text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|May 4, 1999
|Filing date
|Jun 18, 1997
|Priority date
|Jun 18, 1997
|Fee status
|Publication number
|Nadav Ben-Efraim, Christopher Keate
|Original Assignee
|Lsi Logic Corporation
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (6), Referenced by (22), Classifications (19), Legal Events (9)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for receiving and decoding a digital signal. More specifically, it concerns a front end for a set top satellite receiver system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital broadcast satellite (DBS) communication systems provide reliable long range transmission of information without the need for a pre-existing network of transmission lines and routing switches. However, since the costs entailed in creating a satellite and placing it in orbit are literally astronomical, the economic practicality of these systems depends in large part on widespread use of DBS receiver systems. Consequently containment of the costs while maximizing the performance of DBS receiver systems plays an important role for the emerging DBS technology.
FIG. 1 shows a diagram of portions of a DBS system 100 in operation. A service provider 102 broadcasts a signal by way of a satellite 104 to a user dish 106. In this manner, user dish 106 receives an encoded digital data stream modulated onto a carrier in the Ku-Band (12 GHz). User dish 106 has a down-converter (also referred to as a low-noise block, or LNB) which provides a receive signal 108 to DBS receiver 110. Receive signal 108 is obtained by shifting the frequency of the modulated signal carrier from Ku-Band to the L-Band (1-2 GHz). DBS receiver 110 comprises a front end that demodulates and decodes the digital data stream, and a back end that processes the digital data stream to implement the provided services, e.g. digital cable programming. DBS receiver 110 is colloquially referred to as a set-top box since it is commonly positioned on top of a television set 112 as shown.
In DBS system 100, the digital signal modulation is typically of the binary or quadrature phase shift keying type. The signal passes through the atmosphere and is subjected to various forms of interference. Hence a first issue which must be addressed by the DBS receiver front end is that the received signal is a corrupted version of the transmitted signal. Due to the power restrictions placed on satellite transmission channels, the probability of digital data errors due to signal corruption is substantial. To maximize a signal power to noise power ratio (SNR) of the signal, equalization is used. However, to make satellite communications reliable at high data rates, error correction codes are needed. The error correction coding scheme advocated by the standard "Specifications of the Baseline Modulation/Channel Coding System for Digital Multi-Programme Television by Satellite", European Broadcasting Union, January 1994, is a concatenated coding scheme.
A second issue which must be addressed by the DBS receiver front end is frequency drift. For example, one source of frequency drift is that the carrier frequency of the output signal provided by an economical LNB can drift by �5 MHz with temperature.
FIG. 2 shows one implementation of a DBS receiver front end 200. Front end 200 comprises a tuner 202 and a demodulator/decoder 204. Tuner 202 converts received signal 108 to quadrature baseband signals. Demodulator/decoder 204 converts the quadrature baseband signals to digital form, then performs digital equalization and decoding to produce output data stream 238. As discussed further below, demodulator/decoder 204 also provides feedback signals to tuner 202 for timing and gain control.
Tuner 202 comprises a frequency synthesizer 216 (typically comprising a voltage controlled oscillator), an analog multiplier 206, an intermediate frequency bandpass filter 208, a gain control amplifier 210, an I/Q down converter 212, and a lowpass filter 214. Frequency synthesizer 216 is set by an external microprocessor 236 to be "tuned" to the received signal. The tuned frequency synthesizer provides a signal with a frequency which is offset by a fixed amount (typically 480 MHz) from the frequency of the desired received signal. The fixed amount will be the frequency of a product signal which results when multiplier 206 multiplies the signal from the frequency synthesizer and the received signal.
Multiplier 206 multiplies received signal 108 and the output signal from frequency synthesizer 216 to effectively shift the frequency of received signal 108 to an intermediate frequency (typically 480 MHz) in an intermediate frequency signal. The product signal at the output of multiplier 206 can be expressed as the sum of a desired intermediate frequency signal and other undesired byproduct signals. The product signal is coupled to intermediate frequency bandpass filter 208 which removes the undesired frequency components (and in so doing, removes the undesired byproduct signals) leaving only the intermediate frequency signal.
