The invention relates to a process for the demodulation of signals indicative of sequences emitted in a communications system, such as, for example, a system of spread band communications making use of orthogonal or bi-orthogonal modulation. Such a communications system is, for example, a multiple access communications system, such as a wireless telephone system or a communications system of the satellite repeater type. For example, the present invention may apply to a communications system which uses the CDMA system (Code Division Multiple Access).
A spread band communications system to which the process according to the invention may apply is known, and is, for example, of the type which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,833. As shown in FIG. 1, such a system is essentially constituted, on the transmission side, by an encoder 10, a modulator 20, and a transmitter unit 30 transmitting on a channel 40. On the reception side, it is constituted by a receiver unit 50, a demodulator 60, corresponding to the modulator 20, and a decoder 70 which corresponds to the encoder 10. In general, such systems likewise comprise an interleaver 15, which is located between the encoder 10 and the modulator 20, as well as a de-interleaver 65, corresponding to the interleaver 15, and located between the demodulator 60 and the decoder 70.
The encoder 10 and the interleaver 15 are known in the art, and are provided in order to encode, with repetition and interleaving, an incoming bit stream representing speech signals, data signals, or other signals, for example, first amplified, filtered, and digitized. This encoding is of the type which allows the implementation of error detection and correction functions. In association with an interleaving processing system, this encoding also allows the system to operate with low noise-to-signal ratio and low interference signal ratio. The signals resulting from the encoding and interleaving processes are a sequence of k-area words or symbols consisting of k elements generally referred to as 1 and xe2x88x921 (or 0 and 1).
This sequence of symbols is subjected, in the modulator 20, to a modulation process referred to as orthogonal modulation or bi-orthogonal modulation.
In the case of orthogonal modulation, the modulator 20 comprises a generator 21 of orthogonal words. Such words are also referred to sequences or functions. In the remainder of the description, they are referred to by the term xe2x80x9cfunctionsxe2x80x9d.
These functions may be Walsh functions, which are derived on the basis of Walsh matrices, known by the name of Hadamard matrices. It is reminded that Hadamard matrices are matrices which are derived in a recursive manner, such that a matrix of functions of the order n can be written:       W    ⁡          (      n      )        =      "LeftBracketingBar"                                                      W              ⁡                              (                n                )                                      /            2                                                W            ⁡                          (                              n                /                2                            )                                                                        W            ⁡                          (                              n                /                2                            )                                                                          W              ⁡                              (                                  n                  /                  2                                )                                      _                                "RightBracketingBar"  
where W represents the logical complement of the matrix W. In addition, the matrix W(1) of dimension 1, is equal to 1.
Each column or line of a matrix W(n) of the order n is called a Walsh function, and is annotated Sp(n), where p is the number of the column or line of the function under consideration, and n is the dimension of the function. It will be more simply also annotated as Sp.
For example, the Walsh matrix of the dimension 8 is written as follows:       W    ⁡          (      8      )        =      [                            1                          1                          1                          1                          1                          1                          1                          1                                      1                                      -            1                                    1                                      -            1                                    1                                      -            1                                    1                                      -            1                                                1                          1                                      -            1                                                -            1                                    1                          1                                      -            1                                                -            1                                                1                                      -            1                                                -            1                                    1                          1                                      -            1                                                -            1                                    1                                      1                          1                          1                          1                                      -            1                                                -            1                                                -            1                                                -            1                                                1                                      -            1                                    1                                      -            1                                                -            1                                    1                                      -            1                                    1                                      1                          1                                      -            1                                                -            1                                                -            1                                                -            1                                    1                          1                                      1                                      -            1                                                -            1                                    1                                      -            1                                    1                          1                                      -            1                                ]  
Also by way of example, the sequence S4 is written {1,xe2x88x921,xe2x88x921,1,1,xe2x88x921,xe2x88x921,1}.
It will be noted that the elements 1 and xe2x88x921 have been used, but the elements 0 and 1 respectively could also be used.
