Digital Communications Software Control System

A listing of computer programs referenced in the specification is incorporated as an Appendix of this application.

The present invention relates to a communication system, and more particularly, to a software controlled frequency hopping digital communication system.

Although digital communication systems have been available in the prior art for some time, the same have been subject to limitations in cost and complexity primarily due to the requirement for detailed hardware for providing information correlation. In such systems, wherein information is converted into a digital format, transmitted and decoded from the digital format to reconstruct the original information, complex hardware has been necessary to correlate the received digital data, especially in frequency hopping systems. Because of the increased cost and complexity of such hardware correlation techniques, digital systems have not been widely utilized in all areas of communication systems. Particularly in frequency hopping systems, the complexity of the system increases greatly as the speed of transmission and number of frequencies used is increased. Accordingly, there has been a need to develop digital systems which can be constructed at lower cost and with less complexity but are capable of improving the performance and reliability of communication in a variety of environments.

With the advent of computer control and, more importantly, the development of microprocessors for performing many of those functions previously performed with only large main-frame computers, there has been an increasing trend to incorporate microprocessor control in digital communication systems. In such instances, the emphasis on software control becomes more important, thereby resulting in continuing emphasis of performing hardware functions with software instructions. Use of software to achieve such control has the benefit of not only reducing the amount of hardware that may be necessary, but also of allowing the equipment to be modified for a variety of purposes, simply by changing the software routines. It will thus be appreciated that reliable hardware configurations compatible with software control are necessary in the search for more simplified and reliable communication systems.

In frequency hopping systems in particular, there are a plurality of functions that are otherwise unnecessary in fixed-frequency communication systems which take the system configuration even more difficult to implement under software control. In particular, frequency hopping systems require internal time synchronization with other user units in a network having multiple users and must also acquire the necessary information capable of receiving and decoding information from a transmitting system to enable a receiver to hop with the frequencies of that transmitting system. While many of the techniques used to enter such data into a communication system are conventional (e.g., PROM entry of frequency hopping pattern based upon user codes and internal time), there are still various functions which must be achieved to enable efficient software control.

In particular, a receiver must have the ability to efficiently acquire synchronization and tracking of a transmitted signal so that the receiver may frequency hop with a transmitting system. Likewise, a user must generate the appropriate codes and frequency hopping pattern consistent with that which can be understood by other users in transmitting in a frequency hopping mode. This means that the user must be able to receive a synchronization preamble in a conventionally coded data fomat transmitted in a frequency hopping system and thereafter decode that data to maintain synchronization and frequency hop with the transmitter. The system must also buffer continuous data from user input prior to its transmission at one frequency rate and thereafter transmit at a higher frequency rate to accommodate the synchronization and other codes that must be added to any message data generated by the user. All of these requirements result in a highly complex system that must meet a variety of user and system criteria.

Accordingly, the present invention has been developed to overcome the specific shortcomings of the above known and similar techniques and to provide an improved software controlled communication system specifically for use in frequency hopping systems.

In accordance with the present invention, the digital communication system disclosed herein has a configuration which allows efficient software control with a conventional microprocessor. The system is implemented by using a universal synchronous/asynchronous receiver/transmitter (USART) in connection with a bit sync tracking circuit, which are both under the control of a microprocessor to enable synchronization and tracking of frequency hopping data as well as synthesis and transmission of frequency hopping data in such a manner that efficient operation of data transmission and synchronization with a user system can be achieved under software control. The USART is coupled under software control to act as an input/output device by multiplexing so that it can be receive both user data at one frequency rate and convert that data for transmission at another frequency rate as frame/burst data typical of frequency hopping systems. The bit sync (synchronization) tracking circuit provides a check for bit sync in an incoming transmission, the presence of which is transmitted to the USART for a determination of character sync. Thereafter, if character sync is not achieved, the software in the microprocessor resets the bit sync tracking circuit to indicate that there was a false sync to allow search for a new bit sync. Once bit sync and character synchronization has been indicated by the bit tracking circuitry and the USART, the bit sync tracking circuit acts to maintain synchronization for receipt of the incoming message.

It is therefore a feature of the invention to provide an improved communication system configuration using a USART under software control.

It is a further feature of the invention to provide a communication system having a bit synchronization tracking circuit cooperating with a USART under microprocessor control to acquire synchronization in a frequency hopping mode.

It is a still further feature of the invention to provide for data receipt and output under the control of a USART at different data rates for user and frame/burst data.

