[0002] The present invention generally relates to wireless communication systems. In particular,
the invention relates to time division duplex (TDD) and frequency division duplex
(FDD) systems which use orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) codes and Hadamard
codes to spread data for transmission and includes an improved system for generating
such codes.
[0003] Many types of communication systems, such as FDD and TDD communication systems, use
one or more families of pseudorandom codes to spread data for transmission. These
codes are used in various places throughout the communication system in both the transmitter
and the receiver. Several of the more commonly used families of codes include OVSF
codes and Hadamard codes.
[0004] Figure 1 shows a code tree of OVSF codes that preserve the orthogonality between
different channels. The OVSF codes can be defined using the code tree of Figure 1,
whereby the channelization codes are uniquely described as C
ch,
SF,
k, and where SF is the spreading factor of the code and k is the code number, 0≤
k ≤
SF - 1. Each level in the code tree defines channelization codes of length SF, corresponding
to a spreading factor of SF in Figure 1.
[0006] The rightmost value in each channelization code word corresponds to the chip transmitted
first in time. The OVSF code to be used is a function of the spreading factor, the
number of channels being utilized and the channel type.
[0007] One method for generating OVSF codes is to utilize the mathematical description above.
However, such matrix manipulations are computationally expensive and require extremely
fast and expensive hardware to perform.
Additionally, when a computational unit is fixed in hardware for such a purpose, it
generally cannot be utilized for other purposes. This adds to system complexity and
results in an overall system design that is unnecessarily complex and expensive.
US 5,311,176 describes a method and apparatus for generating Walsh codes. In the arrangement described
therein, an N-bit binary counter generates address signals which are passed to a set
of cascaded XOR gates together with a Walsh code address.
EP 1 252 734 which claims a priority date of 04.02.2000 describes a method and device for generating
OVSF code words.
[0008] Accordingly, a convenient means is needed to quickly and efficiently generate OVSF
codes. It would also be desirable for such means to be adaptable to the generation
of other types of codes, such as Hadamard sequences.
[0010] The present invention comprises both a system and a method which quickly and efficiently
generate OVSF codes using a register which contains the identification of code tree
leg of the desired code and a counter which sequences through the leg. The system
generates the codes on demand, while requiring very little hardware resources.
[0011] Additionally, the same system and method are adaptable to generate Hadamard sequences.
[0012] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] Figure 1 is a prior art code tree for orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF)
codes.
[0014] Figure 2 is a system for generating OVSF codes in accordance with the present invention.
[0015] Figure 3A is a system for generating OVSF codes having a spreading factor of 4.
[0016] Figure 3B is a system for generating OVSF codes having a spreading factor of 8.
[0017] Figure 4 illustrates the generation of the seventh code of the OVSF code tree having
a spreading factor of 8.
[0018] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating the expandability of the structure.
[0019] Figure 6 is a prior art code tree for Hadamard codes.
[0020] Figure 7 is an alternative embodiment of the present invention for generating both
Hadamard and OVSF codes.
[0021] Figure 8 illustrates the generation of the forth code of the Hadamard code tree having
a spreading factor of 8.
[0022] Figure 9 is a second alternative embodiment of the present invention for generating
pseudorandom codes.
[0023] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0024] Presently preferred embodiments are described below with reference to the drawing
figures wherein like numerals represent like elements throughout. Additionally, the
preferred embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to
the generation of OVSF and Hadamard codes. However, those of skill in the art should
realize that the same principles may be applied to other families of codes, and the
present invention should not be strictly limited to the exemplary embodiments described
herein.
[0025] Referring to Figure 2, a system 10 for generating pseudorandom sequences is shown.
The system 10 includes a bit position counter 12, a multiplexer 14, a spreading factor
selector 16, a bit-by-bit AND gate 18, an index selector 20 and an XOR gate 22. The
counter 12 is a free-running binary counter that provides an output to a first input
of the multiplexer 14. The counter 12 is initialized at 0 and runs "freely" as the
desired OVSF code is generated. Generation of a code is repeated as many times as
needed in order to spread the data. For each instance that it is required to generate
the code, the counter is initialized to zero. Alternatively, the counter 12 may be
permitted to freely run, whereby the most significant bits that are not used may be
ignored. This alternative will be explained in detail hereafter.
[0026] The spreading factor selector 16 provides an output to the second input of the multiplexer
14, which identifies how many bits from the counter 12 the multiplexer 14 should output.
For OSVF code generation, the multiplexer 14 also reverses the bit order of the output
bits, such that the output bits are provided in reverse order. This is graphically
illustrated by the dotted lines within the multiplexer 14 in Figures 3A and 3B.
[0027] Referring back to Figure 2, the index selector 20 outputs a binary identification
of the index or "branch" of the code tree that it is desired to generate. For example,
as shown in Figure 1, if a spreading factor of 4 is desired, and it is also desired
to generate the third branch of the code tree, the index selector 20 will output a
two-bit binary sequence for the number 2, which is 10. Similarly, if a spreading factor
of 8 and the fourth branch of the code tree are desired, the index selector 20 outputs
a three-bit binary sequence for the number 3, which is 011.
[0028] The output of the index selector 20 and the output of the multiplier 14 are ANDed
together by the bit-by-bit AND gate 18. This is an output to the XOR gate 22, which
is actually an XOR "tree", comprising a plurality of XOR gates as is well known by
those of skill in the art.
[0029] The system 10 in accordance with the present invention is shown in more detail in
Figures 3A and 3B, which illustrate the different functional configurations of the
system 10 depending upon the desired spreading factor. These figures show the multiple
bit output C
I-C
N from the counter 12 and the multiple bit output I
1-I
M from the index selector 20. Referring to Figure 3A, if a spreading factor of 4 is
desired, the spreading factor selector 16 controls the multiplexer 14 such that the
multiplexer 14 outputs only the desired bits coming from the first two bit "positions"
C
1 and C
2 of the counter 12 to the AND gate 18. The bit positions C
3-C
N coming from the counter 12 are essentially "zeroed out" or ignored. Each desired
bit from the counter 12 is taken in reverse order and is bit-by-bit ANDed with the
desired bits from the index selector 20. For example, the first bit C
1 from the counter 12 is ANDed together with the second bit I
2 from the index selector 20; and the second bit C
2 from the counter 12 is ANDed together with the first bit I
1 from the index selector 20. Once all of the desired bits from the counter 12 have
been bit-by-bit ANDed with the desired bits from the index selector 20, the AND gate
18 outputs to the XOR gate 22. The output of the XOR gate 22 is the code sequence
having the desired bits. Each new bit of the code sequence is generated as the counter
12 is sequenced.
[0030] Referring to the second example as shown in Figure 3B, if a spreading factor of 8
is desired, the multiplexer 14 outputs the bits coming from the first three positions
C
1, C
2 and C
3 of the counter 12 to the AND gate 18. The first bit C
1 from the counter 12 is ANDed together with the third output I
3 from the index selector 20. Likewise, the second bit from the counter C
2 is ANDed together with the second bit I
2 from the index selector 20. Finally, the third bit C
3 from the counter 12 is ANDed together with the first bit I
1 from the index selector 20. Once all of the desired bits from the counter 12 have
been bit-by-bit ANDed with the desired bits from the index selector 20, the AND gate
18 outputs to the XOR gate 22. The output of the XOR gate 22 is the desired code sequence.