Digital modulation consists of assigning to each possible symbol p deriving from the interleaving device 15 a sequence to be transmitted SEp. In the case of orthogonal modulation, the assigned sequences SEp correspond to the Walsh functions Sp(n). Accordingly, the symbols of three bits can be modulated by way of the Walsh functions of dimension 8, and, in general terms, symbols of k bits will be modulated by way of N (=2k) sequences SEp of dimension n (=2k).
For example, for two-bit incoming symbols, a list is given in Table 1 below of the corresponding SEp sequences transmitted and attributed by the modulator 20.
Bi-orthogonal modulation consists of attributing to an incoming symbols p a corresponding sequence, SEp, either an orthogonal function, such as, for example, a Walsh function Sq of dimension n=2kxe2x88x921, when the last element (kth element) is in an first state, or a logic complement of this function Sq, of the same dimension n, when the last element (kth element) is in a second state. In general terms, the k bits symbols are modulated by means of N (=2k) sequences SEp, of length n (=2kxe2x88x921). Bi-orthogonal modulation is described, for example, in the European Patent document EP-A-809 364.
For example, for the two-bit incoming symbols, the list of the corresponding sequences attributed by the modulator 20 is shown in Table II below
The sequences SEp attributed during orthogonal or bi-orthogonal modulation are then processed and transmitted by the transmitter unit 30. They are transmitted, via the channel 40, to the receiver unit 50 and to the demodulator 60, which are respectively the corresponding of the transmitter unit 30 and the modulator 20.
The demodulation process which is implemented in the demodulator 60 consists accordingly in recovering, in the signal transmitted by the receiver unit 50, the sequence SEp, used during the modulation, and then in recovering, on the basis of this sequence, the modulated symbol p.
Several processes could be carried out.
The first consists of selecting the sequence the correlation value between the signal transmitted by the receiver unit 50 and the corresponding function of which is the strongest. It accordingly consists of selecting the sequence SEp the probability of which that it has been transmitted is the greatest. The sequence SEp having been selected, the symbol p associated with this sequence is then recovered and supplied to the de-interleaver 65 and then to the decoder 70.
The decoder 70 is, for example, a decoder of the maximum probability type, for example such the one described by A. J. Viterbi in an article appearing in the IEEE Transactions on Communications Technology of October 1971, entitled xe2x80x9cConvolutional codes and their performance in communication systemsxe2x80x9d.
This method is referred to in the technical domain as the Hard Decision Method.
Another method, referred to as the Soft Decision Method, consists of determining, on the basis of the correlation values obtained by a correlation process between the signal transmitted by the receiver unit 50 and each of the functions that could be used during the modulation process, a confidence value for each sequence SE1 to SEN associated with each of the said functions. It also consists in deducing from this group of confidence values a soft decision value to be attributed to each element of the demodulated symbol p. The demodulated symbol accordingly formed from each of these decision values is then, as before, supplied to the de-interleaver 65 and then to the decoder 70.
It can be pointed out that the theoretical formulation of this group of soft decision values taken in accordance with the criterion of maximum probability is provided in a general manner by the following formula:       L    ⁢          (                        u          ^                k            )        =      ln    ⁢                            ∑                                    ∀                                                x                  –                                ⁢                                  for                  –                                ⁢                                  which                  –                                ⁢                                  u                  i                                                      =                          +              1                                      ⁢                  P          ⁢                      (                                          SE                x                            |              y                        )                                                ∑                                    ∀                                                x                  –                                ⁢                                  for                  –                                ⁢                                  which                  –                                ⁢                                  u                  i                                                      =                          -              1                                      ⁢                  P          ⁢                      (                                          SE                x                            |              y                        )                              
where P(x|y) represents the probability, in the awareness that the signal has been received, of deciding that the sequence SEx has been issued, and ui is the element of the order i of the symbol x corresponding to the sequence SEx under consideration.
A demodulation process applied following this formulation would have the drawback of requiring, for its calculation, a great number of relatively long mathematical operations to be carried out. Furthermore, it can be shown that the optimum soft decision values require a prior knowledge of the statistical behaviour of the transmission channel, for example the signal-to-noise ratio, or the statistical behaviour of this ratio (Gauss"" Law, Rice""s Law, Rayleigh""s Law, etc.).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,442,627 describes a demodulator the purpose of which is to resolve these problems. Such a demodulator is represented in FIG. 2.