Yet a further feature of the invention to provide synthesizer control in conjunction with the USART under the control of the microprocessor to insure the modulation and demodulation at the appropriate frequency hopping frequencies of a given network.

These and other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the configuration of the communication system in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the bit sync tracking circuitry of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. 1, wherein like numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout, there is shown a schematic block diagram of the configuration of the communication system in accordance with the present invention. The system is represented to show a digitally implemented transmission and receiving system under microprocessor control in accordance with the present invention and will be described in connection with its frequency hopping mode of operation. It should be appreciated, however, that the software control of the microprocessor described herein can be modified to include other modes of operation. The detailed operation of the microprocessor as controlled by the programming is set forth in the attached Appendix A which lists the program capable of controlling the microprocessor in connection with a USART and bit sync tracking circuitry to achieve the objectives described herein.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system in accordance with the present invention includes a typical antenna 12 which receives and transmits data on a carrier frequency that has been modulated in a digital format. The received digital message on the carrier is coupled to a conventional synthesizer/modulator-demodulator 14 which is tuned to transmit and impose the appropriate digital modulation on a synthesized carrier in the transmitting mode and to receive and demodulate the digital information in a receive mode. The output from 14 is coupled to a conventional universal synchronous/asynchronous receiver-transmitter (USART) 16 and also as input to a bit sync-tracking circuit 24 as will subsequently be described. An output from the bit sync-tracking circuitry is provided to the USART 16 to enable transfer of the incoming message. A microprocessor 18 has an output coupled to the bit sync tracking circuitry to reset that tracking circuitry if character sync is not recognized in the USART 16 following bit sync identified by tracking circuit 24. The microprocessor 18 is coupled over a conventional bus 26 to provide required communication with the USART 16 as well as a synthesizer interface 22. Synthsizer interface 22 is likewise coupled to the synthesizer 14 so that the synthesizer can be set and controlled to provide the frequencies in the frequency hopping pattern for both transmission and reception of ditigal information. The input and output of message information is initiated and received by user data input/output device 20 which communicates user data to the USART 16 and receives demodulated data from the same USART 16. By way of example, the user data input is usually a conventional microphone or speaker together with a continuously variable scope detector (CVSD) which converts the voice data to digital format for use by the USART for the subsequent digital data transmission. Such structures are old and well-known in the art for use with the USART 16 and will therefore not be described in any greater detail. However, it should be understood that the input/output device 20 could just as well be any device capable of generating data or other information which is to be transmitted and for providing an output of received data for the user.

The microprocessor 18 may be of conventional construction and in an exemplary embodiment has been implemented as a National Semiconductor Corporation NSC-800 microprocessor. The control of the microprocessor is implemented by the program detailed in Appendix A, incorporated herein by reference, to produce the data correlation, transmission, frequency hopping and synchronization techniques set forth herein. The program is written in assembler language for the NSC-800 to provide those outputs signals for the USART 16, synthesizer interface 22 and bit sync-tracking circuit 24 to enable the frequency hopping operation and synchronization.

The bit sync-tracking circuit 24 is detailed more particularly in FIG. 2 and includes the specific structure set forth in detail therein. The inputs identified in the detailed diagram of FIG. 2 can be correlated with those same inputs from the microprocessor identified in the detailed program of Appendix A, with the outputs indicating bit sync-tracking being provided to the USART for further character synchronization recognition. The USART in turn transmits the appropriate signals to the microprocessor to correlate the control with the identified program for receipt of the digital information once synchronization has been acquired and for reacquiring synchronization if the same is lost during message transmission. In this regard, the data format described in the co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 613,659, by Roger A. Pyatt, Ivan E. Hardt and Cynthia A. Bonebright, entitled "Automatic Resynchronization Technique," filed on even date herewith and assigned to the same assignee, which application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, can be used in the present system. This data format allows improved synchronization and resynchronization under microprocessor control for the reasons as described in detail in the aforementioned co-pending application.

While the specific functions of the bit sync tracking circuit are considered evident from the detailed circuit diagram, a brief explanation of the inputs and outputs will explain the overall function of the circuit. More particularly, the data being received is provided as input to terminal R.times.DATA and through a multiplexer which is controlled to be in the position shown during reception. The output R.times.D provides that data to the USART. The T/R input is microprocessor controlled to place the multiplexer contact between transmit and receive positions. Since the bit sync tracking circuit is being described with respect to its operation in connection with a receiver, only those details necessary for an understanding of the receive function will be explained.

