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US 7,599,663 B1Granted
Apparatus and method for measuring signal quality of a wireless communications link
AssigneeMarvell International Ltd.
InventorRavi Narasimhan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus comprises a link interface to receive an OFDM symbol from a communications link. A signal-to-noise ratio estimation unit generates an estimate of a geometric signal-to-noise ratio for the received symbol based on a function of the soft and hard decisions. A signal quality of the wireless communications link is based on the geometric signal-to-noise ratio.
Claims42
An apparatus, comprising:
- a link interface to receive an OFDM symbol from a communications link;
- and
- a signal-to-noise ratio estimation unit to generate an estimate of a geometric signal-to-noise ratio for the received symbol based on a function of soft and hard decisions, wherein a signal quality of the communications link is based on the geometric signal-to-noise ratio.
A baseband processor comprising:
- an FFT unit to recover a received symbol from the baseband signal, the received symbol modulating data across a plurality of sub-carriers;
- a soft decision unit responsive to said FFT unit to recover a soft decision of a transmitted symbol corresponding to the received symbol;
- a hard decision unit responsive to said soft decision unit to recover a hard decision of the transmitted symbol based on the soft decision;
- and
- a signal-to-noise ratio estimation unit to generate an estimate of a geometric signal-to-noise ratio for the received symbol based on a function of the soft and hard decisions, wherein a signal quality of a communications link is based on the geometric signal-to-noise ratio.
2 more elements
A transceiver, comprising:
- a receiver capable of receiving a baseband signal borne across a wireless communications link;
- and
- a baseband processor responsive to said receiver and comprising:
- an FFT unit to recover a received symbol from the baseband signal, the received symbol modulating data across a plurality of sub-carriers;
- a soft decision unit responsive to said FFT unit to recover a soft decision of a transmitted symbol corresponding to the received symbol;
- a hard decision unit responsive to said soft decision unit to recover a hard decision of the transmitted symbol based on the soft decision;
- and
- a signal-to-noise ratio estimation unit to generate an estimate of a geometric signal-to-noise ratio for the received symbol based on a function of the soft and hard decisions, wherein a signal quality of the wireless communications link is based on the geometric signal-to-noise ratio.
5 more elements
A network interface apparatus, comprising:
- a transceiver, comprising:
- a receiver capable of receiving a baseband signal borne across a wireless communications link;
- and
- a baseband processor responsive to said receiver and comprising:
- an FFT unit to recover a received symbol from the baseband signal, the received symbol modulating data across a plurality of sub-carriers;
- a soft decision unit responsive to said FFT unit to recover a soft decision of a transmitted symbol corresponding to the received symbol;
- a hard decision unit responsive to said soft decision unit to recover a hard decision of the transmitted symbol based on the soft decision;
- a signal-to-noise ratio estimation unit to generate an estimate of a geometric signal-to-noise ratio for the received symbol based on a function of the soft and hard decisions, wherein a signal quality of the wireless communications link is based on the geometric signal-to-noise ratio;
- and
- a decoder responsive to said soft decision unit to recover data corresponding to the soft decision;
- and
- a network interface responsive to said decoder to receive the data, said network interface including a control unit responsive to said signal-to-noise estimation unit to selectively alter a characteristic of the wireless communications link based on the geometric signal-to-noise ratio estimate generated by said signal-to-noise estimation unit.
9 more elements
An information processing apparatus, comprising:
- an information processor;
- a transceiver responsive to said information processor and comprising:
- a receiver capable of receiving a baseband signal borne across a wireless communications link;
- and
- a baseband processor responsive to said receiver and comprising:
- an FFT unit to recover a received symbol from the baseband signal, the received symbol modulating data across a plurality of sub-carriers;
- a soft decision unit responsive to said FFT unit to recover a soft decision of a transmitted symbol corresponding to the received symbol;
- a hard decision unit responsive to said soft decision unit to recover a hard decision of the transmitted symbol based on the soft decision;
- a signal-to-noise ratio estimation unit to generate an estimate of a geometric signal-to-noise ratio for the received symbol based on a function of the soft and hard decisions, wherein a signal quality of the wireless communications link is based on the geometric signal-to-noise ratio;
- and
- a decoder responsive to said soft decision unit to recover data corresponding to the soft decision;
- and
- a network interface responsive to said decoder to receive the data and selectively transmit the data to said information processor, said network interface including a control unit responsive to said signal-to-noise estimation unit to selectively alter a characteristic of the wireless communications link based on the geometric signal-to-noise ratio estimate generated by said signal-to-noise estimation unit.
10 more elements
A method for measuring signal quality in a communications link, the communications link capable of supporting transfer of OFDM symbols modulating data across a plurality of sub-carriers, the method comprising:
- receiving an OFDM symbol from the communications link;
- and
- generating an estimate of a geometric signal-to-noise ratio for the OFDM symbol based on a function of a soft decision and a hard decision for the OFDM symbol, wherein a signal quality of the communications link is based on the geometric signal-to-noise ratio.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.