It essentially consists of correlation means 61, which receive the signals issued from the receiver unit 50, which are in the form of data samples. These correlation means 61 consist, for example, of means for calculating a Fast Hadamard Transform or F.H.T., or of means for calculating correlation. These means provide, for each Walsh function S1 to SN that could be used during the modulation process, a correlation value xcex11 to xcex1n indicative of the correlation with the current signal.
These means 61 are followed by means 62, which allow for the determination of a confidence value which corresponds to the energy portion w1 to wN of the received signal associated with each sequence SE1 to SEN that could have been transmitted. For each sequence of SEp equal to a function Sp, the energy portion wp associated with the said sequence is generally calculated in means 62 as being the square of the correlation value xcex1p with the said function (wp=xcex1p2).
The demodulator then consists of metric calculation means 63 which determine, on the basis of all the values w1 to wN provided by the correlation means 62, all Soft Decision Values C1 to Ck, and attribute them respectively to the elements u1 to uk of the demodulated symbol.
Accordingly, each Soft Decision value is provided according to the following formula:       C    i    =                    max        ⁢                  (                      w            p                    )                                                  p            –                    ⁢                      for            –                    ⁢                      which            –                    ⁢                      u            i                          =                  +          1                      -                  max        ⁡                  (                      w                          p              xe2x80x2                                )                                                                p              xe2x80x2                        –                    ⁢                      for            –                    ⁢                      which            –                    ⁢                      u            i                          =                  -          1                    
where the first max function corresponds to the highest of the energy portions wp of the SEp sequences for which the corresponding demodulated symbols p have the element ui equal to +1 and the second max function corresponds to the highest of the energy portions wp, of the sequences SEp, for which the corresponding demodulated symbols pxe2x80x2 have the element ui equal to xe2x88x921.
One of the disadvantages of such a method results from the fact that it cannot be directly applied to bi-orthogonal modulation. In fact, in the case of bi-orthogonal modulation, means 61 (F.H.T. Fast Hadamard Transform, or means for calculating the correlation between the signal present at the output of the receiver unit 50 and each Walsh sequence) cannot be applied as such.
The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a demodulation process of which the complexity of implementation is, in relative terms, as low as that one just described and which could, on one hand, take consideration of all the elements of the demodulated symbols, and, on the other, equally well be applied to orthogonal modulation as well as bi-orthogonal modulation.
To achieve this aim, a demodulation process according to the invention is characterised in that it consists of:
Determining a correlation value between each orthogonal value which could have been used during the modulation process and the signals to be demodulated;
To deduct from the said correlation values a confidence value attributed to each sequence that could have been transmitted, the said confidence value being calculated in the following manner:
If the symbol associated with the said sequence has its last element in a first state, the said value is either equal to the square of the correlation value between the signal which is to be demodulated and the function used for the said sequence if the said correlation value is positive, or zero if the said correlation value is negative;
If the symbol associated with the said sequence has its last element in a second state, the said value is either zero if the said correlation value is positive, or equal to the square of the correlation value between the signal deriving from the said receiver unit and the said sequence if the said correlation value is positive;
Deducting from the said confidence values the said soft decision values to be attributed to each element of the demodulated symbol.
In addition to this feature, provision is made for a process such that the determination of the soft decision values allow, by contrast with the process described earlier, for taking consideration of the confidence values of all the elements of the demodulated symbol. So, according to another characteristic of the invention, the decision value to be attributed to an element of the demodulated symbol is calculated as being equal to the sum of all the confidence values attributed to the sequences associated with the symbols of which the said element is equal to a first value from which is taken off the sum of all the confidence values associated with the sequences corresponding to the symbols of which the said element is equal to a second value.
The characteristics of the invention described above, as well as others, will become more apparent when the following description is read relating to an embodiment, the said description being related to the appended drawings, which show: