Transient robust channel for communication systems
View Patent ↗One embodiment of the present invention relates to a network device. The network device includes a receiver configured to be coupled to a transmission medium supporting a multi-carrier channel over which data is communicated as symbols in a first communication state according to an initial bit-loading configuration. The receiver is further configured to detect noise that can corrupt the symbols on the multi-carrier channel. In addition, the receiver is configured to, in response to the detected noise, allocate at least part of the multi-carrier channel to a transient robust channel that facilitates adaptive communication. Other methods and devices are also disclosed.
1. A network device, comprising:
a receiver configured to be coupled to a transmission medium supporting a multi-carrier channel over which symbols are communicated according to an initial bit-loading configuration, and further configured to detect noise that can corrupt the symbols on the multi-carrier channel;
where the receiver is configured to, in response to the detected noise, allocate part of the multi-carrier channel to a transient channel having a transient bit-loading configuration while other parts of the multi-carrier channel maintain the initial bit-loading configuration, where the transient bit-loading configuration differs from the initial bit-loading configuration for the part of the multi-carrier channel associated with the transient channel.
2. The network device of claim 1 , where the transient channel comprises carriers that correspond to carriers of an administrative channel which is always open during communication, and where communication parameters are robustly communicated over the carriers of the administrative channel after which the administrative channel is reconfigured for non-robust communication.
3. The network device of claim 1 , where the receiver is further configured to communicate a modified bit-loading configuration over the transient channel, where the modified bit-loading configuration reduces bit-loading on carriers affected by the detected noise.
4. The network device of claim 3 , where the modified bit-loading configuration provides a common number of bits to be loaded on all carriers on which a symbol was corrupted by the detected noise.
5. The network device of claim 3 , where the modified bit-loading configuration reduces the number of bits per carrier by the same number of bits per carrier for all carriers on which a symbol was corrupted by the detected noise.
6. The network device of claim 3 , where the receiver is configured to return the part of the multi-carrier channel associated with the transient channel to the initial bit-loading configuration after the modified bit-loading configuration is communicated.
7. The network device of claim 3 , where the receiver is configured to transmit multiple copies of the modified bit-loading parameter on the transient channel, where each of the multiple copies is transmitted at a different time or over a different frequency.
8. The network device of claim 1 , where the transient channel comprises multiple carriers, and where the transient bit-loading configuration provides a common number of bits to be loaded on each of the multiple carriers associated with the transient channel.
9. The network device of claim 1 , where the receiver is configured to transmit or receive a symbol with pre-determined content to indicate opening of the transient channel.
10. The network device of claim 1 , where the detection of the corrupted symbols is implemented in multiple stages with each stage checking for corrupted symbols on a successive group of carriers.
11. A method of communicating over a network, comprising:
transmitting data over a plurality of carriers associated with a multi-carrier channel according to an initial bit-loading configuration,
while the initial bit-loading configuration is followed: detecting a first group of carriers within the plurality of carriers whose symbols are corrupted by noise and detecting a second group of carriers within the plurality of carriers whose symbols are not corrupted by the noise;
allocating at least one carrier from the second group of carriers to a transient channel having a transient bit-loading configuration while the first group of carriers remain allocated to the initial bit-loading configuration, where the transient bit-loading configuration differs from the initial bit-loading distribution.
12. The method of claim 11 , where the transient bit-loading configuration comprises a common number of bits on each of multiple carriers allocated to the second group of carriers.
13. The method of claim 11 , where the transient channel comprises multiple carriers, and where the transient bit-loading configuration provides a common number of bits to be loaded on each of the multiple carriers associated with the transient channel.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
communicating a modified bit-loading configuration over the second group of carriers according to the transient bit-loading configuration while the first group of carriers follows the initial bit-loading distribution.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
after communicating the modified bit-loading configuration, changing bit-loading on the first group of carriers to correspond to the modified bit-loading configuration.
16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
after communicating the modified bit-loading configuration, returning bit-loading on the at least one carrier of the second group from the transient bit-loading configuration to the initial bit-loading configuration.
17. A network device, comprising:
a receiver configured to be coupled to a transmission medium supporting a multi-carrier channel over which symbols are communicated according to an initial bit-loading configuration, and further configured to discern between a first group of carriers having noise-corrupted symbols and a second group of carriers having symbols that are uncorrupted by noise; and
where the receiver is configured to, in response to discerning the noise corrupted symbols, assign a carrier from the second group of carriers to a transient channel that follows a transient bit-loading configuration while the first group of carriers remain allocated to the initial bit-loading configuration; where the transient bit-loading configuration differs from the initial bit-loading configuration with regards to the second group of carriers.
18. The network device of claim 17 , where the receiver is configured to transmit a modified bit-loading configuration over the transient channel in accordance with the transient bit-loading configuration.
19. The network device of claim 18 , where the receiver is configured, after transmitting the modified bit-loading configuration, to change bit-loading on the first group of carriers to follow the modified bit-loading configuration and to return bit-loading on the transient channel to follow the initial bit-loading configuration.
20. The network device of claim 18 , where the modified bit-loading configuration provides a common number of bits to be loaded on each carrier within the first group.
21. The network device of claim 18 , where the modified bit-loading configuration reduces the number of bits per carrier by the same number of bits per carrier for each carrier within the first group.
22. The network device of claim 17 , where multiple carriers are assigned to the transient channel, and where the transient bit-loading configuration provides a common number of bits to be loaded on each of the multiple carriers associated with the transient channel.
23. The network device of claim 17 , where multiple carriers are assigned to the second group, and where the transient bit-loading configuration comprises a common number of bits on each of the multiple carriers assigned to the second group.
24. The method of claim 23 , where the modified bit-loading configuration provides a common number of bits to be loaded on each carrier within the first group.
25. The method of claim 23 , where the modified bit-loading configuration reduces the number of bits per carrier by the same number of bits per carrier for each carrier within the first group.