[0031] Although the system 10 made in accordance with the present invention can be used
to generate OVSF codes having spreading factors of any length, for simplicity the
foregoing detailed example will be explained with reference to a spreading factor
of 8. This requires a three-bit spreading factor selector 16, a three-bit counter
12 to sequence through the bits, a three-input AND gate 18 and a three-input XOR gate
22 as shown in Figure 4. Reference should also be made to Tables 1-3 below for this
example:
TABLE 1
| SPREADING FACTOR |
| DESIRED SF |
NUMBER OF BITS |
| 2 |
1 |
| 4 |
2 |
| 8 |
3 |
| 16 |
4 |
| 32 |
5 |
| 64 |
6 |
| 128 |
7 |
| 256 |
8 |
TABLE 2
| INDEX |
| BRANCH |
I3 |
I2 |
I1 |
| First |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| Second |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| Third |
0 |
1 |
0 |
| Fourth |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Fifth |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Sixth |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Seventh |
1 |
1 |
0 |
| Eighth |
1 |
1 |
1 |
TABLE 3
| COUNTER |
| C3 |
C2 |
C1 |
| 0 |
0 |
0 |
| 0 |
0 |
1 |
| 0 |
1 |
0 |
| 0 |
1 |
1 |
| 1 |
0 |
0 |
| 1 |
0 |
1 |
| 1 |
1 |
0 |
| 1 |
1 |
1 |
[0032] For this example, it is desired to generate a code sequence having a spreading factor
of 8, comprising the seventh leg of the code tree shown in Figure 1 as highlighted
with the asterisk. This is identified in Figure 1 as C
ch,8,6 which is 1, -1, - 1, 1, 1, - 1, - 1, 1. From Table 1, since the desired spreading
factor is 8, the number of desired bits is 3. From Table 2, since it is desired to
generate the seventh branch of the code tree, the output of the index selector as
shown in Table 2 will be the binary sequence 1, 1, 0. The binary counter 12 then sequences
through a binary count from 0 (0, 0, 0) to 7 (1, 1, 1) as shown in Table 3.
[0033] The first bit of the sequence C
ch,
8,
6 will be generated by ANDing the binary sequence 000, (which when reversed still yields
000), from the counter 12 with the binary sequence 110 from the index selector 20.
The XOR of the bits results in an output of 0. The second input of 001 is reversed
yielding 100, and is ANDed with the binary sequence 110 from the index selector 20,
resulting in 100. The XOR of these bits results in an output of 1. Likewise, the third
input of 010 is reversed yielding 010 and when ANDed with 110 and XORed, results in
an output of 1. The fourth input of 011 is reversed yielding 110 and when ANDed with
110 and XORed results in an output of 0. The fifth input of 100 is reversed yielding
001 and when ANDed with 110 and XORed results in the output of 0. The sixth input
of 101 is reversed yielding 101 and when ANDed with 110 and XORed results in an output
of 1. The seventh input of 110 is reversed yielding 011 and when ANDed with 110 and
XORed inan output of 1. Finally, the eighth input of 111 is reversed yielding 111
and when ANDed with 110 and XORed results in an output of 0.
[0034] As a result of this repetitive process, the sequence output will be 0, 1, 1, 0, 0,
1, 1, 0, (keeping in mind the rightmost bit is generated first in time). These outputs
are subsequently mapped, whereby an output of 1 is mapped to -1 and an output of 0
is mapped to 1. Accordingly, the sequence used for spreading is 1, -1, -1, 1, 1, -1,
-1, 1. This matches the seventh leg of the OSVF code tree shown in Figure 1.
[0035] It should be noted, referring to Figure 5, that this structure is expandable to any
number of desired inputs. Alternatively, the system may be "oversized" as shown in
Figure 5 whereby the bits of the counter 12 and the index selector 20 that are not
needed are essentially ignored. As shown in Figure 5, since only four bits C
1 - C
4 are required, bits C
5 - C
N are either stopped from passing through the multiplexer 14, or are zeroed out. Additionally,
only the desired bits C
1 - C
4 are reordered by the multiplexer 14. In a likewise matter only bits I1 - I4 will
be "processed" by the AND gate since the remaining portions of the AND gate will be
zeroed out due to the lack of an input from corresponding bits C
5 - C
N. The output form the XOR gate 22 will be the desired code sequence bit.
[0036] Referring to Figure 6, a code tree for Hadamard sequences is shown. The codes of
this code tree will generated is accordance with an alternative embodiment of the
present invention shown on Figure 7.
