The method and apparatus of antenna diversity is provided in the portable radiotelephone
The background of invention I. invention field
The present invention relates to communication system, particularly comprise the wireless communication system of cell phone, dedicated communication service (PCS), Wireless Private Branch eXchanger (PBX) and wireless local loop telephone system.The invention particularly relates to the new improved distributed antenna system that is used for honeycomb and microcellulor communication system, receive in order in ground environment, to carry out reliable signal.II. description of related art
Adopting code division multiple access (CDMA) modulation technique is to be convenient to have a kind of in several technology of a large amount of system users communications.Multi-address communication system technology wherein, as: frequency hopping spread spectrum, time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and amplitude modulation(PAM) (AM) scheme (as amplitude companded single sideband (ACSSB)), know in the art.Yet CDMA spread spectrum modulation technique is come compared with these modulation techniques of multi-address communication system, has tangible advantage.In multi-address communication system, adopt CDMA technology to see to transfer the assignee of the present invention, title is the United States Patent (USP) 4,901,307 of " adopting the spread spectrum multiple access antenna system of satellite or land-based repeaters ", this patent is for reference in this citation.
In above-mentioned patent, in the multiple access technology that is disclosed, a large amount of mobile telephone system users adopt code division multiple access (CDMA) spread spectrum signal of communication via satellite transponder or ground base station (be called cell site, station, district, or the sub-district of abbreviation) communicate, each user has a transceiver.Adopt the CDMA modulation technique, frequency spectrum can be reused repeatedly, thereby system user capacity is increased.Adopt the CDMA modulation technique to make and to obtain much higher spectrum efficiency compared with the multiple access technology that adopts other.
The signal fadeout that terrestrial channel stands is declined by Rayleigh and characterizes.Rayleigh decline feature in the terrestrial channel signal is to cause because of the signal of being launched from many different physical environment features.As a result, signal arrives mobile unit receiver from many directions, has different transmission delays.Usually as in hyperfrequency (UHF) frequency band of mobile radio telecommunications (comprising those cellular mobile telephone systems), can be along occurring tangible phase difference in the signal of different propagated.Harmful addition of signal may occur, deep fading once in a while occur.
The terrestrial channel decline is the very strong function that depends on the mobile unit physical location.The slight variation of position of mobile unit can change the physical delay of all signal propagation path, and this causes the difference of each path phase again.So mobile unit causes very fast decline process by the mobile meeting of this environment.For example, in the cellular radio band of 850MHz, this decline usually can be near every mile car speed per hour, decline of per second.Serious like this decline is extremely harmful for the channel in the terrestrial channel, can cause the communication quality of difference.The fading problem at mobile unit place also can be aggravated owing to user's head or hand potato masher antenna figure and gain.
United States Patent (USP) 4,901, the direct sequence spread spectrum CDMA modulation technique that discloses in 307 has many advantages compared with the narrowband modulation technology of using in the antenna system that adopts satellite or land-based repeaters.Terrestrial channel particularly to multipath signal, has proposed special problem to any one antenna system.Adopt CDMA technology by reducing multipath negative interaction (for example decline) and utilize its advantage to overcome these special problems of terrestrial channel simultaneously.
In the CDMA antenna system, same wideband frequency channel can be used for by all base stations communicating.Usually, a frequency band as from the base station to the remote terminal or the communication of mobile radio station (forward link) and another frequency band as during the communication of (back is to link), using frequency-divided scheme to the base station from remote terminal or mobile radio station.Provide the CDMA waveform characteristic of processing gain also to be used for differentiating the signal that takies identical frequency band.In addition, high speed pseudorandom (PN) modulation makes many different propagation paths be separated, and makes the difference in path delay surpass the duration of PN sheet unit, that is, and and 1/ bandwidth.If in cdma system, adopt the PN sheet unit speed of approximate 1MHz, so, equal spread bandwidth and can be used for differentiating the different paths of mutual path delay above 1 microsecond with the full rate frequency spectrum processing gain of the ratio of system data rates.1 microsecond path delay difference corresponding to approximate 1,000 foot path distance difference.Difference in path delay in the environment of rural area surpasses 1 microsecond usually, and some place also has the nearly report of 10-20 microsecond.
In the simulation FM modulation that narrowband modulation system such as traditional telephone system adopt, the existence of multipath causes serious multipath fading.Yet, adopt the wideband CDMA modulation, can in demodulating process, differentiate different paths.This discriminating has reduced the seriousness of multipath fading greatly.Because for particular system, have the path that has less than PN sheet unit duration delay variance once in a while, so decline is not estimated with the CDMA authentication technique entirely.Signal with path delay of this order of magnitude can't differentiate in demodulator, thereby causes decline to a certain degree.
