Low-delay data transmitter and data receiver for message division transmission method

Abstract

To provide a data transmitter in a low delay for a telegraphic message division transmission method and a data receiver.SOLUTION: A method contains: a step of transferring a data of a first class divided and transmitted onto a plurality of first sub-data packets 162 by using a first hopping pattern 160 to a data receiver from a data transmitter; and a step of transmitting a second class data to the data receiver from the data transmitter or a data transmitter different from them. The second class data is divided into and transmitted to a plurality of second sub-data packets 142 by using a second hopping pattern, and a transmission pause between the sub-data packets transmitted in accordance with the first hopping pattern is smaller than the transmission pause between the sub-data packets transmitted in accordance with the second hopping pattern.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 10

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a data transmitter and a data receiver for a message splitting transmission method, and in particular to a low-latency data transmitter and a data receiver for a message splitting transmission method. Some embodiments relate to a low-latency transmission mode for message splitting. [Background technology]

[0002] Systems are known for transmitting data from many sensor nodes to one / several base stations or from one / several base stations to many sensor nodes. This is used, for example, in IoT (IoT = Internet of Things). For example, sensor data (e.g. from street lights or parking sensors) are transmitted to a base station, which then processes the data and provides added value to the user (e.g. directions to free parking spaces).

[0003] Typically such sensor networks contain a large number of sensor nodes equipped with very small batteries. However, to achieve a long service life, channel access is always performed in a non-integrated manner, in other words, each sensor node accesses the channel at a random point in time. This concept is called the ALOHA access method, or in a subform, the Slotted-ALOHA access method.

[0004] Due to the large number of participants and non-integrated channel access, overlaps (interference) in transmissions occur between the emissions of different sensor nodes. In addition to this, transmissions are often made in the so-called ISM bands (ISM=Industrial, Scientific, and Medical; SRD=Short Range Devices), which are used by other systems (e.g. WIFI, Bluetooth, radio keys). These systems cause additional interference between transmissions.

[0005] Under the above mentioned conditions, a message splitting transmission method is known which significantly increases the transmission reliability of messages in these channels. In particular, the message splitting transmission method described in EP 2 751 526 B1 uses a specific time / frequency hopping pattern for data transmission over radio channels. To be able to successfully decode the packets, the hopping pattern used for the transmission must be known to the receiver. To ensure this, a time / frequency hopping pattern known to all participants is defined for the message splitting network.

[0006] The telegram splitting transmission method is further described in WO 2015 / 128385 A1, WO 2017 / 017257 A1, and WO 2017 / 167366 A1, and in the publications [G. Kilian, H. Petkov, R. Psiuk, H. Lieske, F. Beer, J. Robert, and A. Heuberger, "Improved coverage for low-power telemetry systems using telegram splitting," in Proceedings of 2013 European Conference on Smart Objects, Systems and Technologies (SmartSysTech), 2013], and [G. Kilia, M. Breiling, HH Petkov, H. Lieske, F. Beer, J. Robert, and A. Heuberger, "Increasing Transmission Reliability for Telemetry Systems Using Telegram Splitting," IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. This is described in [Issue 1999, No. 949-961, Mar. 2015].

[0007] However, a disadvantage of the split message transmission method is that high latency results from the pauses between the transmission of the individual partial packets.

[0008] In the Internet of Things (IoT), there are many possible applications, in some applications the latency of the system is of secondary importance (e.g., reading a water meter), however there are also systems where latency plays a significant role (e.g., burst pipes, or security monitoring of personnel in conflict zones).

[0009] For this second class of systems where latency plays a significant role, a suitable solution for power-efficient sensor networks has yet to be found. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0010] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the delay time of a message splitting-based communication network.

[0011] This object is solved by the independent claims.

[0012] Further advantageous embodiments can be seen from the dependent claims. [Means for solving the problem]

[0013] An embodiment provides a data transmitter configured to divide a first class of data over a first plurality of sub-data packets and to transmit the first plurality of sub-data packets using a first hopping pattern, the data transmitter configured to divide a second class of data over a second plurality of sub-data packets and to transmit the second plurality of sub-data packets using a second hopping pattern, wherein transmission pauses between sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern are smaller than transmission pauses between sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern and / or the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern are shorter than the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0014] In an embodiment, the first class of data has a higher priority and / or higher requirements regarding maximum transmission duration than the second class of data.

[0015] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to divide the third class of data over a third plurality of sub-data packets and to transmit the third plurality of sub-data packets using a third hopping pattern, wherein the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the third hopping pattern.

[0016] In an embodiment, the second class of data may have a higher priority and / or higher requirements regarding maximum transmission duration than the third class of data.

[0017] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to divide a first data packet comprising a first class of data over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that each of the first plurality of sub-data packets comprises only a portion of the data of the first class or the first data packet, and the data transmitter is configured to divide a second data packet comprising a second class of data over a second plurality of sub-data packets such that each of the second plurality of sub-data packets comprises only a portion of the data of the second class or the second data packet.

[0018] In an embodiment, the first plurality of sub-data packets comprises fewer sub-data packets than the second plurality of sub-data packets.

[0019] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to provide the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern and / or the second hopping pattern with a synchronization sequence such that the time interval between the synchronization sequence of the sub-data packets transmitted with the first hopping pattern and the synchronization sequence of the sub-data packets transmitted with the second hopping pattern is the same.

[0020] In an embodiment, the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern are longer than the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0021] In an embodiment, the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern are distributed across a wider frequency band than the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0022] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to transmit the first class of data at a higher data rate or with a different modulation method than the second class of data.

[0023] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to receive a first message synchronized in time with a transmission of a first class of data using a first hopping pattern, and the data transmitter is configured to receive a second message synchronized in time with a transmission of a second class of data using a second hopping pattern, wherein a time interval between the first hopping pattern and the first message is smaller than a time interval between the second hopping pattern and the second message.

[0024] In an embodiment, the first message is a first downlink message split and transmitted over a plurality of sub-data packets according to a first downlink hopping pattern, and the second message is a second downlink message split and transmitted over a plurality of sub-data packets according to a second downlink hopping pattern, and transmission pauses between the plurality of sub-data packets transmitted according to the first downlink hopping pattern are shorter than transmission pauses between the plurality of sub-data packets transmitted according to the second downlink hopping pattern.

[0025] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to transmit the first class of data and to receive an acknowledgment of receipt from the data receiver indicating successful reception of the first class of data.

[0026] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to radiate the first class of data using the first hopping pattern or a different hopping pattern repeatedly until an acknowledgement of receipt is received.

[0027] In an embodiment, the data transmitter receives from the data receiver: a first class of data using a first hopping pattern; or a second class of data using a second hopping pattern, configured to receive a confirmation of receipt that overlaps in time with the emission of Thereby, at least one sub-data packet transmitted according to the respective hopping pattern is placed between two sub-data packets of the hopping pattern and an acknowledgement of reception of the data receiver is emitted.

[0028] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to transmit at least two sub-data packets according to a first hopping pattern on different frequencies and with complete or at least partial time overlap.

[0029] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to calculate at least a part of the first hopping pattern from the first class of data or a channel encoded version of the first class of data, whereby at least a part of the first hopping pattern itself encodes at least a part of the first class of data.

[0030] In an embodiment, a first group of hops of a first hopping pattern is defined, the data transmitter is configured to calculate a second group of hops of the first hopping pattern from the first class of data or a channel encoded version of the first class of data, the second group of hops of the first hopping pattern itself encoding at least a portion of the first class of data, and the data transmitter is configured to transmit a first plurality of data packets in accordance with the first group of hops and the second group of hops.

[0031] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to calculate a first hopping pattern from the first class of data or a channel encoded version of the first class of data, whereby at least a part of the first hopping pattern itself encodes at least a part of the first class of data, and the data transmitter is configured to transmit the first hopping pattern synchronized in time to a synchronization signal for synchronization at the data receiver.

[0032] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to split the first class of data onto a first plurality of sub-data packets, such that each sub-data packet may be decoded at the receiver side for itself in an error-free transmission to obtain the first class of data, and to achieve a higher coding gain through the combination of at least two sub-data packets in an error-free transmission.

[0033] In an embodiment, a data transmitter is configured to channel encode a first class of data and transmit the same using a first hopping pattern, the data transmitter is configured to distribute the first class of channel encoded data over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that in an error-free transmission only the first group of sub-data packets are required for successful decoding of the first class of data and such that in an error-free transmission a higher coding gain is achieved through a combination of the first group of sub-data packets and the second group of sub-data packets, the first group of sub-data packets being transmitted in time prior to the second group of sub-data packets.

[0034] In an embodiment, the first class of data comprises core information and extension information, and the data transmitter is configured to divide the first class of data over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that a first group of the sub-data packets comprises the core information and a second group of the sub-data packets comprises the extension information, and the first group of the sub-data packets are transmitted in time prior to the second group of the sub-data packets.

[0035] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to calculate the first hopping pattern using address information of the data transmitter or information derived therefrom, whereby the first hopping pattern itself identifies the data transmitter.

[0036] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is further configured to calculate the first hopping pattern using time-dependent or event-dependent information of the data transmitter.

[0037] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to pre-transmit coded or encrypted information about the first hopping pattern to the data receiver.

[0038] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern is assigned to the data receiver by the base station.

[0039] In an embodiment the data transmitter is configured to obtain short address information from a base station of the communications network, shorter than address information unambiguously identifying the data transmitter within the communications network, and to use the same when radiating with the first hopping pattern.

[0040] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to calculate the first hopping pattern from the short address information, whereby the first hopping pattern itself identifies the data transmitter.

[0041] In an embodiment, short address information is assigned to groups of data transmitters, and the groups of data transmitters are assigned to spatially related regions.

[0042] In an embodiment, the first class of data is short information derived from and shorter than the sensor value.

[0043] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is previously configured to transmit a short piece of information to the data receiver and to transmit a sensor value associated with the short piece of information or a group of sensor values ​​associated with the short piece of information.

[0044] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern is assigned by the base station to the data transmitter according to the frequency of use and / or the priority order.

[0045] In an embodiment, the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern have the same time and frequency intervals.

[0046] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to calculate, at the data receiver, at least a part of a synchronization sequence for synchronizing the first plurality of sub-data packets from at least a part of the first class of data, the first class, the data transmitter address information, or the data transmitter short address information.

[0047] In an embodiment, a data transmitter is configured to channel encode a first class of data and to transmit the same using a first hopping pattern, the data transmitter is configured to distribute the channel encoded data of the first class over a first plurality of sub-data packets, such that upon error-free transmission only a first group of sub-data packets are required for successful decoding of the first class of data, and the data transmitter is configured to transmit the first group of sub-data packets having a different data rate compared to the second group of sub-data packets.

[0048] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to distribute the first class of channel encoded data over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that a higher coding gain in erroneous transmission is achieved through a combination of the first group of sub-data packets and the second group of sub-data packets.

[0049] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to channel encode the first class of data and divide the same over a first plurality of sub-data packets, the data transmitter being configured to successively increase or decrease the data rate at which the sub-data packets are transmitted.

[0050] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured such that the length of the sub-data packets of the first plurality of sub-data packets decreases or increases with an increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets.

[0051] In an embodiment, the transmission power is specified by the base station to the data transmitter, or the data transmitter is configured to select the transmission power according to priority or channel occupancy.

[0052] A further embodiment provides a data transmitter configured to channel encode data and divide the same onto a plurality of sub-data packets and transmit a first plurality of sub-data packets according to a hopping pattern, the data transmitter being configured to channel encode data and divide the same onto a plurality of sub-data packets such that in an error-free transmission only the first group of sub-data packets are required for successful decoding of the data, the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets of the first group of sub-data packets being smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets of a second group of sub-data packets transmitted after the first group of sub-data packets.

[0053] In an embodiment, the transmission pause between sub-data packets of the first or second group of sub-data packets, or both groups, may increase with increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets.

[0054] A further embodiment provides a data transmitter configured to divide data over a plurality of sub-data packets and to transmit the plurality of sub-data packets using a first hopping pattern, the data transmitter configured to repeatedly transmit the plurality of sub-data packets using a second hopping pattern, wherein transmission pauses between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern are smaller than transmission pauses between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0055] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern may span across two separate frequency bands.

[0056] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to transmit data using the first hopping pattern twice in two separate frequency bands.

[0057] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to transmit data using a second hopping pattern in two separate frequency bands.

[0058] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to transmit data twice using a second hopping pattern in two separate frequency bands.

[0059] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to transmit data in an interleaved manner using a first hopping pattern and repeatedly using a second hopping pattern, wherein at least one sub-data packet transmitted according to the second hopping pattern is located between two sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern.

[0060] An embodiment provides a data transmitter configured to radiate a first class of data using a data packet, and the data transmitter is configured to repeatedly radiate the data using a plurality of sub-data packets, the plurality of sub-data packets being radiated according to a first hopping pattern.

[0061] In a further embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to repeatedly emit the first class of data using further data packets.

[0062] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to emit the first class of data in a time interleaved manner by means of the further data packet and by means of the plurality of sub-data packets, whereby the further data packet is positioned in time between two of the plurality of sub-data packets.

[0063] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to select a time interval between emission of a data packet and a number of sub-data packets sized to allow receipt of an acknowledgment from the data receiver within the time interval.

[0064] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to divide the second class of data over a second plurality of sub-data packets and to transmit the second plurality of sub-data packets using a second hopping pattern, wherein the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0065] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern comprises a plurality of sub-hopping patterns that are time-shifted and / or frequency-shifted versions of each other, and the data transmitter is configured to transmit the first plurality of sub-data packets according to the plurality of sub-hopping patterns, the plurality of sub-hopping patterns being interleaved with each other such that sub-data packets assigned to different sub-hopping patterns are transmitted alternately.

[0066] In an embodiment, the data transmitter is configured to provide a first plurality of sub-data packets and a second plurality of sub-data packets having a same synchronization sequence for synchronizing the first plurality of sub-data packets and the second plurality of sub-data packets at the data receiver.

[0067] A further embodiment provides a data receiver configured to receive a first class of data divided and transmitted over a first plurality of sub-data packets using a first hopping pattern, the data receiver being configured to receive a second class of data divided and transmitted over a second plurality of sub-data packets using a second hopping pattern, wherein transmission pauses between sub-data packets received according to the first hopping pattern are smaller than transmission pauses between sub-data packets received according to the second hopping pattern and / or the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern are shorter than the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0068] In an embodiment, the first class of data may have a higher priority and / or higher requirements regarding a maximum transmission interval than the second class of data.

[0069] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to receive a third class of data divided and transmitted over a third plurality of sub-data packets using a third hopping pattern, the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets received according to the second hopping pattern being smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets received according to the third hopping pattern.

[0070] In an embodiment, the second class of data may have a higher priority and / or higher requirements regarding a maximum transmission interval than the third class of data.

[0071] In an embodiment, a first class of data or a first data packet constituting the first class of data may be split over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that each of the first plurality of sub-data packets constitutes only a portion of the first class of data or first data packet, and wherein the data receiver may be configured to receive and combine the first plurality of sub-data packets to obtain the first class of data, and / or said second class of data or a second data packet constituting said second class of data is split over a second plurality of sub-data packets such that each of the second plurality of sub-data packets constitutes only a portion of the second class of data or second data packet, and wherein the data receiver is configured to receive and combine the second plurality of sub-data packets to obtain the second class of data.

[0072] In an embodiment, the first plurality of sub-data packets may comprise fewer sub-data packets than the second plurality of sub-data packets.

[0073] In an embodiment, the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern and the second hopping pattern may be provided with synchronization sequences such that the time interval between the synchronization sequence of the sub-data packets transmitted with the first hopping pattern and the synchronization sequence of the sub-data packets transmitted with the second hopping pattern is the same, and the data receiver is configured to detect the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern and the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern in the received data stream using the same reference synchronization sequence.

[0074] In an embodiment, the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern may be longer than the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0075] In an embodiment, the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern may be distributed throughout a wider frequency band than the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0076] In an embodiment, the first class of data may be transmitted at a higher data rate or using a different modulation method than the second class of data.

[0077] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to transmit a first message synchronized in time to a first class of data reception using a first hopping pattern, and the data receiver is configured to transmit a second message synchronized in time to a second class of data reception using a second hopping pattern, wherein the time interval between the first hopping pattern and the first message is smaller than the time interval between the second hopping pattern and the second message.

[0078] In an embodiment, the first message is a first downlink message split and transmitted over a plurality of sub-data packets according to a first downlink hopping pattern, and the second message is a second downlink message split and transmitted over a plurality of sub-data packets according to a second downlink hopping pattern, and transmission pauses between the plurality of sub-data packets transmitted according to the first downlink hopping pattern are shorter than transmission pauses between the plurality of sub-data packets transmitted according to the second downlink hopping pattern.

[0079] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to emit an acknowledgment of receipt indicating successful reception of the first class of data in response to successful reception of the first class of data, and the data receiver is configured to emit the acknowledgment of receipt only for the first class of data and not for the second class of data.

[0080] In an embodiment, the data receiver uses a hopping pattern to: a first class of data using a first hopping pattern, or a second class of data using a second hopping pattern, The antenna is configured to emit a confirmation of a received pattern that overlaps in time with the reception of the received signal.

[0081] An acknowledgement of receipt of at least one sub-data packet transmitted according to the first hopping pattern or the second hopping pattern is emitted such that it is located between two sub-data packets of the hopping pattern.

[0082] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to receive at least two sub-data packets on different frequencies according to a first hopping pattern with full time overlap or at least partial time overlap.

[0083] In an embodiment, a pattern of a first group of hops of a first hopping pattern is specified, a pattern of a second group of hops of the first hopping pattern encodes at least a portion of the first class of data or a channel encoded version of the first class of data itself, and the data receiver is configured to decode the pattern of the second group of hops of the first hopping pattern to obtain at least a portion of the first class of data of the channel encoded version of the first class of data.

[0084] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern itself may encode at least a portion of the first class of data or a channel-encoded version of the first class of data, the first hopping pattern being transmitted time-synchronously to a synchronization signal, the data receiver being configured to detect the first hopping pattern in the received data stream using the synchronization signal, and the data receiver being configured to decode the first hopping pattern itself to obtain at least a portion of the first class of data or the channel-encoded version of the first class of data.

