Multi-carrier transmission systems

US6865232B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• STMICROELECTRONICS N.V. · NL

Inventors

• Mikael Isaksson · Luleå, SE
• Magnus Johansson · Luleå, SE
• Harry Tonvall · Luleå, SE
• Lennart Olsson · Luleå, SE
• Tomas Stefansson · Luleå, SE
• Hans Ohman · Luleå, SE
• Gunnar Bahlenberg · Luleå, SE
• Anders Isaksson · Luleå, SE
• Goran Okvist · Luleå, SE
• Lis-Marie Ljunggren · Luleå, SE
• Tomas Nordstrom · Luleå, SE
• Lars-Ake Isaksson · Luleå, SE
• Daniel Bengtsson · Luleå, SE
• Siwert Hakansson · Luleå, SE
• Ye Wen · Luleå, SE

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 15, 1997
• Grant date: Mar 8, 2005
• Expiry date: Jul 15, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L2025/03522
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A multi-carrier transmission system has a plurality of transceivers, each having a receiver and a transmitter. Data is transmitted between the transceivers by modulating the data onto a multiplicity of carrier waves in the form of multi-bit symbols, wherein each carrier wave constitutes a channel, and wherein the number of bits per symbol (the bit loading), varies between channels and, within a channel, with time, so that each channel has associated therewith a bit loading parameter. In operation, the multi-carrier system is adapted to synchronously update, at the transceivers, the bit loading parameters associated with each channel by transmission of data over a control channel, in that the control channel is established, at system start-up, on a predetermined one of the multiplicity of carrier waves whose identity is known to the transceivers, and in that the control channel is, after start-up, changed from the predetermined channel to a further channel, selected by the first transceiver on the basis of channel characteristics.