So requirement provides the diversity of certain form in these communication systems, the system that makes can reduce decline.Diversity is a kind of method of slowing down the adverse effect of decline.The diversity that three kinds of main types are arranged: time diversity, frequency diversity and space diversity.
Time diversity is preferably by adopting repetition, time interleaving and error detection and being that a kind of correction coding of repetitive mode obtains.By on wide bandwidth signal energy being expanded, the CDMA with broadband signal inward nature provides a kind of frequency diversity of form.So frequency selects decline only to influence a fraction of CDMA signal bandwidth.Link when travelling to and fro between a mobile subscriber by two or more base stations provides the multipath signal path can obtain space diversity or path diversity.In addition, make the signal that has different propagation delays and arrive separately to receive and to handle, handle by spread spectrum and utilize multi-path environment, can obtain path diversity.District station adopt the cdma communication system of above-mentioned each type diversity to see to transfer the assignee of the present invention, title is the United States Patent (USP) 5 of " CDMA microcellulor telephone system and be used for the distributed antenna system of this telephone system ", 280,472, this patent is for reference in this citation.In above-mentioned patent, diversity realizes that by wherein having a plurality of receivers " Rake " receiver structure each receiver can receive through different propagated thereby have the different signals that postpone.
A kind of mode that realizes diversity is as United States Patent (USP) 5,280, the such antenna that adopts common configuration described in 472.In above-mentioned patent, disclosed a kind of communication system, this communication system adopts common configuration antenna that diversity is provided in cell base station.Its a kind of mode is that antenna is placed at intervals.The distance of distance should make two antennas cover the zone of identical size basically, and its spacing is enough to provide independently decline.But,, thereby dispose antenna jointly and can lean on too closely and suitable independence that the decline feature can't only be provided according to physical separation because the volume of mobile unit is quite little.A kind of better approach that realizes receive diversity in mobile unit is to make one group of each antenna that disposes jointly in the antenna have different polarization, as longitudinal polarization and cross-polarization.
The standard ground environment comprises many objects of the reflecting surface with many different angles.These objects had both comprised man-made structures, as building, also comprised nature geography characteristic, as the mountain valley.So the mobile unit in the ground environment has various signal paths and travels to and fro between the fixed antenna that is positioned at station place, district.Here, various signal paths comprise the repeatedly reflection that the object reflecting surface in the ground environment produces.According to the difference of reflection angle, each signal reflex meeting makes the polarised direction rotation of reflected signal.So, form two signal paths with out of phase feature from two signals with different polarised directions of same group of surface reflection.Because these signals have different phase properties, so these signals also have different decline features.Because this process, even the common configuration antenna with two different polarised directions is mutually very close to also in the independence with height on the downside.
The another kind of deversity scheme that uses in the above-mentioned United States Patent (USP) 5,280,472 is a path diversity.In path diversity, signal is gone out from a plurality of aerial radiations, has more than one propagation path.If two or more antennas can provide acceptable communication path to mobile unit receiver, can weaken decline by path diversity so.Similarly, can strengthen the back to link communication by path diversity.
Above-mentioned patent and patent application have disclosed a kind of new multiple access technology, and this technology adopts the code division multiple access spread spectrum modulation that can repeatedly use frequency spectrum, make that transponder and ground base station communicate a large amount of mobile unit telephone systems via satellite.The system design that produces is compared with the multiple access technology before adopting has much higher spectrum efficiency.
Summary of the invention
The present invention contains diversity aerial system in mobile unit, weaken the decline effect at mobile unit place by time, space and antenna pattern diversity are provided.This system is made up of a plurality of antennas.A plurality of antennas are made up of diversity antenna and main antenna.Main antenna and diversity antenna separate, and its orientation makes these antenna have different antenna gain figures.In first embodiment, diversity antenna is only as reception antenna, and main antenna both also was used as reception antenna as transmitting antenna.In second embodiment, main antenna and diversity antenna all transmit and receive signal.Delay circuit is coupled diversity antenna and adder, the signal plus that signal that adder receives main antenna respectively and diversity antenna receive.
Provide space diversity with main antenna signal and diversity antenna signals addition because of the spacing between two antennas.When the orientation of main antenna and diversity antenna made their figure/gain very inequality, perhaps when the antenna different poles, addition also provided the antenna pattern diversity.Before diversity signal and main signal addition, in diversity signal, introduce delay time diversity is provided, thereby can differentiate this two signals by the Rake receiver of mobile unit.
