Broadcast Receiver Data Sharing for Fringe Signal Error Correction

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Solution Overview

Problem

Digital broadcast receivers face limitations in coverage area and quality-of-service due to signal distortions and bit errors, which existing methods like increasing transmission power or adding parity data are costly and inefficient to address.

Innovation Solution

A digital broadcast receiver system that shares data across a switched network to correct independent bit errors, utilizing demodulation, error detection, buffering, and peer-to-peer communication to leverage spatial diversity and increase error correction opportunities.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Area of stationary object

If transmission power is increased to improve signal gain, then coverage area is expanded, but implementation cost increases significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecoverage areaVSAvoidimplementation cost

Core Design Contradiction:

Area of stationary objectVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

Multiple receivers are merged into a cooperative network where they share received data and error correction information. By combining resources from multiple receivers, the system achieves extended coverage without requiring increased transmission power from the broadcast station.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

Receivers create copies of received data blocks and share them across the network. When one receiver fails to decode a block due to errors, other receivers with successful copies can provide the data, effectively extending coverage to areas that would otherwise be unreachable.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

2Reliability

If more parity data is added to improve error tolerance, then error correction capability is enhanced, but effective bandwidth is reduced

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveerror correction capabilityVSAvoideffective bandwidth

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The system combines parity data from multiple different receivers, each having received different portions of the broadcast signal. This merging of parity information from spatially diverse receivers provides enhanced error correction capability without requiring additional parity data to be transmitted, thus preserving bandwidth.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The network acts as an intermediary that collects and distributes parity data and error correction information between receivers. This intermediary mechanism enables receivers to access correction data from multiple sources without increasing the transmission burden on the broadcast channel.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Area of stationary object

If repeater transmission towers are built to provide fringe coverage, then coverage area is expanded, but infrastructure cost and complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecoverage areaVSAvoidinfrastructure complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Area of stationary objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of building physical repeater towers, the system uses digital copying of received signal data across a network of receivers. Each receiver acts as a virtual repeater, sharing received data blocks with others in the network, thereby achieving coverage extension through software-based data sharing rather than hardware-based signal amplification.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the mechanical/physical system of repeater towers with a digital/network-based system. Error correction and data sharing are achieved through electronic communication and software algorithms rather than physical signal transmission infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

4Reliability

If forward error correction is used to detect and repair errors, then error resiliency is improved, but complete correction cannot be achieved when errors exceed parity data capacity

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveerror resiliencyVSAvoiduncorrected errors

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system merges error correction capabilities across multiple receivers by sharing both data blocks and parity information. When one receiver encounters uncorrectable errors, it can retrieve the correct data from other receivers that successfully decoded the signal, thereby achieving complete error correction through collective effort.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The system prepares for potential errors by having multiple receivers simultaneously receive and store copies of the same broadcast data before errors become problematic. This beforehand cushioning ensures that when errors occur, correct copies are already available in the network to compensate for failed receptions.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #11Beforehand cushioning (Prior cushioning)

Data Source

PatentUS8301971B2Digital broadcasting system and error correction method thereof

Publication Date: 2012.10.30 LIU YANG

AI summary

A digital broadcasting system comprising of a digital broadcasting station, a set of digital broadcast receivers, and a switched network, wherein the digital broadcasting station transmits a digital signal to the set of digital broadcast receivers, and the digital broadcast receivers exchange error correction information with each other using the network to compensate errors in local receptions of the digital signal at each digital broadcast receiver location.