Output from bandpass filter 208 is coupled to gain control amplifier 210 which regulates the amplitude of the intermediate frequency signal. Gain control amplifier 210 has an adaptive gain which is set to provide a constant-maximum amplitude output signal. The regulation mechanism is a loop filter 234 which operates on a negative feedback signal provided by demodulator/decoder 204. The effect of loop filter 234 is to increase the gain of gain control amplifier 210 when the maximum amplitude of the output signal declines below a target level, and to decrease the gain when the maximum amplitude exceeds a target level.
Output of the gain control amplifier 210 is coupled to I/Q down converter 212 which converts the intermediate frequency signal to quadrature baseband signals. The conversion may take place in a similar fashion to the previous frequency conversion using output from a fixed-frequency oscillator 218, but at baseband two signals are needed. The two baseband signals represent the in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) components of the intermediate frequency signal. A lowpass filter 214 is employed in the similar fashion to the way baseband filter was used to remove undesired frequency components. In this fashion, tuner 202 converts received signal 108 to quadrature baseband signals.
A third issue which is desirably addressed by the receiver front end is the number of parts required to construct a tuner. Typically, the tuner is constructed using a synthesizer element, an oscillator element, loop filter parts (often discrete components), low pass filter elements, an integrated circuit for the mixer, intermediate frequency bandpass filter, and I/Q downconverter, a metal enclosure (not shown) for RF (radio frequency) shielding, and voltage regulators (not shown) to provide very clean power. A reduction in the part count would advantageously reduce cost and improve reliability.
A fourth issue which must be addressed by the receiver front end is the sensitivity of the tuner to RF noise. Noise control is typically provided by the voltage regulators and metal enclosure. Other noise control features which provide further reduction in RF noise would advantageously improve tuner performance.
Returning to FIG. 2, tuner 202 is followed by demodulator/decoder 204. Demodulator/decoder 204 comprises an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 220, a decimation block 222, a matched filter 224, a decode logic 226, and a timing, carrier and gain error block 230. ADC 220 converts the quadrature baseband signals into digital form at a sampling rate and sampling phase determined by a signal from a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 228. The digital baseband signals are decimated by decimation block 222 (i.e. the sample rate is reduced by dropping a fixed number of samples from each timing interval) to a rate of two samples per symbol interval. Decimation block 222 allows for over-sampling by ADC 220. Over-sampling is the practice of sampling an analog signal at a higher rate than the symbol rate. Use of this practice allows the transfer of some filtering operations from the analog domain to the digital domain. In general, only simple analog filters are practical. For complex filtering operations, digital filters are significantly easier to implement and adjust. By over-sampling and performing the matched filter operation in the digital domain, a substantial implementation complexity reduction is achieved. Furthermore, the use of over-sampling allows relaxed tolerances on the analog filters used in the analog-to-digital conversion process, without significant impairment to the signal-to-noise ratio.
The output of decimation block 222 passes through matched filter 224, which substantially maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio of the digital baseband signals. To accomplish this, the impulse response of matched filter 224 is designed to be the time-reverse of the shape of a signal corresponding to one symbol. Hence, the impulse response is "matched" to the symbol signal. One common symbol signal shape is a square root raised cosine.
The signal provided at the output of matched filter 224 is processed by decode logic 226 to provide error correction and substantially recover the transmitted data stream. This received data stream is then provided as output signal 238. In this manner, demodulator/decoder 204 converts the quadrature baseband signals to digital form, then performs digital equalization and decoding to produce output data stream 238.
The signal provided at the output of matched filter 224 is processed by timing, carrier and gain error block 230 to determine an estimate of error conditions present in the signal. One estimate is for the gain error, and this estimate is passed to loop filter 234, which was described above. A second estimate is for the sampling phase error, and this estimate is passed to loop filter 232. Loop filter 232 operates to regulate the sampling phase and frequency of ADC 220. A third estimate is formed for the carrier frequency offset error. This estimate is periodically sampled by external microprocessor 236 and used to adjust the setting of frequency synthesizer 216. In this manner, demodulator/decoder 204 provides feedback signals to tuner 202 for timing and gain control.