The output of adder is provided to the standard receiving circuit of CDMA mobile unit.Rake receiver becomes it to form component signal decomposition: main signal and decomposed signal.Diversity combiner and decoder then make the signal component time unifying, decipher with these signal plus and to synthetic signal.Like this, the same with other combinations of the signal that produces by a plurality of RX path, can handle main signal and diversity signal by existing mobile unit receiving circuit in identical mode.Adopt existing mobile unit receiving circuit to handle sum signal of the present invention, can avoid the extra increase of size, expense and the weight of a plurality of reception chains, and keep the advantage of the various forms of diversity that realize by diversity antenna.Adopt the present invention for existing radio frequency (RF) another shortcoming that circuit overcame of CDMA mobile unit be people can avoid because of adopt switch and a plurality of RX path of stand-alone antenna coupling between in selecting intrinsic loss.
The accompanying drawing summary
After in conjunction with the accompanying drawings the present invention having been carried out detailed description, the reader will be well understood to features, objects and advantages of the invention.Among the figure, identical label same meaning.
That Fig. 1 describes is first embodiment of diversity aerial system of the present invention.
That Fig. 2 describes is second embodiment of diversity aerial system of the present invention.
Fig. 3 describes is the CDMA mobile unit that can use with diversity aerial system of the present invention.
The detailed description of preferred embodiment
As shown in Figure 1, first embodiment adopts main antenna 100 to be used for transmission and received signal and diversity antenna 105 only to be used for receiving.Main antenna 100 and duplexer 115 couplings.Duplexer 115 will transmit and receive circuit and main antenna 100 couplings.Radiating circuit is by power amplifier 140 and duplexer 115 couplings.The reception output of duplexer 115 is by first low noise amplifier 120 and adder 135 couplings.
The signal that receives on the diversity antenna 105, and is amplified by second low noise amplifier 125 eliminating the parasitic received signal beyond the desired reception bandwidth subsequently through band pass filter 110 filtering.Delayer 130 is between low noise amplifier 125 and adder 135.Delayer 130 provides required time diversity, thereby can identify the signal that diversity antenna 105 receives from the signal that main antenna 100 receives by the Rake receiver in the receiving circuit.This point will be discussed (see figure 2) afterwards.In this preferred embodiment, this delay so that be provided for the appropriate time diversity of appropriate reception at the Rake receiver place, and can not disturbed from the large-signal of main antenna 100 reflections between the 5-10 microsecond.After delayer 130 places postponed, the signal that will receive at diversity antenna 105 places was provided to adder 135, will be at signal that receives on the diversity antenna 105 and the signal plus that receives on main antenna 100.
Adopt second embodiment of diversity antenna technology of the present invention to see shown in Figure 2 in the mobile unit.Opposite with the situation of first embodiment shown in Figure 1, except main antenna 200, second embodiment adopts diversity antenna 205, both has been used for sending signal and also has been used for received signal.Similar with the situation of first embodiment shown in Figure 1, duplexer 200 will transmit and receive circuit and all be coupled to main antenna 200.Yet in second embodiment, duplexer 220 also will transmit and receive circuit and diversity antenna 205 couplings.
Main antenna 200 is by adder 235 and duplexer 220 couplings.Diversity antenna 205 is by delayer 230 and adder 235 and duplexer 220 couplings.The same with first embodiment shown in Figure 1, delayer 230 provides time delay in the signal that diversity antenna 205 receives, required time delay is provided, thereby can from the signal that main antenna 200 receives, identifies the signal that diversity antenna 205 receives by the Rake receiver in the mobile unit receiving circuit.The signal that main antenna 200 and diversity antenna 205 receives before being input to duplexer 220 by adder 235 additions.The emission input of duplexer 220 is by the radiating circuit coupling of power amplifier 240 with mobile unit.The defeated people of the reception of duplexer 220 is by the receiving circuit coupling of low noise amplifier 250 with mobile unit.
The difference of second embodiment shown in Figure 2 and first embodiment shown in Figure 1 is that when mobile unit was launched, the signal of main signal and delayed diversity was launched by mobile unit.This second embodiment both provided time diversity that space diversity also is provided on link in the back.The cdma base station that can adopt time diversity that mobile unit provides and space diversity is with the description in the above-mentioned United States Patent (USP) 5,280,472.
