Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 29
Claim 1
Independent Claim
202 words
In a method of receiving successive digital symbols transmitted over a communication channel that uses a viterbi algorithm having a number of states, a method of estimating transmitted symbols comprising the steps of: (a) sampling a received signal at a recurrent plurality of time points during each received symbol; (b) correlating samples generated by step (a) with a predetermined sequence to produce at least an initial estimated impulse response of the communication channel; (c) designating one of the plurality of time points as a symbol sampling time point based on the correlation performed in step (b); (d) selecting at least two samples for each received symbol, the selected samples being generated at the symbol sampling point and at least one other time point; (e) for each symbol, determining a plurality of delta-metric values according to the viterbi algorithm for each transition between states based on the selected samples and the estimated impulse response; (f) for each symbol, weighting delta-metric values determined by step (e) and generating a combined delta-metric value for each transition between states by combining respective weighted delta-metric values determined by step (e); and (g) generating at least preliminarily estimated symbols using the combined delta-metric values generated in step (f).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
202 words
In a method of receiving successive digital symbols transmitted over a communication channel that uses a viterbi algorithm having a number of states, a method of estimating transmitted symbols comprising the steps of: (a) sampling a received signal at a recurrent plurality of time points during each received symbol; (b) correlating samples generated by step (a) with a predetermined sequence to produce at least an initial estimated impulse response of the communication channel; (c) designating one of the plurality of time points as a symbol sampling time point based on the correlation performed in step (b); (d) selecting at least two samples for each received symbol, the selected samples being generated at the symbol sampling point and at least one other time point; (e) for each symbol, determining a plurality of delta-metric values according to the viterbi algorithm for each transition between states based on the selected samples and the estimated impulse response; (f) for each symbol, weighting delta-metric values determined by step (e) and generating a combined delta-metric value for each transition between states by combining respective weighted delta-metric values determined by step (e); and (g) generating at least preliminarily estimated symbols using the combined delta-metric values generated in step (f).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
83 words
The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of adapting the estimated impulse response by: (a) generating estimated signal values corresponding to the symbol sampling time points and the other time points based on the estimated impulse response and the at least preliminarily estimated symbols; (b) generating error signals as the difference between the selected samples of the received signal and the estimated signal values; and (c) successively adapting the estimated impulse response using the error signals and a selected adaptation algorithm.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 2, wherein step (f) includes the step of generating respective weighting factors from the error signals and the estimated impulse response.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 2, wherein step (f) includes the step of generating respective weighting factors for the delta-metric values from the error signals.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 4, wherein the weighting factors are generated by squaring, averaging, and inverting the error signals.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
82 words
The method of claim 1, wherein step (f) includes the step of generating respective weighting factors for the delta-metric values by: (a) generating estimated signal values corresponding to the symbol sampling time points and the other time points based on the estimated impulse response and the at least preliminarily estimated symbols; (b) generating error signals as the difference between the selected samples of the received signal and the estimated signal values; and (c) generating the weighting factors based on the error signals.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 6, wherein the weighting factors are generated by squaring, low-pass filtering, and inverting the error signals.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
90 words
The method of claim 1, wherein step (f) includes the step of generating respective weighting factors for the delta-metric values by: (a) generating estimated signal values corresponding to the symbol sampling time points and the other time points based on the estimated impulse response and the predetermined sequence; (b) generating error signals as the difference between the selected samples of the portion of the received signal corresponding to the sequence known to the receiver and the estimated signal values; and (c) generating the weighting factors based on the error signals.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 8, wherein the weighting factors are generated by squaring, averaging, and inverting the error signals.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
202 words
In a receiver of successive digital symbols transmitted over a communication channel that uses a viterbi algorithm having a number of states, an apparatus for estimating transmitted symbols comprising: means for sampling a received signal at a recurrent plurality of time points during each received symbol; means for correlating samples generated by the sampling means with a predetermined synchronizing sequence to produce at least an initial estimated impulse response of the communication channel; means for designating one of the plurality of time points as a symbol sampling time point; means, connected to the sampling means, for selecting at least two samples for each received symbol, the selected samples being the samples generated at the symbol sampling time point and at least one other time point; and channel equalizer means for determining, for each symbol, a plurality of delta-metric values according to the viterbi algorithm for each transition between states based on the selected samples and the estimated impulse response produced by the correlating means, for weighting the delta-metric values for the transitions between states, and for generating preliminary estimated symbols from combined delta-metric values for the transitions between states, wherein each combined delta-metric value is a combination of respective weighted delta-metric values.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
202 words
In a receiver of successive digital symbols transmitted over a communication channel that uses a viterbi algorithm having a number of states, an apparatus for estimating transmitted symbols comprising: means for sampling a received signal at a recurrent plurality of time points during each received symbol; means for correlating samples generated by the sampling means with a predetermined synchronizing sequence to produce at least an initial estimated impulse response of the communication channel; means for designating one of the plurality of time points as a symbol sampling time point; means, connected to the sampling means, for selecting at least two samples for each received symbol, the selected samples being the samples generated at the symbol sampling time point and at least one other time point; and channel equalizer means for determining, for each symbol, a plurality of delta-metric values according to the viterbi algorithm for each transition between states based on the selected samples and the estimated impulse response produced by the correlating means, for weighting the delta-metric values for the transitions between states, and for generating preliminary estimated symbols from combined delta-metric values for the transitions between states, wherein each combined delta-metric value is a combination of respective weighted delta-metric values.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