[0085] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern itself may decode at least a portion of the first class of data or a channel-encoded version of the first class of data, the data receiver is configured to detect the first hopping pattern in the received data stream by hypothesis testing, and the data receiver is configured to decode the first hopping pattern itself to obtain at least a portion of the first class of data or a channel-encoded version of the first class of data.

[0086] In an embodiment the first class data may be split over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that each sub-data packet can be decoded at the receiver side on its own to obtain the first class data with error-free transmission and such that a higher coding gain with error-free transmission is achieved through the combination of at least two sub-data packets, the data receiver being configured to decode a first sub-data packet of the first plurality of sub-data packets to obtain the first class data and, if not successful in decoding the first class data using the first sub-data packet, to combine the first sub-data packet with at least one second sub-data packet of the first plurality of sub-data packets to achieve a higher coding gain and to decode the same to obtain the first class data.

[0087] In an embodiment, the first class of data may be channel coded and distributed over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that in an error-free transmission only the first group of sub-data packets is needed for successful decoding of the first class of data and such that in an error-free transmission a higher coding gain is achieved through a combination of the first group of sub-data packets and the second group of sub-data packets, the first group of sub-data packets being transmitted in time prior to the second group of sub-data packets, and the data receiver is configured to decode a first portion of the channel coded data received together with the first group of sub-data packets to obtain the first class of data and, if decoding the first class of data is unsuccessful, to combine at least the second group of channel coded data received together with the at least the second portion with the first portion of the channel coded data to achieve a higher coding gain and to decode the same to obtain the first class of data.

[0088] In an embodiment, the first class of data may comprise core information and extension information, the first class of data being divided over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that a first group of sub-data packets comprises the core information and a second group of sub-data packets comprises the extension information, the first group of sub-data packets being transmitted temporally earlier than the second group of sub-data packets, and the data receiver being configured to first receive the first group of sub-data packets and then receive the second group of sub-data packets to obtain the core information prior to the extension information.

[0089] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern may be calculated using address information of the data transmitter or information derived therefrom, whereby the first hopping pattern itself identifies the data transmitter and the data receiver is configured to identify the data transmitter based on the first hopping pattern.

[0090] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern may be further calculated using time-dependent or further dependent information of the data transmitter, which is known to the data receiver and is encrypted and transmitted in at least one of the multiple sub-data packets or different data packets.

[0091] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to receive, from the data transmitter, previously coded or encrypted information relating to the first hopping pattern.

[0092] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to assign a first hopping pattern to the data transmitter.

[0093] In an embodiment, the data receiver may be configured to assign to the data transmitter short address information that is shorter than address information that unambiguously identifies the data transmitter within the communications network, and the data receiver may be configured to identify the data transmitter based on the short information.

[0094] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern may be calculated from the short address information, whereby the first hopping pattern itself identifies the data transmitter, and the data receiver may be configured to identify the data transmitter based on the first hopping pattern.

[0095] In an embodiment, the data receiver may be configured to assign short address information to a group of data transmitters, the group of data transmitters being located in a spatially related region.

[0096] In an embodiment, the first class of data may be short information derived from the sensor value and shorter than the sensor value, and the data receiver is configured to associate the short information with the known sensor value upon receiving the first class of data comprising the short information.

[0097] In an embodiment, the data receiver is previously configured to receive from the data transmitter a short piece of information and a sensor value associated with the short piece of information, or a group of sensor values ​​associated with the short piece of information.

[0098] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to assign a first hopping pattern to a data transmitter according to a frequency of use and / or a priority order.

[0099] In an embodiment, the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern may have the same time and frequency intervals.

[0100] In an embodiment, at least a part of the synchronization sequence for synchronizing the first plurality of sub-data packets at the data receiver may be calculated from at least a part of the first class of data, the first class, address information of the data receiver, or short address information of the data transmitter.

[0101] In an embodiment, the first class of data is channel coded and distributed over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that, in an error-free transmission, only a first group of sub-data packets is required for successful decoding of the first class of data, the first group of sub-data packets being transmitted using a different data rate compared to the second group of sub-data packets, and the data receiver is configured to decode a first portion of the channel coded data received with the first group of sub-data packets to obtain the first class of data, and if decoding the first class of data is not successful, combine with the first portion of the channel coded data at least a second portion of the channel coded data received with the at least one second group of sub-data packets to achieve a higher coding gain and decode the same to obtain the first class of data.

[0102] In an embodiment, the first class of data is channel coded and distributed over a first plurality of sub-data packets such that in an error-free transmission only the first group of sub-data packets is needed for successful decoding of the first class of data and such that in an errored transmission a higher coding gain is achieved through a combination of the first group of sub-data packets and the second group of sub-data packets, and the data receiver determines whether the first group of sub-data packets is sufficient for successful decoding of the first class of data based on an estimate of the mutual information or whether a combination of the first group of sub-data packets and the second group of sub-data packets is sufficient for successful decoding of the first class of data. The data receiver is configured to determine whether the first group of sub-data packets is required for decoding the first class of data, if the mutual information estimate indicates that the first group of sub-data packets is sufficient for successful decoding of the first class of data, the data receiver is configured to decode the first group of sub-data packets to obtain the first class of data, and if the mutual information estimate indicates that a combination of the first group of sub-data packets and the second group of sub-data packets is required for successful decoding of the first class of data, the data receiver is configured to combine the first group of sub-data packets with the second group of sub-data packets and decode same.

[0103] In an embodiment, the first class of data may be channel encoded and split onto a first plurality of sub-data packets, and the data receiver is configured to successively increase or decrease the data rate at which the sub-data packets are received.

[0104] In an embodiment, the length of the sub-data packets of the first plurality of sub-data packets may decrease or increase with an increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets.

[0105] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to indicate the transmission power to the data transmitter.

[0106] In a further embodiment, there is provided a data receiver for receiving channel encoded data, the channel encoded data being split onto a plurality of sub-data packets and transmitted distributed according to a hopping pattern, the data being channel encoded and split onto a plurality of sub-data packets such that, with error free transmission, only a first group of sub-data packets are required for successful decoding of the data, transmission pauses between sub-data packets of the first group of sub-data packets are shorter than transmission pauses between sub-data packets of a second group of sub-data packets transmitted after the first group of sub-data packets, the data receiver being configured to receive at least the first group of sub-data packets and to decode a portion of the channel encoded data received together with the first group of sub-data packets to obtain the data.

[0107] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to combine at least a second portion of the channel encoded data received along with at least a second group of sub-data packets with the first portion of the channel encoded data to achieve a higher coding gain and to decode the same to obtain the data if decoding the data is unsuccessful.

[0108] In an embodiment, only the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets of the second group of sub-data packets increase with an increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets.

[0109] A further embodiment provides a data receiver configured to receive data divided over a number of sub-data packets and transmitted using a first hopping pattern and repeatedly using a second hopping pattern, wherein a transmission pause between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern is smaller than a transmission pause between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0110] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern may span across two separate frequency bands.

[0111] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to receive data using the first hopping pattern twice on two separate frequency bands.

[0112] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to receive data using a second hopping pattern on two separate frequency bands.

[0113] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to receive data twice on two separate frequency bands using a second hopping pattern.

[0114] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to receive data in an interleaved manner using a first hopping pattern and repeatedly using a second hopping pattern, whereby at least one hop of the second hopping pattern is located between two hops of the first hopping pattern.

[0115] A further embodiment provides a data receiver configured to receive a first class of data transmitted using data packets, the data receiver being configured to receive the data transmitted using a plurality of sub-data packets repeatedly according to a first hopping pattern.

[0116] In an embodiment, the data receiver is further configured to receive the first class of data repeatedly using further data packets.

[0117] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to receive the first class of data by means of the further data packet and by means of the plurality of sub-data packets in a time-interleaved manner, whereby the further data packet is positioned in time between two of the plurality of sub-data packets.

[0118] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to transmit an acknowledgement of receipt within the time interval between receipt of the data packet and the plurality of sub-data packets.

[0119] In an embodiment, the data receiver is configured to receive a second class of data divided and transmitted over a second plurality of sub-data packets using a hopping pattern, wherein a transmission pause between two sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern is smaller than a transmission pause between two sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0120] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern may comprise a plurality of sub-hopping patterns that are time-shifted and / or frequency-shifted versions of one another, and the data receiver is configured to receive the first plurality of sub-data packets according to the plurality of sub-hopping patterns, the plurality of sub-hopping patterns being interleaved with one another such that sub-data packets assigned to different sub-hopping patterns are transmitted alternately.

[0121] In an embodiment, the first and second plurality of sub-data packets may be provided using a same synchronization sequence for synchronizing the first and second plurality of sub-data packets in a data receiver, the data receiver being configured to detect the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern and the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern using the same reference synchronization sequence in a received data stream.

[0122] A further embodiment provides a method of transmitting data from a data transmitter to a data receiver, the method comprising the steps of transmitting a first class of data from the data transmitter to the data receiver, the first class of data being divided and transmitted over a first plurality of sub-data packets using a first hopping pattern, the method further comprising the steps of transmitting a second class of data from the data transmitter or a different data transmitter to the data receiver, the second class of data being divided and transmitted over a second plurality of sub-data packets using a second hopping pattern, the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern being smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern and / or the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern being shorter than the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

[0123] A further embodiment provides a data transmitter configured to distribute and transmit data divided over a number of sub-data packets in time and / or frequency according to a hopping pattern, the hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern, a frequency hopping pattern or a combination of a time hopping pattern and a frequency hopping pattern, the time hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table: JPEG0007637719000001.jpg29158 A row in the table is a time hopping pattern, and each column in the table is a hop of the time hopping pattern starting from the second hop, whereby each time hopping pattern comprises 24 hops, and each cell in the table represents - preferably a plurality of - a symbol duration. ;of indicates the time interval between the reference points of each hop in the route to the same reference point of the next hop in the route, The frequency hopping pattern is a frequency hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the table below: JPEG0007637719000002.jpg29158 Each row in the table is a frequency hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop in the frequency hopping pattern, and each cell in the table is Uplink Carrier Group's carriers (hereinafter, UCG_C (called It shows the transmission frequency of each hop of the frequency hopping pattern in carriers 0 to UCG_C23.

[0124] A further embodiment provides a data receiver configured to receive data split and transmitted over a number of sub-data packets distributed in time and / or frequency according to a hopping pattern, the hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern, a frequency hopping pattern or a combination of time hopping patterns and said frequency hopping patterns, the time hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table, JPEG0007637719000003.jpg28158 A row in the table is a time hopping pattern, and each column in the table is a hop of the time hopping pattern starting from the second hop, whereby each time hopping pattern comprises 24 hops, and each cell in the table represents - preferably a plurality of - a symbol duration. ; hop to the same reference point of the next hop in the frequency hopping pattern, the frequency hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the table below: JPEG0007637719000004.jpg30158 Each row in the table is a frequency hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop of the frequency hopping pattern, and each cell in the table indicates the transmission frequency of each hop of the frequency hopping pattern in carriers UCG_C0 through UCG_C23.

[0125] A further embodiment provides a method of data transmission using a hopping pattern, the hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern, a frequency hopping pattern, or a combination of a time hopping pattern and a frequency hopping pattern, the time hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table: JPEG0007637719000005.jpg29160 A row in the table is a time hopping pattern, and each column in the table is a hop of the time hopping pattern starting from the second hop, whereby each time hopping pattern comprises 24 hops, and each cell in the table represents - preferably a plurality of - a symbol duration. ;of indicates the time interval between the reference points of each hop in the route to the same reference point of the next hop in the route, The frequency hopping pattern is a frequency hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the table below: JPEG0007637719000006.jpg30160A row in the table is a frequency hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop of the frequency hopping pattern, and each cell in the table indicates the transmission frequency of each hop of the frequency hopping pattern in carriers UCG_C0 through UCG_C23.

[0126] A further embodiment provides a method of data reception using a hopping pattern, the hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern, a frequency hopping pattern or a combination of a time hopping pattern and a frequency hopping pattern, the time hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table: JPEG0007637719000007.jpg31160, a row in the table is a time hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop of the time hopping pattern starting from the second hop, whereby each time hopping pattern comprises 24 hops, each cell in the table indicates a time interval of a reference point of each hop to the same reference point of the next hop within -preferably a plurality of- symbol durations: The frequency hopping pattern is a frequency hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the table below: JPEG0007637719000008.jpg31160A row in the table is a frequency hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop of the frequency hopping pattern, and each cell in the table indicates the transmission frequency of the respective hop of the frequency hopping pattern in carriers UCG_C0 to UCG_C23.

[0127] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0128] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a system having a data transmitter and a data receiver. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 illustrates in a diagram an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel upon transmission of a number of sub-data packets according to a time / frequency hopping pattern. [Figure 3a] FIG. 3a illustrates in a diagram an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel upon transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern. [Figure 3b] FIG. 3b illustrates an exemplary occupancy of the transmission channel for the transmission of a second plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a second hopping pattern. [Figure 4a]FIG. 4a illustrates in a diagram an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel upon transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern. [Figure 4b] FIG. 4b illustrates in a diagram an exemplary occupation of the transmission channel upon transmission of a second plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a second hopping pattern. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for the transmission of channel-encoded data by a plurality of sub-data packets, in which the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets of a first group of sub-data packets are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets of a second group of sub-data packets. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel in the transmission of channel-encoded data by a plurality of sub-data packets, where the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets of a first group of sub-data packets are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets of a second group of sub-data packets, and where the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets of the second group of sub-data packets increase with an increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 illustrates in a diagram an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel in the transmission of data channel-encoded by a number of sub-data packets using a first hopping pattern and repeatedly using a second hopping pattern. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for the transmission of multiple sub-data packets using a hopping pattern spanning two separate frequency bands. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for transmission of multiple sub-data packets using a first hopping pattern twice in two separate frequency bands and repeating a second hopping pattern twice in two separate frequency bands. [Figure 10]FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a number of sub-data packets using a first hopping pattern and repeatedly using a second hopping pattern, the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern being located between the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 illustrates exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first downlink message time-synchronized with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets according to a first hopping pattern versus the occupancy of the transmission channel for the transmission of a second downlink message time-synchronized with the transmission of a second plurality of sub-data packets according to a second hopping pattern. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel with transmission of acknowledgements of receipt divided over a plurality of sub-data packets interleaved in time with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets according to a second hopping pattern versus an occupancy of a transmission channel with transmission of acknowledgements of receipt divided over a plurality of sub-data packets after in time the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets according to a second hopping pattern. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets according to a first hopping pattern, the transmission of a second plurality of sub-data packets according to a second hopping pattern, and the transmission of confirmations of receipt divided over a plurality of sub-data packets interleaved in time, with the transmission of the second plurality of sub-data packets according to the second hopping pattern. [Figure 14] FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets according to a first hopping pattern allocated in time and frequency such that the sub-data packets completely overlap in time on different frequencies. [Figure 15]FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets according to a first hopping pattern, in which the sub-data packets 162 are distributed in time and frequency such that they partially overlap at different frequencies. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first class of data using a data packet and repeatedly using multiple sub-data packets according to a first hopping pattern distributed in time and frequency. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first class of data using a data packet and repeatedly using a further data packet and repeatedly using a number of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a hopping pattern, the further data packet and the number of sub-data packets being interleaved such that the further data packet is located in time between two of the sub-data packets. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first class of data using a data packet and repeatedly using a number of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern, and the transmission of confirmations of receipt within the time intervals between the data packet and the number of sub-data packets. [Figure 19a] FIG. 19a illustrates in a diagram an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern time-synchronized to a synchronization signal. [Figure 19b] FIG. 19b illustrates an exemplary occupancy of the transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets according to a hopping pattern with a first group of hops and a second group of hops, the first group of hops being explicitly indicated and the second group of hops being calculated from the first class of data or a channel-encoded version of the first class of data. [Figure 20] FIG. 20 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel upon transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern, each sub-data packet for itself in an error-free transmission may be decoded at the receiver side. [Figure 21] FIG. 21 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel with transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern, where the first class of channel-encoded data is distributed over the plurality of sub-data packets such that in an error-free transmission each group of sub-data packets may be retrieved and decoded for itself to obtain the first class of data. [Figure 22] FIG. 22 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern, where a first class of channel-encoded data is distributed over the first plurality of sub-data packets such that a first group of sub-data packets comprises channel-encoded data according to a first encoding polynomial (Polynomial 0) and such that a second group of sub-data packets comprises channel-encoded data according to a plurality of encoding polynomials (Polynomial 1 and Polynomial 2). [Figure 23] FIG. 23 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern, a first group of the sub-data packets comprising core information and a second group of the sub-data packets comprising extension information, the first group of the sub-data packets being transmitted in time prior to the second group of the sub-data packets. [Figure 24]FIG. 24 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel upon transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern, where a first group of hops of the hopping pattern identifies a data transmitter. [Diagram 25] FIG. 25 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel upon transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern such that the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern have the same time and frequency intervals for each of them. [Figure 26] FIG. 26 illustrates in a diagram an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern. [Figure 27] FIG. 27 illustrates in a diagram an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel upon transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern. [Figure 28] FIG. 28 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel upon transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern, the length of the sub-data packets decreasing with an increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets. [Figure 29] FIG. 29 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for generating a hopping pattern configuration according to an embodiment. [Diagram 30] FIG. 30 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for generating two sets of hopping patterns according to an embodiment. [Figure 31a] FIG. 31a illustrates the structure of a frame with a TSMA hopping pattern. [Figure 31b] FIG. 31b shows in a diagram two frequency channels and their occupancy during repeated data transmission according to a first hopping pattern and a second hopping pattern. [Diagram 32]FIG. 32 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the TSMA hopping pattern. [Figure 33a] FIG. 33a illustrates in a diagram the main and side maxima of the autocorrelation function of a hopping pattern with pronounced autocorrelation properties that apply across frequency and time. [Figure 33b] FIG. 33b illustrates in a diagram the main and side maxima of the autocorrelation function of a hopping pattern with no explicit autocorrelation properties that apply across frequency and time. [Figure 34a] FIG. 34a illustrates in a diagram the main and side maxima of the cross-correlation function of two hopping patterns with explicit cross-correlation properties that apply across frequency and time. [Figure 34b] FIG. 34a illustrates in a diagram the main and side maxima of the cross-correlation function of two hopping patterns with no explicit cross-correlation properties that apply across frequency and time. [Diagram 35] FIG. 35 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for generating a hopping pattern according to an embodiment. [Diagram 36] FIG. 36 illustrates in a diagram an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets distributed in frequency and time according to a first hopping pattern. [Figure 37] FIG. 37 illustrates in a table the definition of low latency frequency hopping patterns according to an embodiment. [Figure 38] FIG. 38 illustrates in a table the definition of low latency time hopping patterns according to an embodiment.

