CN107005321A - Method and device for receiving radio signals - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for receiving a radio signal. In a first method step, reference information (108) about the signal quality of the radio signal obtained at a reference time is read. In another method step, signal information (110) about the signal quality of the radio signal obtained at a current time is received. Finally, in a third method step, the signal quality obtained at the current time is checked using the signal information (110) and the reference information (108) to determine the reproduction quality of the radio signal.

Description

Method and device for receiving radio signals

technical field

The invention relates to a method for receiving radio signals, a corresponding device and a corresponding computer program.

Background technique

AM radio receivers that use amplitude modulation as the modulation method usually have a search function to adjust and reproduce the next receivable transmitter from the set reception frequency. The receive frequency can be increased or decreased in fixed frequency steps. At the new receive frequency, it can now be checked, for example, whether the received field strength is greater than a threshold value and whether other quality values indicative of interference are less than a threshold value. If all criteria are met, the search may end, where the current frequency is used to reproduce.

Contents of the invention

In this context, with the idea presented here a method for receiving radio signals is provided, a device for applying the method and a corresponding computer program according to the independent claims are further proposed. Advantageous refinements emerge from the corresponding subclaims and the following description.

Aspects presented herein provide a method for receiving radio signals, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

read reference information about the quality of the radio signal acquired at a reference time point;

receiving signal information about the acquired signal quality of the radio signal at the current point in time; and

The quality of the signal acquired at the current point in time is checked using the signal information and the reference information to determine the reproduction quality of the radio signal.

A radio signal is understood to be an amplitude-modulated signal, such as the long-wave, medium-wave or short-wave signal of a radio transmitter. The signal quality of a radio signal can be characterized, for example, by the received field strength of the radio signal, by interference of the radio signal or by the received field strength of neighboring signals of the radio signal. A reference time point can be understood as a time point before the current time point. For example, the step of reading may be repeated at a predetermined rhythm to read a plurality of reference information, wherein each reference information represents the signal quality of the radio signal obtained at each other reference time point. The reference information may for example be stored in a suitable memory (also called scene memory) for a predetermined period of time. The steps of reading and receiving can be performed simultaneously or sequentially in any order. In the checking step, for example, the signal quality of the radio signal detected at the current point in time can be checked by means of different threshold value comparisons. The threshold value used here can be selected such that the radio signal has a sufficiently high reproduction quality for a successful test.

The aspect presented here is based on the insight that the signal quality of a receivable radio signal can be checked on the basis of previous signal qualities of the radio signal. In this way, reception-time-dependent fluctuations in the signal quality can be detected and taken into account in the verification of the radio signal. For example, a search function of a radio receiver can be controlled by such a test in such a way that a consistently good reproduction quality is ensured at different reception times of the radio signal.

In particular the reception of AM transmitters can be highly dependent on the time of day. Relatively few transmitters are receivable during the day due to daytime attenuation in the long-band, mid-band and short-band ranges, whereas significantly more transmitters are receivable at dusk and at night. However, many of these transmitters may be affected by severe field strength loss, English fading (englisch fading), adjacent channel interference or other electromagnetic interference.

This time-of-day-dependent signal attenuation can now be taken into account in the transmitter search by not only responding to currently acquired signal quality variables (e.g. received field strength) or other quality values indicative of interference, but additionally The signal information stored in the scene memory is used efficiently to determine the corresponding reception quality of the transmitter. Signal information can be acquired, for example, in a separate signal processing path next to the reproduction path.

In this way the search can be designed such that the transmitter is reproduced with a sufficiently good reception quality at any time of the day.

The method may be provided with the step of determining the inspection threshold using the reference information. The signal quality acquired at the current point in time can be compared with a check threshold. Here, if the quality of the signal acquired at the current point in time exceeds the checking threshold, it can be checked in the step of checking. A check threshold is understood to mean at least a receive field strength that a radio signal must have in order to be checked in a check step. The check threshold can be specified, for example, depending on the number of receivable radio signals exceeding a certain field strength threshold and exceeding a certain interference threshold. With the aid of the test threshold, further testing of radio signals which initially have too low a signal quality to be suitable for reproduction can be prevented. The efficiency of the method can thus be increased.

