Data slicer circuit, demodulation stage, receiving system and method for demodulating shift key coded signals

1. A Data slicer circuit for processing a voltage signal input having two voltage values, each value representative of a value assigned to one characteristic of a modulated baseband carrier signal corresponding to a binary one or zero bit of information, the data slicer comprising

first means for detecting a rising transition segment of the voltage signal,

first means for detecting a falling transition segment of the voltage signal, and

means for providing a first serial digital signal output with a binary zero value if a rising transition segment of the voltage signal is detected or a binary one value if a falling transition segment of the voltage signal is detected or vice versa,

wherein the first means for detecting the rising transition segment of the voltage signal provides a rising transition detection indication during a first time interval less than one bit period,

wherein the first means for detecting the falling transition segment of the voltage signal provides a falling transition detection indication during a second time interval less than one bit period,

wherein the means for providing a first serial digital signal output comprises a means for analyzing the rising and falling transition detection indications and providing said first serial digital signal output according to the rising and falling transition detection indications.

2. The data slicer circuit of claim 1 further comprising voltage signal amplifying means prior to the first means for detecting the rising and falling transition segments of the voltage signal.

3. The data slicer circuit of claim 1 , wherein the first means for detecting the rising transition segment and the first means for detecting the falling transition segment provides the rising transition detection indication and the falling transition detection indication independently of an absolute value of the voltage signal.

4. The data slicer circuit of claim 1 , wherein the means for providing the first serial digital signal output provides the first serial digital signal output without needing a data preamble.

5. The data slicer circuit of claim 1 , wherein the first means for detecting the rising transition segment and the first means for detecting the falling transition segment provides the rising transition detection indication and the falling transition detection indication independently of an average value of the voltage signal.

6. A Data slicer circuit for processing a voltage signal input having two voltage values, each value representative of a value assigned to one characteristic of a modulated baseband carrier signal corresponding to a binary one or zero bit of information, the data slicer comprising:

first means for detecting a rising transition segment of the voltage signal,

first means for detecting a falling transition segment of the voltage signal, and

means for providing a first serial digital signal output with a binary zero value if a rising transition segment of the voltage signal is detected or a binary one value if a falling transition segment of the voltage signal is detected or vice versa,

second means for detecting the rising transition segment of the voltage signal and providing a second rising transition detection indication during a third time interval greater than a maximum serial data transfer unit period,

means for comparing a modulated baseband carrier signal strength indication with a predetermined threshold value and providing an indication corresponding to the result of said comparison,

means for receiving said second rising transition detection indication and said signal strength comparison indication and providing a blocking or transfer signal output indication according to said input indications, and means for receiving the first serial digital signal output and the blocking or transfer signal output indication and providing a second serial digital signal output which is the first serial digital signal output when the blocking or transfer signal output indication indicates transfer and which is a fixed logical value when the blocking or transfer signal output indication indicates blocking.

7. The data slicer circuit of claim 6 , wherein the indication indicates whether a signal is present for demodulation according to the comparison.

8. Demodulation stage for shift-keyed coded signals comprising

a discriminator which provides a voltage signal having two voltage values, each value representative of a value assigned to one characteristic of a modulated baseband carrier signal corresponding to a binary one or zero, and

a data slicer circuit according to claim 1 .

9. A demodulation stage for shift-keyed coded signals comprising

a discriminator which provides a voltage signal having two voltage values each value representative of a value assigned to one characteristic of a modulated baseband carrier signal corresponding to a binary one or zero, and further comprising

a power detector circuit which provides a modulated baseband carrier signal strength indication, and

a data slicer circuit according to claim 6 .

10. A Receiving system for shift keying coded signals comprising the demodulation stage according to claim 8 .

11. A Method for demodulating shift keyed coded signals, comprising:

providing a voltage signal having two voltage values, each value representative of a value assigned to one characteristic of a modulated baseband carrier signal corresponding to a binary one or zero bit of information,

detecting a rising transition segment of the voltage signal,

detecting a falling transition segment of the voltage signal,

providing a first serial digital signal output with a binary zero value if the rising transition segment of the voltage signal is detected or a binary one value if the falling transition segment of the voltage signal is detected or vice versa,

providing a modulated baseband carrier signal strength indication,

detecting the rising transition segment of the voltage signal and providing a rising transition detection indication during a time interval greater than a maximum serial data transfer unit period,

comparing a modulated baseband carrier signal strength indication with a predetermined threshold value and providing an indication corresponding to the result of said comparison,

analyzing the rising transition detection indication during said time interval and said signal strength comparison indication and providing a blocking or transfer signal output indication according to said input indications, and

receiving the first serial digital signal output and the blocking or transfer signal output indication and providing a second serial digital signal output which is the first serial digital signal output when the blocking or transfer signal output indication indicates transfer and which is a fixed logical value when the blocking or transfer signal output indication indicates blocking.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of amplifying the voltage signal prior to the detection of the rising and falling transition segments of said signal.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein detecting the rising transition segment of the voltage signal includes providing a rising transition detection indication during a first time interval less than one bit period,

wherein detecting the falling transition segment of the voltage signal includes providing a falling transition detection indication during a second time interval less than one bit period.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein detecting the rising transition segment and detecting the falling transition segment includes providing the rising transition detection indication and the falling transition detection indication independently of an absolute value of the voltage signal.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first serial digital signal output is provided without a data preamble.

16. The data slicer circuit of claim 13 , wherein detecting the rising transition segment and detecting the falling transition segment provides the rising transition detection indication and the falling transition detection indication independently of an average value of the voltage signal.