[0129] In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, the same elements or elements having the same effect are given the same reference numbers in the figures, whereby their descriptions are interchangeable.

[0130] Before describing the embodiments of the present invention in detail, Figures 1 and 2 are representatively used to first describe in more detail a communication system according to the invention, which is extended by a mode for data of higher priority and / or higher need in terms of maximum transmission duration. However, it is noted that the communication system described based on Figures 1 and 2 is illustrated or described by way of example only and should not be construed as limiting. Rather, the communication system is illustrated in a more highly abstracted form to explain the underlying principles in a simple and understandable manner.

[0131] FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an exemplary communication system having a data transmitter 100 and a data receiver 110.

[0132] The data transmitter 100 is configured to divide the data 120 (or a data packet having the data 120) over multiple sub-data packets 142 and transmit the multiple sub-data packets 142 distributed in time and / or frequency using a hopping pattern 140.

[0133] The data receiver 110 may be configured to receive a plurality of sub-data packets 142 to obtain data that has been divided over a plurality of sub-data packets and distributed in time and / or frequency according to a hopping pattern 140 and transmitted.

[0134] As representatively shown in Fig. 1, the data transmitter 100 may comprise a transmitting unit (or transmitting module or transmitter) 102 configured to transmit data 120. The transmitting unit 102 may be connected to an antenna 104 of the data transmitter 100. The data transmitter 100 may further comprise a receiving unit (or receiving module or receiver) 106 configured to receive data. The receiving unit 106 may be connected to the antenna 104 or to a further (separate) antenna of the data transmitter 100. The data transmitter 100 may also comprise a combined transmitting / receiving unit (transceiver).

[0135] The data receiver 110 may comprise a receiving unit (or receiving module or receiver) 116 configured to receive data 120. The receiving unit 116 may be connected to an antenna 114 of the data receiver 110. Furthermore, the data receiver 110 may comprise a transmitting unit (transmitting module or transmitter) 112 configured to transmit the data. The transmitting unit 112 may be connected to the antenna 114 or to a further (separate) antenna of the data receiver 110. The data receiver 110 may also comprise a combined transmit / receive unit (transceiver).

[0136] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be a sensor node, whereas the data receiver 110 may be a base station. In general, a communication system includes at least one data receiver 110 (base station) and a number of data transmitters (sensor nodes, e.g., calorimeters). Of course, the data transmitter 100 may be a base station, whereas the data receiver 110 may be a sensor node. Furthermore, the data transmitter 100 and the data receiver 110 may be sensor nodes. Furthermore, the data transmitter 100 and the data receiver 110 may be base stations.

[0137] The data transmitter 100 and the data receiver 110 may be configured to transmit and receive the respective data 120 using a telegram segmentation method (TS method), whereby a telegram or data packet 120 is segmented into a number of sub-data packets (or partial data packets or partial packets) 142, the sub-data packets 142 are transmitted distributed in time and / or frequency according to a hopping pattern 140 from the data transmitter 100 to the data receiver 110, and the data receiver 110 recombines (or combines) the sub-data packets to obtain the data packet 120. The sub-data packets 142 may each include only a portion of the data packet 120, whereby the sub-data packets 142 are each shorter than the data packet 120. The data packet 120 may further be channel coded, whereby not all the sub-data packets 142 are required for error-free decoding of the data packet 120, but only a portion of the sub-data packets 142.

[0138] As mentioned above, the distribution of the multiple sub-data packets 142 in time may be performed according to a time and / or frequency hopping pattern.

[0139] The time hopping pattern may indicate a sequence of transmission times or transmission time intervals (hops) during which the sub-data packets are transmitted. For example, a first sub-data packet may be transmitted at a first transmission time (or within a transmission time slot), and a second sub-data packet may be transmitted at a second transmission time (or within a transmission time slot), the first transmission time and the second transmission time being different. The time hopping pattern may define (explicitly or indicate) the first transmission time and the second transmission time. Alternatively, the time hopping pattern may indicate the first transmission time and the time interval between the first transmission time and the second transmission time. Of course, the time hopping pattern may also indicate only the time interval between the first transmission time and the second transmission time. Transmission pauses during which no transmission occurs may exist between the sub-data packets. The sub-data packets may also overlap (coincide) in time with each other.

[0140] The frequency hopping pattern may indicate a sequence of transmission frequencies or transmission frequency hops at which the sub-data packets are transmitted. For example, the first sub-data packet may be transmitted at a first transmission frequency (or in a first transmission frequency channel) and the second sub-data packet may be transmitted at a second transmission frequency (or in a second transmission frequency channel), the first transmission frequency and the second transmission frequency being different. The frequency hopping pattern may define (explicitly or indicate) the first transmission frequency and the second transmission frequency. Alternatively, the frequency hopping pattern may indicate the first transmission frequency and the frequency interval (transmission frequency hop) between the first transmission frequency and the second transmission frequency. Of course, the frequency hopping pattern may also indicate only the frequency interval (transmission frequency hop) between the first transmission frequency and the second transmission frequency.

[0141] Of course, the sub-data packets 142 may be transmitted from the data transmitter 100 to the data receiver 110 in a distributed manner in both time and frequency. The distribution of the sub-data packets in time and frequency may be performed according to a time / frequency hopping pattern. The time / frequency hopping pattern may be a combination of a time hopping pattern and a frequency hopping pattern, i.e. a sequence of transmission times and transmission time intervals during which the sub-data packets are transmitted, and a transmission frequency (or transmission frequency hop) may be assigned to a transmission time (or transmission time interval).

[0142] The time / frequency hopping pattern may comprise multiple hops, each of which indicates a transmission time or frequency (or transmission time hop, or transmission frequency hop) according to which multiple sub-data packets 142 may be transmitted.

[0143] 2 shows in a diagram an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a number of sub-data packets 142 according to a time / frequency hopping pattern, where the ordinate denotes frequency and the abscissa denotes time.

[0144] As can be seen in FIG. 2, the data packet 120 may be divided into sub-data packets 142, typically n=7, and transmitted from the data transmitter 100 to the data receiver 110 distributed in time and frequency according to a time / frequency hopping pattern.

[0145] As can be further seen in FIG. 2, the synchronization sequence 144 may also be divided over multiple sub-data packets 142, whereby the multiple sub-data packets 142, compared to the data (data symbols in FIG. 2) 146, each include a portion of the synchronization sequence (synchronization symbols in FIG. 2) 144.

[0146] In the following, detailed embodiments of the data transmitter 100 and the data receiver 110 are described in more detail.

[0147] 1. Different classes of hopping patterns

[0148] Up to now, all the hopping patterns of the system have been developed so that they have approximately the same delay time, so it is not possible to achieve a shorter delay for a specific application, which is why these applications cannot be used in any system.

[0149] 1.1 Reducing Pauses Between Sub-Data Packets

[0150] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to divide a first class of data onto a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 and transmit the first plurality of sub-data packets 162 using a first hopping pattern 160, and the data transmitter 100 is configured to divide a second class of data onto a second plurality of sub-data packets 142 and transmit the second plurality of sub-data packets 142 using a second hopping pattern 140, wherein the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 160 are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 142 transmitted according to the second hopping pattern 140.

[0151] Accordingly, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive a first class of data that has been divided and transmitted over a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 using a first hopping pattern 160, and the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive a second class of data that has been divided and transmitted over a second plurality of sub-data packets 142 using a second hopping pattern 140, wherein the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 142 received according to the first hopping pattern 160 are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 142 received according to the second hopping pattern 140.

[0152] In an embodiment, the first class of data may have a higher priority and / or higher requirements regarding maximum transmission duration than the second class of data.

[0153] Fig. 3a illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 142 according to a first hopping pattern 140, whereas Fig. 3b illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for the transmission of a second plurality of sub-data packets 162 according to a second hopping pattern 160. Comparing Fig. 3a and Fig. 3b, it can be seen that the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 160 are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 142 transmitted according to the second hopping pattern 140. In other words, Figs. 3a and 3b show a comparison between different classes of hopping patterns with reduced pauses.

[0154] Thus, in an embodiment, different classes of hopping patterns with different delays may be defined to solve the problem in section 1, where a pattern with low delay (low delay mode) comprises a shorter pause between subpackets than a subpacket with a higher delay on average. Depending on the application or urgency of the message, the transmitter 100 selects a pattern from the corresponding class.

[0155] The receiver may be configured to detect and receive (all) different classes of hopping patterns. At least partial parallel processing is required to achieve this goal. Under the assumption that the pilot sequence in each subpacket is the same for all hopping pattern classes, the computational effort for the same total number of hopping pattern detections is not high compared to if only one class of hopping patterns were used.

[0156] In this case, the receiver 110 may first perform a general subpacket correlation (or partial pilot sequence correlation) for all classes (and hopping patterns), and then a correlation (or any similar method) may be performed separately for each hopping pattern 160 and 140 via the results of the subpacket correlations to obtain a sum result.

[0157] Figures 3a and 3b show representative comparisons between hopping patterns 160 and 140 from different classes. The hopping pattern 140 in Figure 3a represents a conventional class optimized for high transmission reliability at the expense of delay. The hopping pattern 160 in Figure 3b has sufficiently low delay and can therefore be used for time-critical applications.

[0158] If more than one class is defined, the transmitter may select the corresponding class according to the delay required depending on the application. However, the disadvantage of the hopping pattern with low delay is low interference robustness in transmission. Therefore, packet errors occur more frequently for the pattern with low delay than among the pattern with high delay in transmission (the following idea is presented to solve this problem).

[0159] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, different classes of hopping patterns may be used, which may be selected depending on the application.

[0160] In an embodiment, at least partial parallel detection of different classes of hopping patterns may be performed at the receiver side.

[0161] 1.2.Reduction in the number of sub-data packets

[0162] Under certain circumstances, the embodiment of Section 1.1 has the disadvantage that a new hopping pattern must be designed, which must additionally be detected by the receiver, which is particularly problematic if only limited computational power is available at the receiver.

[0163] Thus, in an embodiment, the first plurality of sub-data packets 162 may comprise fewer sub-data packets than the second plurality of sub-data packets 142, and the sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 160 may optionally be longer than the sub-data packets 142 transmitted according to the second hopping pattern 140.

[0164] In an embodiment, the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 160 and / or the second hopping pattern 140 may be provided with a synchronization sequence such that the time interval between the synchronization sequence of the sub-data packets 162 transmitted with the first hopping pattern 160 and the synchronization sequence of the sub-data packets 142 transmitted with the second hopping pattern 140 is the same.

[0165] Instead of decreasing the pauses between the sub-data packets 162, fewer sub-data packets may be used and their length may be increased. This means that the same detection may be used for both (or several) classes of hopping patterns (in the situation where the interval of the synchronization sequence remains the same). In the case of a hopping pattern class with low delay, detection may optionally be performed via only the first hop.

[0166] Fig. 4a illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 142 according to a first hopping pattern 140, whereas Fig. 4b illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for the transmission of a second plurality of sub-data packets 162 according to a second hopping pattern 160. In other words, Fig. 4a and Fig. 4b show a comparison of a hopping pattern of a normal mode (having high delay) and a hopping pattern from a low delay class. In order to transmit the same amount of data with fewer sub-data packets, the length of the sub-data packets has been increased.

[0167] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, the length of the sub-data packets may depend on the class of hopping pattern used. A long length of the sub-data packets may be selected for a short delay according to the application.

[0168] In an embodiment, at the data receiver side, the detection of different classes of hopping patterns may be performed using a combination of algorithms.

[0169] 1.3.Increased Bandwidth in Low Latency Mode

[0170] Under certain circumstances, the two previous embodiments in sections 1.1 and 1.2 have the disadvantage of reduced interference robustness due to pauses or a reduction in the number of sub-data packets.

[0171] To address this issue, the bandwidth of the signal may be increased, making it less likely that external interference will corrupt multiple subpackets since the interference is also band-limited, and increasing the bandwidth makes it more likely that interference will only be partially within the same band as the telegram.

[0172] Increasing the bandwidth of the transmission first also increases the bandwidth that the interferers can enter. There is therefore no advantage in this situation, since the interferers' capacity is evenly utilized over the entire used bandwidth. However, the transmission always occurs in the so-called ISM bands, and the maximum channel occupancy in the bands was mentioned above. However, there are different maximum allowed channel occupancies for different bands. Choosing a hopping pattern with a width such that several (at least two) bands with different channel occupancies are used for the transmission has an advantage in terms of interference robustness, since the channel occupancy of the interferers is at different heights within the band.

[0173] In certain circumstances, increasing only the bandwidth of the low latency mode, as in section 1.1, has the disadvantage that detection for the different modes must be performed separately, however, the interference robustness against external and internal interference increases. If the bandwidth of the normal mode is also increased, the combined detection may also be performed using section 1.2. In this case, the internal interference robustness is the same when all transmitters are transmitting in normal mode.

[0174] In an embodiment, the bandwidths of different classes of hopping patterns at the data transmitter side may vary.

[0175] In an embodiment, detection of different classes of hopping patterns at the data receiver may be performed across different bands.

[0176] 1.4. Using Different Data Rates or Different Modulation Methods

[0177] Higher data rates or different modulation methods similar to (or combined with) the embodiments of Section 1.3 may be used in transmissions in low latency mode. Ideally, the data rate is increased to reduce the duration of the transmission, resulting in longer pauses between subpackets, and therefore increasing the transmission reliability against interference.

[0178] If the modulation type is changed, the duration of the transmission should be reduced if possible (eg, QPSK instead of BPSK).

[0179] The decision as to the data rate or modulation type to be used may be made based on the application of priority and the required delay of the message.

[0180] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, the data rates or modulation types of different classes of hopping patterns may vary.

[0181] In an embodiment, at the data receiver side, the determination of different hopping pattern classes may be performed across different data rates and / or modulation types.

[0182] 2. A combination of normal and low latency hopping patterns

[0183] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to channel encode the data and divide the same onto multiple sub-data packets 162 and transmit the multiple sub-data packets 162 according to the hopping pattern 160. The data transmitter 100 may be configured to channel encode the data and divide the same onto multiple sub-data packets 162 such that in an error-free transmission only a first group 170 of sub-data packets 162 is required for successful decoding of the data and such that in an errored transmission a higher coding gain is achieved through a combination of the first group of sub-data packets and the second group of sub-data packets.

[0184] Accordingly, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive at least the first group 170 of sub-data packets 162 and to decode a portion of the channel encoded data received along with the first group 170 of sub-data packets 162 to obtain the data. In addition, the data receiver 110 may be configured to combine at least a second portion of the channel encoded data received along with the at least a second group 172 of sub-data packets 162 with the first portion of the channel encoded data and to decode the same to obtain the data in order to achieve a higher coding gain if the decoding of the data is not successful.

[0185] In this way, it is possible to transmit messages with redundancy in such a way that early decoding is possible instead of defining hopping patterns for different classes.

[0186] 2.1. A short pause at the beginning of a message

[0187] With the embodiment described in section 2, the transmission delay may be reduced, however the delay required for a particular application under certain circumstances may still not be achieved. To solve this problem, the pauses of the first sub-data packets may be shortened as in the embodiment of section 1. However, the difference is that not all pauses are shortened, only the same number are needed for early decoding.

[0188] In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5 , the transmission pause between sub-data packets 162 of a first group 170 of sub-data packets 162 may therefore be smaller than the transmission pause between sub-data packets 162 of a second group 172 of sub-data packets 162 transmitted after the first group 170 of sub-data packets 162.

[0189] In particular, Fig. 5 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of data channel-encoded by a plurality of sub-data packets 142, where the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 of a first group 170 of sub-data packets 162 are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 of a second group 172 of sub-data packets 162. In other words, Fig. 5 illustrates a combination of a normal hopping pattern and a low-latency hopping pattern.

[0190] The advantage of this method is that the delay for a message with a good SNR may be strongly reduced without additional effort or overhead, since the first part of the message may already have been decoded with low delay in advance. If the SNR is low, the transmission does not have to be repeated, but it is enough to receive the remaining information and then do the normal decoding.

[0191] If the receiver has the capability to make multiple SNR or received level measurements of the messages, it can directly determine whether a message can be decoded quickly or not (signals whose SNR is above a threshold), without having to attempt to decode a portion of the data for every partial packet received.

[0192] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter, the first subpacket may have a smaller pause than the subsequent subpackets.

[0193] In an embodiment, at the data receiver (or decoder) decoding of the message may be attempted already before the entire message has been received, if this is not possible the remaining parts of the message may also be received and then decoded.

[0194] 2.2. Increase in Pause with Increasing Number of Transmitted / Emitted Sub-Data Packets

[0195] In certain circumstances, the embodiment according to section 2.1 has the disadvantage that it is necessary to wait a relatively long time after an early encoding failure before further sub-data packets can be received and decoding can be attempted again.

[0196] Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, in an embodiment, the transmission pauses between sub-data packets of the second group 172 of sub-data packets 162 may increase within an increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets.

[0197] In particular, an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of data channel-encoded by a number of sub-data packets 142 is shown in the figure, where the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 of a first group 170 of sub-data packets 162 are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 of a second group 172 of sub-data packets 162, which transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 of the second group 172 of sub-data packets 162 increasing with an increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets 162. In other words, Fig. 6 shows that due to a reception region that is strongly dependent on decoding, the transmission pauses between the sub-packets are increasing.