In above-mentioned two embodiment, main antenna 100 and 200 and diversity antenna 105 and 205 are the antennas that separate physically, space diversity is provided in reception.Stand from the district on the forward link of mobile unit signal can main antenna 100 and 200 or diversity antenna 105 and 205 produce decline.But, since forward link on path for main antenna 100 with 200 and diversity antenna 105 and 205 be different, so two antennas in any one in the foregoing description can not in the identical time, stand the decline.In addition, diversity antenna in the foregoing description 105 and 205 polarization or can be so that the gain figure of their gain figure and main antenna 100 and 200 is very inequality to the actual orientation of mobile unit.A kind of method is along with the direction of main antenna 105 and 205 quadratures diversity antenna 105 and 205 being installed.At this moment, can reduce the polarization loss that the orientation owing to the mobile unit operating position produces.Another kind method is to adopt two kinds of dissimilar antennas, for example, and loop antenna and bar antenna.Under such a case, compare with bar antenna, loop antenna can have different antenna patterns.
Compare with the situation that does not have diversity antenna, have diversity antenna 105 and 205 in the foregoing description and make mobile unit receive the overall noise numerical value decline of chain.In addition, in second embodiment, diversity antenna 205 is used as simultaneously and transmits and receives, thereby the existence of diversity antenna 205 descends the overall emitted power of mobile unit.These factors are compromise between antenna diversity and the loss relevant with antenna in the design of mobile unit.Compromise in order to realize this, each embodiment of the present invention can be with weight respectively in each adder 135 and 235 addition of diversity signal to be different from main signal.This is useful especially in second embodiment, and diversity antenna wherein both also had been used as emission and has received.For example, if the 3dB loss in noise characteristic and transmitting power is undesirable, the signal that diversity antenna 205 receives can be able to be used the lower weight addition in adder 230 of signal that receives than main antenna 200 so.At this moment, it is possible values in theory that the diversity benefit that diversity antenna 205 provides can be lower than, but it can still provide acceptable performance.For example, be very common when mobile unit reaches zero point of 20 to 30dB deeply in the antenna pattern near the local work of user's head the time.If diversity signal is than the local addition of the low 10dB of main signal, depth zero may be limited to approximate 10dB so, and can not occur significant noise characteristic or transmitting power loss owing to the existence of diversity antenna 205.
In the above-described embodiments, by diversity signal was postponed to provide time diversity in delayer 130 and 230 before with the main signal addition in they and adder 135 and 235.Because the essence of the quadrature PN sequence of using in the CDMA waveform, this time diversity is possible.As following described, by with main signal and diversity signal separately, will their time go up alignment and subsequently they will be reconfigured, can handle adder 135 and the 235 synthetic summing signals that produce.
Should be noted that any point place of other embodiment in can the RX path before Rake receiver carries out the addition function.For example, the advantage of execution addition function is to be easier to carry out time delay at the IF place than the RF place after down-conversion (IF place).Yet,, also have relevant trade-off problem with respect to the repeat circuit in the diverse reception paths before the summing point.
Fig. 3 is a CDMA mobile unit of having described to adopt diversity antenna technology of the present invention with the form of block diagram.Receiver 304 receives the RF frequency signal and is used for amplifying and down-conversion from the RX path of above-mentioned any one embodiment.These signals also pass through filtering and digitlization, in order to be provided to digital data receiver 310A-310N and to search receiver 314.Receiver 304,310A-310N and 314 further details see transfer the assignee of the present invention, title is the United States Patent (USP) 5 of " producing the system and method for signal waveform in the cdma cellular mobile telephone system ", 103,459 and title be the United States Patent (USP) 5 of " diversity receiver in the cdma cellular telephone system ", 109,390.
Receiver 304 also has the control function of power of the transmitting power of adjusting mobile unit.Receiver 304 produces the simulated power control signal that is provided to transmission power control circuit 308.
The digitized signal of output place of analog receiver 304 contains the main signal of the foregoing description and through the diversity signal of time delay, and contains the many signals of calling out that have current base station and adjacent base station pilot transmitted carrier wave.The function of receiver 310A-310N is to make these digitized signals relevant with suitable PN sequence.This correlated process provides a kind of characteristic of " processing gain " known in the art, has improved the signal to noise ratio with the signal of suitable PN sequences match, but does not strengthen other signal.Subsequently, use from the pilot frequency carrier wave of hithermost base station as the carrier phase benchmark with the relevant output of synchronous detecting.The result of this testing process is an encoded data symbol sequence.