FIG. 3 shows a second implementation of a DBS receiver front end 300. Components which have direct counterparts in front end 200 are numbered identically. Fixed-frequency oscillator 218 has been replaced with an intermediate frequency (IF) VCO 318. IF VCO 318 provides a signal to I/Q down converter 212 which a variable frequency which is regulated by loop filter 319 operating on a feedback signal provided by timing and gain error block 330. This approach allows for continuous monitoring and compensation of a limited amount of frequency drift. Large drifts must still be compensated by intervention of microprocessor 236. This is true because of the effect bandpass filter 208 has on signals which drift out of the range of the pass band.
The two discussed implementations of a DBS receiver front end are previously implemented methods for converting a DBS signal into a received data stream. Improved implementations are desirable. In particular, an implementation which does not require external microprocessor intervention for tracking frequency drift would both reduce cost and improve performance. Also, an implementation of the tuner which converts directly from the received signal to the baseband representation would be more cost effective. To make it feasible to do a direct conversion for DBS, however, a new method for correcting I/Q angular error is needed, and a new method for tracking frequency drift is needed. Tighter control must be provided for the lowpass filter since IF filtering is not an option in direct conversion systems. Further, any technique which improves the system performance with little or no added cost is desirable.
The problems outlined above are in large part solved by an improved DBS receiver front end architecture having a voltage controlled oscillator for frequency synthesis. The voltage controlled oscillator includes a tank circuit having an adjustable resonance frequency which may be varied over an octave. A tuning oscillator drives the tank circuit and provides a signal having that resonance frequency to a range extender which provides a tuning frequency. When enabled, the range extender doubles the input frequency, and when disabled, simply passes the input frequency through. A feedback path provides a control voltage to the tank circuit to adjust the resonance frequency and thereby cause the tuning frequency to be a multiple of a reference frequency. The range extender advantageously extends the tuning frequency range over two octaves without a loss of frequency resolution.
Broadly speaking, the present invention contemplates a DBS receiver front end which includes a tuner chip and a demodulator/decoder chip. The tuner chip has a frequency doubler which provides a tuning frequency signal having a frequency twice that of an input frequency signal when the doubler is enabled, and a tuning frequency signal having a frequency equal that of an input frequency signal when the doubler is disabled. The tuner chip also has a tuning oscillator which provides the input frequency, and a downconverter coupled to receive the tuning frequency signal. The downconverter further receives a receive signal and responsively provides a product signal which is then converted to a baseband signal. The demodulator/decoder chip is configured to control the input frequency to the doubler, and further configured to convert the baseband signal to a decoded signal.
