Apparatus for controlling a plurality of receiver fingers in a CDMA receiver

A method for controlling a plurality of receiver channel elements in a CDMA receiver, each receiver channel element configured to receive a plurality of different channels, comprising the steps of:

• determining a channel weight value on a per channel basis, representing an extent of energy demanded by a channel, based on at least a bench weight value and a current channel error value;
• determining a suitable receiver channel element assignment based on the channel weight value;
• determining a finger factor value, representing a performance valuation metric for a receiver channel element, based on the channel weight value;
• determining a suitable receiver channel element deassignment based on the finger factor value;
• generating a channel weight table containing the channel weight value for each of the plurality of channels;
• generating and storing a receiver channel element factor table containing a receiver channel element factor value for each of the plurality of receiver channel elements, and
• de-assigning at least one of the plurality of receiver channel elements based on the receiver channel element factor value by dropping a receiver channel element having a lowest finger factor value in the receiver channel element factor table.

A method for controlling a plurality of receiver channel elements in a CDMA receiver, each receiver channel element configured to receive a plurality of channels, comprising the steps of:

• determining a channel weight value (Wc) on a per channel type basis, representing an extent of energy demanded by a channel, based on at least a bench weight value and a current channel error value such that:
• Wc
• =
• (
• Bench_wt
• )
• -
• (
• current_channel
• ⁢
• _error
• ⁢
• _value
• )
• Base_value
• +
• ∑
• all_fingers
• ⁢
• energy_from
• ⁢
• _allchannelsfor
• ⁢
• _given
• ⁢
• _channel
• ⁢
• _type
• where Base_value is a scaling factor;
• determining a finger factor value, representing a performance valuation metric for a receiver channel element, based on the channel weight value, such that:
• Fingerfactor_value
• =
• ∑
• all_channels
• ⁢
• (
• energy_to
• ⁢
• _one
• ⁢
• _channel
• )
• ⁢
• (
• thatchannel_Wc
• )
• ∑
• all_channels
• ⁢
• Wc
• ;
• and
• determining a suitable receiver channel element de-assignment based on the finger factor value by assigning a receiver channel element having a highest channel weight value to receive a multipath signal and de-assigning a receiver channel element based on the finger factor value by dropping a receiver channel element having a lowest finger factor value.

A wireless receiver having a plurality of receiver channel elements operative to receive spread spectrum signals, at least two of the plurality of receiver channel elements assigned to a received signal of the spread spectrum signals and wherein the spread spectrum signal comprises a channel of a plurality of different channels, comprising:

• a receiver channel element management module, operatively coupled to the at least two of the plurality of receiver channel elements and operative to determine a suitable receiver channel element de-assignment based on a finger factor value, including:
• a channel weight value determinator operative to determine a channel weight value on a per channel basis, representing an extent of energy demanded by a channel, based on at least a bench weight value and a current channel error value;
• a finger factor value determinator operative to determine the finger factor value, based on the channel weight value, representing a performance valuation metric for a receiver channel element, based on the channel weight value;
• and
• wherein the channel weight value determinator determines the channel weight value based at least in part on the following formula:
• Wc
• =
• (
• Bench_wt
• )
• -
• (
• current_channel
• ⁢
• _error
• ⁢
• _value
• )
• Base_value
• +
• ∑
• all_fingers
• ⁢
• energy_from
• ⁢
• _allchannelsfor
• ⁢
• _given
• ⁢
• _channel
• ⁢
• _type
• where Base_value is a predefined scaling value.

A wireless receiver having a plurality of receiver channel elements operative to receive spread spectrum signals, at least two of the plurality of receiver channel elements assigned to a received signal of the spread spectrum signals and wherein the spread spectrum signal comprises a channel of plurality of different channels, comprising:

• a receiver channel element management module, operatively coupled to the at least two of the plurality of receiver channel elements and operative to determine a suitable receiver channel element de-assignment based on a finger factor value, including:
• a channel weight value determinator operative to determine a channel weight value on a per channel type basis, representing an extent of energy demanded by a channel, based on at least a bench weight value and a current channel error value;
• a finger factor value determinator operative to determine the finger factor value, based on the channel weight value, representing a performance valuation metric for a receiver channel element, based on the channel weight value;
• and
• memory, operatively coupled to the receiver channel element management module, containing a channel weight table containing the channel weight value for each of the plurality of channel types and a receiver channel element factor table containing a receiver channel element factor value for each of the plurality of receiver channel elements.