[0198] The initially mentioned problem may therefore be avoided by successively increasing the transmission pauses between subpackets as the number of transmitted subpackets increases.

[0199] It is important to note that the pauses do not have to be distributed in a strictly monotonically increasing manner, however there should be some intention regarding increasing pauses.

[0200] If the receiver is not able to perform an SNR or receive power estimation, decoding is attempted after each new block of subpackets is received (see FIG. 4, top diagram of block of subpackets). If the receiver has an SNR or receive level estimation, it may calculate after which block it can decode the telegram.

[0201] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, the subpacket pause may increase on average with increasing number of subpackets, and the transmission delay depends on the SNR or interference level at the receiver.

[0202] In an embodiment, at the data receiver, decoding of the message may already be attempted before the reception of the entire message. If this is not possible, the remaining parts of the message may also be received and decoded then. Optionally, the receiver may estimate the SNR and reception level of the message and determine from there a sensible point in time to start an early decoding attempt.

[0203] 3. Message Reception

[0204] In certain circumstances, the embodiments described in sections 1 and 2 have the disadvantage of increasing the susceptibility to interference and reducing the transmission probability in order to reduce the pauses between messages. A solution to increase the transmission reliability is the reception of messages. An optimized concept for this is presented below.

[0205] 3.1. Low-latency and standard hopping patterns

[0206] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to divide data over multiple sub-data packets 162 and transmit the multiple sub-data packets 162 using a first hopping pattern 160, and the data transmitter is configured to transmit the multiple sub-data packets 162 using a repeated second hopping pattern 140, wherein the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 162 are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the second hopping pattern 140.

[0207] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive data divided over a number of sub-data packets 162 and transmitted using a first hopping pattern 160 and repeatedly using a second hopping pattern 140, wherein the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 162 are smaller than the transmission pauses between the sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the second hopping pattern 140.

[0208] Instead of individual emission of low-delay hopping patterns to increase transmission reliability, the same telegram may be repeatedly emitted in succession using different hopping patterns with longer delays. Figure 7 illustrates this principle.

[0209] In particular, Fig. 7 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of channel-encoded data by a number of sub-data packets 162 using a first hopping pattern 160 and repeatedly using a second hopping pattern 140. In other words, Fig. 7 illustrates a combination of low-latency and standard emissions as a repetition.

[0210] If multiple receives are used, the hopping pattern except for the last receive may also have the same or similar delay as the first pattern (e.g., a message may be sent twice using the low-delay pattern and then once using the standard pattern).

[0211] If the low-delay telegram has already been correctly decoded at the receiver, the receiver may omit decoding of the standard telegram message having a high delay.

[0212] If the message is not received correctly, the receiver may receive a standard telegram and then decode the same, or if this does not work due to noise or interference, may perform combining of at least two emissions (e.g. Maximal Ratio Combining, MRC).

[0213] As an alternative to receiving the entire standard telegram, it also makes it possible to receive only parts of a standard telegram message and to perform partial combinations of low-latency telegrams.

[0214] If the receiver were to have an SNR or receive level estimate, it would again be able to determine the number of (possibly) required subpackets in advance and then start decoding accordingly after reception of the same.

[0215] In an embodiment, (at least) one emission with a low-delay hopping pattern at the data transmitter may be performed first, followed by repetitions with hopping patterns having a higher delay than the first pattern.

[0216] In an embodiment, the receiver may first attempt to receive the original telegram, and if this does not work, decoding of repeats or a combination of the original emission and repeats may be attempted.

[0217] 3.2. Splitting of messages onto several frequency bands

[0218] The use of low-delay telegrams due to the shortened pauses has the disadvantage of being more susceptible to interference. A possible solution to this problem is to radiate the low-delay telegrams in parallel on two different frequency bands ("duplex method") (analogous to the bandwidth increase in section 1.3). In contrast, in the multicarrier method (see section 5), the transmission never occurs simultaneously on the two frequencies in the duplex method, but the sub-data packets are radiated one after the other, as when classically a single frequency band is used.

[0219] As described below, this may be done in different ways.

[0220] In an embodiment (case a)), the first hopping pattern may span across two separate frequency bands as shown in FIG.

[0221] Fig. 8 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a number of sub-data packets 162 using a hopping pattern 160 spread across two separate frequency bands 180 and 182. In other words, Fig. 8 illustrates a "dual method" according to case a), where the sub-data packets are distributed across two separate frequency bands in which half low-delay telegrams are radiated to each other.

[0222] As shown in Figure 8, the hopping pattern may be chosen to be distributed over two frequency bands, which all low-delay telegrams use. In contrast to using a single frequency band, this method increases interference robustness against narrowband interference and reduces delay for standard TS telegrams.

[0223] In an embodiment (case b)), the data may be transmitted twice using the first hopping pattern in two separate frequency bands. In other words, every low-delay telegram may be radiated in each one of the two frequency bands used. For example, for case a every two low-delay telegrams may be radiated instead of one. This further increases the robustness against interference at the expense of a higher delay.

[0224] In an embodiment (case c)), the multiple sub-data packets 162 may be transmitted twice using a first hopping pattern in two separate frequency bands, and twice using a second hopping pattern in two separate frequency bands, repeatedly as shown in FIG.

[0225] In particular, Fig. 9 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a number of sub-data packets 162 using a first hopping pattern 160 twice in two separate frequency bands 180 and 182, and using a second hopping pattern 140 repeatedly twice in two separate frequency bands 180 and 182. In other words, Fig. 9 illustrates a hopping pattern divided across two frequency bands radiating a low-delay telegram followed by a standard telegram.

[0226] To further increase the robustness of the "dual method", as can be seen in Figure 9, it is possible to combine this low-delay telegram with the standard TS telegram described in section 2.1. A subpacket is also emitted of each half of the low-delay telegram on two frequency bands, followed by a standard TS telegram, half of which is transmitted in one of the two bands. This results in a total of two telegrams being emitted, a low-delay telegram and a standard TS telegram. The advantage of this is that the probability of reception in the case of interference is significantly increased due to the use of the standard TS telegram.

[0227] In an embodiment (case d)), the highest interference robustness may be achieved through a combination of types b) and c). All low-delay telegrams are transmitted in each of the two frequency bands and then the complete standard TS telegram is transmitted. This increases the interference robustness even against wideband interference. The disadvantage is that the delay is not improved to the same extent as in cases a) or c). Overall, all four telegrams are now radiated (two low-delay telegrams and two standard TS telegrams).

[0228] In an embodiment, a combination of low-delay and standard TS telegrams allows for transmissions with low latency (e.g., early warnings), with the emission of standard TS telegrams also serving as a backup to increase reception probability.

[0229] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, the hopping pattern may be divided into several frequency bands, for example two, where there is an unused gap between the frequency bands.

[0230] In an embodiment, at the data receiver side, for example, the determination of the message may be performed only in one of the two bands: if a message is found in one of these two bands, the remaining sub-data packets in the other band are automatically inferred since a fixed time / frequency interval has been determined.

[0231] 3.3. Interleaving of low-delay messages with standard TS message hopping patterns

[0232] In an embodiment, data may be transmitted in an interleaved manner using the first hopping pattern 160 and repeatedly using the second hopping pattern 140, whereby at least one sub-data packet 142 transmitted according to the second hopping pattern 140 is positioned between two sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 160, as shown in FIG. 10.

[0233] In particular, Fig. 10 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a number of sub-data packets 162 using a first hopping pattern 160 and repeatedly using a second hopping pattern 140, the sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 160 being placed between the sub-data packets 142 transmitted according to the second hopping pattern 140. In other words, Fig. 10 illustrates low-delay telegrams interleaved in standard telegrams.

[0234] As can be seen in figure 10, the hopping pattern may be chosen such that one or several low-delay telegrams are interleaved with standard TS telegrams. The advantage of this method on the one hand is the short delay in the transmission of messages with high priority due to the low-delay telegrams, and on the other hand the time saved in contrast to the successive transmission of low-delay and standard TS telegrams, i.e. shorter waiting times even if a low-delay telegram is not received (e.g. due to interference), and the forwarding of the message is only possible after the complete reception of the standard TS telegram.

[0235] In an embodiment, at the transmitter side, a hopping pattern may be defined such that one or several low-delay and standard TS telegrams may be interleaved with each other, i.e. the pause between subpackets of a standard TS telegram is sufficiently large so that at least one subpacket of a low-delay telegram may be introduced therefrom.

[0236] In an embodiment, the receiver may first receive the low-delay telegram and a portion of the standard TS telegram and may then begin a decoding attempt for the low-delay telegram. If this fails, the receiver may combine the low-delay telegram with subpackets of the already received standard TS telegram for a further decoding attempt. If this fails, the complete standard TS telegram may be received later and it may be decoded (possibly using subpackets of the low-delay telegram).

[0237] 4. Acknowledgement of receipt for critical messages (in two-way systems)

[0238] 4.1. Reduced Time Window to Downlink After Low Latency Uplink

[0239] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to receive a first signal 190 synchronized in time with the transmission of a first class of data using a first hopping pattern 160, and the data transmitter 100 may be configured to receive a second signal 192 synchronized in time with the transmission of a second class of data using a second hopping pattern 140, wherein the time interval between the first hopping pattern 160 and the first message 190 is smaller than the time interval between the second hopping pattern 140 and the second message.

[0240] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to transmit a first message synchronized in time with the receipt of a first class of data using a first hopping pattern 160, and the data receiver 110 may be configured to transmit a second message 192 synchronized in time with the receipt of a second class of data using a second hopping pattern 140, wherein the time interval between the first hopping pattern 160 and the first message 190 is smaller than the time interval between the second hopping pattern 140 and the second message 192.

[0241] For example, the first message may be a first downlink message 190 split and transmitted over multiple sub-data packets according to a first downlink hopping pattern, and the second message may be a second downlink message 192 split and transmitted over multiple sub-data packets according to a second downlink hopping pattern, with transmission pauses between the multiple sub-data packets transmitted according to the first downlink hopping pattern being shorter than the transmission pauses between the multiple sub-data packets transmitted according to the second downlink hopping pattern, as shown in FIG. 11 .

[0242] In particular, Fig. 11 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel for a transmission of a first downlink message 190 synchronized in time with a transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 according to a first hopping pattern 160 versus an occupancy of the transmission channel for a transmission of a second downlink message 192 synchronized in time with a transmission of a second plurality of sub-data packets 142 according to a second hopping pattern 140. In other words, Fig. 11 illustrates a shortened time window between low-latency uplink and downlink with respect to the standard case.

[0243] A bidirectional asynchronous system optimized with respect to energy efficiency is always characterized by the start of a downlink slot defined by a determined time interval after the last uplink slot. That is, a downlink message can only be transmitted after an uplink message. The interval between the uplink and downlink messages is predefined or explicit or configurable.

[0244] However, it may be a requirement for applications where it is critical to minimize delay in both transmission directions (uplink and downlink) in order to be able to send early message acknowledgments (ACKs).

[0245] This is a possible solution for responding to the reception of a low-latency telegram, where the time interval to the start of the downlink slot is shortened with respect to the standard case (low-latency downlink). In the standard telegram the pause between uplink and downlink exemplarily corresponds approximately to the duration of the telegram, in other words approximately to a few seconds (due to the energy efficiency / necessary time for charging the energy stores of the base station transmitter / capacity limitations). Similarly in case of a received low-latency telegram the pause between uplink and downlink may be shortened to approximately the duration of the low-latency telegram.

[0246] The advantage of this solution is that it makes it possible to trigger a confirmation of receipt for the sending of a message as well as low latency when sending a message.

[0247] In an embodiment, reception of a low latency telegram at a data transmitter may result in a shortened interval between the start of a low latency uplink and downlink slot - relative to a standard TS telegram.

[0248] In an embodiment the receiver can expect - relative to the standard case - to receive the downlink already after a shortened time window after emission of the low-delay telegram.

[0249] 4.2. Low Latency Uplink Request ACK

[0250] Applications that require low latency, i.e. time-critical applications, are often also security-critical (e.g. alarms). In this case the problem is that the sender cannot know for sure if the message was successfully sent or not.

[0251] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to transmit the first class of data and then receive a confirmation of receipt from the data receiver 110 indicating successful reception of the first class of data.

[0252] For example, in combination with or in addition to the embodiments of Section 4.1, a two-way system may require that receipt of a low-latency telegram from the base station be acknowledged with an acknowledgement of receipt (ACK). The benefit of this approach is that the sender knows for sure that the message was successfully received through the acknowledgement.

[0253] In an embodiment, upon successful reception of the low-delay message at the receiver, an ACK may be imperatively sent.

[0254] 4.3. The low latency uplink transmits until an ACK is received.

[0255] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to repeatedly radiate the first class of data using the first hopping pattern 160 or a different hopping pattern until an acknowledgement of receipt is received.

[0256] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to transmit an acknowledgment of receipt indicating successful reception of the first class of data in response to successful reception of the first class of data, and the data receiver may be configured to emit an acknowledgment of receipt only for the first class of data and not for the second class of data.

[0257] A disadvantage in using low-delay telegrams is their low interference robustness. To further increase the probability of successful reception of at least one low-delay telegram, the transmitter may radiate the same until an acknowledgement of reception (ACK) from the base station is received. When the ACK is received, the transmitter stops radiating. This method has several advantages, it increases the probability of successful reception of a low-delay telegram transmission for each individual transmitting node. The channel capacity occupied by the cessation of radiation due to the reception of an ACK is released. This further increases the reception probability of the entire system in situations where several or many sensor nodes simultaneously request the transmission of low-delay telegrams.

[0258] In an embodiment, at the data receiver side, an ACK is imperatively sent upon successful reception of a low-delay telegram.

[0259] In an embodiment, the last node may transmit low latency telegrams until an ACK is received and transmissions are stopped.

[0260] 4.4. Downlink Interleaved with Uplink

[0261] To increase the probability of receiving a message, for example sent as an alert signal, the same may be transmitted continuously until an ACK is received (see embodiment according to section 4.3). In the normal case, a transmission pause must be maintained after several transmissions (for example two) to allow reception of an ACK.

[0262] However, in an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to receive from the data receiver 110 an acknowledgment of (1) receipt of a first class of data using a first hopping pattern or (2) receipt that overlaps in time with the emission of a second class of data in a second hopping pattern, whereby at least one sub-data packet transmitted according to the respective hopping pattern is positioned between the sub-data packets of the hopping pattern from which the data receiver's acknowledgment of receipt was emitted.

[0263] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to transmit an acknowledgment of receipt that overlaps in time with the reception of (1) a first class of data using a first hopping pattern or (2) a second class of data using a second hopping pattern, such that at least one sub-data packet transmitted according to the first hopping pattern or the second hopping pattern using the hopping pattern is positioned between two sub-data packets of the hopping pattern from which the acknowledgment of receipt was emitted.

[0264] Fig. 12 shows in the diagram an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel with a transmission of an acknowledgement of receipt 194 divided over a number of sub-data packets 195 interleaved in time with the transmission of a first number of sub-data packets 142 according to a second hopping pattern 140 versus an occupancy of the transmission channel with a transmission of an acknowledgement of receipt 196 divided over a number of sub-data packets 197 after in time the transmission of a first number of sub-data packets 142 according to a second hopping pattern 140. In other words, Fig. 12 shows the standard case on the top and an interleaved downlink on the bottom, which has the advantage that an additional telegram can be transmitted and at the same time the downlink can be received earlier.

[0265] In other words, it is possible to interleave the downlink into the uplink hopping pattern which is instead also emitted, after a duration which corresponds to the time interval between the uplink and downlink slots. The advantage of this solution is that no time slots are lost due to an alarm being emitted, and reception probability is therefore maximized, while the duration until reception of an ACK is simultaneously minimized in order to allow confirmation of reception of the alarm as quickly as possible.

[0266] In an embodiment, after reception of at least one standard TS telegram at the data receiver and a time window until the start of a downlink slot, a hopping pattern for the standard TS telegram in the downlink may be selected such that it can be interleaved among the further radiated uplink telegrams.

[0267] In an embodiment, on the data transmitter side, the base station may transmit a downlink in parallel with receiving, and on the data receiver side, the sensor node receives a downlink in parallel with emitting an uplink, in other words, the data transmitter and the data receiver switch between transmitting and receiving branches during a telegram.

[0268] 4.5. Combining Interleaved Downlink with Low Latency Uplink

[0269] In order to achieve a short delay until successful acknowledgement, which is important for urgent applications, the first emission of a standard TS telegram may be replaced by the emission of several low-latency telegrams in order to reduce the delay according to the previous embodiment of section 4.4. Several (e.g. two) consecutive low-latency telegrams follow the emission of a standard TS telegram in the uplink in order to allow simultaneous reception of interleaved ACKs in the downlink. The advantage of this is that the delay until the first telegram is available for reception is reduced and the reliability is improved since the omission of the pause for the downlink in case of not receiving a low-latency telegram results in an additional transmission, and the reception probability is further improved with the standard TS telegram.

[0270] Fig. 13 shows the occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 according to a first hopping pattern 160, the transmission of a second plurality of sub-data packets 142 according to a second hopping pattern 140, and the transmission of an acknowledgement of receipt 194 divided over a plurality of sub-data packets 195 interleaved in time with the transmission of the second plurality of sub-data packets 142 according to the second hopping pattern 140. In other words, Fig. 13 shows the emission of a standard telegram consisting of a low-latency uplink followed by a pause during which a low-latency downlink is interleaved.

[0271] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side a standard TS telegram may be emitted after the emission of one or several (e.g. two) low-delay telegrams and possibly an ACK may be received in the downlink at the same time. Pauses between sub-data packets of the standard TS telegram may be used in further downlink slots.

[0272] In an embodiment, the pauses between sub-data packets of a standard TS telegram at the data transmitter side may be used to receive downlink messages, in other words the sensor node switches between a transmitting branch and a receiving branch within a telegram.

[0273] 5. Multi-carrier transmission

[0274] Now the hopping pattern of the transmission has been defined such that at most one transmission of a sub-data packet occurs at any point in the telegram transmission. This has the advantage that almost any radio chip available on the market may be used for the emission.

[0275] However, this limitation on message splitting and the high latency caused by pauses are disadvantages.

