Subscriber Station Transceiver Allocation of Groups of Subcarriers Between a Plurality of Transceiver Antennas

Abstract

Embodiments for at least one method and apparatus of a subscriber station transceiver allocating and transmitting groups of subcarriers between a plurality of transceiver antennas are disclosed. One method includes the subscriber station transceiver receiving at least one downlink signal through each of the plurality of subscriber station antennas. The subscriber station transceiver characterizes a received signal of the at least one downlink signal over multiple subcarriers. The subscriber station transceiver allocates groups of subcarriers for uplink transmission through each of the plurality of subscriber antennas, wherein the allocation is based on the characterized received signal of the at least one downlink signal over multiple subcarriers.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A subscriber station transceiver, comprising:
 a first radio frequency (RF) receive chain coupled to a first antenna, where the first RF receive chain comprises a first signal processor, and wherein the first signal processor is configured to:
 generate a first channel estimate for a downlink channel, and 
 generate first data for allocating, based on available output power of the first antenna, a first group of subcarriers to the first antenna; and 
   a second. RF receive chain coupled to a second antenna, wherein the second RF receive chain comprises a second signal processor, and wherein the second signal processor is configured to:
 generate a second channel estimate for the downlink channel, and 
 generate second data for allocating, based on available output power of the second antenna, a second group of subcarriers to the second antenna. 
   
     
     
         2 . The subscriber station transceiver of  claim 1 , wherein the first RF receive chain further comprises:
 a RF downconverter configured to down-convert a received signal; and   an analog to digital converter (ADC) coupled to:
 an output of the RF downconverter, and 
 an input of the first signal processor. 
   
     
     
         3 . The subscriber station transceiver of  claim 2 , wherein the first RF receive chain further comprises:
 a frequency translator coupled to the output of the RF downconverter.   
     
     
         4 . The subscriber station transceiver of  claim 3 , wherein the first RF receive chain further comprises:
 an analog low pass filter (LPF) coupled to an output of the frequency translator.   
     
     
         5 . The subscriber station transceiver of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a first RF transmit chain coupled to the first antenna; and   a second RF transmit chain coupled to the second antenna.   
     
     
         6 . The subscriber station transceiver of  claim 5 , wherein the first RF transmit chain comprises:
 an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) circuit configured to perform an inverse fast Fourier transform on received data;   a digital to analog converter (DAC) coupled to the IFFT circuit;   a power amplifier coupled to the DAC; and   a switch configured to couple the power amplifier to the first antenna.   
     
     
         7 . The subscriber station transceiver of  claim 6 , wherein the received data is generated by the first signal processor. 
     
     
         8 . The subscriber station transceiver of  claim 6 , wherein the first RF transmit chain further comprises:
 an upsampler coupled to an output of the IFFT circuit, wherein the upsampler is configured to interdigitize zeroes between samples of output from the IFFT circuit.   
     
     
         9 . The RF transmission chain of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 a digital low pass filter (LPF) coupled to an output of the upsampler and to an input of the DAC.   
     
     
         10 . The RF transmission chain of  claim 6 , further comprising:
 an analog low pass filter (LPF) coupled to an output of the DAC.   
     
     
         11 . The RF transmission chain of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 an RF up-converter coupled to an output of the analog LPF.   
     
     
         12 . A subscriber station transceiver, comprising:
 a plurality of antennas configured to receive a downlink signal; and   a plurality of signal processors, coupled to the plurality of antennas, configured to:
 generate, based on the downlink signal, channel estimates for a downlink channel, 
 determine, based on the channel estimates and available output power of the plurality of antennas, groups of subcarriers for transmission, and 
 allocate the groups of subcarriers to the plurality of antennas. 
   
     
     
         13 . The subscriber station of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of signal processors are further configured to:
 characterize, based on the downlink signal, the downlink channel over multiple subcarriers; and   determine the groups of subcarriers based on the characterized downlink channel.   
     
     
         14 . The subscriber station of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of signal processors are further configured to:
 characterize the downlink channel based on determining a relative signal power difference between multiple subcarrier signals in the downlink signal, and   allocate the groups of subcarriers based on the relative signal power difference.   
     
     
         15 . The subscriber station of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of signal processors are further configured to:
 determine the groups of subcarriers that will maximize an uplink transmission quality.   
     
     
         16 . The subscriber station of  claim 12 , wherein the plurality of signal processors are further configured to:
 form an estimate of the downlink channel using a plurality of pilots occurring after a preamble of a frame of the downlink signal.   
     
     
         17 . A method of allocating and transmitting groups of subcarriers, the method comprising:
 receiving a first downlink signal through a first transceiver antenna;   generating, based on the first downlink signal, a first channel estimate for a downlink channel;   receiving a second downlink signal through a second transceiver antenna;   generating, based on the second downlink signal, a second channel estimate for the downlink channel;   determining groups of subcarriers for transmission based on the first channel estimate, the second channel estimate, available output power of the first anted a, and available output power of the second antenna; and   allocating the groups of subcarriers to the first antenna and the second antenna.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 characterizing, based on the first downlink signal and the second downlink signal, the downlink channel over multiple subcarriers;   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 performing an initial allocation of the groups of subcarriers through the first antenna and the second antenna based on channel quality metrics of the downlink channel; and   modifying the initial allocation of the groups of subcarriers based on transmit power constraints of the first antenna and the second antenna.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein performing the initial allocation comprises:
 performing the initial allocation of the groups of subcarriers based on a sorted difference vector of downlink channel quality metrics from the first antenna and the second antenna.