Embodiments of the invention are directed, in general, to communication systems and, more specifically, to pilot design used in communications systems.
The global market for both voice and data communication services continues to grow as does users of the systems which deliver those services. As communication systems evolve, system design has become increasingly demanding in relation to equipment and performance requirements. Future generations of communication systems, will be required to provide high quality high transmission rate data services in addition to high quality voice services. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a technique that will allow for high speed voice and data communication services.
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is based on the well-known technique of Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM). OFDM technique relies on the orthogonality properties of the fast Fourier transform (FFT) and the inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to eliminate interference between carriers. At the transmitter, the precise setting of the carrier frequencies is performed by the IFFT. The data is encoded into constellation points by multiple (one for each carrier) constellation encoders. The complex values of the constellation encoder outputs are the inputs to the IFFT. For wireless transmission, the outputs of the IFFT are converted to an analog waveform, up-converted to a radio frequency, amplified, and transmitted. At the receiver, the reverse process is performed. The received signal (input signal) is amplified, down converted to a band suitable for analog to digital conversion, digitized, and processed by a FFT to recover the carriers. The multiple carriers are then demodulated in multiple constellation decoders (one for each carrier), recovering the original data. Since an IFFT is used to combine the carriers at the transmitter and a corresponding FFT is used to separate the carriers at the receiver, the process has potentially zero inter-carrier interference.
The OFDM technique differs from traditional FDM in the following interrelated ways:
The data/information carried by each sub-carrier 150 may be user data of many forms, including text, voice, video, and the like. In addition, the data includes control data, a particular type of which is discussed below. As a result of the orthogonality, ideally each receiving element tuned to a given sub-carrier does not perceive any of the signals communicated at any other of the sub-carriers. Given this aspect, various benefits arise. For example, OFDM is able to use orthogonal sub-carriers and, as a result, thorough use is made of the overall OFDM spectrum. As another example, in many wireless systems, the same transmitted signal arrives at the receiver at different times having traveled different lengths due to reflections in the channel between the transmitter and receiver. Each different arrival of the same originally-transmitted signal is typically referred to as a multi-path. Typically, multi-paths interfere with one another, which is sometimes referred to as InterSymbol Interference (ISI) because each path includes transmitted data referred to as symbols. Nonetheless, the orthogonality implemented by OFDM considerably reduces ISI and, as a result, often a less complex receiver structure, such as one without an equalizer, may be implemented in an OFDM system.
A Cyclic Prefix (CP) (also known as guard interval) is added to each symbol to combat the channel delay spread and avoid OFDM inter-symbol interference (ISI).
Since orthogonality is guaranteed between overlapping sub-carriers and between consecutive OFDM symbols in the presence of time/frequency dispersive channels, the data symbol density in the time-frequency plane can be maximized and high data rates can be very efficiently achieved for high Signal-to-Interference and Noise Ratios (SINR).
When the channel delay spread exceeds the CP duration 315, the energy contained in the ISI should be much smaller than the useful OFDM symbol energy and therefore, the OFDM symbol duration 325 should be much larger than the channel delay spread. However, the OFDM symbol duration 325 should be smaller than the minimum channel coherence time in order to maintain the OFDM ability to combat fast temporal fading. Otherwise, the channel may not always be constant over the OFDM symbol and this may result in inter-sub-carrier orthogonality loss in fast fading channels. Since the channel coherence time is inversely proportional to the maximum Doppler shift (time-frequency duality), this implies that the symbol duration should be much smaller than the inverse of the maximum Doppler shift.
The large number of OFDM sub-carriers makes the bandwidth of individual sub-carriers small relative to the total signal bandwidth. With an adequate number of sub-carriers, the inter-carrier spacing is much narrower than the channel coherence bandwidth. Since the channel coherence bandwidth is inversely proportional to the channel delay spread, the sub-carrier separation is generally designed to be much smaller that the inverse of the channel coherence time. Then, the fading on each sub-carrier appears flat in frequency and this enables 1-tap frequency equalization, use of high order modulation, and effective utilization of multiple transmitter and receiver antenna techniques such as Multiple Input/Multiple Output (MIMO). Therefore, OFDM effectively converts a frequency-selective channel into a parallel collection of frequency flat sub-channels and enables a very simple receiver. Moreover, in order to combat Doppler effects, the inter-carrier spacing should be much larger than the maximum Doppler shift.
