IP Library Granted Patent US 7,801,311
Granted Patent B2
US 7,801,311 · App. 11/227,357 · Granted Sep 21, 2010

Radio receiver with stereo decoder and method for use therewith

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,801,311
App. No.
11/227,357
Granted
Sep 21, 2010
Kind
B2
Abstract

A stereo decoder includes a first digital filter for producing a first filtered composite audio signal and a second digital filter for producing a second filtered composite audio signal. A sum/difference network produces a left channel signal and a right channel signal. A processor executes operational instructions that calculate a first corner frequency of a first digital filter based on a signal quality of the FM signal, calculate a first set of filter coefficients for the first digital filter based on the first corner frequency and an approximation of a filter transform, calculate a second corner frequency of a second digital filter based on the signal quality, and calculate a second set of filter coefficients for the second digital filter, based on the second corner frequency and the approximation of the filter transform.

Claims (57)

1. A stereo decoding system for use in a radio receiver that receives a radio signal, comprising:

a first digital filter, operably coupled to a first composite audio channel for producing a first filtered composite audio signal, the first digital filter having a first set of filter coefficients;

a second digital filter, operably coupled to a second composite audio channel for producing a second filtered composite audio signal, the second digital filter having a second set of filter coefficients;

a sum/difference network, operably coupled to the first filtered composite audio signal and the second filtered composite audio signal for producing a left channel signal and a right channel signal;

a processor, operably coupled to the first digital filter and the second digital filter for executing operational instructions that:

calculate a first corner frequency of the first digital filter based on a signal quality of the received radio signal;

calculate a first set of filter coefficients for the first digital filter based on the first corner frequency and an approximation of a filter transform, and store the first set of filter coefficients in the first digital filter;

calculate a second corner frequency of the second digital filter based on the signal quality; and

calculate a second set of filter coefficients for the second digital filter, based on the second corner frequency and the approximation of the filter transform, and store the second set of filter coefficients in the second digital filter.

2. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the filter transform includes at least one of: a bilinear transformation, an impulse invariance transformation, a forward differences transformation, and a backward differences transformation.

3. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the approximation includes at least one of: a piecewise linear interpolation, a cubic spline, a polynomial interpolation, a rational function interpolation, a bicubic interpolation, and a bicubic spline.

4. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the first digital filter approximates one of: a Butterworth filter, a Chebyshev filter, and an elliptic filter.

5. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the first digital filter has an order that is two or more.

6. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the signal quality includes at least one of: a received signal strength indication, an amount of adjacent channel interference, an amount of multi-path echo, and a signal to noise ratio.

7. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the first audio channel includes a first stereo composite signal and the second audio channel includes a second stereo composite signal.

8. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the processor performs operational instructions to calculate a first corner frequency by assigning a maximum corner frequency when the signal quality compares favorably to a first signal quality threshold.

9. The stereo decoding system of claim 8 wherein the processor performs operational instructions to calculate a second corner frequency by assigning the maximum corner frequency when the signal quality compares favorably to a second signal quality threshold, wherein the first signal quality threshold is not equal to the second signal quality threshold.

10. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the processor performs operational instructions to calculate a first corner frequency by assigning a minimum corner frequency when the signal quality compares unfavorably to a third signal quality threshold.

11. The stereo decoding system of claim 10 wherein the processor performs operational instructions to calculate a second corner frequency by assigning the minimum corner frequency when the signal quality compares favorably to a fourth signal quality threshold, wherein the third signal quality threshold is not equal to the fourth signal quality threshold.

12. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the processor performs operational instructions to calculate a first corner frequency based on a monotonic function when the signal quality compares unfavorably to a first signal quality threshold and when the signal quality compares favorably to a second signal quality threshold.

13. The stereo decoder of claim 12 wherein the monotonic function is a linear function.

14. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein at least one of: the processor, the first filter and the second filter, are included in a system on a chip integrated circuit.

15. The stereo decoding system of claim 1 wherein the processor is operable to calculate the first set of filter coefficients substantially in realtime.

16. A method for use in a radio receiver for receiving a radio signal, the method comprising:

measuring a signal quality of the radio signal;

calculating a first corner frequency of a first digital filter based on the signal quality;

calculating a first set of filter coefficients for the first digital filter based on the first corner frequency and an approximation of a filter transform;

calculating a second corner frequency of a second digital filter based on the signal quality;

calculating a second set of filter coefficients for the second digital filter, based on the second corner frequency and the approximation of the filter transform;

filtering a first audio channel of the radio signal using the first digital filter; and

filtering the second audio channel of the radio signal using the second digital filter.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the filter transform includes at least one of: a bilinear transformation, an impulse invariance transformation, a forward differences transformation, and a backward differences transformation.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the approximation includes at least one of: a piecewise linear interpolation, a cubic spline, a polynomial interpolation, a rational function interpolation, a bicubic interpolation, and a bicubic spline.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the first digital filter approximates one of: a Butterworth filter, a Chebyshev filter, and an elliptic filter.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the first set of coefficients includes five or more coefficients.

21. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of measuring the signal quality includes measuring at least one of: a received signal strength indication, an amount of adjacent channel interference, an amount of multi-path echo, and a signal to noise ratio.

22. The method of claim 16 wherein the first audio channel includes a first stereo composite signal and the second audio channel includes a second stereo composite signal.

23. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of calculating a first corner frequency includes assigning a maximum corner frequency when the signal quality compares favorably to a first signal quality threshold.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the step of calculating a second corner frequency includes assigning the maximum corner frequency when the signal quality compares favorably to a second signal quality threshold, wherein the first signal quality threshold is not equal to the second signal quality threshold.

25. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of calculating a first corner frequency includes assigning a minimum corner frequency when the signal quality compares unfavorably to a third signal quality threshold.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the step of calculating a second corner frequency includes assigning the minimum corner frequency when the signal quality compares favorably to a fourth signal quality threshold, wherein the third signal quality threshold is not equal to the fourth signal quality threshold.

27. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of calculating a first corner frequency includes calculating the first corner frequency based on a monotonic function when the signal quality compares unfavorably to a first signal quality threshold and when the signal quality compares favorably to a second signal quality threshold.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the monotonic function is a linear function.

29. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of calculating the first set of filter coefficients is performed substantially in realtime in response to a change in signal quality.

30. A method for use in a frequency modulation (FM) receiver for receiving an FM radio signal, the method comprising:

measuring a signal quality of the FM radio signal;

calculating a first corner frequency of a first digital filter based on the signal quality by assigning a maximum corner frequency when the signal quality compares favorably to a first signal quality threshold, assigning a minimum corner frequency when the signal quality compares unfavorably to a second signal quality threshold, and calculating the first corner frequency based on a monotonic function when the signal quality compares unfavorably to a first signal quality threshold and when the signal quality compares favorably to a second signal quality threshold;

calculating a first set of filter coefficients for the first digital filter, based on the first corner frequency and an approximation of a desired filter transform; and

filtering a first audio channel of the FM signal using the first digital filter.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the filter transform includes at least one of: a bilinear transformation, an impulse invariance transformation, a forward differences transformation, and a backward differences transformation.

32. The method of claim 30 wherein the approximation includes at least one of: a piecewise linear interpolation, a cubic spline, a polynomial interpolation, a rational function interpolation, a bicubic interpolation, and a bicubic spline.

33. The method of claim 30 wherein the first digital filter approximates one of: a Butterworth filter, a Chebyshev filter, and an elliptic filter.

34. The method of claim 30 wherein the first set of coefficients includes five or more coefficients.

35. The method of claim 30 wherein the step of measuring the signal quality includes measuring at least one of: a received signal strength indication, an amount of adjacent channel interference, an amount of multi-path echo, and a signal to noise ratio.

36. The method of claim 30 wherein the first audio channel includes a first stereo composite signal and the second audio channel includes a second stereo composite signal.

37. The method of claim 30 wherein the monotonic function is a linear function.

38. The method of claim 30 wherein the step of calculating the first set of filter coefficients is performed substantially in realtime in response to a change in signal quality.

Assignments (16)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE ASSIGNEE NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 037354 FRAME: 0773. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE PATENT RELEASE. Recorded Aug 15, 2016
From: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: SIGMATEL, LLC
Reel/Frame 039723/0777 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 25, 2016
From: SIGMATEL, LLC
To: NORTH STAR INNOVATIONS INC.
Reel/Frame 037583/0428 →
PATENT RELEASE Recorded Dec 21, 2015
From: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: SIGMATEL, INC.
Reel/Frame 037354/0773 →
PATENT RELEASE Recorded Dec 21, 2015
From: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: SIGMATEL, INC.
Reel/Frame 037355/0838 →
PATENT RELEASE Recorded Dec 21, 2015
From: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
Reel/Frame 037356/0553 →
PATENT RELEASE Recorded Dec 21, 2015
From: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
Reel/Frame 037356/0143 →
PATENT RELEASE Recorded Dec 21, 2015
From: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: SIGMATEL, INC.
Reel/Frame 037354/0734 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Nov 23, 2015
From: SIGMATEL INC.
To: SIGMATEL, LLC
Reel/Frame 037152/0127 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 12, 2013
From: SIGMATEL, LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 031626/0218 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 17, 2013
From: SIGMATEL, LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 030628/0636 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 13, 2010
From: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 024397/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded May 10, 2010
From: SIGMATEL, LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 024358/0439 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Mar 16, 2010
From: SIGMATEL, LLC
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 024079/0406 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Mar 15, 2010
From: FREESCALE SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 024085/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jul 9, 2008
From: SIGMATEL, INC.
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 021212/0372 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 15, 2005
From: HENDRIX, JON DAVID; RAGAN, THOMAS GLEN
To: SIGMATEL, INC., A DELAWARE CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 017001/0618 →