The inputs 16.times.RTCLK and 4.times.RTCLK are clock inputs to control clocking time of the logic and represent inputs of 16 and 4 times the clocking rate of the real time clock, respectively. The SEARCHST is a microprocessor-controlled signal used to initiate the start cycle for sync detection and acts to reset the circuit to initiate sync search. The CLK is a hardware-implemented clocking signal while the PAGE, R.times.BLANKING and PRE signals are hardware and microprocessor signals used to initiate transmission mode operation and are otherwise unnecessary for an understanding of the present receive mode of operation.

The output R.times.C is the USART control which indicates bit sync and signals the USART to receive the input data once the bit sync has been recognized by the tracking circuitry. In operation, any loss of sync will be recognized by the tracking circuitry through the output BSYNC which is detected by the microprocessor, thereby returning the system operation to a search-for-sync mode of operation. The input terminals designated with an x in FIG. 2 are tied to 5 volts for operation as described herein.

With the above configuration of FIGS. 1 and 2, the digital data transmission system in a frequency hopping environment has been significantly simplified by reducing the complexity of the hardware necessary to receive and correlate the transmitted data. The operation of the system in accordance with the progarm of Appendix A substantially reduces the need for hardware to identify synchronization and tracking of a received signal and thereby results in improved reliability, less cost, and more versatile operation. In order to understand the control of the USART and bit sync-tracking circuitry by the microprocessor, the operation of the system under program control provided by the software of Appendix A will now be described with respect to the functions performed by coupling through the bus structure 26 and to the tracking circuit 24 as shown in FIG. 1.

As in conventional systems, the communication system of the present invention may include a front panel with switches and indicators indicating the status and controlling the modes of the system. Such controls and outputs will be dependent upon the specific user requirements of the system and accordingly will not be described in detail herein, since the same are not critical to an understanding of the control exercised by the software of Appendix A. As in conventional systems, the synthesizer 14 is provided the frequency information as developed by the microprocessor 18, through the synthesizer interface 22. This information allows the synthesizer to hop at the appropriate frequencies for transmitting the digital information on the appropriate carrier.

In connection with the synthesizer, the microprocessor must receive information common to all users of the system from which the pseudorandom code which controls frequency hopping can be developed. This information is conventionally obtained by loading a RAM in the microprocessor with certain user ID data and other coded information to enable the microprocessor to subsequently develop the pseudorandom frequency hopping frequencies. Again, such load and fill is conventional in the art and is unnecessary for a further understanding of the operation of the system, it being sufficient to understand that the fill is necessary to enable the proper pseudorandom frequency hopping scheme to be developed for both transmitting and receiving digital data on the network.

As in conventional systems, there may be a variety of hardware faults which can be monitored by the microprocessor, including antenna fault, power amplifier fault, loss of synchronization, etc. These faults may be identified in a variety of ways by indicators or otherwise, or used to control certain modes of operation of the system once that fault has occurred.

As was previously noted, the USART inputs and outputs all data flowing through the communication system and makes it accessible to the microprocessor on a byte basis. The microprocessor receives interrupts from the USART in a conventional fashion to enable the flow of data between microprocessor and USART. In a specific embodiment, the microprocessor receives two interrupts from the USART, namely the RXRDY interrupt which indicates that the USART receives buffer in full and the microprocessor must retrieve a byte of that received data. The other interrupt is the TXRDY which indicates that the USART transmit buffer is empty and the microprocessor must provide an output of a byte of data to be transmitted to the USART. The USART thus handles the data to be received and transmitted and also detects a sync character which alerts the microprocessor to a possible incoming sync frame while defining the byte boundaries for the incoming data. The USART also functions in the present configuration to act as an input-output device between the users and transmitted data. In this regard, the user data must be provided at a constant rate while the receive/transmit data is provided for input and output in bursts. Furthermore, the USART must buffer paging and resynchronization data so that none is lost during transmission. Typically, the user data from input 20 may be transmitted serially via the USART at 16 kilobits per second while the frame data or transmit bursts are provided at a rate of 20 kilobits per seconds.

Within the microprocessor circuits is a real-time clock which stores and keeps track of current time as is necessary for maintaining synchronization of the internal times for users on the network. The microprocessor loads and initiates the real-time clock when time is loaded into the system from a front panel or a network command station in a conventional manner. The real-time clock will normally be powered by a back-up battery when the system is turned off so that the real-time will be maintained for subsequent sychronization even during periods of system inoperation. As with the USART 16 and synthesizer interface 22, the microprocessor may access the real-time clock conventionally through the data bus.

