Granted Patent B2

US 9,031,176 · App. 14/084,673 · Granted May 12, 2015

Abstract

Claims (77)

1. Apparatus for use in a receiver, the apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least, repeatedly:

pre-process a received signal using feedback to obtain a pre-processed signal, wherein the feedback is based on a previous signal and the previous signal is received prior to the received signal;

evaluate at least one of a quality of a demodulated signal and a quality of a decoded signal, wherein the demodulated signal is obtained from the pre-processed signal by demodulating, and the decoded signal is obtained by decoding the demodulated signal;

decide if the respective at least one of the quality of the demodulated signal and the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient;

select neither or one of the demodulated signal and the decoded signal as a selected signal based on the at least one of the quality of the demodulated signal and the quality of the decoded signal for which it is decided whether or not the quality is sufficient; and

update the feedback based on the selected signal.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

select the decoded signal as the selected signal if it is decided that the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient; and

select the demodulated signal as the selected signal if it is not decided whether or not the quality of the demodulated signal is sufficient, or if it is decided that the quality of the demodulated signal is sufficient and if one of the following is fulfilled:

the quality of the decoded signal is not sufficient, and

it is not decided whether or not the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 , the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

select the demodulated signal as the selected signal if it is decided that the quality of the demodulated signal is sufficient; and

select the decoded signal as the selected signal if it is not decided whether or not the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient, or if it is decided that the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient and if one of the following is fulfilled:

the quality of the demodulated signal is not sufficient, and

it is not decided whether or not the quality of the demodulated signal is sufficient.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 , the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

select neither of the demodulated signal and the decoded signal as the selected signal if it is decided that neither the quality of the demodulated signal nor the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient, and/or

repeatedly at least one of:

demodulate the pre-processed signal to obtain the demodulated signal; and

decode the demodulated signal to obtain the decoded signal.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1 , the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to modulate the decoded signal to obtain a modulated decoded signal if the decoded signal is selected as the selected signal, wherein the updating of the feedback is based on the modulated decoded signal.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient if it is indicated that:

the decoding of the demodulated signal is successful, and/or

one or more decoder metrics of the decoding are in a predetermined range, and/or

at least one of a signal to interference and noise ratio and a signal to noise ratio of the demodulated signal exceeds a respective predetermined threshold.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 , the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform a cyclic redundancy check of the decoded signal, and to indicate that the decoding is successful if the cyclic redundancy check does not result in an error.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the pre-processing comprises at least one of:

using the feedback as a reference signal for estimating a channel of the received signal;

using the feedback in subtracting an estimated inter-symbol-interference from the received signal;

using the feedback in subtracting inter-layer-interference;

using the feedback in subtracting inter-stream-interference; and

using the feedback in estimating a noise covariance.

9. A receiver, comprising:

apparatus according to claim 1 ; and

at least one radio interface for receiving the received signal.

10. A terminal and/or a base station, comprising:

a receiver according to claim 9 ; and

at least one processor arranged to process the decoded signal.

11. A method for use in a receiver, the method comprising, repeatedly:

pre-processing a received signal using feedback to obtain a pre-processed signal, wherein the feedback is based on a previous signal and the previous signal is received prior to the received signal;

evaluating at least one of a quality of a demodulated signal and a quality of a decoded signal, wherein the demodulated signal is obtained from the pre-processed signal by demodulating, and the decoded signal is obtained by decoding the demodulated signal;

deciding if the respective at least one of the quality of the demodulated signal and the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient;

selecting neither or one of the demodulated signal and the decoded signal as a selected signal based on the at least one of the quality of the demodulated signal and the quality of the decoded signal for which it is decided whether or not the quality is sufficient; and

updating the feedback based on the selected signal.

12. A method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

selecting the decoded signal as the selected signal if it is decided that the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient; and

selecting the demodulated signal as the selected signal if it is not decided whether or not the quality of the demodulated signal is sufficient, or if it is decided that the quality of the demodulated signal is sufficient and if one of the following is fulfilled:

the quality of the decoded signal is not sufficient, and

it is not decided whether or not the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient.

13. A method according to claim 11 , further comprising:

selecting the demodulated signal as the selected signal if it is decided that the quality of the demodulated signal is sufficient; and

selecting the decoded signal as the selected signal if it is not decided whether or not the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient, or if it is decided that the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient and if one of the following is fulfilled:

the quality of the demodulated signal is not sufficient, and

it is not decided whether or not the quality of the demodulated signal is sufficient.

14. A method according to claim 11 , further comprising selecting neither of the demodulated signal and the decoded signal as the selected signal if it is decided that neither the quality of the demodulated signal nor the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient.

15. A method according to claim 11 , further comprising, repeatedly at least one of:

demodulating the pre-processed signal to obtain the demodulated signal; and

decoding the demodulated signal to obtain the decoded signal.

16. A method according to claim 11 , further comprising modulating the decoded signal to obtain a modulated decoded signal if the decoded signal is selected as the selected signal, wherein the updating of the feedback is based on the modulated decoded signal.

17. A method according to claim 11 , wherein the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient if it is indicated that:

the decoding of the demodulated signal is successful, and/or

one or more decoder metrics of the decoding are in a predetermined range, and/or

at least one of a signal to interference and noise ratio and a signal to noise ratio of the demodulated signal exceeds a respective predetermined threshold.

18. A method according to claim 17 , further comprising performing a cyclic redundancy check of the decoded signal, and indicating that the decoding is successful if the cyclic redundancy check does not result in an error.

19. A method according to claim 11 , wherein the pre-processing comprises at least one of:

using the feedback as a reference signal for estimating a channel of the received signal;

using the feedback in subtracting an estimated inter-symbol-interference from the received signal;

using the feedback in subtracting inter-layer-interference;

using the feedback in subtracting inter-stream-interference; and

using the feedback in estimating a noise covariance.

20. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon, the computer readable instructions being executable by a computerized device to cause the computerized device to perform, repeatedly:

pre-processing a received signal using feedback to obtain a pre-processed signal, wherein the feedback is based on a previous signal and the previous signal is received prior to the received signal;

evaluating at least one of a quality of a demodulated signal and a quality of a decoded signal, wherein the demodulated signal is obtained from the pre-processed signal by demodulating, and the decoded signal is obtained by decoding the demodulated signal;

deciding if the respective at least one of the quality of the demodulated signal and the quality of the decoded signal is sufficient;

selecting neither or one of the demodulated signal and the decoded signal as a selected signal based on the at least one of the quality of the demodulated signal and the quality of the decoded signal for which it is decided whether or not the quality is sufficient; and

updating the feedback based on the selected signal.

Assignments (11)