It is advantageous here if, in the step of reading, at least one additional reference piece of information about the signal quality of the additional radio signal at a reference point in time or detected at an additional reference point in time is read out. Correspondingly, the additional reference information can be further used in the determining step to determine the inspection threshold. An additional radio signal is to be understood as deviating from the transmission channel of the radio signal. The signal quality of the additional radio signal can be detected both at the reference point in time and at additional reference points in time deviating therefrom. For example, the overall quality of radio reception over a frequency range comprising a plurality of radio signals can be determined by means of the additional reference point in time. In this case, the check threshold can be determined as a function of the overall quality of the radio reception. For example, a lower test threshold can be selected when there are only few well-receivable radio signals, or a higher test threshold can be selected when there are many well-receivable radio signals.

In the step of reading, the reference information may represent the received field strength of the radio signal acquired at the reference time point. Additionally or alternatively, the reference information may represent an interference of the radio signal detected at the reference time point or a received field strength of at least one adjacent signal of the radio signal detected at the reference time point. Similar to the reference information, the signal information may represent the reception field strength of the radio signal obtained at the current time point in the receiving step, or additionally or alternatively represent the interference of the radio signal obtained at the current time point or the current Receiving field strength acquired at time point. Received field strength is understood to be a measure of the field strength with which a radio receiver, such as a long-wave, medium-wave or short-wave receiver, receives radio signals. Interference is to be understood as a measured value of a radio signal or of a signal interacting with a radio signal, which represents an attenuation of the signal quality. Adjacent signals are to be understood as signals whose frequency range is adjacent to, or at least close to, the frequency range of the radio signal, such as adjacent radio transmitters. With the aid of such reference information, the signal quality of radio signals can be determined comprehensively and with high precision.

It is also advantageous if, in the step of reading, at least another reference piece of information about the signal quality of the radio signal which was acquired at another reference point in time is read out. In the checking step, the other reference information can be further used to check the quality of the signal acquired at the current time point. By comparing the signal quality acquired at the current point in time with at least two signal qualities previously acquired at other points in time in the checking step, for example a loss of field strength of the radio signal can be reliably determined.

According to another embodiment, in the step of reading the other reference information may represent the received field strength of the adjacent signal acquired at another reference time point. In the step of checking, a field strength mean value can be formed from the received field strength of an adjacent signal acquired at a reference point in time and the received field strength of an adjacent signal acquired at another reference point in time. In this case, the difference between the average value of the current field strength and the received field strength recorded at the current point in time can be determined and compared with a predetermined difference value. A field strength mean can be understood, for example, as an arithmetic, geometric or harmonic mean. Adjacent signals that degrade the reception quality of the radio signal can thus be identified.

It is also advantageous if, in the checking step, a deviation between the received field strength acquired at the reference time and the received field strength acquired at the current time is determined. In this case, the deviation can be compared with a predetermined deviation value. To determine this deviation, for example, a change in the corresponding reception strength can be determined. Field strength fluctuations of the radio signal can be detected by comparing this deviation with the deviation value.

Furthermore, in the checking step, a disturbance mean value can be formed from the disturbances detected at the reference point in time and the disturbances detected at the current point in time. The average value of the disturbance can be compared with a predetermined disturbance value. The accuracy of the radio signal test can be increased by using such an average interference value.

Depending on the specific embodiment, in the step of checking, a difference value, a deviation value or an interference value can be predetermined as a function of the speed of the vehicle receiving the radio signal. For example, deviation values and disturbance values may be higher at high speeds than at low speeds. This ensures that the radio signal is always well reproduced even at different speeds.

The method may set the steps of reproducing the radio signal. If the mean value of the field strength during the checking step deviates by at most a difference value from the received field strength acquired at the current point in time, or additionally or alternatively, the deviation is smaller than the deviation value, or additionally or alternatively, the mean value of the disturbance is smaller than the disturbance value, Then the steps to reproduce can be performed. This ensures that the radio signal is only reproduced if a sufficiently good reproduction quality results in the checking step.

Furthermore the aspect described herein provides a device for receiving radio signals, wherein the device is characterized by:

a reading unit for reading reference information about the signal quality of the radio signal acquired at a reference time point;

a receiving unit for receiving signal information on a signal quality of a radio signal acquired at a current point in time; and

A verification unit for determining radio signal reproduction quality using the signal information and the reference information to verify the signal quality acquired at the current point of time.

A device here is to be understood as an electrical appliance which processes sensor signals and outputs control and/or data signals accordingly. A device may have an interface configurable by hardware and/or software. In a hardware configuration, the interface can, for example, be part of a so-called application-specific integrated circuit system, which contains the various functions of the device. However, it is also possible for the interface to be an inherent integrated circuit or at least partly consist of discrete components. In the case of a configuration by software, the interface can be, for example, a software module present alongside other software modules on the microcontroller.

Also advantageous is a computer program product or computer program with program code, which can be stored on a machine-readable carrier or storage medium (such as a semiconductor memory, hard disk memory or optical memory) and is used for executing, implementing and/or controlling according to The steps of the methods of the embodiments described above, especially when the program product or program is run on a computer or device.

Description of drawings

The aspects presented here are explained in more detail below by way of example with the aid of the figures. in:

Fig. 1 shows the block diagram of the device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of a receiving system with an apparatus according to one embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 3 shows a flowchart of a method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the following description of an advantageous exemplary embodiment of the invention, the same or similar reference symbols are used for similarly acting elements shown in different figures, wherein a repeated description of these elements is omitted.

detailed description

Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Device 100 for receiving radio signals includes a reading unit 102 , a receiving unit 104 and a testing unit 106 . Reading unit 102 is designed to read reference information 108 about the signal quality of the radio signal acquired at a reference point in time. Receiving unit 104 is designed to receive signal information 110 about the signal quality of the radio signal acquired at the current point in time. Checking unit 106 is designed to receive information 108 , 110 and use information 108 , 110 to check the signal quality acquired at the current point in time. For example, checking unit 106 is designed to check the signal quality acquired at the current point in time by means of different threshold value comparisons.

Depending on the embodiment, the reading unit 102 and the receiving unit 104 can be connected via separate interfaces or a common interface to a suitable receiver for receiving radio signals. According to an exemplary embodiment, reading unit 102 or receiving unit 104 is designed to receive reference information 108 or signal information 110 directly from the receiver. Alternatively, reading unit 102 and receiving unit 104 are designed to receive radio signals from a receiver and to generate reference information 108 or signal information 110 themselves using the radio signals.

According to the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the device 100 has a determination unit 112 coupled to the receiving unit 104 and the testing unit 106, which is configured to use the reference information 108 to determine a testing threshold 114 and to send the testing threshold to the testing unit 106. . In addition, determination unit 112 in FIG. 1 is coupled to a readout unit in order to receive signal information 108 and further use this signal information 108 to determine test threshold 114 . Checking unit 106 is designed to carry out an input check of the radio signal signal quality acquired at the current point in time (hereinafter referred to as current signal quality) using check threshold value 114 . If the result of this input check is that the current signal quality is above the check threshold value 114 , the current signal quality is checked by checking unit 106 with the aid of further check criteria, as will be described in more detail below. If, on the other hand, the current signal quality falls below the test threshold 114 , the test of the radio signal by the test unit 106 is aborted.

Checking unit 106 is designed to generate reproduced signal 116 in the event of a successful check of the current signal, ie if the radio signal has an expected good reproduction quality, using further check criteria. A reproduction device coupled to apparatus 100 may be configured to receive reproduction signal 116 and use reproduction signal 116 to reproduce the radio signal.

According to the situation of the embodiment, the reading unit 102 can be configured to read at least another reference information 118 about the signal quality of the radio signal acquired at another reference time point or about the information obtained at the reference time point or a time point deviating from the reference time point At least one additional reference information 120 of the signal quality of the additional radio signal. In this case, the further reference point in time and the additional reference point in time can each represent a point in time before the current point in time, analogously to the reference point in time. The determination unit 112 can be configured to receive additional reference information 120 from the reading unit 102 and further use this additional reference information 120 to determine a check threshold. The checking unit 106 can be designed to receive further reference information 118 from the reading unit 102 and further use this further reference information 118 to check the current signal quality of the radio signal.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a receiving system 200 with an apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The device 100 is, for example, the device described with reference to FIG. 1 . Receiving system 100 may be part of a radio receiver. Radio receivers are especially suitable for use in vehicles.

According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 , the receiving system 200 includes a first signal processing path 202 (also referred to as a reproduction path) and a second signal processing path 204 . Alternatively, however, receiving system 200 may also be implemented with more than two signal processing paths. The signal processing paths 202, 204 are designed to process amplitude-modulated signals.

Furthermore, reproduction path 202 has a radio-frequency processing unit 206 which is designed to process radio-frequency signals as radio signals 208 . In radio-frequency processing unit 206 radio signal 208 is, for example, filtered, mixed and amplified.

Furthermore, reproduction path 202 includes a signal processing block serving as demodulation unit 210 , which is coupled to radio frequency processing unit 206 to demodulate amplitude-modulated radio signal 208 .

