The receiver (100) includes a demodulator (215), and a stored replica (207) of the predetermined synchronization sequence. The receiver (100) further includes apparatus (102) for computing (308) a reconstructed signal, by using the channel impulse response characteristic and the stored replica (207) of the synchronization sequence. A feature of the invention is to estimate (310) a phase offset value between an incoming signal and the reconstructed signal, for a plurality of synchronization symbols. This serves to establish (315) a relationship between the phase offset and a synchronization symbol index. The receiver then employs this relationship to derive (317) at least one "previous" phase state (214) for initializing (314) the demodulator (215).

Abstract: A system and method for correcting for Rayleigh interference of a signal transmitted upon a multi-path channel. The system adaptively calculates values of channel gain and noise variance of the channel upon which the signal is transmitted, and generates signals indicative of such calculations which are supplied to a decoder. The system may be utilized to form a portion of a coherent, or noncoherent receiver which receives encoded and differentially-encoded signals.

Abstract: There is provided a mechanism for soft trellis decoding. It comprises: generating decisions that rely upon other decision making and associating with it information indicative of the confidence held in those decisions and generated from the relative merit of any given decision. It further comprises: generating Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation equalization decisions and multiplying a signed value of the generated decision by the absolute values of the difference between alternative criterion utilized to arrive at any given decision, whereby the relative merit comprises a measure of signal quality at the time that given decision is made.

Abstract: A signal weighting system for associating a confidence level with portions of a communication signal transmitted upon a multipath channel and received by a receiver. A signal received by the receiver is equalized by an equalizer circuit, such as a maximum likelihood sequence estimator, and the equalized signal generated thereby is supplied to an adaptive filter which is synthesizes portions of the multipath channel. The signal received by the receiver is altered responsive to values of a filtered, equalized signal generated by the adaptive filter.

Abstract: A channel bank speech synthesizer for reconstructing speech from externally-generated acoustic feature information without using externally-generated voicing or pitch information is disclosed. An N-channel pitch-excited channel bank synthesizer (340) is provided having a first low-frequency group of channel gain values (1 to M) and a second high-frequency group of channel gain values (+1 to N). The first group controls a first group of amplitude modulators (950) excited by a periodic pitch pulse source (920), and the second group controls amplitude modulators excited by a noise source (930). Both groups of modulated excitation signals are applied to the bandpass filters (960) to reconstruct the speech channels, and then combined at the summation network (970) to form a reconstructed synthesized speech signal. Additionally, the pitch pulse source (920) varies the pitch pulse period such that the pitch pulse rate decreases over the length of the word.

Abstract: A CPFSK quadrature modulator (300) is disclosed utilizing an all-digital implementation. The serial data input signal (20 ) is formatted into parallel overlapping bits using a shift register (202), an up/down counter (206), and an interpolation counter (204) and applied as address lines to in-phase and quadrature-phase memories (208, 210). A multiple of the bit clock is used to address carrier generation ROMs (216, 218). The carrier signal is then modulated by the in-phase and quadrature-phase data signals (212, 214, 222), converted to an analog signal by a D/A converter (250), and low pass filtered (254) to generate the analog output signal (255). A single ROM (440) is utilized to implement all the look-up tables, multipliers, and adder. The all-digital implementation allows for precise control of the modulation index to h.dbd.0.5.+-.0.05 percent over time, temperature, power levels, etc.

Abstract: There is provided a method of and apparatus for Automatic Frequency Control (AFC) of pure sine waves (PSW). It comprises discriminating to detect frequency differences between a received pure sine wave and a reference frequency, integrating the frequency differences to average the differences, and adjusting the reference frequency to eliminate the frequency difference. It is further characterized by digitizing, in quadrature, the received pure sine wave, mixing the received pure sine wave with a complex sinusoid to translate the pure sine wave to baseband, quadrature filtering the mixed sine wave, cross-product discriminating to detect frequency differences between a received pure sine wave and a reference frequency, integrating the frequency differences to average the differences, selectively calculating the mean variance between the pure sine wave and the reference frequency, and adjusting the reference frequency of a Voltage Controlled Oscillator to eliminate the frequency difference.

Abstract: A frequency control apparatus and method is disclosed in which a frequency offset between a received signal and the local oscillator of a digital receiver is corrected in substantially one step.

Abstract: A time division multiple access (TDMA) radio system conveying a quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulated data signal is disclosed. In order to overcome multipath distortion and phase variation introduced by the radio channel, a synchronizing poriton of a TDMA timeslot is transmitted in only one vector of the QPSK modulation. The system utilizes the one vector synchronizing portion to develop a channel profile estimate which is applied to the received message portion of the QPSK data signal to compensate for the multipath distortion and phase variation during one TDMA timeslot.

Abstract: A method and means for reducing multipath interference distortion in a time-division multiple access (TDMA) communications system is disclosed. A transmitting station (100) formats one or more equalizer synchronization words with a first user's data word, time-multiplexes this formatted user message with at least one other user message, and transmits the combined signal. The receiving station (200) receives the transmitted TDMA signal, de-multiplexes the first user message from the other user messages, and equalizes the time delay spread characteristics of the data word portion of the first user message (or a stored version of such) in response to this de-multiplexing. Performing the adaptive equalization process more than once per user time slot provides an even higher data throughout for the system. Storing the first user message in a data buffer permits the adaptive equalization process to be performed in non-real time, thereby lowering the required signal processing data rate in any particular receiver.

Abstract: The method and apparatus for rapid phase acquisition and random radio channel phase error compensation for a TDMA QPSK receiver is disclosed. Received quadrature signals having a known synchronizing sequence transmitted on one of the vectors is correlated to a local replica of the sequence. The output correlation detection signals are held for the duration of the TDMA timeslot and multiplied by the received quadrature signals to produce two pairs of products. The mutually exclusive product pairs are summed to recover data having the random phase error compensated.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for phase-coherently demodulating a multipath-impaired time division multiple access QPSK data timeslot is disclosed. A quadrature separator generates multipath-impaired intermediate signals which, during a predetermined synchronizing sequence for the timeslot, are applied to a pair of synchronizing correlators to generate quadrature multipath profiles. These profiles then are used to modify subsequently received QPSK timeslot signals at the separator outputs to coherently construct multipath compensated I and Q channel data.