Interference suppression processing unit and a method of suppressing interference in wireless data communication

#The present invention relates to an interference suppression processing unit, an interference suppression and equalization processing unit, a method of suppressing interference of a received data signal in wireless data communication and a method of suppressing interference of a received data signal and equalizing the received data signal in wireless data communication.

#In a cellular network, multiple wireless users within a designated area, or cell, communicate with a single base station. In a time division multiple access (TDMA) cellular network, each user communicates with the base station in a time-multiplexed fashion. In other words, each user is allocated a slice of time during which it exchanges a burst of data with the base station wherein a burst is a sequence of digital symbols representing the data. The user must then wait until the other users have exchanged their bursts of data with the base station before exchanging its next burst of data.

#The quality of communication in a cellular network can be degraded by a variety of factors. Three important factors are multi-path fading, interference, and noise. These factors can significantly degrade the quality of communication leading to an increase of the bit-error-rate.

#Aspects of the invention are made more evident in the following detailed descriptions of embodiments when read in conjunction with the attached drawing figures, wherein:

#FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of an interference suppression processing unit;

#FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of an interference suppression and equalization processing unit;

#The aspects and embodiments of the invention are now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are generally utilized to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of one or more aspects of embodiments of the invention. It may be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that one or more aspects of the embodiments of the invention may be practiced with a lesser degree of the specific details. In other instances, known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing one or more aspects of the embodiments of the invention. The following description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

#Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a schematic representation of an embodiment of an interference suppression processing unit in a block diagram form. The processing unit 100 may be part of the circuitry of a wireless communication terminal, i.e. a base station terminal or a mobile station terminal. The wireless communication terminal comprises Na antennas wherein Na≧1. The processing unit 100 comprises respective Na receiver paths 1.1, . . . , 1.Na wherein each one of the receiver paths 1.1, . . . , 1.Na is coupled with one of the Na antennas, respectively. The processing unit 100 further comprises a signal generation unit 10 to generate K signal data sequences from the Na received data sequences wherein K≧Na. The signal generation unit 10 comprises Na input ports coupled with the Na receiver paths 1.1, . . . , 1.Na to input the received data sequences. The signal generation unit 10 further comprises K output ports to output the generated K signal data sequences. The K output ports are connected with respective K signal paths 2.1, . . . , 2.K.

#The processing unit 100 further comprises K prefilter units 20.1, . . . , 20.K wherein each one of the prefilter units 20.1, . . . , 20.K is arranged in one of the signal paths 2.1, . . . , 2.K. The processing unit 100 further comprises a combiner 30, comprising K input terminals wherein each one of the K input terminals is connected to an output terminal of one of the prefilter units 20.1, . . . , 20.K, respectively.