Method and apparatus for channel estimation and cell search in cellular communication systems, and corresponding computer program product

An apparatus to perform, according to a received signal, a cell-search procedure and the channel-estimation procedure in a cellular communication system, which uses a plurality of synchronization codes, the apparatus comprising:

• at least one first correlator, which receives said received signal and a plurality of synchronization codes to execute a second process of said cell-search procedure;
• at least one second correlator that receives at least part of said received signal and known midamble codes to execute a third process of said cell-search procedure;
• at least one third correlator that receives at least part of said received signal and known midamble codes to execute the channel-estimation procedure, to obtain corresponding energy values, said first correlator, second correlator, and third correlator including at least in part a single correlator;
• and
• at least one selector, which is able to control switching of an input of said single correlator to operate selectively on said received signal or at least part of said received signal.

An article of manufacture, comprising:

• a computer-readable medium that stores computer-executable instructions that are executable by a computer, to:
• perform, according to a received signal, a channel-estimation procedure and a cell-search procedure in a wireless communication system,
• the cell-search procedure including a first process of acquisition of a primary synchronization code, a second process for slot synchronization and identification of a group code, and a third process for identification of scrambling codes, the cell-search procedure including, in the second process, at least one first operation of correlation of the received signal with secondary synchronization codes and in the third process a second operation of correlation of the received signal with known midamble codes,
• the channel-estimation procedure including a third operation of correlation of at least part of the received signal with known midamble codes, the first, second, and third correlation operations being executed by sending at least part of the received signal to an input of a correlation bank;
• send, in a first time interval corresponding to the second process of the cell-search procedure, the received signal to the correlation bank to execute the first operation of correlation of the received signal with secondary synchronization codes;
• send, in a second time interval corresponding to the third process of the cell-search procedure, at least part of the received signal to the same correlation bank to execute the second operation of correlation of the received signal with known midamble codes;
• and
• send, in a third time interval, at least part of the received signal to the same correlation bank to execute the third operation of correlation of at least part of the received signal with known midamble codes, and obtaining channel coefficients.

A system, comprising:

• means for performing, according to a received signal, a channel-estimation procedure and a cell-search procedure in a wireless communication network,
• the cell-search procedure including a first process of acquisition of a primary synchronization code, a second process for slot synchronization and identification of a group code, and a third process for identification of scrambling codes, the cell-search procedure including, in the second process, at least one first operation of correlation of the received signal with secondary synchronization codes and in the third process a second operation of correlation of the received signal with known midamble codes,
• the channel-estimation procedure including a third operation of correlation of at least part of the received signal with known midamble codes, the first, second, and third correlation operations being executed by sending at least part of the received signal to an input of at least one correlator;
• means for providing the received signal to the at least one correlator to execute the first operation of correlation of the received signal with secondary synchronization codes;
• means for providing at least part of the received signal to the at least one correlator to execute the second operation of correlation of the received signal with known midamble codes;
• and
• means for providing at least part of the received signal to the at least one correlator to execute the third operation of correlation of at least part of the received signal with known midamble codes, and for obtaining energy values.

A system usable with a wireless communication network, the system comprising:

• a wireless device that uses synchronization codes, the wireless device including:
• a first module to perform a cell-search procedure based on a signal;
• a second module to perform a channel-estimation procedure;
• a first component to receive the signal and a plurality of synchronization codes, and to perform slot synchronization and group code identification as part of the cell-search procedure;
• a second component to receive at least part of the signal and midamble codes, and to perform scrambling code identification as part of the cell-search procedure;
• and
• a third component to receive at least part of the signal and midamble codes, and to perform the channel-estimation procedure to obtain energy values,
• wherein the first, second, and third components form parts of at least one correlator.

A system usable with a wireless communication network, the system comprising:

• a wireless device that uses synchronization codes, the wireless device including:
• a first module to perform a cell-search procedure based on a signal;
• a second module to perform a channel-estimation procedure;
• a first component to receive the signal and a plurality of synchronization codes, and to perform slot synchronization and group code identification as part of the cell-search procedure;
• a second component to receive at least part of the signal and midamble codes, and to perform scrambling code identification as part of the cell-search procedure;
• a third component to receive at least part of the signal and midamble codes, and to perform the channel-estimation procedure to obtain energy values;
• and
• an extraction module to extract from the received signal at least one part associated to a midamble.