Communications circuit and method with re-positionable sampling span

A communications circuit, comprising:

• an antenna module configured to obtain received signal samples from a signal;
• a parameter calculation block configured to obtain ray position data indicative of ray positions associated with said signal, and to generate information indicative of ray changes, responsive to said ray position data;
• a filter module having a sampling window;
• a control module coupled to said parameter calculation block, said control module being configured to obtain said information indicative of said ray changes, said information rendering re-positioning of said sampling window desirable, said control module being configured to determine re-positioning parameters, responsive to said information, that reflect said sampling window re-positioning;
• and
• an input buffer coupled to said antenna module and configured to obtain said received signal samples therefrom, said input buffer being further configured to output received signal data;
• wherein said filter module is coupled to said input buffer to obtain said received signal data and to said control module to obtain said re-positioning parameters, and said filter module and said control module are configured to temporally re-position said sampling window in at least one of duration and location, in accordance with said re-positioning parameters, and to output a filtered chip;
• a microsearcher coupled to said parameter calculation block and configured to determine said ray position data and supply said ray position data to said parameter calculation block;
• and
• a decoder module coupled to said control module and said filter module;
• wherein:
• said decoder module is configured to obtain said filtered chip from said filter module;
• said control module is configured to determine counter parameters indicative of at least one of counter freezing and counter advancing;
• and
• said decoder module is further configured to obtain said counter parameters from said control module.

A communications circuit, comprising:

• an antenna module configured to obtain received signal samples from a signal;
• a parameter calculation block configured to obtain ray position data indicative of ray positions associated with said signal, and to generate information indicative of ray changes, responsive to said ray position data;
• a filter module having a sampling window;
• a control module coupled to said parameter calculation block, said control module being configured to obtain said information indicative of said ray changes, said information rendering re-positioning of said sampling window desirable, said control module being configured to determine re-positioning parameters, responsive to said information, that reflect said sampling window re-positioning;
• and
• an input buffer coupled to said antenna module and configured to obtain said received signal samples therefrom, said input buffer being further configured to output received signal data;
• wherein:
• said filter module is coupled to said input buffer to obtain said received signal data and to said control module to obtain said re-positioning parameters, and said filter module and said control module are configured to temporally re-position said sampling window in at least one of duration and location, in accordance with said re-positioning parameters, and to output a filtered chip;
• said information indicative of said ray changes comprises at least earliest ray information indicative of a position of an earliest ray;
• and
• said parameter calculation block is configured to generate said information indicative of said ray changes so as to locate said earliest ray substantially centered in said sampling window.

A method of receiving a plurality of time-varying rays in a communications circuit, comprising the steps of:

• operating said circuit with first sampling span parameters indicative of a first sampling span;
• detecting changes in said plurality of rays;
• and
• responsive to said changes, operating said circuit with second sampling span parameters indicative of a second sampling span, said second sampling span being temporally re-positioned, in at least one of duration and location, with respect to said first sampling span;
• wherein:
• said detecting comprises detecting at least one of said rays moving outside said first sampling span;
• said first sampling span comprises a first equalizer tap span associated with an equalizer filter;
• said second sampling span comprises a second equalizer tap span associated with said equalizer filter;
• said second sampling span parameters are representative of at least one of an amount of re-positioning and a direction of re-positioning, of said second equalizer tap span, as compared to said first equalizer tap span, as indicated by said first sampling span parameters;
• and
• said second sampling span parameters are indicative of a mask pattern having a right substantially zero region, a left substantially zero region, and a substantially one region, said right substantially zero region being sized equal to a left tap span plus a relative latest ray position plus a tap guard distance, said left substantially zero region being sized equal to said left tap span plus a relative earliest ray position minus a tap offset distance.

A method of receiving a plurality of time-varying rays in a communications circuit, comprising the steps of:

• operating said circuit with first sampling span parameters indicative of a first sampling span;
• detecting changes in said plurality of rays;
• and
• responsive to said changes, operating said circuit with second sampling span parameters indicative of a second sampling span, said second sampling span being temporally re-positioned, in at least one of duration and location, with respect to said first sampling span;
• wherein:
• said detecting comprises:
• detecting at least one of said rays moving outside said first sampling span;
• calculating a relative earliest ray position as an earliest ray position of an earliest ray minus an equalizer scrambling code offset;
• determining whether said relative earliest ray position is outside of said first sampling span;
• and
• responsive to determining that said relative earliest ray position is outside of said first sampling span:
• determining that tap adjustment is required;
• calculating a number of chips to adjust as equal to said relative earliest ray position;
• and
• calculating a new equalizer scrambling code offset as equal to said earliest ray position.