92 words
The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising means for adapting the estimated impulse response produced by the correlating means, wherein the adapting means includes: means for generating estimated signal values corresponding to the symbol sampling time points and the other time points based on the estimated impulse response and the preliminary estimated symbols; means for generating error signals as the difference between the selected samples of the received signal and the estimated signal values; and means for successively adapting the estimated impulse response using the error signals and a selected adaptation algorithm.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
23 words
The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising means for weighting the delta-metric values based on the error signals and the estimated impulse response.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising means for generating respective weighting factors for the delta-metric values from the error signals.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the weighting factor generating means includes means for squaring, averaging, and inverting the error signals.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
86 words
The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising means for generating respective weighting factors for the delta-metric values, wherein the weighting factor generating means comprises: means for generating estimated signal values corresponding to the symbol sampling time points and the other time points based on the estimated impulse response and the preliminary estimated symbols; and means for generating error signals as the difference between the selected samples of the received signal and the estimated signal values; and wherein the weighting factors are generated from the error signals.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the weighting factor generating means includes means for squaring, low-pass filtering, and inverting the error signals.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
93 words
The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising means for generating respective weighting factors for the delta-metric values, wherein the weighting factor generating means comprises: means for generating estimated signal values corresponding to the symbol sampling time points and the other time points based on the estimated impulse response and the predetermined sequence; and means for generating error signals as the difference between the selected samples of the portion of the received signal corresponding to the predetermined sequence and the estimated signal values; and wherein the weighting factors are generated from the error signals.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
21 words
The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the weighting factor generating means includes means for squaring, averaging, and inverting the error signals.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
171 words
A method of detecting digital symbols successively transmitted over a communication channel, using a viterbi algorithm having a number of states, comprising the steps of: (a) sampling a received signal to generate a received signal sequence comprising a plurality F of samples per symbol; (b) correlating the received signal sequence with a predetermined synchronizing sequence to produce an estimated impulse response of the communication channel, the estimated impulse response having F taps per symbol; (c) determining F delta-metric values according to the viterbi algorithm for each transition between states, each delta-metric value being associated with a respective one of the F samples per symbol of the received signal sequence; (d) weighting the F delta-metric values determined by step (c) and combining the weighted F delta-metric values determined by step (c) into a combined delta-metric value for each state transition by forming a weighted sum of the respective delta-metric values; and (e) generating an estimated symbol sequence according to the viterbi algorithm based on the combined delta-metric values produced by step (d).
Claim 22
Independent Claim
171 words
A method of detecting digital symbols successively transmitted over a communication channel, using a viterbi algorithm having a number of states, comprising the steps of: (a) sampling a received signal to generate a received signal sequence comprising a plurality F of samples per symbol; (b) correlating the received signal sequence with a predetermined synchronizing sequence to produce an estimated impulse response of the communication channel, the estimated impulse response having F taps per symbol; (c) determining F delta-metric values according to the viterbi algorithm for each transition between states, each delta-metric value being associated with a respective one of the F samples per symbol of the received signal sequence; (d) weighting the F delta-metric values determined by step (c) and combining the weighted F delta-metric values determined by step (c) into a combined delta-metric value for each state transition by forming a weighted sum of the respective delta-metric values; and (e) generating an estimated symbol sequence according to the viterbi algorithm based on the combined delta-metric values produced by step (d).
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
151 words
The method of claim 19, wherein each combined delta-metric value is formed by multiplying each respective delta-metric value by a respective weighting factor and summing each weighted delta-metric value, the weighting factors being generated by the steps of: padding the estimated symbol sequence with F-1 zero symbols, a zero symbol being inserted between successive estimated symbols to generate a padded estimated symbol sequence having F samples per symbol; generating an error sequence having F samples per symbol by determining a difference between the received signal sequence and a convolution of the estimated impulse response and the padded estimated symbol sequence; squaring the error sequence to form a squared error sequence; splitting the squared error sequence into F partial error sequences having one sample per symbol; low-pass filtering each partial error sequence to form a respective averaged partial error signal; and transforming the F averaged partial error signal into the weighting factors.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 20, wherein the weighting factors are inverses of the averaged partial error signals.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 20, wherein the weighting factors are ratios of energies of each of F symbol-sampled subsets of the estimated impulse response and the respective averaged partial error signals.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
25 words
The method of claim 20, wherein the weighting factors are ratios of a strength of the received signal and their respective averaged partial error signals.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of adapting the estimated impulse response produced by step (b) based on the received signal sequence and the error sequence.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 20, wherein a respective estimated impulse response is produced for each state, and the estimated impulse response used in forming the weighting factors is the one associated with the state having a smallest metric value.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
59 words
The method of claim 20, wherein a respective estimated impulse response and respective weighting factors are produced for each state, and the estimated impulse response and the estimated symbol sequence used in generating the weighting factors for a particular state are those associated with the preceding state producing a smallest metric value in the transition to the particular state.