Processing data in a digital communications system

A receiver for processing a signal in a wireless digital communications system, wherein a source of non-stationary disturbance is present, said source having first statistics over a first time interval causing a first, less affected time portion of said signal received on a wireless channel, and second statistics over a second a second time interval, causing a second, most affected portion of said signal received on said wireless channel, the receiver comprising:

• means for identifying the second time portion of the received signal most affected by the source of disturbance;
• means for generating a first estimate of the disturbance (PI) for received samples in the first, less affected time portion of the received signal;
• means for generating a second estimate of the disturbance (PI(SCH)) for received samples in the second time portion of the received signal;
• and
• means for generating reliability information for use in a decoding process, said reliability estimates indicating a level of reliability for transmitted data bits corresponding to the received signals, wherein the step of generating uses the first and second disturbance estimates whereby the bits corresponding to samples in the second most affected time portion have lower reliability estimates than samples in the first less affected time portion and thereby carry less weight during the decoding process.

A receiver for processing a signal in a wireless digital communications system, wherein a source of non-stationary disturbance is present, said source having first statistics over a first time interval causing a first, less affected time portion of said signal received on a wireless channel, and second statistics over a second time interval, causing a second, most affected portion of said signal received on said wireless channel, the receiver comprising:

• a component adapted to identify the second time portion of the received signal most affected by the source of disturbance;
• a first estimator adapted to generate a first disturbance estimate for received samples in the first, less affected time portion of the received signal;
• a second estimator adapted to generate a second disturbance estimate for received samples in the second affected time portion of the received signal;
• and
• a reliability information generator adapted to generate reliability information for use in a decoder, said reliability information indicating a level of reliability for transmitted data bits corresponding to the received signal samples, wherein the step of generating uses the first and second disturbance estimates whereby the bits corresponding to samples in the second most affected time portion have lower reliability estimates than samples in the first less affected portion and thereby carry less weight in the decoder.

A digital communications system wherein a source of non-stationary disturbance is present, said source having first statistics over a first time interval causing a first, less affected time portion of a signal received on a wireless channel, and second statistics over a second time interval, causing a second most affected portion of said signal received on said wireless channel, comprising:

• an antenna for receiving a wireless signal;
• a receiver front-end for receiving the wireless signal in analogue form and providing digital samples therefrom;
• a baseband receiver for processing the signal samples, said baseband receiver comprising:
• a first estimator adapted to generate a first disturbance estimate for received samples in said first time portion of the received signal;
• a component adapted to identify said second time portion of said received signal, most affected by a source of disturbance;
• a second estimator adapted to generate a second disturbance estimate for received samples in the second time portion of the received signal;
• and
• a reliability information generator adapted to generate reliability information for use in a decoder, said reliability information indicating a level of reliability for transmitted data bits corresponding to the received signal samples, wherein the step of generating uses the first and second disturbance estimates whereby the bits corresponding to samples in the second most affected time portion have lower reliability estimates than samples in the first less affected time portion and thereby carry less weight in the decoder.

An integrated circuit incorporating a receiver for processing a signal in a wireless digital communications system, wherein a source of non-stationary disturbance is present, said source having first statistics over a first time interval causing a first, less affected time portion of said signal received on a wireless channel, and second statistics over a second time interval, causing a second most affected portion of said signal received on said wireless channel, the receiver comprising:

• a component adapted to identify the second time portion of the received signal, most affected by the source of disturbance;
• a first estimator adapted to generate a first disturbance estimate for received samples in the first, less affected time portion of the received signal;
• a second estimator adapted to generate a second disturbance estimate for received samples in the second time portion of the received signal;
• and
• a reliability information generator adapted to generate reliability information for use in a decoder, said reliability information indicating a level of reliability for transmitted data bits corresponding to the received signal samples, wherein the step of generating uses the first and second disturbance estimates whereby the bits corresponding to samples in the second most affected time portion have lower reliability estimates than samples in the first less affected time portion and thereby carry less weight in the decoder.

