Enhanced channel estimation

[0002] The invention relates to OFDM data transmission systems.

[0003] OFDM is a spread spectrum technology wherein the available transmission channel bandwidth is subdivided into a number of discrete channels or carriers that are overlapping and orthogonal to each other. Data are transmitted in the form of symbols that have a predetermined duration and encompass some number of carrier frequencies. The data transmitted over these OFDM symbol carriers may be encoded and modulated in amplitude and/or phase, using conventional schemes such as Binary Phase Shift Key (BPSK) or Quadrature Phase Shift Key (QPSK).

[0004] A well known problem in the art of OFDM data transmission systems is that of impulse noise, which can produce bursts of error on transmission channels, and delay spread, which often causes frequency selective fading. To address these problems, prior systems have utilized forward error correction (FEC) coding in conjunction with interleaving techniques. FEC coding adds parity data that enables one or more errors in a code word to be detected and corrected. Interleaving reorders the code word bits in a block of code word data prior to transmission to achieve time and frequency diversity.

[0005] Although the prior interleaving techniques can minimize some of the effects of impulse noise and delay spread on OFDM data transmission, they cannot mitigate the impact of a combination of impulse noise and frequency nulls, which may result in lengthy noise events.

[0006] The present invention features a channel estimation scheme for identifying usable carriers for a particular modulation type, and selecting, if possible, a modulation type for modulation of OFDM symbols in a standard transmission mode based on channel conditions associated with a data transmission received by a receiving network node over a data channel from a transmitting network node. The identified carriers and modulation type are made available to the transmitting network node for use in a next data transmission to the receiving network node over the data channel.

[0007] In one aspect of the invention, channel estimation is performed for an OFDM symbol block received by a receiving network node over a data channel from a transmitting network node by generating for available modulation types information indicative of noise events that occurred in the OFDM symbol block and determining from the generated information which of the available modulation types (including associated FEC coding rates) is to be used by the transmitting network node for a next data transmission over the data channel to the receiving network node.

[0008] Embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features.

[0009] The information may be generated across symbols and carriers in the OFDM symbol block.

[0010] The generation of information may include computing average symbol phase noise values for each of the symbols and average carrier phase noise values for each of the carriers.

[0011] The generation of information may further include determining one or more symbol counts, each corresponding to a different impulse noise symbol threshold and providing a number of average symbol phase noise values exceeding such different impulse noise symbol threshold.

[0012] The generation of information may further include determining carrier counts for the available modulation types from the computed average carrier phase noise values, each carrier count indicative of a number of the computed average carrier phase noise values exceeding a carrier threshold corresponding to a different one of the available modulation types. Each carrier count may be further indicative of a number of carrier values exceeding a jammer detection threshold.

[0013] The generation of information may further include generating for each of the available modulation types a corresponding channel map, the channel map identifying as “good” those carriers that contributed to the carrier counts for a one of the available modulation types to which the channel map corresponds.

[0014] The generation of information may further include generating average threshold margins for each of the carrier counts to indicate the average amount by which the corresponding carrier threshold was exceeded.

[0015] The carrier and one or more symbols counts may be used to determine if one of more of the available modulation types is acceptable for use with a standard transmission mode over the channel. The carrier and one or more symbol counts may be tested against criteria specified for each of the available modulation types.

[0016] Data rates of the one or more of the available modulation types determined to be acceptable for use with the standard transmission mode over the channel are computed. The fastest of the one or more available modulation types determined to be acceptable for use with the standard transmission over the channel may be selected.

[0017] The channel map corresponding to the selected modulation type may be provided to the transmitting network node.

[0018] An alternative, second transmission mode may be selected if it is determined that any of the modulation types for the standard transmission mode may not be selected. The second transmission mode may have an associated modulation type and be capable of a more robust transmission at a lower data rate than the modulation types used in the standard transmission mode.

[0019] The associated modulation type may be the slowest of the available modulation types.

[0020] The selected modulation type may be the same for all of the carriers.

[0021] The mechanism of the invention offers several advantages. The channel estimation produces a channel map that takes into account most recent characteristics and conditions of the channel as exhibited during a data transmission from a transmitting network node to a receiving network node. It identifies a modulation type and set of carriers to be used in a next data transmission from the transmitting network node to the receiving network node on that channel. The channel estimation mechanism attempts to select the highest data rate available given the channel conditions. If the requirements of a modulation type in a standard transmission mode cannot be satisfied to ensure reliable data transmission, the mechanism selects a lower data rate, but more robust, transmission mode.

[0022] Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and from the claims.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a data network of network nodes coupled to a power line transmission channel, each of the nodes in the data network including an end station (shown as a host computer), a media access control unit, a physical layer device and a analog front end unit.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the physical layer (PHY) unit (shown in FIG. 1) which includes, among other functional units, an FEC encoder (having as internal functional blocks an RS encoder, a convolutional encoder and an interleaver) on the transmit path, transmit (Tx)/receive (Rx) configuration units, a channel maps memory and a channel estimation unit which operate collectively to configure the PHY unit for channel adaptation.

