IP Library Granted Patent US 8,149,961
Granted Patent B1
US 8,149,961 · App. 10/912,515 · Granted Apr 3, 2012

Ranging in multi-band communication systems

Assignee: Regents of the University of Minnesota
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,149,961
App. No.
10/912,515
Granted
Apr 3, 2012
Kind
B1
Abstract

System and methods include transmitting the same signal in all sub-bands in different time intervals and processing the corresponding received signals to achieve a time resolution proportional to the inverse of the whole bandwidth as opposed to that of a single sub-band. The systems and methods refine the coarse resolution that is achieved by conventional approaches, such as the correlation method, in a single sub-band by aligning the outputs of the matched filters to the received signals from all sub-bands and applying a fast Fourier Transform (FFT) in each time bin along the sub-band index.

Claims (26)

1. A method for communications, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of sub-band signals of a multi-band signal, wherein each of the plurality of sub-band signals has a corresponding base-band, each of the corresponding base-bands comprising a same base-band signal, and each of the same base-band signals are received at different tie intervals in each sub-band;

passing the plurality of sub-band signals through a plurality of matched filters to produce a plurality of filter outputs;

sampling the outputs of the plurality of matched filters to generate a plurality of sampled filter outputs;

aligning the plurality of sampled filter outputs into a matrix Y wherein matrix Y is aligned such that Y(m,n)=y m (n/w s ) where y m comprises a sub-band signal output of index m of a matched filter, n is a time index, and w s comprises a sampling rate;

applying an inverse FFT along sub-band indexes of matrix Y to produce a matrix Z; and

estimating a signal delay by determining a maximum of the plurality of sampled filter outputs in matrix Z after application of the inverse FFT.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an estimate of phase mismatch; and

compensating for the phase mismatch using the estimate after aligning the plurality of sampled filter outputs and before applying the inverse FFT.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the signal delay includes determining time index n and index m where the matrix Z has a maximum.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the signal delay is determined according to index m and time index n where matrix Z has a maximum, the signal delay determined according to the formula

signal delay=( m+Nn )/( Nw s )

where N comprises the number of sub-band signals.

5. A system for providing high time resolution signal multiband communication, the system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory including instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive a plurality of sub-band signals of a multi-band signal, wherein each of the plurality of sub-band signals has a corresponding base-band, each of the corresponding base-bands comprising a same base-band signal, and each of the same base-band signals are received at different tie intervals in each sub-band;

pass the plurality of sub-band signals through a plurality of matched filters to produce a plurality of filter outputs;

sample the plurality of filter outputs to generate a plurality of sampled filter outputs;

align the plurality of sampled filter outputs into a matrix Y wherein matrix Y is aligned such that Y(m,n)=y m (n/w s ) where y m comprises a sub-band signal output of index m of a matched filter, n is a time index, and w s comprises a sampling rate;

apply an inverse FFT along sub-band indexes of matrix Y to produce a matrix Z; and

estimate a signal delay based on matrix Z.

6. The system of claim 5 , comprising the memory including instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:

receive an estimate of phase mismatch; and

compensate for the phase mismatch in matrix Y.

Assignments (2)
CONFIRMATORY LICENSE Recorded May 24, 2012
From: REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
To: NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
Reel/Frame 028274/0844 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 7, 2005
From: TEWFIK, AHMED H.; SABERINIA, EBRAHIM
To: REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Reel/Frame 015666/0153 →
Continuity (1)
Provisional Application 60492608 · Aug 4, 2003