Patents by Inventor Thomas Foxcroft

Thomas Foxcroft 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: 8331491
    Abstract: A receiver, for example a receiver of broadcast digital terrestrial television signals modulated using COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), imposes a phase adjustment on a received signal. Phase adjustment may be effected, for example, by sample alignment of the signal, such as for cyclic prefix removal, or by shifting a window setting for a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processor. Before channel estimation or decoding is performed on the information stream, the information stream is derotated to compensate for the phase adjustment previously imposed on the received signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignee: Entropic Communications, Inc.
    Inventors: Martin Vickers, Thomas Foxcroft
  • Patent number: 7916815
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a multicarrier receiver circuit with guard interval size detection described. The invention allows the FFT size and guard interval size to be detected quickly even in the presence of relatively noisy input signals. The method is robust in noise environments, and also sufficiently robust to process signals having severe multipath and/or co-channel interference. Moreover, the method is of low complexity, and can be implemented in a VLSI circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Trident Microsystems (Far East) Ltd.
    Inventors: Thomas Foxcroft, Douglas Roger Pulley
  • Publication number: 20080107214
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a multicarrier receiver circuit with guard interval size detection described. The invention allows the FFT size and guard interval size to be detected quickly even in the presence of relatively noisy input signals. The method is robust in noise environments, and also sufficiently robust to process signals having severe multipath and/or co-channel interference. Moreover, the method is of low complexity, and can be implemented in a VLSI circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2007
    Publication date: May 8, 2008
    Inventors: Thomas Foxcroft, Douglas Roger Pulley
  • Patent number: 7349497
    Abstract: A receiver circuit is for processing a received signal which includes at least a first portion and a second portion which repeats the content of the first portion after a repeat interval. For example, the receiver may be for DVB-T signals using COFDM. In order to ensure that the estimated symbol start position is accurate, the receiver calculates two correlation values, namely an early correlation and a late correlation. The early correlation is measured between samples ahead of an assumed first portion start position and ahead of an assumed second portion start position, and the late correlation is measured between samples behind an assumed first portion end position and behind an assumed second portion end position. When the assumed start and end positions are accurate, the early and late correlations are equal, and so the assumed start and end positions are controlled to equalize the early correlation and the late correlation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2008
    Assignee: Conexant Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Douglas Roger Pulley, Thomas Foxcroft
  • Patent number: 7206361
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a multicarrier receiver circuit with guard interval size detection is described. The invention allows the FFT size and guard interval size to be detected quickly, even in the presence of relatively noisy input signals. The method is robust in noisy environments, and also sufficiently robust to process signals having severe multipath and/or co-channel interference. Moreover, the method is of low complexity, and can be implemented in a VLSI circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2002
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2007
    Assignee: Conexant Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Foxcroft, Douglas Roger Pulley
  • Publication number: 20040028161
    Abstract: A receiver, for example a receiver of broadcast digital terrestrial television signals modulated using COFDM (Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing), imposes a phase adjustment on a received signal. Phase adjustment may be effected, for example, by sample alignment of the signal, such as for cyclic prefix removal, or by shifting a window setting for a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) processor. Before channel estimation or decoding is performed on the information stream, the information stream is derotated to compensate for the phase adjustment previously imposed on the received signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 10, 2003
    Publication date: February 12, 2004
    Inventors: Martin Vickers, Thomas Foxcroft
  • Patent number: 6687315
    Abstract: The invention provides a single chip implementation of a digital receiver for multicarrier signals that are transmitted by orthogonal frequency division multiplexing. Improved channel estimation and correction circuitry are provided. The receiver has highly accurate sampling rate control and frequency control circuitry. BCH decoding of tps data carriers is achieved with minimal resources with an arrangement that includes a small Galois field multiplier. An improved FFT window synchronization circuit is coupled to the resampling circuit for locating the boundary of the guard interval transmitted with the active frame of the signal. A real-time pipelined FFT processor is operationally associated with the FFT window synchronization circuit and operates with reduced memory requirements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2004
    Assignee: Discovision Associate
    Inventors: Peter A Keevill, Dawood Alam, John M. Nolan, Matthew J Collins, Thomas Foxcroft, David H. Davies, Jonathan Parker
  • Publication number: 20030142764