[0025] FIG. 3A is an illustration of the interleaver of FIG. 2 as written with encoded data by the convolutional encoder (also of FIG. 2).

[0026] FIG. 3B is an illustration of the interleaver as read by the modulator shown in FIG. 2.

[0027] FIG. 4 is an illustration of the arrangement of OFDM symbols stored in a single RAM of the interleaver for BPSK and QPSK modulations.

[0028] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of the transmit (Tx) variable length OFDM symbol block computation for interleaver configuration as performed by the Tx configuration unit of FIG. 2.

[0029] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of the process of determining the number of symbols to send in a last, variable size OFDM symbol.

[0030] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of the transmit (Tx) variable length OFDM symbol block computation for Reed-Solomon block size modification as performed by the Tx configuration unit of FIG. 2.

[0031] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a channel estimation unit (shown in FIG. 2), the channel estimation unit including a phase noise estimator for performing average phase noise computation for carriers and symbols in a received OFDM symbol block and a channel map generator.

[0032] FIGS. 9A and 9B is an illustration of phase noise computation for BPSK modulation and QPSK modulation, respectively.

[0033] FIG. 10 is an illustration of the accumulation portion of phase noise averaging performed across both carriers and symbols.

[0034] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a channel map generation process which uses the phase noise to identify good carriers associated with BPSK and QPSK, and to select a modulation type.

[0035] Referring to FIG. 1, a network 10 includes network nodes 12a, 12b, . . . 12kcoupled to a data transmission medium shown as a power line (PL) 14. During a communication between at least two of the network nodes 12 over the data transmission medium, a first network node (for example, 12a) serves as a transmitting network node and at least one second network node (for example, 12b) serves as a receiving network node. Each network node 12 includes an end station or device 16, e.g., a host computer (as shown), cable modem, etc. The network node 12 further includes a media access control (MAC) unit 18 connected to the end station 16 by a data interface 20, a physical layer (PHY) unit 22 connected to the MAC unit 18 by a MAC-to-PHY I/O bus 24 and an analog front-end (AFE) unit 26. The AFE unit 26 connects to the PHY unit 22 by separate AFE input lines 28aand output lines 28b, as well as connects to the power line 14 by an AFE-to-PL interface 30.

[0036] Generally, the MAC and PHY units conform to the Open System Interconnect (OSI) Model's data link layer and the physical layer, respectively. The MAC unit 18 performs data encapsulation/decapsulation, as well as media access management for transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) functions. The PHY unit 22 performs transmit encoding and receive decoding, among other functions, as described more fully below. The AFE unit 26 provides for attachment to the transmission medium, i.e., the power line 14. The MAC and AFE units may be implemented in a conventional manner and therefore will be discussed no further herein.

[0037] Referring to FIG. 2, the PHY unit 22 performs both Tx and Rx functions for a single node. To support Tx functions, the PHY unit 22 includes a scrambler 32, an FEC encoder 34, a modulator 36, a header encoder 38, a synchronization signal generator 40, an IFFT unit 42 and a post-IFFT block 44. The post-IFFT block 44 includes a raised cosine pre-limiter 46, an output buffer 48 and a peak limiter/post limiter 50. Also included are a transmit (Tx) configuration unit 52. To support Rx functions, the PHY unit 22 includes an automatic gain control (AGC) unit 54, an input buffer 56, an FFT unit 58, a channel estimation unit 60, a synchronization unit 62, a header/decoder 64, a demodulator 66, an FEC decoder 68, a descrambler 70, and receive (Rx) configuration unit 72. Included in the PHY unit 22 and shared by both the transmit and receive functions are a MAC interface 74, a PHY controller 76 and a channel maps memory 78.