Be in diversity signal (comprising signal and the diversity signal through time delay of the present invention that the multipath transmission in the ground environment causes), to provide discriminating with the characteristic of PN sequence in the present invention.When signal arrived mobile receiver by the path of one or more or after passing through more than an antenna transmission in the present invention, the time of reception of signal there are differences.If should surpass the duration of a sheet unit time difference, correlated process is just differentiated between signal so.Data receiver can follow the tracks of with demodulation early or the late signal that reaches.If two or more receivers (normally three) are arranged, so can and line trace and handle many independent paths.
Searching receiver 314 is the pilot signal nominal time time domain on every side of other multipath pilot signal continuous sweep base station reception under the control of processor controls 316.Receiver 314 is measured the intensity of the desired waveform of any reception in the time beyond this nominal time.Receiver 314 is the signal strength signal intensity of received signal relatively.Receiver 314 provides signal strength signal to processor controls 316, indicates the strongest signal.Processor 316 each in data receiver 310A-310N provides control signal, to handle each the different signal in the peak signal.
Receiver 310A-310N is provided to diversity combiner and decoder circuit 318.The diversity combiner circuit that contains in the circuit 318 is adjusted to alignment with the timing of two receiving code flow filaments, and with they additions.This additive process can be undertaken by two receiving code flow filaments be multiply by the number corresponding with the relative signal intensity of two code element stream.This computing can be considered to the maximum ratio diversity combiner.Then, decipher with the signal flow that is also contained in the involutory one-tenth combination of forward error correction (FEC) in the circuit 318.Digital baseband equipment commonly used is digital vocoder system.Cdma system is designed to be suitable for various vocoder design.
Baseband circuit 320 generally includes a digital vocoder (not shown), and this numeral vocoder can be the variable bit rate type.Baseband circuit 320 also as with the interface of the ancillary equipment of mobile phone or any other type.Baseband circuit 320 also provides the output information signal according to the information that provides from circuit 318 to the user.
In mobile unit-base station link (back to link), user's analogue voice signal normally provides as the input of baseband circuit 320 by mobile phone.Baseband circuit 320 comprises mould-number (A/D) transducer (not shown) that analog signal conversion is become digital signal.Digital signal is provided to digital vocoder, encodes.Vocoder output is provided to forward error correction (FEC) coding circuit (not shown).In this preferred embodiment, the error correction coding of enforcement is a kind of traditional encoding scheme.Signal through digital coding outputs to transmit modulator 322 from baseband circuit 320.
322 pairs of transmit modulators emission data encode (being a quadrature signaling technology in this preferred embodiment) based on 64 arrays of walsh code, subsequently encoded signal is modulated on the PN carrier signal, its PN sequence is common in all mobile units, but has the different encoding phase biasing that is assigned to mobile radio station for all-calls.Another kind method is, can be according to selecting the PN sequence for this calling addresses distributed function.The PN sequence is to be determined by processor controls 316 according to base station and by the call setup information of receiver 310A-310N and processor controls 316 decodings.Processor controls 316 is provided to transmit modulator 322 and receiver 310A-310N with the PN sequence information, calls out decoding.In more detail, an outer PN sign indicating number can be used on the PN spread signal.The further details of relevant data modulation is seen above-mentioned United States Patent (USP) 5,103,459.
Transmit modulator 322 then becomes analog form with modulated conversion of signals, is modulated on the IF carrier wave.To be provided to transmission power control circuit 308 from the IF signal of transmit modulator 322 outputs.In circuit 308, the control of the simulated power control signal that provides from receiver 304 is provided power signals.Handle by data receiver 310A-310N by the control bit that is the power adjustment commands form that the base station sends, and be provided to processor controls 316.These power adjustment commands are used in power level setting in the mobile unit emission by processor controls 316.In response to these orders, processor controls 316 produces the digital power control signal, is provided to circuit 308.About the further information of receiver 310A-310N and 314, processor controls 316 and transmitting power controller 308 and the relation of power control can referring to transfer assignee of the present invention, title is the United States Patent (USP) 5 of " method and apparatus of the transmitting power in the control cdma cellular mobile telephone system ", 056,109.Transmission power control circuit 308 outputs to emission power amplifier circuit 140 of the present invention and 240 with power-controlled modulation signal.
Above the description of preferred embodiment makes those skilled in the art can use the present invention.Clearly, can also carry out various modifications to these embodiment, its basic principle can be applied to other embodiment under the help of not inventing the professional.So the present invention is not limited only to the foregoing description, maximum protection scope of the present invention should be as the criterion with principle and the new feature that is disclosed.