In operation, the system may operate in a frequency hopping mode wherein the receiver/transmitter hops at a predetermined rate of frequency changes per second. Each frequency period, defined as a frame, is that time period during which one of the hopping frequencies is employed. Each frame may be divided into a plurality of time slots or bits, in the present instance 192 time slots or bits. The first time slot allows the power amplifier to power up and down while time slots 2-31 give the receiver/transmitter time to set to a new frequency. Slot 32 allows the power amplifier time to power up while slots 33-192 contain 20 bytes of digital data. During reception, the slots 33-192 containing the 20 bytes of digitial data are the only slots looked at.

In order to initiate the hop mode, the microprocessor must select a channel or network identifier which provides a frequency plan and a variable for use in calculating the pseudorandom code necessary to develop the proper frequency hopping for all users. This network identifier is usually provided as input by the operator to the microprocessor as was the fill of frequency data to the RAM. As with conventional systems, the present system under microprocessor control is capable of receiving the entry of time from the front panel to synchronize the real-time clock or to receive the transmission of real time from a reference in the user network to establish internal time. In either event, the synchronization of internal time is necessary to enable the proper acquisition of message synchronization by the receiver during frequency hopping operation.

Turning now to the system initiation, the initialization of a frequency hop mode requires multiple functions performed by the programming of the microprocessor in accordance with that network identification and frequency information filled into the microprocessor. By way of example, the microprocessor calculates a page frequency and stores that frequency and constructs a multiple frequency table in accordance with the frequency hopping mode. In particular, by use of the network identification, a portion of the frequency information contained in the ROM/RAM fill is used to build a table of valid hopping frequencies in the microprocessor for that particular network.

As will be appreciated, the fill can be a factory fill programmed into the ROMs of the microprocessor, or a RAM located fill supplied by a portable fill gun. Once the frequency table has been built in this manner, the network identification is then used to generate an internal pseudorandom key to ultimately obtain the code necessary to control the pseudorandom number (PN) generator. The pseudorandom number generator has an output which is dependent on the data provided as input which data is provided as the frame time. Since the output of the PN generator is used to determine the hopping frequency, it will be apparent that the hopping frequency is a function of time. The frame time is calculated by reading the real-time clock and figuring a frame count to the nearest millisecond. Once the frame time has been calculated, the system may be operated in three basic modes identified as transmit, sync search, and receive. In accordance with the present programming, the receive mode can only be entered after synchronization has been achieved during the sync search mode.

Turning first to the transmit mode, the same may be entered by keying on a conventional microphone which causes the microprocessor through the USART to generate the requisite preamble before any data can be transmitted. In the present system, for example, six sync frames, a dummy frame and a start-of-message (SOM) frame are transmitted so that receivers in the network using the frequency hopping mode can achieve synchronization and hop simultaneously with the transmitter. Accordingly, immediately upon depression of a conventional push-to-talk button, the transmitter will be blanked for a predetermined number of frames so that the microprocessor can determine what synchronization frequency the first sync frame should be transmitted on and to load that frequency into the synthesizer. By way of example, each sync frame consists of six bytes for bit sync, seven bytes for character sync, one byte for character identification within the frame and six bytes of time information. The six bytes of time information are transmitted as two bytes sent three times. Each two time byte consists of the twelve least significant bits of a current frame time plus four bits of error correction information.

The sync frame is transmitted in accordance with the detailed program in such a manner that synchronization can be acquired if any two users have frame times that are within approximately ten seconds of one another. Following the sync frames, the transmitter begins hopping on the frequencies that correspond to its current frame time. Accordingly, the SOM frame is transmitted which consists of, for example, thirteen bytes of the SOM character and seven bytes of a command word. The SOM frame is an essential guard against false synchronization and, in effect, is a double check on the synchronization frame which verifies that the sync frame was received and that the bytes in the sync frame were interpretted correctly. Additionally, the SOM character identifies the last frame before data and where the command word will be found. The command word may be used to identify the origin of the message and the type of transmission as either a voice or data transmission. Thereafter, the transmission of user data occurs at the rate of twenty bytes per frame which continues until the system is unkeyed. At that time, eight frames of end-of-message (EOM) information are transmitted to identify to a receiver that the message has terminated.

As will be appreciated, in the transmit mode, all timing revolves around the internal frame mark. The internal frame mark causes the output of a new frequency to the synthesizer in accordance with the frequency hopping scheme, increments the frame time, controls the pseudorandom number generator, calculates the next hopping frequency, and determines resync/page frames as detailed below.