[0276] 5.1. Fully overlapped multi-carrier mode

[0277] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to transmit at least two sub-data packets 162 according to a first hopping pattern 160 with different frequencies and complete overlap in time.

[0278] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive at least two sub-data packets 162 according to a first hopping pattern 160, involving different frequencies and completely overlapping in time.

[0279] Fig. 14 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 according to a first hopping pattern 160 such that the sub-data packets 162 completely overlap in time on different frequencies. In other words, Fig. 14 illustrates a multi-carrier mode with message splitting.

[0280] As can be seen in FIG. 14, if one uses a special radio chip, an SDR front-end or a similar transmitter that has the possibility to transmit on several frequencies in parallel, it is possible to perform so-called multi-carrier radiation.

[0281] Combined with message splitting, this means that several subpackets are emitted in parallel at any given point in time, however there are also times within a message where no transmission occurs (transmission pauses).

[0282] Currently used receivers may still be used without any modification of the algorithm (adjusting the hopping pattern) since channel splitting is always already performed in the receiver.

[0283] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter, a hopping pattern may be defined such that parallel emissions occur at least one time.

[0284] 5.2. Partially overlapping multi-carrier mode

[0285] Under certain circumstances the previous embodiment according to section 5.1 has the disadvantage of lower interference robustness with respect to wideband interference since it may corrupt one or more subpackets relative to conventional telegram segmentation. This is due to the bandwidth of the interference being usually longer than the exemplary hopping distance of telegram segmentation.

[0286] However, due to the high symbol rate (symbol rate is related to the bandwidth), these wideband interferences are only very short with respect to the transmission duration. Thus, by transmitting subpackets with only partial overlap, it is possible to increase the interference robustness.

[0287] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may therefore be configured to transmit at least two sub-data packets 162 according to the first hopping pattern 160 on different frequencies and with partial time overlap.

[0288] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive at least two sub-data packets 162 according to a first hopping pattern 160 on different frequencies and with partial time overlap.

[0289] Fig. 15 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 according to a first hopping pattern 160 distributed in time and frequency such that the sub-data packets 162 partially overlap on different frequencies. In other words, Fig. 15 illustrates a multi-carrier mode with parallel overlap with message division.

[0290] As can be seen in FIG. 15, the possibility of wideband interference corrupting one or more subpackets due to only partial overlap of the subpackets may be reduced in areas where overlapping emissions occur.

[0291] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter, the hopping pattern may be defined such that parallel emission occurs at least one time, and overlap may also occur within only a portion of the subpackets.

[0292] 6. Combination of Classical Transmission and Message Splitting

[0293] In situations where the transmission reliability is not sufficient for low-latency messages, the emission of the message may first occur as a classical telegram. The message may then be repeated by telegram splitting.

[0294] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to radiate a first class of data using a data packet 150, and the data transmitter 100 may be configured to radiate the data using multiple repeated sub-data packets 162, where the multiple sub-data packets 162 are radiated according to a first hopping pattern 160.

[0295] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive a first class of data transmitted using one data packet 150, and the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive the first class of data transmitted using multiple sub-data packets 162 repeatedly according to a first hopping pattern 160.

[0296] Fig. 16 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first class of data using data packets according to a first hopping pattern distributed in time and frequency and repeatedly using a number of sub-data packets 162 distributed in time and frequency, in other words, Fig. 16 illustrates the combination of classical telegrams and telegrams using telegram splitting.

[0297] The time interval between classical and splitting telegrams and any frequency offset may be freely chosen, in which case only separate decoding of the messages is possible, except if detection may be performed to detect both the telegram and a successful synchronization execution.

[0298] Optionally, the time / frequency interval between the two emissions may be selected to be determined. In this case, a combination of the two emissions is possible, it being sufficient if only one of the two telegrams is detected and can be used for synchronization.

[0299] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, emission may first be performed using a classical transmission method (e.g., BPSK without pauses), followed by repetition with message segmentation.

[0300] In an embodiment, the receiver may have two separate processing departments: one responsible for the detection and processing of classical transmissions and a further one for processing of split telegrams. Optionally a combination of both transmissions may be performed if the time and frequency between the two emissions are known or a hypothesis test is performed.

[0301] 6.1. Interleaved Transmission of Classical Transfers with Message Splitting

[0302] In certain circumstances, the embodiment according to section 6 has the disadvantage that the delay strongly increases the inaccurate transmission with the aid of the classical transmission method. A possibility for solving this problem would be to repeat the emission with the aid of the classical transmission method (for example twice or three times) before the transmission with message division is performed.

[0303] This increases the probability of transmission, but still has the disadvantage that with strongly interfered channels there is a relatively high corruption rate for classical transmissions, so that in these channels classical messages are more likely not to be received correctly, even if they are repeated, than transmissions using message segmentation.

[0304] Therefore, these channels still suffer from sudden increases in delay during transmission.

[0305] Thus, in an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to further radiate the first class of data by repeatedly using the further data packet 151. In this case, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to radiate the first class of data by using the further data packet 151 and by using a plurality of sub-data packets 162 in a time-interleaved manner, whereby the further data packet 151 is positioned in time between two of the plurality of sub-data packets 162.

[0306] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive the first class of data further repeatedly using the further data packet 151. In this case, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive the first class of data in a time-interleaved manner using the further data packet 151 and using a plurality of sub-data packets 162, whereby the further data packet 151 is located in time between two of the plurality of sub-data packets 162.

[0307] Fig. 17 illustrates in a diagram the occupation of a transmission channel with a first class of data transmission with a data packet 150 according to a hopping pattern and with a further data packet 151 repeatedly and with a number of sub-data packets 162 distributed according to a hopping pattern in time and frequency, the further data packet 151 and the number of sub-data packets 162 being interleaved such that the further data packet 151 is located in time between two of the number of sub-data packets 162. In other words, Fig. 17 illustrates the interleaved emission of a telegram using the classical transmission method and a telegram using telegram division.

[0308] As can be seen in FIG. 17, the first mentioned problem may be avoided by sending the message using classical transmission together with the split messages (several times).

[0309] For this purpose, the hopping pattern is defined so that the pauses between the subpackets are large enough so that the classical transmission telegram fits into this gap, or a puncturing of the segmented telegram is performed.

[0310] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side (repeated) emissions using classical transmission methods (e.g. BPSK without pauses) may be performed interleaved with the transmission of messages using message segmentation.

[0311] In an embodiment, the receiver may have two separate processing departments: one responsible for the detection and processing of classical transmissions and a further one responsible for processing the splitting of the telegram. Optionally, a combination of the two transmissions may be performed if the time and frequency between the two emissions are known or a hypothesis test is performed.

[0312] 6.2. Confirmation of Reception of Two-Way Systems

[0313] In an embodiment, the data transmitter may be configured to select a time interval between transmission of a data packet 150 and a number of sub-data packets 162 to allow for a size sufficient to allow receipt of an acknowledgment of receipt 154 from the data receiver 110 within the time interval.

[0314] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to transmit an acknowledgement 154 of receipt of a data packet 150 and within the time intervals between the sub-data packets 150 .

[0315] Fig. 18 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first class of data using a data packet 150 and repeatedly using a number of sub-data packets 162 distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern 160 and the transmission of an acknowledgement of receipt 154 within the time interval between the data packet 150 and the number of sub-data packets 162. In other words, Fig. 18 illustrates the combination of a telegram using classical telegrams and telegram splitting with acknowledgement of receipt for the classical transmission method.

[0316] As can be seen in FIG. 18, in addition to the two previous embodiments of Sections 6 and 6.1, the pause between messages using classical emission and message splitting in a two-way system and / or the pause until the next subpacket in an embodiment according to Section 6.1 may be selected to have a size similar to an acknowledgment of receipt that may be sent back by the receiver of the message between the two emissions.

[0317] If the confirmation of receipt is correctly received by the transmitter of the original message, the emission of the split messages may be omitted since correct receipt of the message has already been confirmed at the receiver.

[0318] Otherwise, if confirmation of receipt of the message is not received, emission of the message using message splitting may be performed. If there is a higher priority for the message, further emission of the classical message may be performed.

[0319] The confirmation of reception may be performed in the same frequency band or in a different frequency band, for example where there is less interference.

[0320] In an embodiment, at the data receiver side, if a transmission using classical transmission methods is correctly received, the message receiver may transmit an acknowledgement of receipt back to the transmitter, and at the transmitter side the data transmitter may decide whether or not to perform a further transmission depending on receipt (or failure to receive) of the acknowledgement of receipt.

[0321] In an embodiment the receiver may have two separate processing departments: one responsible for the detection and processing of classical transmissions and a further one responsible for the processing of splitting telegrams. Optionally a combination of the two transmissions may be performed if the time and frequency between the two emissions are known or a hypothesis test is performed.

[0322] 7. Information Encoding in Hopping Patterns

[0323] As described above in Section 1.2, the number of subpackets transmitted may be reduced to reduce the transmission delay. Finally in Section 1.2, the length of the subpackets may be increased to allow the same amount of data to be transmitted using fewer subpackets. However, this has the drawback of reducing the interference robustness of the system.

[0324] To solve the problem described at the beginning, the information coding of (part of) the data may be included in a hopping pattern, which means that there is no longer a predefined fixed pattern used, but the position of the subpackets in frequency and / or time defines the data symbols.

[0325] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may therefore be configured to calculate at least a portion of the first hopping pattern from the first class of data or a channel encoded version of the first class of data, whereby at least a portion of the first hopping pattern itself encodes at least a portion of the first class of data.

[0326] For example, in an embodiment, a first group of hops of a first hopping pattern may be explicitly stated and the data transmitter may calculate a second group of hops of the first hopping pattern from the first class of data or a channel encoded version of the first class of data, whereby the second group of hops of the first hopping pattern itself encodes at least a portion of the first class of data, in which case the data transmitter 100 may be configured to transmit the first plurality of sub-data packets according to the first group of hops and the second group of hops.

[0327] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to decode the pattern of the second group of hops of the first hopping pattern to obtain at least a portion of the first class of data or a channel encoded version of the first class of data.

[0328] In an embodiment, this may be used just for the modulation of data bits (in which case the entire information is encoded in the hopping pattern) and the symbols within the subpacket then consist entirely of the synchronization sequence, or the subpacket contains, in addition to the synchronization sequence, further data bits which are mapped onto the symbols according to a modulation rule. In this case the data transmitter consists of the information in the hopping pattern and the information in the symbols of the subpacket.

[0329] At the receiver, the hopping pattern may be detected by hypothesis testing, and the data bits may be extracted from the determined frequencies and times of the subpackets.

[0330] For example, two carrier frequencies (fc1 and fc2) may be defined: if a "1" is to be transmitted as a data bit, frequency fc1 is used as the carrier frequency, whereas frequency fc2 is used with a "0" as the data bit.

[0331] The frequency and time allocation may be done arbitrarily, however it must be known to the transmitter and receiver.

[0332] Optionally, before the data bits are assigned to their respective frequencies and / or time intervals, they may be channel coded to allow for the correction of errors that occur at the transmitter (e.g., due to noise or interference) or at the receiver during estimation. Through channel coding, it is possible to use this method in interference channels and low SNR, where the time position and / or frequency cannot be determined for all subpackets.

[0333] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter the location of the subpackets in time and / or frequency may depend on (part of) the information being transmitted.

[0334] In an embodiment, the receiver may determine the time and / or frequency spacing between subpackets by hypothesis testing (e.g., correlation with a synchronization sequence in the subpacket) to be able to extract the transmitted information therefrom.

[0335] 7.1. Simplified Discovery with the Aid of Defined References

[0336] Under certain circumstances the embodiment according to section 6 has the disadvantage that in an asynchronous system the receiver has no information about where and when a telegram started. Because the subpacket positions change in time and / or frequency due to the information encoding on the hopping pattern, it is no longer possible to simply perform telegram detection.

[0337] Therefore, the receiver must search successively for messages, which must explore all possible hopping patterns. It is not possible to search through all combinations of transmissions all the time if only limited computing power is available.

[0338] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to transmit a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed according to a first hopping pattern 160, which is therefore synchronized in time to a synchronization signal for synchronization at the data receiver.

[0339] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to detect in a received data stream using a synchronization signal a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed and forwarded according to a first hopping pattern 160, and the data receiver may itself be configured to decode the first hopping pattern to obtain at least a portion of the first class of data or a channel-encoded version of the first class of data.

[0340] Fig. 19 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern 160 synchronized in time to a synchronization signal 158. For example, the synchronization signal 158 may comprise two (or more) sub-data packets 159 having a synchronization sequence for synchronization of the sub-data packets 159 at the data receiver 110, the two (or more) sub-data packets 159 being transmitted according to a fixed (non-changing or specified) hopping pattern. In other words, Fig. 19 illustrates a combination of fixed and changing hopping patterns.

[0341] In an embodiment, one / several synchronization bursts (which is at least one subpacket) may be transmitted before the actual transmission using a fixed hopping pattern (see bottom drawing of FIG. 11). The receiver may use part of this transmission for telegram detection.

[0342] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to alternately transmit a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 according to a first group of hops 163_1 and a second group of hops 163_2 of a first hopping pattern 160, where the first group of hops 163_1 is explicitly specified and the data transmitter 100 is configured to calculate the second group of hops 163_2 from the first class of data or a channel-encoded version of the first class of data, whereby the second group of hops 163_1 of the first hopping pattern itself encodes at least a portion of the first class of data.

[0343] Fig. 19b illustrates an exemplary occupancy of the transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 according to a hopping pattern using a first group of hops 163_1 and a second group of hops 163_2, the first group of hops 163_1 being explicitly shown and the second group of hops 163_2 being calculated from the first class of data or a channel-encoded version of the first class of data. In other words, Fig. 19b illustrates a combination of fixed and variable hopping patterns.

[0344] In an embodiment, it may also transmit a portion 163_1 of the actual subpackets (which include pilot sequences and data) using the determined hopping pattern.

[0345] The time of transmission following information previously transmitted with a fixed hopping pattern is defined and known to the receiver. It also makes it possible to transmit data of a variable hopping pattern before or between the fixed hopping patterns. The reference used for detection is therefore the end or middle of the telegram.

[0346] The length, data rate, modulation method, bandwidth, and further parameters of a transmission using a fixed hopping pattern may deviate from a transmission using information in the hopping pattern.

[0347] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side the subpackets may be transmitted using a fixed hopping pattern prior to emission of the subpackets whose location in time and / or frequency depends on (part of) the information to be transmitted.

[0348] In an embodiment, the receiver may determine if and when a transmission occurs by subpackets using a fixed hopping pattern, and if a transmitter is detected, the receiver determines the time and / or frequency spacing between the subpackets based on this detection so that the transmitted information can be extracted therefrom.

[0349] 8. Overall information for each subpacket

[0350] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to split the first class of data over a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 such that in an error-free transmission, each sub-data packet 162 may be determined at the receiver side to obtain the first class of data for itself, and to achieve a higher coding gain through the combination of at least two sub-data packets 162 in an errored communication.

[0351] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive at least a first sub-data packet of the first plurality of sub-data packets 162 and decode the first sub-data packet to obtain the first class of data, and if decoding of the first class of data using the first sub-data packet is not successful, may be configured to combine the first sub-data packet with at least a second sub-data packet of the plurality of sub-data packets 162 to achieve a higher coding gain and decode the same to obtain the first class of data.

[0352] Fig. 20 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel in the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 according to a first hopping pattern 162, where in an error-free transmission each sub-data packet 162 may be determined for itself at the receiver side, in other words Fig. 20 illustrates a transmitter having the entire information on each sub-packet.

[0353] In an embodiment, instead of splitting all the information over several subpackets, it is also possible to transmit all the information in each sub-data packet in order to reduce the delay, so that after receiving one subpacket with an interference-free channel and a sufficient SNR (SNR = signal-to-noise ratio), the decoding of the information is already possible.

[0354] The transmission of the following subpackets may either be received or jointly coded with the subpackets so that each subpacket carries all the information. This means that each subpacket has at least one coding rate. For example, if three subpackets are transmitted, 1 / 3 of the coding rate is used.

[0355] Optionally, the coding rate can be increased further, for example by using 3 subpackets and using 1 / 4 coding rate, where each subpacket has a coding rate of 3 / 4, which has the advantage that in case of "small" interference it is not always necessary to wait for the next subpacket.

[0356] In an embodiment, at the data sender, each subpacket may contain all the information for a telegram.

[0357] In an embodiment, the receiver may attempt to decode the message already after receiving the first subpacket.

[0358] 9. Special interleaving to decode as quickly as possible

[0359] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to channel encode a first class of data and transmit the same using a first hopping pattern 160, and the data transmitter may be configured to distribute the first class of channel encoded data over a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 such that in an error-free communication only the first group 163_1 of sub-data packets 162 is required for successful decoding of the first class of data and in an errored communication a higher coding gain is achieved through a combination of the first group 163_1 of sub-data packets 162 and the second group 163_2 of sub-data packets 162 (and, optionally, the third group 163_3 of sub-data packets 162), where the first group 163_1 of sub-data packets 162 is transmitted in time prior to the second group 163_2 of sub-data packets 162 (and the third group 163_3 of sub-data packets 162).

[0360] In an embodiment, the data receiver may be configured to decode a first portion of the channel-encoded data received with a first group 163_1 of sub-data packets 162 to obtain a first class of data, and if decoding the first class of data is unsuccessful, combine at least a second portion of the channel-encoded data received with at least a second group 163_2 of sub-data packets 162 with the first portion of the channel-encoded data to obtain a higher coding gain, and decode the same to obtain the first class of data.

[0361] Fig. 21 shows in a diagram an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern 160, where the channel-encoded data of a first class is distributed over the first plurality of sub-data packets 162 such that in an error-free transmission each group 163_1 to 163_3 of the sub-data packets 162 is retrieved and decoded for itself to obtain the data of the first class. In other words, Fig. 21 shows a special division of the channel-encoded data over sub-packets with telegram division to enable the earliest possible decoding.

[0362] Therefore, instead of (or in combination with) the reduction of pauses in section 1 or the repetition of messages in section 3, a special interleaver structure may be selected to reduce the delay in transmission. The aim is to perform the division of the data as intelligently as possible, so that the first attempt to decode the data may occur as early as possible in time.

[0363] Through this, information does not have to be transmitted multiple times and there is no difference in the performance of the system (when all transmissions are considered) in contrast to known transmissions using message splitting.

[0364] In the following the aim is to give further details using the example of a conventional code using a coding rate of 1 / 3, however it also applies analogously to other channel codings.

[0365] In a convolutional code with coding rate 1 / 3 (without puncturing), three polynomials are used for coding. The outputs of these three polynomials are coded and then distributed over the sub-packets as follows: the bits of the first polynomial are mapped onto the first sub-data packet (first group of sub-data packets 163_1), whereas the bits of the second polynomial are mapped onto the middle sub-data packet (second group of sub-data packets 163_2), whereas the bits of the third polynomial are mapped onto the last sub-data packet (third group of sub-data packets 163_3).

[0366] Through this special division it is already possible for the receiver to start a decoding attempt after reception of 1 / 3 of the subpackets according to the example, if this attempt fails it may receive more data and start a new decoding attempt accordingly.

[0367] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, the interleaver may be designed such that the minimum amount of information required for a decoding attempt may be introduced and forwarded in a packet as early as possible.

[0368] In an embodiment, the receiver may already attempt to decode the message after receiving all the data of polynomial 0. If this does not work, more information is received. If the receiver has an estimate of the receive parameters, it may instead calculate a starting point where decoding seems reasonable.

[0369] 9.1. Combination of Polynomials

[0370] For example, in an embodiment according to Section 9, if the first subpacket of polynomial 0 and the first subpacket of polynomial 1 are interfered with resulting in early decoding of the message after reception of polynomial 1 is not always possible, and polynomial 2 must be received as well. To improve delay, the second and third polynomials of the Section 9 example may be interleaved. Such a structure can be seen in FIG. 22.

[0371] In detail, Fig. 22 shows an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern 160, where a first class of channel-encoded data is distributed on the first plurality of sub-data packets 162 such that a first group 163_1 of the sub-data packets 162 comprises data channel-encoded according to a first coding polynomial (polynomial 0) and a second group 163_2 of the sub-data packets 162 comprises data channel-encoded according to a plurality of coding polynomials (polynomial 1 and polynomial 2). In other words, Fig. 22 shows a special division of the channel-encoded data on the sub-packets with telegram division to enable decoding as soon as possible, where a first polynomial is used first and two further polynomials follow in an interleaved manner.

[0372] The minimum delay is already given by the fact that polynomial 0 is already fully introduced in the first subpacket, however, in case of interference as in the introduced example, it is sufficient to only receive half (or even less) of the subpackets of the two remaining polynomials.

[0373] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, the interleaver may be designed such that the minimum necessary information for a decoding attempt is introduced into the packet as soon as possible, and the remainder is interleaved.

[0374] In an embodiment, the receiver may attempt to decode the message immediately after receiving all the data for polynomial 0. If this does not work, more information is received.

[0375] 9.2. Determining Decryption Attempts with Mutual Information Assistance

[0376] In the two previous embodiments according to Sections 9 and 9.1, an encoding attempt was performed regardless of the channel characteristics. This means that even if the channel characteristics are bad a decoding attempt is started after reception of polynomial 0, which is always unsuccessful.

[0377] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to determine based on the mutual information estimate whether the first group 163_1 of sub-data packets 162 is sufficient for successful decoding of the first class of data or whether a combination of the first group 163_1 of sub-data packets 162 and the second group 163_2 of sub-data packets 162 is required for successful decoding of the first class of data, and the data receiver may .... The data receiver 110 may be configured to decode the first group 163_1 of the sub-data packets 162 to obtain the first class of data if sufficient for decoding, and the data receiver 110 may be configured to combine the first group 163_1 of the sub-data packets 162 with the second group 163_2 of the sub-data packets 162 if an estimate of mutual information indicative of the combination of the first group 163_1 of the sub-data packets 162 and the second group 163_2 of the sub-data packets 162 is necessary for successful decoding of the first class of data, and to decode the same.

[0378] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may calculate possible accurate decoding instants, provided that it has a method for estimating the mutual information of the LLR (eg, from the SNR).

[0379] Thus, mindless decoding attempts running until the data is correctly decoded are no longer required and the computational power at the receiver may therefore be reduced.

[0380] In an embodiment, the receiver may calculate, with the aid of mutual information, when decoding of the message is found to be reasonable.

[0381] 10. Short messages with low latency and subsequent details

[0382] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to divide the first class of data over a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 such that a first group 163_1 of the sub-data packets 162 comprises core information of the first class of data and a second group 163_2 of the sub-data packets 162 comprises extension information of the first class of data, the first group 163_1 of the sub-data packets 162 being transmitted in time prior to the second group 163_2 of the sub-data packets 162.

[0383] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to first receive a first group 163_1 of sub-data packets 162 and then a second group 163_2 of sub-data packets 162 to obtain the core information, prior to the extension information.

[0384] Fig. 23 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern 160, where a first group 163_1 of the sub-data packets 162 comprises core information and a second group 163_2 of the sub-data packets 162 comprises extension information, the first group 163_1 of the sub-data packets 162 being transmitted in time prior to the second group 163_2 of the sub-data packets 162. In other words, Fig. 23 illustrates that an early warning is possible, since only a part of the information is needed initially.

[0385] In an embodiment, many applications initially only require information that an event exists and that a device has sent the event. More information about the event (such as an over-temperature in a factory or the cause of the alarm that was triggered) is only needed at a later time. For example, personnel will in many cases begin to move into the area of ​​an event without knowing the exact cause. The exact cause may be provided during the process.

[0386] This has the consequence that it is possible to transmit only the most important information about the event (event+ID) with a small delay in advance. A relatively small number of subpackets are needed, with the consequence that the pauses between the subpackets can be in the range of conventional durations, so that the number of data to be transmitted is reduced. This achieves approximately the same interference robustness (with low delay) as for transmissions with high priority, as opposed to normal telegrams, which contain more information. Through this, it is not always necessary to receive additional telegrams in order to achieve the desired interference robustness.

[0387] In an embodiment, at the data sender side, the message may be constructed such that only the information required for reporting the event is introduced at the front of the message, with additional information about the event following at the rear.

[0388] In an embodiment, the event is already forwarded after partial decoding of the event and its necessary information at the data receiver, and delays may therefore be reduced. Further data also becomes available if a complete telegram is received.

[0389] 10.1. Hopping Pattern Allocation

[0390] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to calculate at least a first group of hops of the first hopping pattern 162 using address information of the data transmitter 100 or information derived therefrom such that the first hopping pattern 162 itself identifies the data transmitter. A second group 163_2 of hops of the hopping pattern 162 may be specified.

[0391] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may further be configured to pre-transmit to the data receiver 110 information relating to the first hopping pattern in an encoded or encrypted form.

[0392] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to identify the data transmitter based on the first hopping pattern 160, for example using previously received encoded or encrypted information about the first hopping pattern.

[0393] FIG. 24 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transport channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern 160, where a first group 163_1 of hops of the hopping pattern 162 identifies a data transmitter.

[0394] Instead of encoding all the information into subpackets, parts of messages with high priority may in an embodiment be introduced into the hopping pattern. The use of the ID of the sensor node is the most reasonable approach here since it is constant for several transmissions and the base station therefore only has to look for this pattern.

[0395] Thus, there are different hopping patterns that must be known to the base station for different sensor nodes when transmitting messages with high priority. Due to this fact, the identity of the sensor node does not need to be encoded in the hopping pattern and transmitted explicitly when transmitting messages with high priority.

[0396] It is reasonable if the hopping pattern between the nodes and the base station is kept secret to avoid attacks on the system. Since the hopping pattern is unknown, it is therefore not possible for a false alarm to be triggered due to a stranger.

[0397] A so-called identifier for the hopping pattern may be transmitted beforehand in a regular message (with encryption) in order to reveal the hopping pattern to the base station. The hopping pattern to be used may be calculated from this identifier.

[0398] To maintain security, it is further possible to apply a time-to-time hopping pattern to avoid replay attacks.

[0399] To obtain low latency in the transfer of messages with high priority, the hopping pattern for reporting messages with high priority has fewer hops than normal telegrams.

[0400] In an embodiment, the sensor node may communicate the hopping pattern to the base station by an identifier that the sensor node only uses as a cue for messages with high priority, and therefore no explicit forwarding for the ID may be performed.

[0401] In an embodiment, in addition to the normal hopping pattern, the receiver may perform detection of sensor node hopping patterns for messages that it knows have high priority. If such a pattern is detected, the actual identity may be linked to the hopping pattern.

[0402] 10.2. Allocation of Short IDs

[0403] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to obtain short address information from a base station of the communication network, shorter than address information unambiguously identifying the data transmitter 100 in the communication network, and to use the same when radiating using the first hopping pattern. For example, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to calculate at least a group of hops of the first hopping pattern 162 from the short address information, whereby the first hopping pattern 162 itself identifies the data transmitter.

[0404] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to identify the data transmitter 100 based on the short address information. For example, the data receiver 110 may be configured to identify the data transmitter 100 based on a first hopping pattern that may be calculated at least in part from the short address information.

[0405] In an embodiment, a data receiver (eg, a base station) may be configured to assign to the data transmitter 100 a short address that is shorter than the address that would unambiguously identify the data transmitter within the communications network.

[0406] In a sensor network, there are typically up to millions of sensor nodes that must be served by several base stations. For such a large number of devices, a certain length is needed to unambiguously assign devices by their IDs (e.g. IP-v6).

[0407] However, these relatively long IDs are difficult to combine with the concepts of Section 10.

[0408] However, since the number of sensor nodes per base station is smaller and not all devices may send messages with high priority, these devices may be provided with short IDs by the base station.

[0409] This short ID is then used in the transmission of messages with high priority. At the base station the actual ID is remapped from the short ID.

[0410] Short IDs may be repeated within a sensor network, but it is important that all sensor nodes within a base station have distinct short IDs.

[0411] In an embodiment, on the transmitter side short IDs may be used for transmission of messages with high priority, eg the base station assigns short IDs to connected devices.

[0412] In an embodiment, the receiver may remap the short ID onto the original ID.

[0413] 10.3. Assigning short IDs to groups

[0414] In an embodiment, short address information may be assigned to a group of data transmitters 100, and the group of data transmitters may be located in a spatially related region.

[0415] For example, the data receiver 110 may be configured to assign short address information to a group of data transmitters 110, the group of data transmitters being located in a spatially related region.

[0416] It is often the case that several event generators are installed close together (e.g. in a building). In this case it is usually not necessary to immediately know the exact event generator in order to plan countermeasures. Knowing the building is often sufficient to dispatch personnel to the danger area.

[0417] For this reason it is also possible to assign so-called group short IDs, i.e. several transmitters within a base station are provided with the same short ID, whereby it is initially not possible to assign the short IDs exactly to the original IDs within the base station.

[0418] For example, the complete ID can be introduced into a later portion of the message or can be sent as a separate message.

[0419] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, short IDs may be used for transmitting messages with high priority, and the base station may assign short IDs to connected sensor nodes, and IDs may be assigned multiple times according to the affiliation of the sensor nodes.

[0420] In the embodiment, when a short ID is received, the receiver may first transmit only the affiliation of the short ID, or may output the same after receiving all IDs.

[0421] 10.4. Abbreviations for High Priority Messages

[0422] In an embodiment, the first class of data may be short pieces of information derived from and shorter than the sensor values.

[0423] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured, upon receiving a first class of data comprising short pieces of information, to associate the short pieces of information with known sensor values.

[0424] In messages with high priority the information may be mostly limited to a few possible events, for example in alarms there are only a very small number of alarm possibilities.

[0425] For example, it therefore does not need to transmit the entire sensor value of a smoke detector for an alarm, it is sufficient for it to transmit an alarm notification that the smoke detector has been tripped.

[0426] Generally, every base station does not have to process all kinds of different messages with high priority (events) since not all kinds of sensor nodes communicate with each base station.

[0427] Now, it is beneficial for the base station to know the different types of messages that have high priority that it must receive.

[0428] From this message type configuration, the base station may assign an abbreviation (similar to a short ID) to each event, but assigns the message content rather than the ID and transmits the same to the corresponding sensor nodes.

[0429] The combination of short messages and corresponding message types may differ between base stations, in other words a short message may have different meanings in different base stations.

[0430] This can significantly reduce the amount of data sent during high priority events and therefore the number of subpackets sent, resulting in reduced transmission latency.

[0431] If further information is required in addition to the message type at a later point in time, it may be attached in accordance with section 10 or may be sent in an additional telegram.

[0432] In an embodiment, a class of different message types with higher priority may be defined for each base station, and within this class short messages communicated to the corresponding sensor node may be assigned to different events.

[0433] In an embodiment, upon receiving a short message, the receiver may determine the type of the short message with the aid of the defined classes and may forward the same.

[0434] 10.5. Omission of frequently sent message parts

[0435] In an embodiment, the first class of data may be short information derived from a sensor value and shorter than the sensor value, and the data transmitter may be configured to transmit to the data receiver in advance the short information and the sensor value associated with the short information, or a group of sensor values ​​associated with the short information.

[0436] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to receive from the data transmitter the short information and a sensor value or group of sensor values ​​associated with the short information in advance, and the data receiver 110 may be configured to associate the short information with a known sensor value or group of sensor values ​​upon receiving a first class of data comprising the short information.

[0437] In other words, abbreviations for repeated or frequently transmitted message portions similar to Section 9.3 may also be used in messages that do not have high priority, or in the details following a message that has high priority.

[0438] To this end, the base station must be provided with information beforehand about which parts of the message content are more likely to be repeated. For example these could be sensor values ​​from a sensor, where only the lower 4 byte ADC value is modulated after digitization of the data. Thus, in this example the recurring message would be the 3 MSBs (Most Significant Bytes) of the sensor value, which are always 0.

[0439] If the base station does not have a priori knowledge of the repeated message portions of the sensor nodes connected to it, measurements and analysis of the received data may be performed to detect the repeated portions.

[0440] Furthermore, if repeating message portions are detected, they may be converted into shorter messages using table or arithmetic coding or Huffman coding, or other methods may be used to reduce the number of messages.

[0441] In an embodiment, a class of different repeated message parts may be defined for each base station (or even globally). Different events within this class are assigned (by table or encoding) with short messages that are communicated to the corresponding sensor nodes.

[0442] In an embodiment, upon receiving a short message, the receiver may convert the short message into an actual message with the aid of defined classes and forward the same.

[0443] 11. Specific hopping patterns or pilot sequences

[0444] 11.1 Special Hopping Pattern for Priority Messages

[0445] In an embodiment, the first hopping pattern may be assigned by the data receiver (eg, base station) 110 to the data transmitter according to frequency and / or priority of use.

[0446] Due to the large number of sensor nodes (thousands of sensor nodes) in a sensor network, interference mainly / frequently leads to self-interference among sensor nodes.

[0447] With message splitting, if two transmitters begin transmitting using the same hopping pattern within the duration of a subpacket, the subpackets will completely overlap, resulting in self-interference.

[0448] If a message is to be sent with low latency and high priority, it is best to use a different hopping pattern for this than for normal transmissions.

[0449] However, it is usually not possible to provide each sensor node with its own hopping pattern for alerting, since only a certain number of patterns can be detected by the receiver, so several nodes must share a special hopping pattern.

[0450] Usually, a base station knows what nodes communicate with it and how many nodes transmit messages with high priority, so it is beneficial if the base station assigns available hopping patterns for messages with high priority to corresponding sensor nodes depending on the priority and frequency of use.

[0451] In an embodiment, the base station may assign a sensor node a special hopping pattern that may be used for messages with high priority.

[0452] 11.2. Stair-hopping Pattern for Priority Messages

[0453] Through the definition of further hopping patterns in Section 11.1, the receiver must perform detection for these hopping patterns as well. If the receiver's computational capabilities are configured such that the normal hopping patterns require nearly all of the receiver's computational capabilities, then hopping patterns for messages with high priority cannot be added unless all hopping patterns of the normal mode are no longer supported. However, this practice results in a decrease in performance for normal messages.

[0454] To solve this problem, a hopping pattern that can be detected with very low computational effort may be used for messages with high priority.

[0455] In an embodiment, a first hopping pattern 160 may be generated such that sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 160 have the same time and frequency spacing with respect to each other, as shown in FIG.

[0456] In particular, Fig. 25 illustrates an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern 160 such that the sub-data packets 162 transmitted according to the first hopping pattern 160 have the same time and frequency spacing with respect to each other. In other words, Fig. 25 illustrates the emission of a telegram using a stepped hopping pattern.

[0457] As can be seen in Fig. 25, a so-called staircase hopping pattern is beneficial which may be detected using very low computational power. In a staircase hopping pattern the frequency of successive subpackets is selected such that the difference between two sub-data packets is always the same. The pauses between the subpackets are optionally (to further reduce computational power) equally spaced (i.e. all the pauses are of the same length).

[0458] At the receiver, the telegram arrives (just as with a normal telegram) with a frequency offset caused by the crystal tolerances. Since the frequency intervals between subpackets are not the same when detecting a telegram using the normal hopping pattern, the detection must be performed over all possible frequency shifts.

[0459] In the case of a stepped hopping pattern, all the telegrams are shifted through frequency shifts, and the relative frequency spacing between the subpackets is still constant, so it is sufficient to search through a small range. Figure 26 shows a telegram at the receiver, which is received without frequency offset and which is completely within the detection range. In addition to this, Figure 27 shows two telegrams arriving at the receiver with positive and negative frequency offsets, respectively. The telegrams are now only partially within the detection range.

[0460] Correlation for detection is first performed across each subpacket (or correlation type) at all possible frequencies within the detection range. The results of this partial correlation are then added according to the hopping pattern of the telegram.

[0461] Since the frequency spacing between subpackets is uniform, this is precisely where the advantage of the stepped hopping pattern becomes apparent: in the event of a frequency offset, detection of the telegram is performed on the remaining subpackets within the detection range.

[0462] However, this results in the fact that the receiver no longer necessarily detects the start of a telegram but an arbitrary position within the telegram depending on the frequency offset.

[0463] Therefore, when detecting a telegram a further determination of the telegram's start time should be performed thereafter.

[0464] An additional benefit of choosing the hopping pattern as a step function is that each frequency only needs to be occupied once and thus the bandwidth of the signal is maximized, which results in better interference robustness against external interference from other systems.

[0465] However, this approach also has the disadvantage that the capacity of the system is reduced since the self-interference robustness is reduced, but this is not a problem if regular messages and high priority low latency messages use different hopping patterns.

[0466] In an embodiment, the hopping pattern 162 (at the data sender) may be selected such that all frequency intervals between two subpackets are equidistant, and optionally the pauses are also of the same length.

[0467] In an embodiment, the detection range for the staircase hopping pattern (at the receiver side) may be smaller than for the normal hopping pattern. After detection of the staircase hopping pattern, a further analysis of the exact start time is performed.

[0468] 11.3. Special Pilot Sequences for Priority Messages

[0469] The so-called short ID, which allows the transmission of messages with high priority with low latency by reducing the amount of data, is defined in section 10.2.

[0470] A further approach to reduce the amount of data is to code a short ID or a part of the entire ID or any part of the message into the pilot sequence. If only a few possibilities (such as for different message types with high priority) are stored, it is possible to perform a search of the sequence at the receiver and thus extract the information transmitted in the pilot sequence by hypothesis testing.

[0471] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to calculate at least a portion of a synchronization sequence for synchronization of the first plurality of sub-data packets 162 in the data receiver 110 from at least a portion of the first class of data, the first class, address information of the data transmitter 100, or short address information of the data transmitter 100.

[0472] For example, the short ID may have a length of 2 bits, which may specify four different priority types. There may have to be four different sequences to modulate these four different types into the pilot sequence.

[0473] It is possible to develop four sequences that are as orthogonal as possible and that can be detected and recognized by the receiver, however this involves the detection of the four pilot sequences in parallel.

[0474] If the pilot sequence is divided into several parts (for example at least four) and the addition is performed inconsistently between the parts of the pilot sequence (see WO2017 / 167366), a phase offset of the symbols may be used instead of using several sequences that are as orthogonal as possible to reveal the information in the pilot sequence. In this case, the detection of the four sequences is performed jointly, but the analysis of the phase information of the pilot sequence parts (or the phase information between the pilot sequence parts) must be performed in the decoder.

[0475] Analogous to section 7.1, it would be possible to leave the entire synchronization sequence unchanged and use the remaining part of the (still constant) synchronization sequence for synchronization.

[0476] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter side, the pilot sequence may depend on the message type or on the portion of data of the message having a higher priority.

[0477] In an embodiment, the receiver may determine the transmitted pilot sequence by hypothesis testing and may use this to extract the type of data or a portion of the data of a message having a high priority.

[0478] 12. Application of Data Rates to Telegrams

[0479] 12.1. Data Rate Sudden Adaptation

[0480] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to channel encode a first class of data and transmit the same using a first hopping pattern 160, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to distribute the first class of channel encoded data over a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 such that in an error-free transmission only the first group of sub-data packets is required for successful decoding of the first class of data and such that in an error-free transmission a higher coding gain is achieved through a combination of the first group of sub-data packets and the second group of sub-data packets, and the data transmitter 100 may be configured to transmit the first group of sub-data packets using a different data rate than the second group of sub-data packets.

[0481] In an embodiment, the data receiver 110 may be configured to decode a first portion of the channel-encoded data received with a first group of sub-data packets 162 to obtain a first class of data, and if the decoding of the first class of data is not successful, to combine at least a second portion of the channel-encoded data received with at least a second group of sub-data packets 162 with the first portion of the channel-encoded data in order to achieve a higher coding gain and to decode the same to obtain the first class of data.

[0482] In an embodiment, instead of the data rate adaptation or modulation method of every telegram of section 1.4, it is also possible to adapt the data rate during the telegram, i.e. a higher data rate is always selected at the beginning of a message in order to be able to transmit the minimum necessary information as soon as possible for early decoding. After this minimum necessary information has been transmitted the data rate is reduced so that all further sub-data packets have a longer transmission duration and therefore a longer delay.

[0483] Optionally, a small number of additional redundant sub-data packets may be appended before the data rate change, which may be used by the receiver in the event of interference.

[0484] Thus, decoding attempted on a sub-data packet may also be successful with a higher data rate if a few sub-packets are unusable due to interference.

[0485] With this approach, as opposed to Section 1.4, the link budget for transmission increases with increasing delay which encourages a decrease in data rate. Thus, a transmitter reaching a receiver with an SNR in a limited range cannot be received using the approach in Section 1.4, but can be received when applying the data rate (however, a higher delay must be accepted).

[0486] In some cases detection of a transmission using a higher data rate may not be possible or may fail (e.g., due to interference or noise). In this case detection occurs only on subpackets of the transmission using the lower data rate. It is therefore beneficial to select the coding and interleaving such that each of the two parts may be decoded on its own, however a combination of the two may be used for decoding.

[0487] Optionally, some additional redundant subpackets may be appended after the data rate change, which may be used by the receiver in case of interference.

[0488] In an embodiment, the data rate (at the data sender) may vary within a telegram, in which case the variation is selected to enable early decoding of all or some of the subpackets received at the higher data rate as soon as possible.

[0489] In an embodiment, the receiver may attempt to decode the telegram after receipt of all or part of a subpacket using the higher data rate, and if this fails, further subpackets are received using the lower data rate.

[0490] 12.2. Sequential application of data rates

[0491] In an embodiment, the data transmitter 100 may be configured to channel encode a first class of data and split the same onto a first plurality of sub-data packets 162, and the data transmitter 100 may be configured to successively increase or decrease the data rate using the transmitted sub-data packets 162.

[0492] In an embodiment, instead of an abrupt adaptation of the data rate, the data rate may be adapted continuously (linearly increased) within the telegram, i.e. the data rate decreases (or increases) with increasing number of transmitted subpackets.

[0493] Analogous to section 2.2, receiver 100 may decide based on received parameters as to when decoding is found to be reasonable. In principle this is possible with the previous approach, however the delay is not optimized for this situation.

[0494] For example, in the embodiment of Section 12.1, if one or more subpackets are required than the subpacket emitted using a higher data rate, the delay increases because the subsequent subpacket now has a longer transmission duration using the lower data rate.

[0495] If the data rate is continuously increased, the delay in the above example also increases, however sudden adaptation of the data rate is not often used.

[0496] In an embodiment, at the data sender the data rate may vary within the telegram, and there may be several different data rates within the telegram, for example the data rate may be selected to decrease linearly.

[0497] In an embodiment, the receiver may determine how many subpackets are needed for early decoding based on the reception parameters (SNR, interference) and receive according to the number of subpackets, in which case the data rate is applied sequentially according to the method selected by the transmitter.

[0498] 13. Continuous Adaptation of Subpacket Length

[0499] In an embodiment, the length of the sub-data packets of the first plurality of sub-data packets 162 may decrease or increase with an increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets.

[0500] FIG. 28 illustrates an exemplary occupancy of a transmission channel with the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed in time and frequency according to a first hopping pattern 160, the length of the sub-data packets may decrease with an increasing number of transmitted sub-data packets.

[0501] In other words, similar to a continuously varying data rate in an embodiment (see Section 12.2), the length of a subpacket may vary with the number of subpackets transmitted, i.e., the length of a subpacket may decrease or increase depending on the number of subdata packets transmitted.

[0502] Most of the data (or all of the information) to be transmitted has already been introduced in the first subpacket (or in the first, second, third, fourth, etc.), so starting with the second or third subpacket occurs redundantly.

[0503] In response, the receiver may begin a decoding attempt after the second or third received sub-data packet, and may determine based on reception parameters (SNR interference level) as to when a first decoding attempt is considered reasonable.

[0504] Through this approach, similar to Section 2, the delay depends on the receiving parameters, so that nodes with better receiving parameters have lower delay than nodes with poor receiving parameters.

[0505] In an embodiment, at the data transmitter the length of the sub-data packets may vary within a telegram, the length depending on the number of sub-packets already transmitted.

[0506] In an embodiment, the receiver may start a decoding attempt as soon as all necessary information is received, and may otherwise decide based on reception parameters (SNR, interference) as to how many sub-data packets are needed for fast decoding and reception of this number of sub-packets.

[0507] 14. Adaptation of transmission capabilities

[0508] In certain circumstances the above described embodiment has the disadvantage that a reduction in delay is always only achieved if the message reception parameters (SBR, level of interference) are good.

[0509] However, typical telecommunication networks are constructed such that there are always sensor nodes with limited reception (poor SNR and / or strong interference). Reduction of delay is possible for these nodes with the previous concept, but not for transmitters with good reception parameters that are not in the same range.

[0510] This issue Solve To determine the best transmission power, the base station may assign different transmission powers to the sensor nodes based on the reception parameters, either used for all emissions or applied only for messages with high priority, so that it is also possible for sensor nodes with insufficient reception parameters for the transmission of messages with low latency, if necessary.

[0511] In an embodiment, the transmit power of an individual node may be specified by the base station and may be determined based on received parameters.

[0512] 15.Generating hopping patterns

[0513] In the following, an embodiment of a method for generating a hopping pattern is described in more detail. In particular, Fig. 29 shows a method for generating a hopping pattern for a single (e.g., one-time) data transfer by a hopping pattern, while Fig. 30 shows a method for generating a hopping pattern for repeatedly transferring data by two hopping patterns.

[0514] 29 shows a flow diagram of a method 200 for generating a set of hopping patterns according to an embodiment. The method 200 includes a step 202 of randomly generating a plurality of hopping patterns, the hopping patterns comprising at least two hops distributed in time and frequency. The method 200 further includes a step 204 of selecting a hopping pattern with a specified autocorrelation characteristic from the plurality of hopping patterns to obtain a hopping pattern with the specified autocorrelation characteristic.

[0515] In an embodiment, a hopping pattern may satisfy the specified autocorrelation property if the maximum of the autocorrelation function does not exceed a specified minimum amplitude threshold. For example, the amplitude threshold may be equal to the number of hops of the clusters into which the hopping pattern is subdivided. For example, the clusters may be hops with the same time and / or frequency spacing with respect to each other.

[0516] In an embodiment, a hopping pattern may satisfy a specified autocorrelation property if the subtotal formed over a specified number of maximum amplitude values ​​of the respective autocorrelation functions is less than a specified threshold, where the threshold may be selected such that at least two hopping patterns (or a specified number of hopping patterns) satisfy the specified autocorrelation property.

[0517] 29, the method 200 further comprises a step 206 of calculating a cross-correlation function between hopping patterns having the identified autocorrelation properties. The method 200 may further comprise a step 208 of selecting a hopping pattern from the hopping patterns having the identified autocorrelation properties, the cross-correlation function of the hopping patterns comprising the identified cross-correlation properties to obtain a hopping pattern having the identified autocorrelation properties and the identified cross-correlation properties.

[0518] In an embodiment, the hopping pattern for which the subtotal formed over a specified number of maximum amplitude values ​​of the respective cross-correlation functions is smallest may satisfy the specified correlation function characteristics.

[0519] 30 shows a flow diagram of a method 210 for generating a first and a second set of hopping patterns. The method 210 includes randomly generating 212 a plurality of hopping patterns for the first set of hopping patterns and a plurality of hopping patterns for the second set of hopping patterns, the hopping patterns comprising at least two hops distributed in frequency and time, different from the plurality of hopping patterns for the first set of hopping patterns and the plurality of hopping patterns for the second set of hopping patterns. Additionally, the method 210 includes selecting 214 from the plurality of hopping patterns for the first set of hopping patterns, the autocorrelation function of the hopping patterns comprising a predetermined autocorrelation characteristic to obtain a hopping pattern having a predetermined autocorrelation characteristic for the first set of hopping patterns and selecting from the plurality of hopping patterns for the second set of hopping patterns, the autocorrelation function of the hopping patterns comprising a predetermined autocorrelation characteristic to obtain a hopping pattern having a predetermined autocorrelation characteristic for the second set of hopping patterns.

[0520] In an embodiment, the time interval between hops of the hopping pattern for the second configuration of hopping patterns may be at least as large as the time length of one of the hops of the hopping pattern for the first configuration of hopping patterns.

[0521] TIFF0007637719000009.tif28170

[0522] In an embodiment, the predefined autocorrelation characteristic may be satisfied by a hopping pattern in which the second order maximum of the autocorrelation function does not exceed a predefined minimum amplitude threshold. For example, the amplitude threshold may be equal to the number of hops of a cluster of multiple clusters divided into the hopping pattern. For example, a cluster may be the number of hops that have the same time and / or frequency spacing with respect to each other.

[0523] In an embodiment, the predetermined autocorrelation characteristic may be satisfied by hopping patterns for which a subtotal formed over a predetermined number of maximum amplitude values ​​of the respective autocorrelation functions is smaller than a predetermined threshold, where the threshold may be selected such that at least two hopping patterns (or a predetermined number of hopping patterns) satisfy the predetermined autocorrelation characteristic.

[0524] 30, the method 210 further comprises calculating 216 a cross-correlation function between hopping patterns having preset autocorrelation properties for the first set of hopping patterns and a cross-correlation function between hopping patterns having preset autocorrelation properties for the second set of hopping patterns. The method may further comprise selecting 218 from hopping patterns having preset autocorrelation properties for the first set of hopping patterns, the cross-correlation function of the hopping patterns comprising preset cross-correlation properties to obtain a hopping pattern having preset autocorrelation properties and preset cross-correlation properties for the first set of hopping patterns from hopping patterns having preset autocorrelation properties for the second set of hopping patterns, the cross-correlation function of the hopping patterns comprising preset cross-correlation properties to obtain a hopping pattern having preset autocorrelation properties and preset cross-correlation properties for the second set of hopping patterns.

[0525] In an embodiment, the pre-defined cross-correlation characteristic may be satisfied by a hopping pattern for which a subtotal formed over a pre-defined number of maximum amplitude values ​​of the respective cross-correlation functions is minimal.

[0526] 15.1. Hopping Pattern Generation for TSMA

[0527] For example, a hopping pattern generated using the method shown in Figure 29 or Figure 30 may be used in a system for unidirectional or bidirectional data transmission from a number of sensor nodes to a base station using the so-called "Telegram Division Multiple Access (TSMA)" method.

[0528] In TSMA, the transmission of a message is subdivided into several short bursts (=hops, or sub-data packets) 142 during which there are transmission-free time intervals of different lengths, where the bursts 142 may be distributed over the entire time and over the entire available frequency range according to real and pseudo-random principles.

[0529] This approach to telegram splitting provides a particularly large robustness against interference of other sensor nodes, whether they come from themselves or from external systems. Interference robustness, especially within the sensor node itself, is achieved by distributing the signal bursts of the various users as evenly as possible over the time and frequency domains.

[0530] This random-like distribution may be achieved by various means, such as (1) by the inevitable tolerance deviations of a crystal reference oscillator in frequency, (2) to arbitrary precision in the time domain by random asynchronous channel access, and (3) by placing different bursts of different sensor nodes into different hopping patterns.

[0531] Time / frequency diversity may be used when transmitting payload data to achieve a further increase in the probability of failure at the data transmitter. A sub-data packet (burst) may be transmitted at least twice in a time offset manner, e.g. with possibly different hopping patterns and e.g. with possibly different frequency bands. Since only one transmission of the sensor node is possible for the transmission of the signal, certain restrictions on the burst arrangement in time between hopping patterns result in repeat interleaving. The interleaved arrangement of the first and second transmissions in the repeating case is described in more detail below.

[0532] The diverse redundant signals may be combined at the receiver in all possible ways, such as Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC), Equal Gain Combining, Scanning / Switching Combining, or Selection Combining. However, when designing such a diverse redundant hopping pattern, the combiner should detect the repetitions transmitted in place of the first transmission in as simple a way as possible.

[0533] The design and optimization of such hopping patterns is described in detail below.

[0534] In the transmission method TSMA, as described in FIG. 31aa, individual bursts of data packets 120 (hereinafter also referred to as frames) are distributed across time and also across frequency.

[0535] In particular, Fig. 31a illustrates in a diagram the structure of a frame 120 with a TSMA hopping pattern 140. In this case, the ordinate describes the frequency or channel (frequency channel) and the abscissa describes the time.

[0536] TIFF0007637719000010.tif61169

[0537] TIFF0007637719000011.tif31169

[0538] TIFF0007637719000012.tif27170

[0539] The following system assumptions and limitations may be considered with regard to the design of one or more TSMA patterns.

[0540] TIFF0007637719000013.tif166170

[0541] The above points 1) to 3) may be used as a basis for designing a hopping pattern for data (payload data) transmitted once (either once or not repeated).

[0542] To further increase the probability of failure at the data transmitter, time / frequency diversity in the form of interleaved repetitions may optionally be used when transmitting payload data. In this case, the two hopping pattern bursts (= hops or sub-data packets) 142 to be repeated may be interleaved in time, for example frame by frame, as shown in Figure 31. To keep the transmission time required for the two repetitions as short as possible, an alternating interleaved arrangement may be used for the alternating transmission of the first / second bursts.

[0543] In the following, it is described what further conditions exist for the currently designed hopping pattern: the new hopping pattern for transmitting the repeated data may arbitrarily match the hopping pattern for the once transmitted data, in other words, have the lowest possible cross-correlation.

[0544] (4) Selection of frequency hopping pattern. The TSMA hopping pattern should be a) robust against external interference from other systems (neither the bandwidth nor the duration of the interference is known here) and b) robust against interference from its own system. Optionally, it can be c) as simple as possible for the receiver, especially without repeating and repeating for discrimination between transmissions when using maximum ratio combining. The embodiments a) and c) are not dependent on the design process and may be pre-determined. For example, improved or equivalent maximum interference robustness against external interference may be achieved by placing the two frames to be repeated in two different frequency bands (using their respective L frequency channels). The longer the frequency distance (see FIG. 31b), the lower the possibility of external interference can be interfered with using both frames at the same time. In detail, FIG. 31b shows in the figure the occupation of two frequency channels 150_1 and 150_2 with the transmission of data repeated by the first hopping pattern 140_1 and the second hopping pattern 140_2. Here, the ordinate describes the frequency and the abscissa describes the time. In other words, FIG. 31b shows an interleaved frame transmission with repetition when using two different frequency bands.