[0038] During a data transmit process, data is received at the PHY-to-MAC interface (MAC interface) 74 over the PHY-to-MAC bus 24. The MAC interface provides the data to the scrambler 32, which ensures that the data as presented to the input of the FEC encoder 34 is substantially random in pattern. The FEC encoder 34 encodes the scrambled data pattern in a forward error correction code and subsequently interleaves the encoder data. Any known forward error correction code, for example, a Reed-Solomon, or, as shown, both a Reed-Solomon code and a convolution code, can be used for this purpose. The FEC encoder 34 therefore includes a Reed-Solomon (RS) encoder 80, a convolutional encoder 82 and a block interleaver 84. The Reed-Solomon encoder 80 generates a code block from the scrambler output sequence using 256,239 RS encoding. The convolutional encoder 82 receives as input the output from the RS encoder 80 and encodes that input with a standard rate equal to ½ and a constraint length of K=7. When the last bit of data has been received at the convolutional encoder 82, it inserts 6 tail bits to flush out its internal shift register. As known in the art, the convolutional encoder 82 is provided with a puncturing block for converting the convolutional encoder's output from a ½ coding rate to some other coding rate, e.g., ¾. The modulator 36 reads the FEC encoded data from the interleaver 84 and encoded header information from the header encoder 38, and modulates the encoded packet data onto carriers in OFDM symbols in accordance with conventional OFDM modulation techniques. Those modulation techniques may be coherent or differential. In the preferred embodiment, the modulation mode or type may be either Binary Phase Shift Keying with ½ rate coding (“½ BPSK”), Quadrature Phase Shift Keying with ½ rate coding (“½ QPSK”) or QPSK with ¾ rate coding (“¾ QPSK”). The IFFT unit 42 receives input from the modulator 36, the header encoder 38 and synchronization signal generator 40, and provides processed packet data to the post IFFT block 44 described above, which further processes the packet data before transferring it to the AFE unit 26 (from FIG. 1). Operational and implementation-specific details of the IFFT and post-IFFT block functional units 42, 44, respectively, are well known and, as they are not pertinent to an understanding of the present invention, will not be discussed in any further detail.

[0039] The Tx configuration unit 52 receives information about the channel over which data is to be transmitted from the MAC interface 74 and uses this information to select an appropriate channel map from the channel maps memory 78. The selected channel map specifies a transmission mode, as well as a modulation type (including an associated coding rate) and set of carriers to be used for the data transmission, and therefore specifies OFDM symbol block sizes (both fixed and variable) associated with the data transmission. An OFDM symbol block includes a plurality of symbols and may correspond to a packet or a portion thereof. The information read from the channel map is referred to herein as channel information. The Tx configuration unit 52 computes Tx configuration information from the channel information (i.e., channel map data). The Tx configuration information includes transmission mode, modulation type (including an associated FEC coding rate, as indicated above), number of symbols, number of bits per symbol, as well as number and size of Reed-Solomon blocks. The Tx configuration unit 52 provides the Tx configuration information to the PHY controller 76, which uses the information to control the configuration of the FEC encoder 34. More specifically, the controller 76 controls the interleaver configuration according to the carriers, number of bits per symbol and modulation specified by the Tx configuration unit 52. The controller 76 also enables modification of the RS block size based on the RS specific information computed by the Tx configuration unit 52. In addition to configuration control signals, the controller 76 also provides other conventional control signals to the FEC encoder 34, as well as the scrambler 32, the modulator 36, the synchronization signal generator 40 and the IFFT unit 42. The Tx configuration unit 52 also provides to the header encoder 38 the following header information: transmission mode, channel map number and number of OFDM symbols (to be transmitted) in a data packet.

[0040] During a data receive process, packets transmitted over the channel to the receiving network node 12bby the transmitting network node 12aare received at the PHY unit 22 from the AFE unit 26 by the AGC unit 54. The output of the AGC unit 54 is stored in the input buffer 56 prior to being processed by the FFT unit 58. The output of the FFT unit 58 is provided to the channel estimation unit 60, the synchronization unit 62, the header decoder 64 and the demodulator 66. More specifically, phase and amplitude values of the processed packet data are provided to the channel estimation unit 60, which produces a new channel map for use by the Tx configuration unit 52 in the tranmitting network node 12aduring the next data transmission by that transmitting network node, as will be described. The Rx configuration unit 72 receives the mode, the channel map number and the number of OFDM symbols from the header decoder 64, retrieves the channel map specified by the map number provided by the header decoder 64, and provides Rx configuration information to the controller 76. The synchronization unit 62 provides a start-of-packet signal to the controller 76. In response to these inputs, the controller 76 provides configuration and control signals to the FEC decoder's functional units, which include a de-interleaver 86, a Viterbi decoder 88 and an RS decoder 90, and to the demodulator 66. More specifically, the PHY controller 76 specifies the appropriate number of rows and columns for the de-interleaver 86, the number of bits to be received by the Viterbi decoder 88 and the number and size of the Reed-Solomon blocks for decoding by the Reed-Solomon decoder 90. Additionally, it conveys the modulation type associated with the received packet data to the demodulator 66.

[0041] The demodulator 66 demodulates the OFDM symbols in the processed packet data received from the FFT unit 58 and converts phase angles of the packet data in each carrier of each symbol to metric values. The demodulator 66 stores the metric values in a deinterleaver 86. The FEC decoder 68 reads the metric values from the deinterleaver 86 and uses the metric values for decoding purposes. The FEC decoder 68 corrects bit errors occurring during transmission from the FEC encoder 34 (of a transmitting node) to the FEC decoder 68 and forwards the decoded data to the de-scrambler 70, which performs an operation that is the reverse of that which was performed by the scrambler 32. The output of the de-scrambler 70 is then provided to the MAC interface 74 for transfer to the MAC unit 18 (and, ultimately, to an application of the host computer 16).