A computer program product comprising computer code means which when installed in a computer implements the following steps in a method of processing a signal in a wireless digital communications system wherein a source of non-stationary disturbance is present, said source having first statistics over a first time interval causing a first, less affected time portion of said signal received on a wireless channel, and second statistics over a second time interval, causing a second, most affected time portion of said signal received on said wireless channel, the method steps comprising:

• identifying, by a processor in said computer, said second time portion of the received signal most affected by the source of disturbance;
• generating, by said processor in said computer, a first estimate of disturbance for received samples in said first, less affected time portion of the received signal;
• generating, by said processor in said computer, a second estimate of the disturbance for received samples in the second time portion of the received signal;
• and
• using, by said processor in said computer, the first and second disturbance estimates to generate reliability information for data bits corresponding to the received signal samples, for use in a decoding process, wherein said generating uses the first and second estimates whereby the bits corresponding to samples in the second most affected time portion have lower reliability estimates than samples in the first less affected time portion and thereby carry less weight during the decoding process.

A method of processing a signal in a wireless digital communications system, wherein a source of non-stationary disturbance is present, said source having first statistics over a first time interval causing a first, less affected time portion of said signal received on a wireless channel, and second statistics over a second time interval, causing a second, most affected portion of said signal received on said wireless channel, and wherein said received signal has a signal energy and comprises pilot symbols transmitted in a transmission time slot, the method comprising:

• generating a signal estimate from said pilot symbols in said transmission slot of an average of said signal energy;
• identifying said second time portion of said received signal, most affected by said source of disturbance;
• generating a first estimate of said disturbance (PI) for received samples in said first, less affected time portion of said received signal;
• generating a second estimate of said disturbance (PI(SCH)) for received samples in said second time portion of said received signal, wherein said second time portion of said received signal has a received power;
• determining a total average of said received power of said second time portion of said received signal;
• subtracting said signal estimate from said total average of said received power to determine a difference between said total average of said received power and said signal estimate, wherein said second disturbance estimate is a maximum of i) said difference between said total average of said received power of said second time portion of said received signal and said signal estimate and ii) said first disturbance estimate;
• and
• using said estimate to generate reliability information for use in a decoding process, said reliability information indicating a level of reliability for transmitted data bits corresponding to said received signal samples, wherein said generating uses said first and second disturbance estimates whereby bits corresponding to samples in said second most affected time portion have lower reliability estimates than samples in said first less affected time portion and thereby carry less weight during said decoding process.

A method of processing a signal in a wireless digital communications system, wherein a source of non-stationary disturbance is present, said source having first statistics over a first time interval causing a first, less affected time portion of said signal received on a wireless channel, and second statistics over a second time interval, causing a second, most affected portion of said signal received on said wireless channel, and wherein said received signal has a signal energy and comprises pilot symbols transmitted in a transmission time slot, the method comprising:

• generating a signal estimate from said pilot symbols in said transmission slot of an average of said signal energy;
• identifying said second time portion of said received signal, most affected by said source of disturbance;
• generating a first estimate of said disturbance (PI) for received samples in said first, less affected time portion of said received signal;
• generating a second estimate of said disturbance (PI(SCH)) for received samples in said second time portion of said received signal, wherein said second time portion of said received signal has a received power;
• determining a total average of said received power of said second time portion of said received signal;
• subtracting said signal estimate from said total average of said received power to determine a difference between said total average of said received power and said signal estimate, wherein said second disturbance estimate is a maximum of i) said difference between said total average of said received power of said second time portion of said received signal and said signal estimate and ii) said first disturbance estimate;
• and
• using said estimate to generate reliability information for use in a decoding process, said reliability information indicating a level of reliability for transmitted data bits corresponding to said received signal samples, wherein said generating uses said first and second disturbance estimates whereby bits corresponding to samples in said second most affected time portion have lower reliability estimates than samples in said first less affected time portion and thereby carry less weight during said decoding process and wherein said generating using said first and second disturbance estimates comprises multiplying affected samples in said second time portion by a ration of said first disturbance estimate to said second disturbance estimate to generate multiplied samples and using said multiplied samples to generate said reliability information for decoding data bits corresponding to affected samples of said received signal.