RSSI Measurement Using Packet Preamble Extraction

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing RSSI measurement techniques in WLAN systems incur high overhead, latency, and computation complexity, and suffer from poor fidelity, limiting their accuracy and effectiveness.

Innovation Solution

A receiver system comprising an analog front end, analog-to-digital converter, packet detector, computation circuit, and processing circuit that determines RSSI values based on packet preamble, training fields, and data fields, with filtering and averaging processes to improve accuracy and efficiency, and a controller that configures receiver settings based on RSSI metrics.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If existing RSSI measurement techniques are used, then RSSI measurement functionality is provided, but overhead, latency and computation complexity are high and measurement fidelity is poor

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveRSSI measurement fidelityVSAvoidcomputation complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and processes only the preamble portion of the packet for RSSI measurement, rather than analyzing the entire packet. This selective extraction of the relevant signal portion reduces computation complexity while maintaining measurement fidelity, as the preamble contains sufficient information for accurate RSSI determination without requiring processing of the complete packet data

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs RSSI measurement on the preamble before full packet processing occurs. By conducting the measurement action preliminarily during the preamble detection phase, the system reduces overall processing latency and computation complexity, as the RSSI value is determined early in the reception process without waiting for complete packet decoding

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Loss of time

If existing RSSI measurement techniques are used, then RSSI measurement functionality is provided, but overhead and latency are high

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvemeasurement latencyVSAvoidmeasurement efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and processes only the preamble portion of the packet for RSSI measurement, rather than analyzing the entire packet. This selective extraction of the relevant signal portion reduces computation complexity while maintaining measurement fidelity, as the preamble contains sufficient information for accurate RSSI determination without requiring processing of the complete packet data

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs RSSI measurement on the preamble before full packet processing occurs. By conducting the measurement action preliminarily during the preamble detection phase, the system reduces overall processing latency and computation complexity, as the RSSI value is determined early in the reception process without waiting for complete packet decoding

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Measurement precision

If all packets are processed for RSSI measurement, then comprehensive RSSI data is collected, but overhead increases and measurement accuracy decreases due to unwanted packets

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveRSSI measurement accuracyVSAvoidnumber of packets processed

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies different processing quality levels to different packets based on their relevance. Desired packets undergo full RSSI measurement and processing, while unwanted packets are filtered out with minimal processing. This local differentiation of processing quality improves overall measurement accuracy by focusing computational resources on relevant packets while reducing the total quantity of packets that require intensive processing

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs partial processing on unwanted packets (filtering based on basic criteria) and complete processing on desired packets (full RSSI measurement). This partial action approach to unwanted packets reduces the number of packets requiring full processing, thereby improving measurement accuracy for desired packets while managing the quantity of packets processed efficiently

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS20250007630A1Method and apparatus to improve received signal strength indicator measurement at a receiver

Publication Date: 2025.01.02 SILICON LABORATORIES INC

AI summary

In one embodiment, a receiver includes: an analog front end (AFE) circuit to receive and process an incoming radio frequency (RF) analog signal comprising a packet; an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) coupled to the AFE circuit to receive and digitize an analog signal based on the RF analog signal into a digital signal; a packet detector coupled to the ADC to detect the packet based on the digital signal; and a computation circuit coupled to the packet detector. The computation circuit may be configured to determine a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value based at least in part on a portion of a preamble of the packet.