The baseband representation 400 of the OFDM signal generation using an N-point IFFT 460 is shown in
OFDM may be combined with Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) system to allow multiplexing of multiple UEs over the available bandwidth. Because OFDMA assigns UEs to isolated frequency sub-carriers, intra-cell interference may be avoided and high data rate may be achieved. The base station (or Node B) scheduler assigns physical channels based on Channel Quality Indication (CQI) feedback information from the UEs, thus effectively controlling the multiple-access mechanism in the cell. For example, in
OFDM can use frequency-dependent scheduling with optimal per sub-band Modulation & Coding Scheme (MCS) selection. For each UE and each Transmission Time Interval (TTI), the Node B scheduler selects for transmission with the appropriate MCS a group of the active UEs in the cell, according to some criteria that typically incorporate the achievable SINR based on the CQI feedback. In addition, sub-carriers or group of sub-carriers may be reserved to transmit pilot, signaling or other channels. Multiplexing may also be performed in the time dimension, as long as it occurs at the OFDM symbol rate or at a multiple of the symbol rate (i.e. from one IFFT computation to the next). The MCS used for each sub-carrier or group of sub-carriers can also be changed at the corresponding rate, keeping the computational simplicity of the FFT-based implementation. This allows 2-dimensional time-frequency multiplexing, as shown in
Transmission Time Interval (TTI) may also be referred to as a frame.
Turning now to
Alternatively referring to
To facilitate data-aided methods, OFDM systems periodically insert reference (or pilot) symbols that are known a priori, into the transmission signal. The receiver can thus estimate the channel response based on the received pilot symbols and the known transmitted pilot symbols. In an OFDM based communication system, pilot symbols are transmitted in addition to data symbols in order to serve, inter aila, in providing a reference for the receiver to estimate the channel medium and accordingly demodulate the received signal. A pilot signal also referred to as reference signal is composed of the pilot symbols.
The DownLink (DL) pilot signal should provide effective performance for the following functions:
UE dedicated pilot signals may also be used for UE-dependent adaptive beam-forming. Moreover, as the pilot signal is actually overhead consuming resources that could have been otherwise dedicated for data transmission, it should have minimum time/frequency and power overhead.
Two types of pilot structure have been previously examined;
In the example shown in
Additional requirements for the pilot signal design may relate to the ability to demodulate only an initial sub-set of the TTI without having to receive the entire TTI. This is applicable, for example, when the control channel associated with scheduling of UEs in the current TTI at various RBs is transmitted in the first few OFDM symbols in every TTI. Then, it may be beneficial to demodulate and decode the control channel prior to the reception of the remaining OFDM symbols in the referenced TTI in order to reduce latency. Moreover, in order to improve channel estimation performance, it is desirable to capture as much of the transmitted pilot signal power as possible without additional latency. Clearly, the pilot signal power from preceding TTIs may be assumed available to the UE but the UE will have to incur additional decoding latency if it were to obtain the pilot signal power from succeeding TTIs. However, this would be particularly desirable for channel estimation performance as it would result to pilot signal availability that is more symmetric relative to the TTI of interest.
Based on the above discussion, the following disadvantages can be directly identified for the pilot structures of prior art:
There is a need for an improved pilot structure design in order to achieve accurate channel estimates for high user equipment (UE) speeds in mobile operations while also achieve the ability to use substantial pilot energy from succeeding TTI with minimum latency.
In light of the foregoing background, embodiments of the invention provide a method for generating a structure in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing communication system having a transmitter with a least one transmitting antenna, said method comprising; composing a frame with a time domain and a frequency domain, wherein the frame has a transmission time interval in the time domain with a beginning and an ending; and locating a pilot, having pilot power level, from a first at least one antenna into two orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols of said frame.
Therefore, the system and method of embodiments of the present invention solve the problems identified by prior techniques and provide additional advantages.
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In this disclosure, the term pilot parameters can mean pilot power, number of pilot fields, pilot position, power of each pilot field, etc. The term speed and velocity may be used interchangeably. One skilled in the art may be able to use the various embodiments of the invention to use both the speed and direction of a mobile to adjust other parameters to vary the power and direction of signal transmission.
A novel pilot structure circumventing the aforementioned shortcomings is presented in embodiments of this invention.
The attributes of the staggered pilot signal structures disclosed in the embodiments can be summarized as follows:
TTI of interest 1010A and the preceding TTI 10108 to decode a control channel that may be located in the first few OFDM symbols with minimal performance degradation and without additional latency from the absence of the pilot sub-carriers at the fifth OFDM symbol of the TTI.
The above and other properties of the staggered pilot signal design can assist in the development of OFDM systems offering reliable and robust communication from a Node B to the receiving UEs. Node B may be a base station, access point or the like network entity.
In
In
Embodiments of the invention can be implemented in either the transmitter or the receiver, or in both, of a multi-carrier system, such as an OFDM system, using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The software is assumed to be embodied as a lookup table, an algorithm, or other program code that defines the pilot structure in a time transmission interval or frame.