The resync/page frames are used to acquire resynchronization in accordance with the data format described in connection with the aforementioned co-pending application. Thus, the format is typically such that there is a transmission of twenty-four normal data frames and one resync/page frame. As will be understood, normal user data cannot be provided as output during page frames, so those frames must be inserted at predictable places in the pseudo-random number sequence so that a transmitter and receiver both know when they will occur. Since the only variable input to the pseudorandom number generator is the frame time, the resync/page frames are inserted based on a reference to a frame time of zero. When the frame time is calculated from the real-time clock, it is divided by twenty-five and the remainder is used as the page/frame position counter. In the transmit mode, these frames are used to provide an output of the sync and SOM frames in a effort to allow receivers to achieve synchronization that may have missed initial synchronization. For this purpose, four resync frames, one after each twenty-four frames of normal data, are used to define a complete resynchronization cycle. A receiver therefore has multiple chances to obtain resynchronization during message transmission. The four frames necessary to define the resynchronization include the first three sychronization frames described previously and the SOM frame.

In the synchronization search mode, in which the system spends most of its time searching to achieve synchronization with a transmitter, the system is looking to receive a synchronization frame. If the system does not obtain synchronization on a sync frame, it cannot receive a message. Thus, the system searches for the sync frame by listening to a frequency on which it expects to achieve synchronization. When the synchronization search mode is entered, the software causes the bit sync-tracking circuitry 24 to be reset and also loads the USART with a proper sync character for determining character sync. Additionally, in the sync search mode, a bit sync line (BYSNC) from the bit sync/tracking circuit 24 is monitored and if bit sync is identified for two consecutive frame marks in the USART, but a sync character has not been detected during that time, the microprocessor 18 resets the sync circuitry 24 and the USART 16.

As was noted above, the sync/page frame is transmitted as the twenty-fifth frame (after twenty-four frames of user data). Accordingly, in the synchronization search mode, the paging is observed every twenty-four frames as opposed to the twenty-five frames characteristic of the transmit and the receive mode to be described. This is necessary in order to insure that a potential receive in synchronization search would not always page at the same time that a transmitter was outputing a resynchronization frame. If such were to occur, both transmitter and receiver would be in phase and never be able to receive each other's resynchronization frames.

Turning now to the receive mode, the microprocessor is signaled that the system is receiving a synchronization frame when it gets an RXRDY signal from the USART as was previously described. The RXRDY occurs because a sync character following detection of bit sync through circuit 24, has been detected by the USART. The data byte retrieved from the USART by the microprocessor at this time contains the next eight bits immediately following the detected sync character. The microprocessor must then detect another sync character and the identification byte previously described within seven bytes or the microprocessor will abort the receive by signaling the bit sync circuit 24 and the USART 16 to be reset (SEARCHST). If, however, a sync character is detected along with the identification byte within seven bytes, then the microprocessor will begin its control for reception of the message. The microprocessor determines the transmitter's frame time and stores that frame time so that a receive frame mark in the system can use the transmitter's time to determine the hopping frequency for the synthesizer. At this point, the system searches for the start-of-message frame and must detect three of the start-of-message characters contained in the SOM frame. Additionally, the SOM frame must be detected within a predetermined number of frames for initial synchronization, and within another predetermined number of frames of resynchronization. If the start-of-message is not found within the appropriate limits, reception is again terminated and the system reverts to a search for synchronization mode.

If a start-of-message frame is properly received, the data frames following the start-of-message frame are received, and the data bytes are scanned for end-of-message character. During receipt of the data frames, the information is buffered by the USART in the manner previously indicated to provide continuous output at the desired rate for the user input/output device 20.

As will be seen from the above description, the system configuration shown in FIG. 1 utilizing the USART 16, bit sync tracking circuit 24 and microprocessor 18 enables the implementation of software control which provides an improved frequency hopping system. The USART under microprocessor control provides a plurality of functions enabling data storage and buffering and recognition of message synchronization without the requirement for complex hardware correlation as has been prevalent in the prior art. The configuration thus provides a unique implementation of digital control for state-of-the-art communication systems which may be modified by changes to the software without substantial cost or reduction in reliability. The noted configuration therefore provides improved performance and versatility for enabling improved communications in diverse environments.

Obviously, many other modifications and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. ##SPC1## ##SPC2## ##SPC3## ##SPC4## ##SPC5## ##SPC6## ##SPC7## ##SPC8## ##SPC9## ##SPC10## ##SPC11## ##SPC12## ##SPC13## ##SPC14## ##SPC15## ##SPC16## ##SPC17## ##SPC18## ##SPC19##