[0037] Referring to Figure 7, a system 100 for generating several types of pseudorandom
sequences is shown. As with the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the system 100 includes
a bit position counter 12, a multiplexer 14, a spreading factor selector 16, a bit
by bit AND gate, an index selector 20, and an XOR gate 22. However, this embodiment
includes a mode switch 60 which switches between a first mode for generating OVSF
codes and a second mode for generating Hadamard codes. When the mode selection switch
60 is in a first position, the system 100 operates in the manner identical to the
system 10 shown in Figure 2, whereby the multiplexer 14 reverses the bit order of
the bit output from the bit position counter 12. However, when the mode switch 60
is in a second position, the reordering of the bits is not performed by the multiplexer
14 and the bits are passed directly through the multiplexer 14 to the bit by bit AND,
gate 18. This is shown in Figure 8 whereby the straight dotted lines through the multiplexer
14 illustrate the bits being passed directly through the multiplexer 14 without being
reordered.
[0038] An example of generating a Hadamard code will be explained with reference to Figure
8. For this example, it is desired to generate a code sequence having a spreading
factor of 8, comprising the fourth leg of the code tree as shown in Figure 6 and as
highlighted with the asterisk. This sequence is shown in Figure 6 as 0,1,1,0,0,1,1,0.
From Table 1, since the desired spreading factor is 8, the number of desired bits
is 3. From Table 2, since it is desired to generate the fourth branch of the code
tree, the output of the index selector as shown in Table 2 will be the binary sequence
0,1,1. The binary counter 12 then sequences through the binary count from 0 (0, 0,
0) to 7 (1, 1, 1) as shown in Table 3.
[0039] The same ANDing and XORing process is performed as was described with reference to
the generation of the OVSF codes, except that the bits from the counter 12 are not
reversed. This results in an output from the system 100 of 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 0. This
correctly matches the fourth leg of the Hadamard code prestructure shown in Figure
6. These outputs may be optionally mapped whereby an output of 1 is mapped to minus
1 and an output of 0 is mapped to 1.
[0040] A second alternative embodiment of a system 200 for generating several types of pseudorandom
sequences is shown in Figure 9. This system 200 includes the index selector 20, the
bit by bit ANDgate 18 and the XOR 22. However, the bit position counter 12, the multiplexer
14 and the spreading factor selector 16 have been replaced by a number generator 202
and a selector 204. The number generator 202 stores a predetermined sequence of numbers,
such as the numbers stored in Table 3, and sequentially outputs these numbers. Accordingly,
the number generator 202 can sequentially output the numbers stored in Table 3, or
alternatively may output the "reordered" sequence of bits as shown in Table 4. The
selector 204 can select between which sequence of bits to be output by the number
generator 202. For OVSF codes a first sequence will be output; and for Hadamard codes
a second sequence will be output. Although this embodiment necessitates the use of
additional memory, it is less memory than would be required to store an entire code
tree of pseudorandom sequences. Additionally, although this embodiment has been explained
with reference to pseudorandom codes having a spreading factor of 8, any desired sequence
may be prestored in the number generator 202.
TABLE 4
| COUNTER |
| C3 |
C2 |
C1 |
| 0 |
0 |
0 |
| 1 |
0 |
0 |
| 0 |
1 |
0 |
| 1 |
1 |
0 |
| 0 |
0 |
1 |
| 1 |
0 |
1 |
| 0 |
1 |
1 |
| 1 |
1 |
1 |
[0041] While the present invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiment,
other variations which are within the scope of the invention as outlined in the claims
below will be apparent to those skilled in the art.