Features which the front end architecture may have include: (1) the front end being implemented as a tuner chip and a demodulator/decoder chip with a very small number of supporting discrete components, thereby reducing implementation cost and complexity, (2) the tuner chip using direct conversion, thereby reducing power consumption, (3) the tuning frequency synthesizer being split into a counter sub-circuit on the demodulator/decoder chip and a phase detection and oscillator sub-circuit on the tuner chip, thereby reducing the part count while minimizing interference with the tuner, (4) the phase detector having an externally configurable charge pump gain, thereby achieving a constant phase-lock loop behavior, (5) the oscillator sub-circuit employing a frequency doubler, thereby providing an extended frequency synthesis range while keeping complexity low, (6) the tuner having a precision-configurable lowpass filter, thereby providing accurate adjacent channel removal, (7) the interface signals between the tuner and demodulator/decoder being provided at reduced amplitude and/or slew rate to minimize digital noise interference with the tuner, (8) the demodulator/ decoder providing equalization for I/Q amplitude and phase error, thereby providing an improved direct-conversion system performance, (9) the demodulator/decoder directly correcting for frequency offset error, thereby obviating the need for a bus from an external microprocessor to the tuner, and (10) the tuner chip pin out being designed to provide a maximal spacing between the pins for the received signal and pins for other high frequency signals.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a high level view of a DBS system having a DBS receiver.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a DBS receiver front end embodiment which compensates for frequency offset error using an external microprocessor;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a DBS receiver front end embodiment which can compensate for frequency offset error by adjusting the input frequency of the I/Q downconverter;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a DBS receiver front end embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a second DBS receiver front end embodiment according to the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a pin diagram of a tuner chip; and
FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a loop filter which may be used to convert timing errors to an estimate of a frequency or phase error.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
In, FIG. 4 a block diagram of a DBS receiver front end 400 is shown. The DBS receiver front end 400 comprises a tuner chip 402 coupled to receive two receive signals 108A, 108B. The tuner operates on the receive signals to convert one of them to a baseband signal, which is then processed by demodulator/decoder chip 404 to remove the channel modulation and error correction coding from the signal. Generally speaking, the tuner chip includes a tuning oscillator which is a part of a voltage controlled oscillator. The range of the voltage controlled oscillator is advantageously extended through use of a frequency doubler which can be disabled. As is discussed below, the oscillator range is extended to cover two octaves without any loss of frequency resolution.
Relative to previously discussed systems, numerous configuration differences and new features exist in DBS receiver front end 400. These include (1) the front end is implemented as two integrated circuits (ICs) with a very small number of supporting discrete components, (2) the tuner is implemented using direct conversion, (3) the tuning frequency synthesizer is split into a counter sub-circuit and a phase detection and oscillator sub-circuit, (4) the phase detector has an externally configurable charge pump gain, (5) the oscillator sub-circuit employs a frequency doubler, (6) the tuner has a precision-configurable lowpass filter, (7) the interface signals between the tuner and demodulator/decoder are provided at reduced amplitude and/or slew rate, (8) the demodulator/decoder provides equalization for I/Q amplitude and phase error, (9) the demodulator/decoder directly corrects for frequency offset error. One further feature of the front end (shown in FIG. 6) is that of a maximal spacing between the pins for the received signal and pins for other high frequency signals. Each of these features is individually discussed and presented in greater detail below.
A first aspect of front end 400 is the small part count. Front end 400 comprises a tuner chip 402, a demodulator/decoder chip 404, a timing crystal(s) 406, a loop filter 410, a tank circuit 412, and a power capacitor 414. Power capacitor 414 is coupled to a voltage regulator 416 on tuner chip 402. Tuner chip 402, like most tuners, requires a very clean voltage supply for the mixer and the frequency synthesis circuitry to achieve the best phase noise performance. In the past, this has been achieved using discrete regulator components. A cost savings and a reduction of voltage supply contamination are advantageously achieved by placing the regulator on-chip. The heat is generated in regulating the amount of power required by the tuner and frequency synthesis circuitry. Heat dissipation for chips with circuits that generate heat often requires using packaging techniques that are costly and more complex than preferred techniques. However by reconfiguring the circuitry and reducing the interface signal drive power as discussed further below, the power requirements can be reduced to the point that the heat dissipation problem can be addressed with preferred packaging techniques.
A second aspect of front end 400 is the implementation of a direct-conversion tuner architecture. Tuner chip 402 includes amplifier 418, I/Q downconverter 420, lowpass filter 422, and gain control amplifier 424. Amplifier 418 buffers and amplifies either receive signal 108a or receive signal 108b. Amplifier 418 uses input select signal 419 to determine which of the receive signals 108a, 108b to forward to I/Q downconverter 420. I/Q downconverter then directly converts the forwarded signal to in-phase (I) and quadrature-phase (Q) baseband signal components. The tuning signal 425 provided by frequency synthesizer 426 is set to be "tuned" to the receive signal. The tuning signal 425 is filtered by a phase-shift network (PSN) 428 to produce two versions of the tuning signal which have a 90 degree phase difference. Mixers 430, 432 combine the forwarded signal with the two versions of the tuning signal to effectively shift the modulation frequency of the forwarded signal to substantially zero in a baseband signal. The baseband signal is composed of the in-phase and quadrature phase baseband signal components provided by mixers 430, 432 respectively. The baseband signal components can be expressed as a sum of the desired signals and undesired signals. The lowpass filter 422 removes the undesired signals, leaving only the desired baseband signal components. The gain control amplifier 424 has an adaptive gain which is used to adjust the magnitude of the desired signal components to provide constant-maximum amplitude output signals (i.e. the maximum amplitude of the output signals is maintained at a substantially constant level). The output signals are forwarded in differential output form to demodulator/decoder chip 404. The direct conversion architecture and the reduced amplitude of interface signals (which is discussed further below) both contribute to the reduced power requirements of tuner chip 402.