    Abstract: The invention provides a single chip implementation of a digital receiver for multicarrier signals that are transmitted by orthogonal frequency division multiplexing. Improved channel estimation and correction circuitry are provided. The receiver has highly accurate sampling rate control and frequency control circuitry. BCH decoding of tps data carriers is achieved with minimal resources with an arrangement that includes a small Galois field multiplier. An improved FFT window synchronization circuit is coupled to the resampling circuit for locating the boundary of the guard interval transmitted with the active frame of the signal. A real-time pipelined FFT processor is operationally associated with the FFT window synchronization circuit and operates with reduced memory requirements.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 27, 2001
    Publication date: July 31, 2003
    Inventors: Peter A Keevill, Dawood Alam, John M Nolan, Matthew J Collins, Thomas Foxcroft, David H Davies, Jonathan Parker
  • Publication number: 20020186791
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for a multicarrier receiver circuit with guard interval size detection is described. The invention allows the FFT size and guard interval size to be detected quickly, even in the presence of relatively noisy input signals. The method is robust in noisy environments, and also sufficiently robust to process signals having severe multipath and/or co-channel interference. Moreover, the method is of low complexity, and can be implemented in a VLSI circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 12, 2002
    Publication date: December 12, 2002
    Inventors: Thomas Foxcroft, Douglas Roger Pulley
  • Patent number: 6359938
    Abstract: The invention provides a single chip implementation of a digital receiver for multicarrier signals that are transmitted by orthogonal frequency division multiplexing. Improved channel estimation and correction circuitry are provided. The receiver has highly accurate sampling rate control and frequency control circuitry. BCH decoding of tps data carriers is achieved with minimal resources with an arrangement that includes a small Galois field multiplier. An improved FFT window synchronization circuit is coupled to the resampling circuit for locating the boundary of the guard interval transmitted with the active frame of the signal. A real-time pipelined FFT processor is operationally associated with the FFT window synchronization circuit and operates with reduced memory requirements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2002
    Assignee: Discovision Associates
    Inventors: Peter A Keevill, Dawood Alam, John M. Nolan, Matthew Collins, Thomas Foxcroft, David H. Davies, Jonathan Parker
  • Patent number: 6154871
    Abstract: The invention provides a decoder of symbols of received data, the data being encoded according to a convolutional encoding scheme and transmitted through a communications channel. The data is punctuated according to a puncturing matrix, and has a plurality of state values which describe a sequence of state transitions. The decoder has a generation unit that accepts the received data for calculating metrics of the transitions thereof. A selector responsive to the generation unit selects a path of transitions corresponding to the path produced by a transmitter of the data stream. A traceback unit maintains historical information representative of sequential decision operations of the selector. A counter is provided for counting illegal state transitions of the path selected by the selector, and a control unit, responsive to the counter, determines a puncture rate and adjusts a puncture phase of the received data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2000
    Assignee: Discovision Associates
    Inventors: Anthony Peter John Claydon, Richard John Gammack, William Philip Robbins, Charles Dunlop MacFarlane, Thomas Foxcroft, Andrew Peter Kuligowski, Richard James Thomas
  • Patent number: 5818855
    Abstract: A Reed-Solomon decoder includes an optimized Galois Field multiplication circuit. The circuit has a plurality of multipliers, connected in a linear chain, wherein a first multiplicand of the first multiplier is the magnitude A, and the second multiplicand is a constant. The circuit operates on a linear combination of alpha values that sum to .alpha..sup.j, each multiplier in the chain generating a succeeding alpha value. A plurality of selectors enable the outputs of the multipliers according to the magnitude .alpha..sup.j. An addition circuit, preferably realized as a logical network of XOR gates, is connected to the selectors for adding the enabled outputs of the multipliers to form the final product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 6, 1998
    Assignee: Discovision Associates
    Inventor: Thomas Foxcroft
  • Patent number: 5742622
    Abstract: The invention provides a decoder of symbols of received data, the data being encoded according to a convolutional encoding scheme and transmitted through a communications channel. The data is punctuated according to a puncturing matrix, and has a plurality of state values which describe a sequence of state transitions. The decoder has a generation unit that accepts the received data for calculating metrics of the transitions thereof. A selector responsive to the generation unit selects a path of transitions corresponding to the path produced by a transmitter of the data stream. A traceback unit maintains historical information representative of sequential decision operations of the selector. A counter is provided for counting illegal state transitions of the path selected by the selector, and a control unit, responsive to the counter, determines a puncture rate and adjusts a puncture phase of the received data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: April 21, 1998
    Assignee: Discovision Associates
    Inventors: Anthony Peter John Claydon, Richard John Gammack, William Philip Robbins, Charles Dunlop MacFarlane, Thomas Foxcroft, Andrew Peter Kuligowski, Richard James Thomas