[0042] For purposes of simplification and clarity, details of the PHY unit's transmitter/receiver functional units which are known to those skilled in the art and not considered pertinent to the understanding of the invention have been largely omitted herein.

[0043] Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the interleaver 84 (as depicted during a write operation) is a row/column block interleaver memory of a fixed number M of columns 100 and a variable number R of rows 110. In the preferred embodiment, M=20 and R is a value in the range of 28 to 2*N, where N is equal to 84, the maximum number of usable carriers per symbol. The interleaver 84 stores an OFDM symbol block (or, simply, block) to be transmitted during a packet transmission. Each packet includes one or more blocks. In the described embodiment, each block includes a maximum of 40 OFDM symbols. The interleaver 84 is implemented in a first 168×20 bit RAM 104 and a second 168×20 bit RAM 106. As illustrated by the arrows in FIG. 3A, data is stored by row, beginning with row 0. In the illustrated embodiment, the interleaver 84 is capable of being operated in two different modes: a first (“standard”) transmission mode and a second (“robust”) transmission mode.

[0044] In the standard transmission mode, the interleaver 84 stores 40 OFDM symbol blocks associated with a packet, and is written in the following manner. For BPSK modulation type, only one of the two RAMs 104, 106 is used. The number of used rows is equal to two times the number of usable carriers per OFDM symbol. Twenty bits of encoded data are written into consecutive rows starting at row 0, as shown by the arrows. The least significant bit (LSB) of the twenty bit word is first-in-time encoded data. For QPSK modulation, both of the RAMs 104, 106 are used. After the first RAM 104 is filled from row 0 to row N (where N=(2*number of usable carriers)−1), the second RAM 106 is filled starting at row 0.

[0045] The interleaver 84 is depicted during a read operation of a standard transmission in FIG. 3B. Referring to FIG. 3B, during a read operation for both BPSK and QPSK modulation types (or modes), the interleaver 84 is read by column with some amount of shifting to reorder bits. The modulator 36 reads by column starting at row 0, with each successive column read starting with the offset p=8 by adding eight to the previous column's start row. The row numbers (addresses) J are computed according to

[0046] J=(1+[(K−1)*p]) mod N  (1)

[0047] where K is the column number, p is an offset parameter (indicating the amount by which the column bits are shifted) and N is the total number of rows (or selectable memory locations). As an example, and as shown in the figure, if K=2, p=8, and N=84, the column read for the second column will begin at the ninth row (corresponding to carrier N=8). The LSB of the 20-bit word will be first-in-time modulated data. While the BPSK mode data is read from the first RAM 104 only, the QPSK mode data is read from both RAMS 104, 106 simultaneously. For each carrier, one bit is read from each RAM using the same address to address both RAMs.

[0048] For the standard transmission mode (and both modulation modes), the number of usable carriers for the standard packet is determined from the channel map. The above technique provides data spreading in both time and frequency, allowing block errors in either domain to be spread far enough apart to allow correction by the FEC decoder 68.

[0049] The robust transmission mode interleaver varies from the standard packet interleaver in several ways. Its uses only the first 10 columns of the first RAM 104 and N rows (i.e., the number of usable carriers) to generate 10 OFDM symbols. As described in detail in co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/377,131, in the name of Lawrence W. Yonge III, et al., incorporated herein by reference, the modulator 36 reads the interleaver 84 four consecutive times to create a 40 symbol packet containing four copies of the data. Alternatively, the robust transmission mode could be implemented to use some other number of columns, for example, 5 columns (for a 20 symbol block). Thus, the robust transmission mode interleaving process ensures that the data bit copies are not modulated onto adjacent carriers on a given symbol or neighboring symbols. Rather, they are spread uniformly in time and frequency so as to ensure successful decoding. While the redundant data need not be spread uniformly, it will be understood that the greater and more even the data copy spacing, the more robust the transmission is likely to be. In the illustrated embodiment, only the BPSK ½ rate coding modulation mode is used with robust transmission mode.

[0050] As it may be necessary or desirable to disable certain usable carriers, for example, it may be necessary to disable one or more of the 84 carriers so that the transmission does not interfere with the frequency bands of other RF services, the interleaver shift mechanism is adjustable for different numbers of usable carriers. If the number of usable carriers is 83, for instance, the ¼ offset requires a 20 row shift instead of the 21 row shift used for all 84 carriers and the shift mechanism will be adjusted accordingly.