A third aspect of front end 400 concerns frequency synthesizer 426. As shown in FIG. 4, the frequency synthesizer 426 is split into two sub-circuits which are incorporated into the tuner chip 402 and demodulator/decoder chip 404, thereby further reducing the part count. The counter sub-circuit comprises two counters, swallow counter 434 and program counter 436. After being reset, both counters count clock pulses from prescaler 438. After A clock pulses, swallow counter 434 toggles the mode of prescaler 438. The output of program counter 436 is a clock that completes one cycle for every N input pulses, so after about N/2 pulses, program counter 436 toggles its output, and after N pulses, program counter 436 toggles its output, resets itself, and resets swallow counter 434. Placing these programmable counters on demodulator/decoder advantageously isolates the majority of the digital circuitry of frequency synthesizer 426 from tuner chip 402, which is sensitive to high frequency interference such as that caused by fast-switching digital circuits.
The phase detection and oscillator sub-circuit of frequency synthesizer 426 comprises prescaler 438, jitter reduction element 440, reference divider 442, timing crystal 406, crystal oscillator 408, mixer 446, charge pump 448, loop filter 410, tank circuit 412, tuning oscillator 450, and frequency doubler 452. Tuning signal 425 is set at a tuning frequency in the following way. Prescaler 438 reduces the frequency of tuning signal 425 by a factor of (M+1) while swallow counter 434 is counting, and reduces the frequency of tuning signal 425 by a factor of M after swallow counter 434 has halted, where M is a predetermined value. The reduced frequency signal is then provided to swallow counter 434, program counter 436, and jitter reduction element 440. Swallow counter 434 is programmable to A which determines how many extra pulses should be "swallowed", i.e. how many times the factor of (M+1) should be used instead of the factor M. As explained further below, this provides a high frequency resolution in the tuning signal. Program counter 436 is programmable to N which determines how many cycles of the reduced frequency signal correspond to one cycle of its output, feedback frequency signal 437. Since the N reduced frequency signal cycles are formed from A�(M+1) tuning signal cycles and (N-A)�M tuning signal cycles, each cycle of feedback frequency signal 437 corresponds to N�M+A tuning signal cycles. This is the multiplier which is used to set the tuning frequency.
The feedback frequency signal passes through jitter reduction element 440, where the transitions are synchronized with transitions in the reduced frequency signal provided by prescaler 438. The resulting re-timed signal is mixed with a reference frequency signal provided by reference divider 442. Reference divider 442 produces this signal by dividing the frequency of the output of crystal oscillator 408 by a predetermined number. The result of the mixing operation, when passed through an active lowpass filter which is part of charge pump 448, is indicative of the phase difference between the reference frequency signal and the re-timed signal. Charge pump 448 applies a correction voltage to loop filter 410 which determines the control voltage applied to the node between the varactors in tank circuit 412. The control voltage varies the effective capacitance of the varactors, and hence the resonance frequency of tank circuit 412. The resonance frequency of tank circuit 412 determines the frequency of the output of tuning oscillator 450. Frequency doubler 452 provides a tuning frequency signal with the frequency of the output of the tuning oscillator when in disabled mode, but when in enabled mode, frequency doubler 452 provides a tuning frequency signal with double the frequency of the output of the tuning frequency oscillator 450.
