Earliest Signal Reception Detection Using Multi-Period Sampling

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing transmission systems face challenges in precisely determining the earliest reception time of signal changes, which affects data transmission rates, synchronization accuracy, and vulnerability to relay attacks, especially in environments with multipathing effects.

Innovation Solution

A method that uses a second plurality of samples from transmitted symbols or chips to detect the earliest signal change by aggregating sample values across different symbol or chip periods, allowing for precise timing determination without requiring changes to existing hardware or systems, and adapts to varying transmission conditions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If signal sampling is performed in smaller and more precise steps to improve timing accuracy, then measurement precision improves, but device complexity and processing requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetiming accuracyVSAvoidsampling complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent divides the symbol period into multiple sampling intervals and performs separate sampling operations at different time points. By segmenting the sampling process into discrete intervals (first sampling interval, second sampling interval, etc.), the system achieves high timing precision without requiring continuously high-resolution sampling throughout the entire signal, thus reducing overall system complexity while maintaining measurement accuracy.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Productivity

If the symbol or chip period is shortened to increase data transmission rate, then productivity improves, but time synchronization accuracy deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata transmission rateVSAvoidtime synchronization accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent transitions from relying solely on temporal resolution within a single symbol period to utilizing multiple dimensions: sampling across multiple symbol periods and aggregating results. By taking samples at corresponding positions in multiple consecutive symbols and combining them through aggregation operations, the system achieves high timing precision even with short symbol periods, thereby maintaining both high data transmission rates and accurate time synchronization.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Reliability

If only an average portion of the symbol period is used for decoding to handle multipathing effects, then reliability improves, but measurement precision of earliest signal reception deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedecoding reliabilityVSAvoidearliest signal reception detection accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts specific sampling points from the overall signal that correspond to the earliest signal reception, separating this measurement function from the general decoding process. By taking out dedicated samples at specific intervals and analyzing them separately through aggregation, the system can precisely detect the earliest signal arrival time while the main decoding process continues to use the robust average portion of the symbol period, thus maintaining both reliability and measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

4Ease of operation

If conventional time synchronization methods are used to achieve synchronization accuracy corresponding to symbol rate, then ease of operation is maintained, but measurement precision of signal propagation time deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesynchronization operation simplicityVSAvoidsignal propagation time measurement accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary sampling operations at multiple predetermined time points within and across symbol periods before the final timing determination. By pre-collecting samples at various intervals (first sampling interval, second sampling interval, etc.) and preparing aggregated data in advance, the system achieves high-precision signal propagation time measurement while maintaining straightforward synchronization operations, as the complex sampling and aggregation process is automated and integrated into the existing transmission framework.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP3735745B1Method for detecting the moment of the earliest reception of a signal change
Publication Date: 2023.05.03 LAMBDA 4 ENTWICKLUNGEN GMBH
  • EP3735745B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3735745B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3735745B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present invention relates to detecting the time of the earliest reception of a signal change. In particular, the method according to the invention allows early detection of the signal change, which significantly reduces the timespan available for an undetected relay attack and can thus prevent such an attack or at least make it significantly more difficult, without the data transmission system that consists of the transmission technology, such as UMTS, LTE or Bluetooth, having to be modified for this purpose or ultra-wideband signals being required. The problem is solved in that the earliest time at which there is a statistically significant signal change is selected as the time of the earliest reception. The threshold of the statistical significance is determined from the signal itself.