[0051] Preferably, because the robust transmission mode has an additional level of data redundancy and therefore can only transmit a fraction of the amount of data that may be sent using the standard transmission mode, it has a lower data rate than the standard transmission mode. Consequently, its use may be limited to certain communications environments that require a high degree of reliability. For example, the robust mode may be particularly well-suited for use in broadcast transmission modes, in which the transmitting network node cannot adapt to each and every receiving network node because each of those nodes has a different channel and those channels may have frequency nulls in different parts of the frequency band. Another use would be to establish initial contact between nodes which communicate over a power line. During such an initial set-up, a transmitting network node does not know which channel connects it to the receiving network node and thus will transmit in a mode that the receiving network node can hear. However, the transmitting network node may not want to always transmit in the robust mode, as the robust mode may use too high a percentage of the channel. Thus, the transmitting network node's goal is to migrate to the highest data rate as soon as possible so that other network nodes can use the channel. The transmitting network node won't know what that data rate is until it has established initial communications with the receiver.

[0052] The interleaver control circuitry for controlling the mechanics of the reads and writes is well-known and therefore omitted from the description. Such control circuitry may be included in the convolutional encoder 82 and modulator 36, as is assumed in the illustrated embodiment, in the interleaver 84 itself, or may reside in a separate control unit.

[0053] As indicated above, the FEC encoder 34 and the modulator 36 are controlled by the controller 76 to operate according to a selected combination of modulation mode type (including coding rate) and transmission mode (standard BPSK or QPSK, or BPSK robust mode), and selected set of usable carriers. The controller 76 provides such control in response to input from the Tx configuration unit 52, which reads an appropriate channel map from the channel map memory 78. As indicated above, the channel map defines for the channel each data transmission the mode type (robust mode, or standard modes BPSK or QPSK, as well as the coding rates for BPSK/QPSK) and those of the available carriers to be modulated with data (i.e., the usable carriers). Thus, it will be recognized that the number of blocks in a given packet transmission and the size of the last block in the packet sequence is determined by channel map, which may be frequently updated for changing channel conditions, as described below.

[0054] Referring to FIG. 4, an arrangement of OFDM symbols within a single one of the RAMs 104, 106 of the interleaver 84 as it is used for standard transmission mode 108 is shown. Each of the twenty columns 100 stores two OFDM symbols 110 (for a total of 40 OFDM symbols per block), with rows 0 to N−1 corresponding to the first symbol and rows N to 2N−1 corresponding to the second symbol. Thus, Column 0 corresponds to symbols 0 and 1, Column 1 corresponds to symbols 2 and 3, Column 2 corresponds to symbols 4 and 5, and so forth.

[0055] Referring to FIG. 5, a process of computing a variable block length (for a variable size block) 120 as performed by the Tx configuration unit 52 is shown. The unit 52 receives the channel information (with mode, code rate and usable carriers) in the form of a channel map (step 122). From the channel information, the unit computes a maximum number of bytes per 40-symbol block (step 124). Once the maximum number of bytes has been determined, the unit 52 determines the total number of fixed-size (i.e., 40 symbols) blocks associated with the data transmission by dividing the total number of data bytes to be transmitted by the computed maximum number of bytes (per block) and rounding off the resulting quotient to the next lowest whole number (step 126). The remaining number of bytes is thus computed by subtracting the product of the maximum number of bytes per block and the number of blocks from the total number of data bytes (to be transmitted) (step 128). The unit 52 then computes the number of symbols to be included in the last, variable size block for the remaining number of bytes (step 130).

[0056] Referring to FIG. 6, the symbols number computation 130 is shown. First, the remainder is divided by the known maximum number of information bytes in an RS block (i.e., 239) to give a number of RS blocks (step 140). A block size for the RS block (including 16 bytes of parity) is then computed as the larger of two values, the minimum RS block size of 39 bytes or (the remainder divided the number of RS blocks) plus 16 (step 142). The total number of symbols upon which bits to be modulated on symbols after coding can then be determined by dividing a total number of bits in the RS block (that is, [the RS block size*number of RS blocks*8]+6) by the total number of bits per symbol (the number of usable carriers times the code rate) to give the number of symbols (step 144). As the number of OFDM symbols must be an even number due to the interleaver implementation, the result is converted to an even number as follows: the result is multiplied by ½ and rounded up to the next whole number, which is multiplied by 2 to produce an even number of symbols (step 146).

[0057] Once the number of symbols in the variable size last block is known, the Tx configuration unit 52 provides the computed number of symbols and the number of bits per symbol (based on the number of usable carriers, the modulation type and code rate), collectively referred to as interleaver configuration information, to the controller 76. The controller 76 uses the interleaver configuration information to configure the interleaver 84 for a number of columns based on the number of symbols and for a number of rows based on the number of bits per symbol.

[0058] Referring to FIG. 7, the Tx configuration unit 52 also produces RS encoding configuration information 150 so that the RS block size can be modified for variable block length. The unit 52 subtracts 6 bits from the total number of bits to be encoded (i.e., the number of symbols times the number of bits per symbol times the code rate), divides that value by 8 and rounds down the resulting bytes value to the next lowest whole number to give the maximum number of RS bytes to be put on symbols of the last it packet (step 152). The unit then computes the number of RS blocks in the block by dividing the sum of the maximum number of RS bytes and the maximum number of information bytes plus one by the maximum RS block size plus 1 and rounds down (step 156). The RS block size is computed as the smaller of 255 (i.e., the maximum RS block size) or rounded down quotient of the maximum number of RS bytes divided by the number of RS blocks (step 158). The unit uses these values to compute the maximum number of data bytes as the product of the RS block size minus the parity and the number of RS blocks (step 160).

