Correlation-Based Detection of Encoded Address in Packet

A communication device, comprising:

• receiver circuitry configured to generate a bit stream corresponding to a received signal, the received signal having been transmitted by a transmitter device, wherein the circuitry includes a demodulator configured to demodulate the received signal, wherein the received signal corresponds to a packet, wherein the packet includes an address field having an address, and wherein the address has been encoded at the transmitter device using a forward error correction code;
• address detection circuitry that is configured to determine whether the bit stream includes a known device address, wherein the address detection circuitry comprises:
• a correlator configured to correlate the bit stream with an encoded known address to generate a correlation output that indicates a degree of similarity between a segment of the bit stream and the encoded known address, wherein the encoded known address corresponds to the known device address having been encoded using the error correction code, and
• a comparator configured to:
• determine when the correlation output is greater than a threshold, wherein the threshold corresponds to a particular degree of similarity with the encoded known address, and
• generate a signal that indicates that the bit stream includes the known device address when the correlation output is determined to be greater than the threshold.

A method for processing a received signal corresponding to a packet, the received signal having been transmitted by a transmitter device, wherein the packet includes a rate indicator field to indicate a data rate at which a payload of the packet was transmitted, and wherein the rate indicator field has been encoded at the transmitter device using a forward error correction code, the method comprising:

• generating, at a receiver device, a bit stream corresponding to the received signal at least by demodulating the received signal;
• correlating, at the receiver device, the bit stream with a plurality of encoded permissible data rate values to generate a plurality of correlation outputs, wherein each correlation output indicates a degree of similarity between a segment of the bit stream and a respective encoded permissible data rate value, wherein each encoded permissible data rate value corresponds to a respective permissible data rate value that was encoded using the error correction code, and wherein each permissible data rate value corresponds to a respective data rate;
• determining, at the receiver device, a maximum correlation value from among the plurality of correlation outputs;
• determining, at the receiver device, that the bit stream includes a particular permissible data rate value that corresponds to the maximum correlation value from among the plurality of correlation outputs;
• and
• in response to determining that the bit stream includes the particular permissible data rate value, processing a payload of the packet according to a particular data rate that corresponds to the particular permissible data rate value.

A communication device, comprising:

• receiver circuitry configured to generate a bit stream corresponding to a received signal, the received signal having been transmitted by a transmitter device, wherein the circuitry includes a demodulator configured to demodulate the received signal, wherein the received signal corresponds to a packet, wherein the packet includes a rate indicator field to indicate a data rate at which a payload of the packet was transmitted, and wherein the rate indicator field has been encoded at the transmitter device using a forward error correction code;
• rate detection circuitry that is configured to determine whether the bit stream includes a permissible data rate value, wherein the permissible data rate value corresponds to a particular data rate, and wherein the address detection circuitry comprises:
• a plurality of correlators configured to correlate the bit stream with a plurality of encoded permissible data rate values to generate a plurality of correlation outputs, wherein each correlation output indicates a respective degree of similarity between a segment of the bit stream and a respective encoded permissible data rate value, wherein each encoded permissible data rate value corresponds to a respective permissible data rate value that was encoded using the forward error correction code, and
• a maximum value detector configured to:
• determine a maximum correlation value from among the plurality of correlation outputs and
• generate a signal that indicates that the bit stream includes a particular permissible rate that corresponds to the maximum correlation value;
• and
• digital processing circuitry configured to process the payload of the packet according to the particular permissible data rate in response to the signal that indicates that the bit stream includes the particular permissible rate.