Received signal quality determination method and systems for convolutionally encoded communication channels

A method for estimating a received signal quality for a communication channel comprising the steps of:

• convolutionally encoding a plurality of data frames;
• transmitting the plurality of encoded data frames over the communication channel;
• receiving the plurality of transmitted data frames:
• decoding the plurality of received data frame to provide estimates of the transmitted data frame and an associated plurality of final decision metrics;
• averaging the plurality of associated final decision metrics;
• and
• mapping the averaged plurality of associated final decision metrics to provide the bit error rate estimate.

A method for estimating a received signal quality for a communication channel comprising the steps of:

• convolutionally encoding a plurality of data frames;
• transmitting the plurality of encoded data frames over the communication channel;
• receiving the plurality of transmitted data frames;
• decoding the plurality of received data frame to provide estimates of the transmitted data frame and an associated plurality of final decision metrics;
• mapping ones of the plurality of final decision metrics to provide a plurality of bit error estimates;
• averaging the plurality of bit error estimates to provide an averaged bit error estimate;
• and
• providing the averaged bit error estimate to a control node associated with the communication channel.

A method for estimating a received signal quality for a communication channel comprising the steps of:

• convolutionally encoding a data frame;
• transmitting the encoded data frame over the communication channel;
• receiving the transmitted data frame;
• decoding the received data frame to provide an estimate of the transmitted data frame and an associated final decision metric;
• convolutionally encoding a control frame;
• transmitting the encoded control frame over the communication channel;
• receiving the transmitted control frame;
• decoding the received control frame to provide an estimate of the transmitted control frame and a second associated final decision metric of at least a portion a decoder bit path selected for the control frame;
• determining which of said final decision metric associated with the voice frame and said second final decision metric indicates a better match;
• and
• mapping the better match final decision metric to provide a bit error rate estimate.

A communication system for communicating over a communication channel comprising:

• means for convolutionally encoding a data frame;
• means for transmitting the encoded data frame over the communication channel;
• means for receiving a transmitted data frame;
• means for decoding the received data frame to provide an estimate of the transmitted data frame and an associated final decision metric of at least a portion of a decoder bit path selected for the data frame;
• means for mapping the final decision metric to provide a bit error rate estimate;
• means for providing the bit error rate estimate to a control node over the communication channel;
• and
• means for determining whether a corrective action should be taken prior to transmission of a subsequently transmitted encoded data frame based on the bit error rate estimate.

A communication system comprising:

• a receiver device including:
• a receiver which receives a data frame over a communication channel;
• a convolutional decoder coupled to said receiver, said convolutional decoder providing an estimate of transmitted data from the received data frame and an associated final decision metric for the estimate of transmitted data;
• a bit error rate estimation circuit coupled to the decoder that provides an estimate of bit error rate based on the final decision metric;
• a transmitter that transmits the estimate of bit error rate over the
• communication channel;
• and
• a control node including:
• a transmitter that transmits the data frame over the communication channel;
• a receiver that receives the estimate of bit error rate over the communication channel;
• a controller that determines whether a corrective action should be taken prior to transmission of a subsequently transmitted data frame from the control node to the receiver device based on the estimate of bit error rate.