[0059] It should be noted that, to compute the maximum number of RS bytes for robust mode blocks, the unit uses a predetermined number, e.g., 10 (as indicated above) or 5, defined for the robust transmission mode, as the number of symbols, a BPSK code rate of ½ and a number of bits per symbol equal to the number of usable carriers. The maximum number of data bytes is computed by subtracting eight from the maximum number of RS bytes.

[0060] Returning to FIG. 1, the demodulator 66 demodulates the modulated carriers using a scheme appropriate to the modulation technique used by the modulator 36. The demodulator 66 produces from a phase angle for each bit of the transmitted carrier data a 3-bit soft decision (“bit metric) value from 0 to 7 that represents a probability of a “0” or a “1” bit, with 7 representing a “1” and 0 representing a “0”. A phase difference is determined using the following equation:

[0061] D_o=mod((2π+θ_k)−Ψ_k,2π)  (2)

[0062] where D_ois the k_thcarrier phase difference, θ_kis the current symbol's k_thcarrier phase, Ψ_kis the previous symbol's k_thcarrier phase and 2π radians is the maximum phase value. The phase difference D_ois converted to a value of 0-127 points (2π=128). D_ois then offset by an amount, depending on the modulation type, to allow for a single soft decision conversion.

[0063] The de-interleaver 86 (of FIG. 2) receives the 3-bit soft decision value for each data bit. All 3-bit soft decision values are de-interleaved (i.e., stored in the de-interleaver) as a group. The method for writing the interleaver 84 applies to reading the de-interleaver 86 and the method of reading the interleaver 84 applies to writing the de-interleaver 86. The write operation uses the reverse algorithm of that applied to the interleaver during a read operation.

[0064] Referring to FIG. 8, the channel estimation unit 60 includes a rectangular to polar converter 160, a controller 162, referred to herein as a phase noise estimator 162, and a channel map generator 164. The rectangular to polar converter 62 receives complex numbers from the FFT unit 58 and converts the complex numbers to polar to give a corresponding phase angle sample. The output of the converter 160 is provided to the phase noise estimator 162, which produces average carrier phase noise values PN_cand symbol phase noise values PN_s, in the manner described in above-referenced application. The phase noise estimator 62 monitors the phases and amplitudes of each carrier in each OFDM symbol as they are received from the FFT unit 58. The phase noise estimator 162 computes the phase noise associated with each carrier and each symbol by performing phase noise estimation, phase noise estimation accumulation and averaging. The phase noise estimation can be performed for either BPSK or QPSK, that is, whichever modulator type was used by the modulator. For BPSK, a binary 1 causes the transmission of a zero phase and binary 0 the transmission of a π phase. Thus, in the case of BPSK, which sends only the two states (corresponding to “1” and “0”), the phase noise estimator measures how far the samples are from the expected 1 and 0 values.

[0065] The constellation plot for the sample may be represented in binary form, with 0 to 2π radians being represented as 0 to 127 (or 0 to 255) points. For a given sample X, the phase noise computation estimator 162 computes a phase noise estimation for the carrier frequency of that sample. It then computes an average of the computed phase noise values for each carrier frequency as well as each symbol. The average may be expressed as

[0066] PN_avg=(ΣY1)/(total number of samples)  (3)

[0067] where Y1=|Y−(π/2)| and Y=mod[X+(π/2);π]. The value Y1 is the phase noise and is expressed in terms of number of points from the ideal expected modulation values, which in the case of BPSK are zero or π, the zero or π states being indicative of no noise.

[0068] The phase angle is represented in binary form as a phase number between 0 and 127 (or 0 and 255). The phase noise computation estimator 162 creates a modulus of a phase number y, e.g. 64 (or 32), adds y/2 points, and finds X+(y/2) mod y. It then subtracts y/2 so that the result is always a value between −y/2 and +y/2. Once the phase noise estimator 162 obtains the absolute value of that value, the result lies in the first quadrant (0 to y/2) of the constellation.

[0069] An exemplary phase noise calculation for BPSK is illustrated in FIG. 9A. In the constellation plot of the example shown, 2π radians is represented as a binary value corresponding to 128 points. For a sample having a phase number of 80, the calculation adds 32 to give a sum of 112 and computes (112 mod 64). Thus, referring to Eq. (3), Y equals 48 and Y1 is equal to the absolute value of (48−32), or 16 points.

[0070] A similar phase noise computation may be performed for QPSK, which uses four states (or phases) spaced π/2 apart. An exemplary QPSK phase noise estimation is illustrated in FIG. 9B.

[0071] The phase noise average of Eq. (3) may be computed for phase noise as a function of the carrier, the symbol, or both. To compute the carrier phase noise average, PN_c, the phase noise estimator accumulates carrier values for a given carrier for all of the symbols and divides by the total number of symbols. In the described embodiment, the total number of symbols in an OFDM packet is 40. Thus, PN_cis the average phase noise for a carrier for an entire block of data. Additionally, for a symbol phase noise average, PN_s, the phase noise across all carriers in a symbol is accumulated and divided by total number of carriers (i.e., 84). The PN_svalue provides an indication of how carrier phase noise varies (relative to PN_c,) from symbol to symbol. Thus, the combination provides a reasonable estimate of signal-to-noise (S/N) for a given carrier on a symbol-by-symbol basis.

[0072] Referring to FIG. 10, the accumulation (or summation) of phase noise values for a given carrier frequency over time and by symbol 170 is depicted. The phase noise values for each carrier 171 are accumulated by summing the phase noise values for each carrier over the forty OFDM symbols 172 to give a sum, SUM(PNC(M)) 174, where M is one of the usable carriers. Similarly, the phase noise values are accumulated for each OFDM symbol 172 by summing the phase noise values for all usable carriers 171 to give a sum, SUM(PNS(N)) 176, where N is one of symbols 1 through 40. The total number of symbol accumulations or sums is therefore 40. Any carriers not used by the transmission are excluded from the summation.

[0073] As discussed in the above-referenced co-pending application, the phase estimator/controller 162 uses above described phase noise computation to weight the four robust transmission mode copies differently (i.e., the copy samples with less phase noise are weighted more heavily than the copy samples with more phase noise) and recombines the weighted copies prior to decoding.

[0074] Referring back to FIG. 8, the channel map generator 164 receives the PN_sand PN_cvalues and uses those values to select a modulation type/code rate and associated “good carriers” based on the channel conditions as reflected in the average phase noise values. The selected mode/rate and associated carriers, once obtained, are defined in a channel map, which is stored in the channel map memory 78 (of FIG. 2) and also sent to the MAC (via the PHY-to-MAC interface 74) for transfer to the transmitting network node. Once stored in the channel map memory 78, the channel map is available to and can be accessed by the Rx configuration unit 72 (FIG. 2) for decoding during the next data transmission over the channel to which the channel map corresponds.

[0075] The channel map generator 164 uses six types of thresholds to assess the conditions of the channel. Included are two symbol thresholds, a first symbol threshold THDS1 and a second symbol threshold THDS2. Also included among the five threshold types are three carrier thresholds, THDM1, THDM2 and THDM3, corresponding to modulation types BPSK with ½ rate error coding (“½ BPSK”), QPSK with ½ rate error coding (“½ QPSK”) and QPSK with ¾ rate error coding (“¾ QPSK”), respectively. Also employed is a jammer detection threshold for detecting jammer signals on a carrier by carrier basis. Therefore, these six thresholds, in conjunction with the average phase noise values (for symbols and/or carriers) and carrier amplitudes, are used to generate information (for each modulation type) indicative of noise events that occurred in the data packet.

[0076] Referring to FIG. 11, the channel map generation process 164 is shown. The process receives from the phase noise estimator 162 the PN_sand PN_cvalues for a block of data being demodulated and decoded (step 180). The process then determines a first impulse noise count PNS_c1, the total sum (or count) of PN_svalues exceeding THDS1, and a second impulse noise count PNS_c2, the total sum (or count) of PN_svalues exceeding THDS2 (step 182). The PNS_c1and PNS_c2values provide an indication of impulse noise at the levels corresponding to THDS1 and THDS2, respectively. That is, the counts provide an indication of the amount of impulse noise on the channel or, more specifically, how often a noise event of sufficient magnitude causes a particular symbol's noise level to exceed one or both of the thresholds THDS1 and THDS2. Preferably, the thresholds THDS1 and THDS2 are adjusted dynamically on a block-by-block basis using an average of the PN_svalues for each block. Thus, for a block having an average PN_sof some value X, TDS1 may be set to a first threshold value X+y1 and THDS2 set to a second threshold value X+y2, where y1 and y2 are constants and y1<y2 so that THDS1 and THDS2 correspond to respective different levels of impulse noise.

[0077] Still referring to FIG. 11, the process finds the total number (or count) of carriers for which the PN_cvalues which are below each of the carrier thresholds THDM1, THDM2 and THDM3, as well as the jammer detection threshold (step 184). It computes a first count, BPSK_c, as the number of carriers having a PN_cvalue less than the ½ BPSK threshold, THDM1, and an amplitude less than the jammer detection threshold. It computes a second count, QPSK_c1, as the number or count of carriers whose PC_cvalue is less than the ½ QPSK threshold, THDM2, and whose amplitude is less than the jammer detection threshold. A third count, QPSK_c2, corresponding to the number or count of carriers having a PN_cvalue that is less than the ¾ QPSK threshold, THDM3, as well as an amplitude below the jammer detection threshold, is also computed.