A further signal processing block of the reproduction path 202 serves as an information provision unit 212, which is configured to generate information about the channel field strength (also called receive field strength) and other values indicative of signal quality (such as adjacent channel detector values or information obtained from the value of the differentiated phase signal).

Similar to the reproduction path 202 , the second signal processing path 204 includes a further high frequency processing unit 214 , a further demodulation unit 216 and a further information providing unit 218 .

According to the present embodiment, the device 100 is configured to run control software to control the signal processing paths 202 , 204 . Furthermore, device 100 reads out the values determined in information providing units 212 , 218 . These values may include reference information 108 , 118 , 120 as well as signal information 110 . Furthermore, the device 100 controls the high-frequency processing units 206 , 214 to adjust the different reception frequencies.

The device 100 can be implemented with a so-called scene memory, in which for each AM reception frequency a number of records are stored about the corresponding reception field strength and the corresponding interference information together with time information. For example the scene memory is configured such that ten different records are stored for each AM reception frequency. If ten entries already exist for a particular AM reception frequency, the corresponding oldest value is overwritten in order to record the new value.

The apparatus 100 controls the second signal processing path 204 in such a way that it operates with a fixed timing scheme or at an AM receive frequency supported by the radio receiver when not required by other tasks. The reception field strength and interference information for each adjusted AM reception frequency is recorded together with a time stamp in the scene memory.

The device 100 reads out the scene memory at a fixed rhythm. The device 100 can be configured to determine a test threshold for the AM search as a function of the number of transmitters that exceed a certain field strength threshold and are below a certain interference threshold. If the scene memory contains fewer well-receivable transmitters, the check threshold is correspondingly lowered. If, on the other hand, many transmitters are receivable well, the check threshold is correspondingly increased.

According to one embodiment, the device 100 is configured to activate the second signal processing path 204 immediately in response to a user of the radio receiver starting an AM search. The search for the current reception frequency on the reproduction path 202 (also referred to as reproduction reception path or reproduction signal path) is thus activated in a direction defined by the user. The received field strength values and interference information values determined here are in turn recorded with time stamps in the scene memory.

After a short delay, the device 100 now also starts searching in the reproduction path 202 . In this case, current reception field strength values and current quality values, such as reception frequency interference or reception field strengths of adjacent reception frequencies, are determined for each reception frequency. If the received field strength is below a determined check threshold (which can also be referred to as a search threshold), the device 100 adjusts to the next received frequency. Now redo the test. If the reception field strength of the next reception frequency is higher than the determined check threshold, the device 100 checks all entries of the scene memory for the set reception frequency and the entries of the respective adjacent channels. Only those records that do not exceed a predetermined age of eg 10, 15 or 30 minutes are considered here.

Depending on the implementation, the device 100 now checks for one or more of the following criteria.

First, the device 100 checks whether the change of the received field strength (including the currently determined received field strength) stored in the scene memory is smaller than a preset deviation threshold.

Second, the device 100 checks whether the interference average value of the interference information (including the currently determined interference information) stored in the scene memory is smaller than a preset interference threshold.

Thirdly, the device 100 checks whether the average value of the received field strengths of adjacent channels stored in the scene memory is at most a fixed amount greater than the current received field strength.

If the radio receiver is a mobile radio receiver in a vehicle, device 100 can be configured to control the corresponding threshold values of the criteria given above as a function of the driving speed of the vehicle. If the vehicle is stationary, the thresholds for field strength changes and interference information can be set lower. If the vehicle is in motion, the threshold can be raised accordingly.

A first criterion is used to determine whether a transmitter is received with high field strength fluctuations at the current reception frequency. If this is true, the current received frequency is not reproduced. Averaged interference information is evaluated by a second criterion, which may provide a more precise picture than a one-time measurement. Transmitters with strong adjacent channels are suppressed by the third criterion, since reception interference caused by adjacent channels has to be taken into account here.

When all the criteria given above are met, the device 100 stops the AM search on the reproduction path 202 and uses the set reception frequency for reproduction.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a method 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Method 300 for receiving radio signals can be carried out, for example, by the device described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 . According to one embodiment, method 300 may be implemented for optimizing AM searches. For this purpose, in a first method step 302 , reference information about the signal quality of the radio signal acquired at the reference point in time is first read. In a further method step 304 , signal information about the signal quality of the radio signal acquired at the current point in time is received. Steps 302, 304 may be performed simultaneously or in any order. Finally, in method step 306 the signal quality acquired at the current point in time is checked using the signal information and reference information to determine the reproduction quality of the radio signal.