An apparatus for an OFDM based communication system operating in accordance with an OFDM transmission technique would be coupled to a plurality of transmitting antennas and comprise a mapper for converting an input signal to a plurality of data symbols, transmitter circuitry adapted to insert pilot symbols with the data symbols for each transmitting antenna, a modulator for modulating said pilot symbols and data symbols in a transmission time interval in accordance with an OFDM transmission technique. The transmission time interval has multiple OFDM symbols. The power level of the pilot symbols is divided into two OFDM symbols in the transmission time interval. The input signal and plurality of data symbols are comprised of sub-sets, each sub-set intended to a unique receiver in the OFDM based communication system.
Embodiments of the invention may be utilized in a receiver in an OFDM based communication system adapted to perform channel estimation using a received reference signal transmitted from at least one antenna, said reference signal being substantially located into two OFDM symbols. The receiver may also be adapted to use the reference signal located in the first OFDM symbol in succeeding transmission time intervals in addition to the reference symbols in the current and preceding transmission time intervals.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions, the associated drawings, and claims. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
This application is a continuation of U.S. Reissue application Ser. No. 13/867,015 filed on Apr. 19, 2013, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. Re. 45,299, which is a reissue of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/639,422 filed on Dec. 16, 2009, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,929,416, which is a Divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/424,939 filed on Jun. 19, 2006, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,660,229, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/692,184 entitled “Pilot design and channel estimation for OFDM” filed Jun. 20, 2005, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/709,085 entitled “Pilot design and channel estimation for OFDM” filed Aug. 16, 2005, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/723,891 entitled “Pilot design and channel estimation for OFDM” filed Oct. 5, 2005. All applications assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5867478 | Baum et al. | Feb 1999 | A |
6359938 | Keevill et al. | Mar 2002 | B1 |
6473467 | Wallace et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
6985498 | Laroia et al. | Jan 2006 | B2 |
6999467 | Kraus et al. | Feb 2006 | B2 |
7027429 | Laroia et al. | Apr 2006 | B2 |
7551691 | DeBart et al. | Jun 2009 | B2 |
7660229 | Papasakellariou et al. | Feb 2010 | B2 |
7929416 | Papasakellariou et al. | Apr 2011 | B2 |
8462611 | Ma et al. | Jun 2013 | B2 |
RE45299 | Papasakellariou et al. | Dec 2014 | E |
20020122383 | Wu et al. | Sep 2002 | A1 |
20030072254 | Ma et al. | Apr 2003 | A1 |
20030227866 | Yamaguchi | Dec 2003 | A1 |
20040086055 | Li | May 2004 | A1 |
20040091057 | Yoshida | May 2004 | A1 |
20050254592 | Naguib et al. | Nov 2005 | A1 |
20060120273 | Wang | Jun 2006 | A1 |
20060256761 | Meylan et al. | Nov 2006 | A1 |
20070070944 | Rinne | Mar 2007 | A1 |
20080151989 | Von Elbwart et al. | Jun 2008 | A1 |
20090003466 | Taherzadehboroujeni et al. | Jan 2009 | A1 |
20090245197 | Ma | Oct 2009 | A1 |
Entry |
---|
Thierry Lestable et al., Adaptive Pilot Pattern for Multi-Carrier Spread-Spectrum (MC-SS) Transmission Systems; 2004 IEEE; pp. 385-388. |
Downlink Multiple Access Parameterisation; R1-050384-3GPP TSG RAN WG1#41, Athens, Greece; May 9-13, 2005. |
EUTRA Downlink Numerology; R1-050520-3GPP TSG RAN1#41 Meeting, Athens, Greece, May 9-13, 2005. |
Performance and Implementation Aspects for Scattered and TDM Pilot Formats in EUTRA OFDMA Downlink; R1-051060-3GPP TSG RAN WG1, San Diego, California, USA; Oct. 10-14, 2005. |
TP on Pilot Structure for OFDM based E-UTRA Downlink Unicast; R1-051489-3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 #43, Seoul, Korea; Nov. 7-11, 2005. |
On Pilot Structure for IFDM Based E-UTRA Downlink Multicast; R1-051490-3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 #43; Seoul, Korea; Nov. 7-11, 2005. |
Boosting the Uplink Pilot Transmission Power for Higher Mobility UEs; R1-060924-3GPP TSG-RAN WG1 Meeting #44bis; Athens, Greece; Mar. 27-31, 2006. |
PCT/US 06/23901 International Search Report, dated Dec. 14, 2006. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
60692184 | Jun 2005 | US | |
60709085 | Aug 2005 | US | |
60723891 | Oct 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 11424939 | Jun 2006 | US |
Child | 12639422 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 13867015 | Apr 2013 | US |
Child | 12639422 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 12639422 | Dec 2009 | US |
Child | 14578322 | US | |
Parent | 12639422 | Dec 2009 | US |
Child | 13867015 | US |