[0078] Therefore, an accumulator counts the number of times the average phase noise is better than the threshold level. That is, the PN_sis compared to THDS1 and THDS2, and PN_cis compared to THDM1, THDM2 and THDM3 thresholds. The PN_scounts are incremented only when the phase noise average is below the threshold and the amplitude value is below a jammer detect threshold for the same carrier.

[0079] As the PN_cfor each of the carriers is compared to each of the three carrier thresholds, the generator produces an 84-bit “good carriers” channel map for each of the three modulation types 186. More specifically, for each of the 84 carriers (carriers 0-83), a bit is set in the channel map if the PN_cis below the threshold and the amplitude value is below the jammer detect threshold.

[0080] Additionally, the process computes average threshold margins MAR1, MAR2 and MAR3 for the good carriers represented by each of the carrier counts BPSK_c, QPSK_c1and QPSK_c2, respectively (step 188). During each carrier threshold comparison for each modulation type, if the carrier threshold noise requirement is exceeded (that is, PN_cis less than the threshold), the amount by which it is exceeded is accumulated. After all of the threshold comparisons for a given threshold have been performed, the accumulated number is divided by the number of times the threshold requirement was exceeded to give an average margin (i.e., amount below the threshold).

[0081] As the carrier phase noise averages PN_care compared to the three thresholds and channel maps are generated, the process performs a test for each of the modulation types associated with the standard transmission to determine if certain criteria have been met for the good carriers indicated by their corresponding channel maps (step 190). The criteria for each modulation type is provided in Table 1 below.

[0082] The process thus determines if any one or more of the modulation types associated with the standard transmission mode meet the specified criteria (step 192). If the process determines that one or more of the modulation types associated with standard transmission mode meets the specified criteria, for each modulation type that meets the specified criteria (as shown in Table 1), the process computes the relative data rate based on the number of carriers (specified by the appropriate one of CNTM1, CNTM2, or CNTM3) and selects the modulation type with the highest data rate (step 194); however, the highest modulation rate must be faster than the next highest modulation rate by some predetermined amount (e.g., 10%) faster to be selected. Otherwise, the process selects the next highest modulation rate. The “good carriers” channel map for the selected modulation type (and coding rate) is then stored in the channel maps memory (step 196). Using BPSK as an example, with 1 bit per carrier and a CNTM1=50 at a ½ rate error coding, the data rate is equal to ½*(50 bits/symbol time) or 25 bits/symbol time. Therefore, the relative data rate is 25. With ½ QPSK having the same count and 2 bits per carrier, the relative data rate is ½*(100)=50. For ¾ rate QPSK with CNTM3=50, the relative date rate is ¾(100)=75. In this example, then, based on the relative dates of 25, 50 and 75 for ½ BPSK, ½ QPSK and ¾ QPSK, respectively, the process selects ¾ QPSK. If the criteria is not satisfied for any of the three modulation types (at step 192), then the channel is too noisy to for the transmission rates of the standard transmission mode and the more reliable robust transmission mode is selected (step 198).

[0083] Once stored in the channel maps memory 78, the channel map is available to the Rx configuration unit 72 as well as the controller 76, which directs a copy to the PHY-to-MAC interface for transfer to the transmitting network node. The transmitting network node stores the channel map in its own channel maps memory 78 for subsequent use by its Tx configuration unit 52 when preparing a next data transmission to the receiving network node over the channel to which the map corresponds. Alternatively, if the robust transmission mode is selected, the selection of the robust transmission mode is conveyed to the transmitting network node.

[0084] It is to be understood that while the invention has been described in conjunction with the detailed description thereof, the foregoing description is intended to illustrate and not limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the scope of the appended claims. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.

[0085] For example, the channel estimation unit could select modulation mode/coding rates on a carrier by carrier basis. This “bit loading” technique would allow a different amount of modulation to be put on each carrier based on the signal-to-noise ratios. Although the above processes are described with respect to ½ and ¾ coding rates, other coding rates (e.g., ⅞) may be used. Also, other FEC coding and interleaving schemes may be used.

[0086] Alternatively, or in addition to the above, channel adaption may involve varying symbol time guard intervals to change the data rate. For example, the channel estimation unit may use the output of the phase correlator described in co-pending application Ser. No. 09/234,289, in the name of Lawrence W. Yonge III, incorporated herein by reference, to determine delay spread in the channel and detect jammers. Based on this delay spread determination and jammer detection, the channel estimation unit can select a guard interval to adjust the date rate.

[0087] In addition, the noise estimation associated with the carriers over time may be based on amplitude instead of phase, as described above.