Semtech Corporation

Cambridge Silicon Radio Limited

Olivier Bernard Andre Seller

Nicolas Sornin

Damien Richard Smith

A ranging and positioning system comprising transmitters and receiver nodes communicating together by chirp-modulated radio signals, that have a ranging mode in which ranging exchange of signals takes place between a master device and a slave device that leads to the evaluation of the range between them. The slave is arranged for recognizing a ranging request and transmit back a ranging response containing chirps that precisely aligned in time and frequency with the chirps in the ranging requests, whereupon the master can receive the ranging response, analyze the time and frequency the chirps contained therein with respect to his own time reference, and estimate a range to the slave.

Ranging and positioning system

A wireless communication method in a network comprising one or several beacons and a plurality of end-points, comprising: sending by a beacon a timing message modulated according to a chirp spread spectrum format, receiving said timing message in one or several end-nodes a receiver, detecting said timing message aligning a local frequency reference and/or time reference of the end-node to the time reference of the transmitter by means of said timing message.

Communication device and method in the cellular band

A system and a method for time synchronization on a wireless network, based on the exchange of Chirp Spread Spectrum information. Time signals are broadcast from a master () to a plurality of slave devices (). The modulation used includes a compensation of offsets in the master's system clock by symbol-wide frequency shifts that is particularly precise, fine and simple to implement. The system and method of the invention are particularly suitable for synchronizing a telecommunication cell network.

Synchronization apparatus and method

A method of control of a plurality of end-points by a plurality of base stations, comprises issuing a frame by at least one end-point and sending the frame to at least one base station, sending a response frame from the base station to the end-point upon receiving the frame, the response frame comprising a plurality of downchirps, at least two sequences, each comprising a positive acknowledge and an increase rate and a positive acknowledgement and a decrease rate, and additional control sequences.

Wireless communication method

A receiver for receiving signals of a protocol in which traffic data is redundantly modulated onto both of two carriers according to a predetermined decision scheme, the receiver comprising: an input for receiving signals on the two carriers; a demodulator for demodulating the signals received on each of the two carriers to form two respective received data streams; first transformation logic for generating a first candidate set of traffic data by processing the received data streams by the functional inverse of the predetermined decision scheme; second transformation logic for generating a second candidate set of traffic data by aggregating corresponding bits of each of the received data streams; and a traffic data set selector for selecting data from either the first candidate set of traffic data or from the second candidate set of traffic data for further processing, the traffic data set selector being configured to make that selection in dependence on the relative strength with which signals on the two carriers are received.

Diversity reception

A signal receiver having a gain control circuit comprising: detection means configured to form a representation of the excess amplitude during a training period of a signal received by the receiver; a first gain stimulus generator configured to generate a first gain stimulus in dependence on the excess amplitude detected by the detection means during the training period; averaging means configured to estimate the average of the signal received by the receiver during the training period; a second gain stimulus generator configured to generate a second gain stimulus in dependence on the average estimated by the averaging means during the training period; and a gain control signal generator configured to generate a gain control signal for the receiver in dependence on the first gain stimulus and the second gain stimulus.

Automatic gain control and DC offset compensation

A coding unit for determining two different types of modulation to be applied to two carrier signals such that each modulated carrier signal represents a data symbol in accordance with a group of modulation points, each modulation point representing a modulation of the first type and a modulation of the second type that can be applied to one of the carrier signals, the coding unit being arranged to associate the data symbol with a first one of the modulation points by applying a first mapping function to that data symbol and associate the data symbol with a second one of the modulation points by applying a second mapping function to that data symbol, the first and second mapping functions being such that they each map two different data symbols to a respective common modulation point; and determine the modulation of the first and second types to be applied to the first carrier signal to be the modulation of the first and second types represented by the first modulation point and the modulation of the first and second types to be applied to the second carrier signal to be the modulation of the first and second types represented by the second modulation point.

Growing community of inventors

Auribeau-sur-Siagne, France

Olivier Bernard Andre Seller