Layered Signal Multiplexing Using Core and Enhanced Power Levels
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current multiplexing technologies like TDM and FDM lack the flexibility and performance required for next-generation broadcasting systems, particularly in efficiently multiplexing and demultiplexing signals across different power levels.
Innovation Solution
A signal multiplexing apparatus and method that combines core and enhanced layer signals at different power levels using a combiner and time interleaver, with power adjustment by an injection level controller, and includes separate Bit-Interleaved Coded Modulation (BICM) units for each layer, along with a power normalizer to manage signal power.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If TDM or FDM is used for signal multiplexing, then signal transmission is achieved, but flexibility and performance are insufficient for next-generation broadcasting systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the signal into multiple layers (core layer and enhanced layer) with different power levels, allowing independent processing and transmission of each layer. This segmentation enables flexible adaptation to different service requirements while maintaining robust transmission through the core layer, thus resolving the contradiction between flexibility and performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the power parameter of different signal layers, transmitting the core layer at a higher power level and the enhanced layer at a lower power level. This parameter change allows the system to maintain reliable transmission for critical content while providing flexibility for additional services, thereby resolving the contradiction between reliability and adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If signals are multiplexed at different power levels, then flexibility and performance are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the core layer signal and enhanced layer signal into a single composite signal for transmission through the same physical channel. This combining approach allows flexible multi-layer transmission without requiring separate transmission paths, thus reducing the increase in device complexity while maintaining the benefits of power-level multiplexing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the multiplexing device to handle multiple layers and multiple services through a unified structure that can process both core and enhanced layers simultaneously. This multi-functional design reduces the need for separate processing chains, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving high flexibility and performance.
3Productivity
If core layer and enhanced layer signals are combined at different power levels, then efficient multiplexing is achieved, but signal power management becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary power adjustment to the enhanced layer signal before combining it with the core layer signal. By pre-reducing the power of the enhanced layer, the combiner can directly combine the signals without requiring complex real-time power management, thus achieving efficient multiplexing while limiting the increase in power management complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a power adjustment mechanism as an intermediary component between the enhanced layer signal source and the combiner. This intermediary pre-processes the enhanced layer signal by reducing its power to an appropriate level, thereby simplifying the power management task of the combiner and achieving efficient multiplexing with controlled complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
An apparatus and method for multiplexing signals using layered division multiplexing are disclosed. A signal multiplexing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a combiner configured to combine a core layer signal and an enhanced layer signal at different power levels, and a time interleaver configured to perform interleaving applied to both the core layer signal and the enhanced layer signal.