[0545] For example, a receiver (data receiver) can distinguish between transmissions with and without repetition based on the hopping pattern if different hopping patterns are used for the two transmission types. Without limitation of general applicability, the hopping patterns shown in section 3.2 may be used for transmissions without repetition, and the hopping patterns shown in section 3.3 may be used, for example, for transmissions with repetition. In principle, a different (new) hopping pattern may be used for the first transmission in the repetition mode as well as the second transmission. However, the use of a single hopping pattern is sufficient for all transmissions in the repetition mode when using the corresponding below-described method. In addition to this, this method also makes it easy for the receiver to detect individual bursts in the same pattern at the same time in the repetition mode.

[0546] TIFF0007637719000014.tif150168

[0547] TIFF0007637719000015.tif60169

[0548] Considering the above mentioned constraints, the structure of the TSMA pattern 140 shown in FIG. 32 arises.

[0549] In detail, Fig. 32 shows a schematic diagram of the structure of the TSMA hopping pattern 140. In this case, the vertical axis describes the frequency of the frequency channel, and the horizontal axis shows the time. In other words, Fig. 9 shows the structure of the TSMA hopping pattern with cluster arrangement and frequency occupancy.

[0550] TIFF0007637719000016.tif27168

[0551] This results in the following degrees of freedom regarding frequency channel occupancy: the three bursts in the eight clusters each have the same frequency spacing with respect to each other, and at least eight further frequency bands may be reserved leaving a maximum perturbation of 28 frequency bands for the basic allocation of the three bursts. Any relative arrangement may be performed, for example with three different frequency bands. The longest possible frequency perturbation with neighboring bursts, for example as in the case of the basic arrangement (1,28,14) or (1,24,12), proves to be of merit in relation to the slowest optimization. The arrangement of the individual clusters with respect to each other may occur randomly. For example, the sequence of numbers {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8} in the basic arrangement (1,28,14) may be arbitrarily permuted with respect to each other (Matlab command: randperm(8)), and these eight different respective values ​​may be added to the basic arrangement to obtain the frequency arrangement of the bursts in the eight clusters. Even a permutation of the 12 starting values ​​(Matlab command: randperm(12)) in the base arrangement (1,24,12) is possible. Then the first 8 values ​​may be added back to the corresponding base arrangement (1,24,12). If two groups of hopping patterns are designed, for example two groups of 8 hopping patterns with repeats and without repeats, it is recommended to use two base arrangements with different sweep frequencies. In this case complete clusters may not collide between the groups.

[0552] TIFF0007637719000017.tif76170

[0553] In the "Telegram Division Multiple Access (TSMA)" method, the message is divided into many small bursts 142 in both time and frequency directions according to a hopping pattern 140. Due to the asynchronous transmission and different frequency deviations of the individual sensor nodes 100, the bursts 142 are smeared over the whole of time and over the whole of the available frequency spectrum. If all sensor nodes 100 have the same hopping pattern, with an increase in the number of participants, the bursts of different participants (in the absolute worst case) will overlap more in time and more in frequency and therefore interfere with each other. The more bursts 142 within the frame 120 will be scattered by the bursts of other participants, the more likely it will be that the receiver will fail to correct the errors and transmission errors will occur.

[0554] TIFF0007637719000018.tif69169

[0555] To create a suitable hopping pattern 140, one would ideally need a matrix that is exactly monotonically related to the expected packet error rate, in other words that also minimizes the packet error rate. In an embodiment, two-dimensional (2D) autocorrelation and / or cross-correlation of the hopping pattern may be considered as a design criterion.

[0556] TIFF0007637719000019.tif70169

[0557] TIFF0007637719000020.tif22169

[0558] TIFF0007637719000021.tif52169

[0559] TIFF0007637719000022.tif52170

[0560] In the following, the individual design steps are described in detail.

[0561] TIFF0007637719000023.tif38170

[0562] TIFF0007637719000024.tif67170

[0563] TIFF0007637719000025.tif69170

[0564] TIFF0007637719000026.tif33170

[0565] TIFF0007637719000027.tif89170

[0566] TIFF0007637719000028.tif38170

[0567] TIFF0007637719000029.tif29170

[0568] TIFF0007637719000030.tif83170

[0569] TIFF0007637719000031.tif39169

[0570] All design steps and degrees of freedom when determining the hopping pattern are described again in Fig. 35. The possibility of simultaneously optimizing several settings of the hopping pattern may be considered but is merely indicated.

[0571] In particular, FIG. 35 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 260 for generating a hopping pattern according to an embodiment.

[0572] In a first step 262, the method 260 begins.

[0573] In a second step 264, n is set equal to 1, where n is an operating variable.

[0574] In a third step 266 the hopping pattern may be generated randomly, where the freedom regarding frequency channel occupancy mentioned above may be considered in the frequency channel allocation of bursts and the allocation of clusters for each, with e.g. a basic allocation of bursts within clusters, and further the freedom regarding time intervals mentioned above may be considered in the determination of e.g. time intervals within and between clusters.

[0575] TIFF0007637719000032.tif30170

[0576] TIFF0007637719000033.tif34170

[0577] If the hopping pattern does not have the specified autocorrelation property, the third step is repeated. If the hopping pattern does have the specified autocorrelation property, the method continues.

[0578] TIFF0007637719000034.tif18170

[0579] TIFF0007637719000035.tif11170

[0580] TIFF0007637719000036.tif17170

[0581] In an eighth step 276 it is determined whether a new set of hopping patterns is to be generated. If so, the second step 264 is repeated. If not, the method continues. Additionally, it may be determined whether further sets of hopping patterns should optionally be generated for different parameter settings, such as different oscillator offsets, or different cluster designs having changed time intervals or frequency hops.

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[0584] TIFF0007637719000039.tif70170

[0585] TIFF0007637719000040.tif24169

[0586] In a thirteenth step 286, the selected hopping pattern may be stored.

[0587] TIFF0007637719000041.tif22168

[0588] 15.2. Hopping Pattern Generation for Low-Delay TSMA

[0589] TIFF0007637719000042.tif63170

[0590] TIFF0007637719000043.tif32170

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[0593] TIFF0007637719000046.tif35170

[0594] When selecting the same synchronization sequence for bursts and the same data rate by maintaining the basic cluster, a partially common detection may be performed for both modes. The receiver performs symbol recovery time along with burst correlation and cluster correlation. Only telegram correlation has to be performed separately due to the interleaving. This results in significant savings in terms of computational power for detection of both modes.

[0595] Fig. 36 illustrates in diagrammatic form an exemplary occupation of a transmission channel for the transmission of a first plurality of sub-data packets 162 distributed in frequency and time according to a first hopping pattern 160. In other words, Fig. 36 illustrates an interleaved embodiment such as a low-latency pattern.

[0596] As can be seen in FIG. 36, the first hopping pattern 162 may comprise multiple sub-hopping patterns (clusters) 1651 to 1654 that are time-shifted and / or frequency-shifted versions of each other, and the multiple sub-hopping patterns (clusters) 1651 to 1654 are interleaved with each other such that sub-data packets 162 assigned to different sub-hopping patterns (clusters) 1651 to 1654 are transmitted alternately.

[0597] For example, sub-data packets 1621, 1625, and 1629 may be transmitted distributed in time and frequency according to a first sub-hopping pattern (cluster) 1651, whereas sub-data packets 1622, 1626, and 1627 may be transmitted distributed in time and frequency according to a first sub-hopping pattern (cluster) 1651. 10 may be transmitted distributed in time and frequency according to a second sub-hopping pattern (cluster) 1652, for which sub-data packets 1623, 1627, and 1628 are 11 may be transmitted distributed in time and frequency according to a third sub-hopping pattern (cluster) 1653, for which sub-data packets 1624, 1628, and 1629 are 12 may be transmitted distributed in time and frequency according to a fourth subhopping pattern (cluster) 1654.

[0598] In an embodiment (at the data sender side) the base clusters may be interleaved with each other.

[0599] In an embodiment, at the data receiver side, normal and low latency mode detection may be performed jointly up to cluster correlation.

[0600] 15.3. Hopping Patterns for Low-Latency TSMA

[0601] In the following, a specific second hopping pattern 160 (a low latency hopping pattern) is representatively defined that may be used, for example, for transmitting first class data (data having high priority and / or higher need with respect to the maximum transmission interval).

[0602] In an embodiment, a time hopping pattern, a frequency hopping pattern, or a combination of a time hopping pattern and a frequency hopping pattern may be used for a sole transmission of data by a hopping pattern.

[0603] The frequency hopping pattern may be a frequency hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the table of FIG. 37, where a row in the table is a frequency hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop of the frequency hopping pattern, and each cell in the table indicates the transmission frequency of each hop of the hopping pattern on carriers UCG_C0 to UCG_C23.

[0604] In other words, FIG. 37 shows in a table the definition of the low latency frequency hopping pattern (UCG_C0 to UCG_C23 carrier values) for a crystal tolerance (oscillator tolerance) of + / -20 ppm.

[0605] The time hopping pattern may be a time hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the table of FIG. 38, where the rows are time hopping patterns and each column in the table is a hop of the time hopping pattern starting from the second hop, whereby each time hopping pattern comprises 24 hops and each cell in the table indicates the time interval of the reference point of each hop to the same reference point of the next hop within -preferably multiple- symbol durations.

[0606] In other words, Figure 38 shows in a table the definition of the low latency time hopping pattern (values ​​in multiples of symbol durations) for a crystal tolerance (oscillator tolerance) of + / - 20 ppm. Due to the fact that the length of the 24 sub-data packets may vary, the time hopping pattern is defined between the centers of the 24 sub-data packets.

[0607] In a combination of hopping patterns made up of time hopping patterns and frequency hopping patterns, each time hopping pattern and each frequency hopping pattern may have the same column number in each table.

[0608] Although some embodiments are described in the context of an apparatus, it can be understood that the aspects are also expressed as descriptions of the corresponding method, whereby blocks or structural elements of the apparatus can be understood as corresponding method steps or features of method steps. Analogously, aspects described in the context of or as method steps therewith can also be expressed as descriptions of corresponding blocks or details or features of the corresponding apparatus. Some or all of the method steps can be performed while using a hardware apparatus, such as, for example, a microprocessor, a programmable computer, or an electronic circuit. In some embodiments, some of the most important method steps may be performed by such an apparatus.

[0609] Signals encoded according to the present invention, such as audio signals, video signals, or transmission stream signals, may be stored on a digital storage medium or transmitted over a transmission medium, such as a wireless transmission medium or a wired transmission medium, e.g. the Internet.

[0610] The encoded audio signals of the present invention may be stored on a digital storage medium or transmitted over a transmission medium such as a wireless transmission medium or a wired transmission medium, for example the Internet.

[0611] Depending on the requirements of a particular implementation, embodiments of the present invention can be implemented in hardware or software. Implementation may be effected while using digital storage media, for example floppy disks (floppy is a registered trademark), DVDs, Blu-ray disks, CDs, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, or FLASH memory, hard disks, or other magnetic or optical memories having electronically readable control signals stored thereon that can cooperate with or cooperate with a programmable computer system such that the respective methods are executed. For this reason, the digital storage media may be computer readable.

[0612] Some embodiments according to the present invention comprise a data carrier including electronically readable control signals capable of cooperating with a programmable computer system to perform any one of the methods described herein.

[0613] In general, embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as a computer program product having program code that is effective to operate to perform any method when the computer program product is running on a computer.

[0614] The program code may for example be stored on a machine readable carrier.

[0615] Other embodiments comprise the computer program for performing any one of the methods described herein, said computer program being stored on a machine readable carrier.

[0616] In other words, an embodiment of the inventive method is, therefore, a computer program having a program code for performing any of the methods described herein, when the computer program runs on a computer.

[0617] A further embodiment of the inventive method is therefore a data carrier (or digital storage medium or computer readable medium) having recorded thereon a computer program for performing any of the methods described herein. The data carrier, digital storage medium or recording medium is generally tangible or non-transitory.

[0618] A further embodiment of the inventive method is therefore a data stream or a sequence of signals representing the computer program for performing any one of the methods described herein, the data stream or the sequence of signals being adapted to be transmitted via a data communication link, for example the Internet.

[0619] Further embodiments include a processing device, such as a computer or programmable logic device, configured or adapted to perform any of the methods described herein.

[0620] A further embodiment comprises a computer having installed thereon the computer program for performing one of the methods described herein.

[0621] Further embodiments according to the present invention include an apparatus or a system configured to transmit a computer program for performing at least one of the methods described herein to a receiver. The transmission may be, for example, electrical or optical. The receiver may be, for example, a computer, a mobile device, a memory device or any such device. The apparatus or system may, for example, comprise a file server for transmitting the computer program to the receiver.

[0622] In some embodiments, a programmable logic device (e.g., a field programmable gate array, FPGA) may be used to perform some or all of the functions of the methods described herein. In some embodiments, a field programmable gate array may cooperate with a microprocessor to perform any one of the methods described herein. In general, the methods are performed by any hardware device in some embodiments. The hardware device may be a universally applicable hardware such as a computer processor (CPU) or may be method-specific hardware such as an ASIC.

[0623] For example, the devices described herein may be implemented using a hardware device, or using a computer, or using a combination of a hardware device and a computer.

[0624] The apparatus described herein, or any components of the apparatus described herein, may be implemented at least in part in hardware and / or in software (computer programs).

[0625] For example, the methods described herein may be implemented using a hardware apparatus, or using a computer, or using a combination of a hardware apparatus and a computer.

[0626] The methods described herein, or any components of the methods described herein, may be at least partially performed and / or embodied in software (computer programs).

[0627] The above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention. It is understood that modifications and variations of the arrangements and details described herein will occur to others skilled in the art. For this reason, it is intended to be limited only by the scope of the following claims, rather than by the specific details expressed by the description and discussion of this embodiment.

Claims

1. 1. A data transmitter configured for transmitting data divided over a number of sub-data packets distributed in time and / or frequency according to a hopping pattern, the hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern, a frequency hopping pattern or a combination of the time hopping pattern and the frequency hopping pattern, the time hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table: a row in the table is the time hopping pattern, each column in the table is a second or subsequent hop of the time hopping pattern, each time hopping pattern including 24 hops, each cell in the table indicating a time interval from a reference point of each hop to the same reference point of the immediately succeeding hop in a symbol duration; The frequency hopping pattern is a frequency hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the table below, A row in the table is the frequency hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop of the frequency hopping pattern, and each cell in the table indicates a transmission frequency of each hop of the frequency hopping pattern on carriers 0 to 23 of an uplink carrier group. A data transmitter comprising:

2. the data is a first class of data, the plurality of sub-data packets is a first plurality of sub-data packets, and the hopping pattern is a first hopping pattern; the data transmitter is configured to divide the second class of data onto a second plurality of sub-data packets and transmit the second plurality of sub-data packets using a second hopping pattern; A transmission pause between sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern is smaller than a transmission pause between sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern, and / or the sub-data packets transmitted according to the first hopping pattern are shorter than the sub-data packets transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

2. A data transmitter according to claim 1 , characterized in that:

3. 1. A data receiver adapted to receive transmitted data divided over a number of sub-data packets and distributed in time and / or frequency according to a hopping pattern, the hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern, a frequency hopping pattern or a combination of the time hopping pattern and the frequency hopping pattern, the time hopping pattern being a time hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table, a row in the table is the time hopping pattern, each column in the table is a second or subsequent hop of the time hopping pattern, each time hopping pattern including 24 hops, each cell in the table indicating a time interval from a reference point of each hop to the same reference point of the immediately succeeding hop in a symbol duration; The frequency hopping pattern is a frequency hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table: A row in the table is the frequency hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop of the frequency hopping pattern, and each cell in the table indicates a transmission frequency of each hop of the frequency hopping pattern on carriers 0 to 23 of an uplink carrier group. A data receiver comprising:

4. the data is a first class of data, the plurality of sub-data packets is a first plurality of sub-data packets, and the hopping pattern is a first hopping pattern; the data receiver is configured to receive a second class of data divided over a second plurality of sub-data packets and transmitted distributed in time or frequency according to a second hopping pattern; A transmission pause between sub-data packets received according to the first hopping pattern is smaller than a transmission pause between sub-data packets received according to the second hopping pattern, and / or a sub-data packet transmitted according to the first hopping pattern is shorter than a sub-data packet transmitted according to the second hopping pattern.

4. A data receiver as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that

5. 1. A method of transmitting data, comprising the steps of transmitting data using a hopping pattern, the hopping pattern is a time hopping pattern, a frequency hopping pattern, or a combination of the time hopping pattern and the frequency hopping pattern; The time hopping pattern is a time hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table: a row in the table is the time hopping pattern, each column in the table is a second or subsequent hop of the time hopping pattern, each time hopping pattern including 24 hops, each cell in the table indicating a time interval from a reference point of each hop to the same reference point of an immediately succeeding hop in a symbol duration; The frequency hopping pattern is a frequency hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table: A row in the table is the frequency hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop of the frequency hopping pattern, and each cell in the table indicates a transmission frequency of each hop of the frequency hopping pattern on carriers 0 to 23 of an uplink carrier group.

13. A data transmission method comprising:

6. 1. A method of receiving data, comprising the steps of receiving data using a hopping pattern, the hopping pattern is a time hopping pattern, a frequency hopping pattern, or a combination of the time hopping pattern and the frequency hopping pattern; The time hopping pattern is a time hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table: a row in the table is the time hopping pattern, each column in the table is a second or subsequent hop of the time hopping pattern, each time hopping pattern including 24 hops, each cell in the table indicating a time interval from a reference point of each hop to the same reference point of an immediately succeeding hop in a symbol duration; The frequency hopping pattern is a frequency hopping pattern having 24 hops as shown in the following table: A method for receiving data, characterized in that a row in the table is the frequency hopping pattern, each column in the table is a hop of the frequency hopping pattern, and each cell in the table indicates a transmission frequency of each hop of the frequency hopping pattern on carriers 0 to 23 in an uplink carrier group.

7. A computer program for carrying out the method according to claim 5 or 6.

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