Depending on the embodiment, in steps 302 , 304 the received field strength of the radio signal, the interference of the radio signal or the received field strength of at least one neighboring signal of the radio signal can be read as information about the signal quality of the radio signal.

The embodiments described and shown in the drawings are exemplary choices only. Different embodiments may be joined to each other entirely or with respect to a single feature. An exemplary embodiment can also be supplemented by features of another exemplary embodiment. Furthermore, the method steps described here can be carried out repeatedly and in a sequence different from that described.

If an embodiment includes the conjunction "and/or" between the first feature and the second feature, this should be read as that the embodiment has both the first and the second feature according to one embodiment, and that according to the second An embodiment has either only the first feature or only the second feature.

Claims (13)

CLAIMS 1. A method (300) for receiving radio signals (208), wherein said method (300) comprises the steps of: reading (302) reference information (108) about the signal quality of said radio signal (208) acquired at a reference time point; receiving (304) signal information (110) about a signal quality of said radio signal (208) acquired at a current point in time; and The signal quality acquired at the current point in time is checked (306) using the signal information (110) and the reference information (108) to determine a reproduction quality of the radio signal (208). 2. The method (300) according to claim 1, having the step of determining a verification threshold using said reference information (108), wherein in said step of verification (306), when said When the signal quality exceeds the inspection threshold, the signal quality obtained at the current time point is inspected. 3. The method (300) according to claim 2, wherein in the step of reading (302), the signal quality acquired at the reference time point or an additional reference time point is read about an additional radio signal at least one additional reference information (120), wherein in the step of determining, the verification threshold is further determined using the additional reference information (120). 4. The method (300) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in the step of reading (302), the reference information (108) represents the A received field strength of a radio signal (208) and/or an interference of said radio signal (208) and/or a received field strength of at least one adjacent signal of said radio signal (208), wherein in said receiving (304) In the step, the signal information (110) represents the receiving field strength of the radio signal (208) and/or the interference of the radio signal (208) and/or the relative The receiving field strength of the adjacent signal. 5. The method (300) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in the step of reading (302) an information about the radio signal (208) acquired at another reference point in time is read At least another reference information (118) of signal quality, wherein in said checking (306) step, said further reference information (118) is used to check said signal quality acquired at the current time point. 6. The method (300) according to claims 4 and 5, wherein in said step of reading (302), said further reference information (118) represents the The received field strength obtained at the reference time point, wherein in the step of checking (306), the received field strength obtained at the reference time point of the adjacent signal and the received field strength of the adjacent signal at the other The received field strength acquired at a reference time point forms a field strength average value, wherein a difference between said field strength average value and said received field strength acquired at a current time point is determined and said difference is compared with a preset difference value compared. 7. The method (300) according to claim 4 or 6, wherein in the step of checking (306), the reception field strength acquired at the reference time point and the reception field strength acquired at the current time point are determined. The deviation between the field strengths, wherein the deviation is compared with a preset deviation value. 8. The method (300) according to any one of claims 4, 6 or 7, wherein in the step of verifying (306), the interference obtained at the reference time point and the The detected disturbances form a disturbance mean value, wherein the disturbance mean value is compared with a preset disturbance value. 9. The method (300) according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein in the step of checking (306), the speed of the vehicle receiving the radio signal (208) is predetermined according to difference and/or the deviation value and/or the disturbance value. 10. The method (300) according to any one of claims 6 to 9, if in said checking (306) step said field strength average is at most greater than said receptive field acquired at the current point in time If the strength exceeds said difference value and/or said deviation is less than said deviation value and/or said interference average value is less than said interference value, said method has the step of reproducing said radio signal (208). 11. An apparatus (100) for receiving radio signals (208), wherein said apparatus (100) is characterized by: a reading unit (102), configured to read reference information (108) about the signal quality of the radio signal (208) acquired at a reference time point; a receiving unit (104), configured to receive signal information (110) about the signal quality of said radio signal (208) acquired at a current point in time; and A checking unit (106), configured to check the signal quality acquired at the current point in time using the signal information (110) and the reference information (108), to determine the reproduction quality of the radio signal (208). 12. A computer program arranged to carry out all the steps of the method (300) according to any one of claims 1 to 10. 13. A machine-readable storage medium having the computer program according to claim 12 stored thereon.