Method and apparatus for time efficient retransmission using symbol accumulation

Abstract

An efficient retransmission of data using symbol accumulation wherein the packet received in error is retransmitted at a lower energy-per-bit level concurrently in the same frame with the new packet. The destination device receives the data transmission and retransmission, demodulate the signal, and separates the received data into the new and retransmitted packet. The destination device then accumulates the energy of the retransmitted packet with the energy already accumulated for the packet received in error and decodes the accumulated packet. The accumulation of the additional energy provided by the subsequent retransmissions improves the probability of a correct decoding. The throughput rate can be improved since the packet received in error is retransmitted concurrently with the transmission of the new data packet. The capacity is maximized since the retransmission of the packet received in error is at a lower energy level than that of the new packet.

Description

BACKGROUND 1. Field The present invention relates to data communication. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel and improved method and apparatus for the efficient retransmission of data using symbol accumulation. 2. Background The use of code division multiple access (CDMA) modulation techniques is one of several techniques for facilitating communications in which a large number of system users are present. Other multiple access communication system techniques, such as time division multiple access (TDMA) and frequency division multiple access (FDMA) are known in the art. However, the spread spectrum modulation techniques of CDMA has significant advantages over other modulation techniques for multiple access communication systems. The use of CDMA techniques in a multiple access communication system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307, entitled “SPREAD SPECTRUM MULTIPLE ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SATELLITE OR TERRESTRIAL REPEATERS,” assigned to th...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

In the present invention, the total energy {square root}{square root over (S2+N2)} of the received signal can be computed on a frame-by-frame basis or on a symbol-by-symbol basis. Symbol-by-symbol basis allows the destination device to adjust the gain of each symbol to take into account fast changes in the channel condition.

In the present invention, the accumulation of the energy from additional retransmissions allows the destination device to correctly decode the packets received in error. The retransmission allows the communication system to operate at a higher frame-error-rate (FER) than nominal because of the ability to correctly decode the packets with a minimal expenditure of system resource, thereby improving the reliability of the data transmission and possibly increasing the capacity of the system. Furthermore, the retransmission at a subsequent time provides time diversity and improves the reliability of the data transmission. However, operating at a higher FER necessitates the retransmissions of more packets and can increase the complexity of the communication system.

Problems solved by technology

Therefore, the reverse link capacity is limited by the total interference which a remote station experiences from other remote stations.

A high transmission power from the base station can cause excessive interference with other base stations.

Alternatively, if the transmission power of the base station is too low, the remote station can receive erroneous data transmissions.

Terrestrial channel fading and other known factors can affect the quality of the forward link signal as received by the remote station.

The CRC check is not able to correct the error.

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