The correction voltage of charge pump 448 acts to adjust the frequency of the output of tuning oscillator 450 to reduce the phase difference between the re-timed signal and the reference frequency signal. When the frequency synthesizer 426 is in steady state (i.e. the loop is "locked"), the frequency and phase differences between the re-timed signal and the reference frequency signal are substantially zero, and the tuning frequency signal 425 has a frequency of
where FR is the reference frequency. The desired tuning frequency is thereby determined by the setting of the counters 434, 436 on the demodulator/decoder chip. This eliminates the need for a bus connection between the system microprocessor and the noise sensitive tuner chip, since the system microprocessor specifies the desired reception band by communicating with the demodulator/decoder chip.
To aid in the acquisition of phase lock, charge pump 448 may be configured to cause a frequency sweep by providing a constant, nonzero correction voltage until a phase lock is detected. For further details on the operation of a frequency synthesizer, please refer to the Fujitsu application note "Fujitsu Prescalers and Phase-Locked Loops for VHF and UHF Frequency Synthesis: A Tutorial with Selection Guides," published in March 1991 by the Field Applications Engineering Department of Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc., which is hereby incorporated by reference.
A fourth aspect of front end 400 concerns the charge pump. Charge pump 448 has an externally configurable gain, which can be set using digital inputs 454. These inputs are used to set the gain to one of four values. The values are chosen to provide constant phase lock loop behavior across the entire frequency synthesis range.
A fifth aspect of front end 400 concerns the use of a frequency doubler. In a direct conversion DBS front end, the tuning frequency must cover the range 925 to 2150 MHz. Designing a tuning oscillator to provide this frequency range is very difficult. To maintain the nonlinearity of the voltage-to-frequency relationship of the tuning oscillator within the stability limits of the frequency synthesizer loop, it is desirable to limit the range of the tuning oscillator to a single frequency octave. This range may then be extended through use of a doubler. Tuning oscillator 450 may be designed to operate in the octave between 537.5 and 1075 MHz. The enabling of frequency doubler 452 then alters this range to the octave between 1075 and 2150 MHz. The enable signal 456 for the frequency doubler thereby allows selection between these octaves, and extends the tuning frequency range from 537.5 to 2150 MHz. The doubler provides (a) an extended tuning range (as already explained), and (b) better isolation between tank circuit 412 and receive signals 108a, 108b, since the tank circuit operates at half the tuning frequency in the high frequency octave.
A sixth aspect of front end 400 is the configuration method of lowpass filter 422. In a direct conversion tuner, no IF (intermediate frequency) filter is present. All the filtering to remove adjacent channels and noise is performed on the baseband signals by lowpass filter 422. Consequently, the performance of these filters is crucial, and tight control of the cut-off frequency is desirable. Demodulator/decoder chip 404 includes a programmable divider 458, which divides the output of crystal oscillator 408-B to provide a clock signal with a frequency indicative of the desired cutoff frequency of lowpass filter 422. Tuner chip 402 includes a frequency-to-voltage converter, which in the embodiment shown takes the form of a gyrator bandpass filter 460 followed by a mixer 462 and a lowpass filter (not shown). Bandpass filter 460 shifts the phase of the clock signal, and the amount of phase shift is determined by the frequency of the clock signal. The phase shifted signal and the original clock signal are combined by mixer 462, and the resulting signal, when lowpass filtered, has a voltage which is determined by the phase shift, and hence the frequency of the clock signal. The voltage signal is used to adjust the cutoff frequency of lowpass filter 422. The use of a frequency signal advantageously provides a greater noise immunity and a more accurate setting of the cutoff frequency of the lowpass filter.
A seventh aspect of front end 400 concerns the interface signals between tuner chip 402 and demodulator/decoder chip 404. To reduce the digital noise interference on the tuner chip, the outputs of swallow counter 434, program counter 436, prescaler 438, and programmable divider 458 are provided at reduced voltage levels and limited slew rates. The sharp, fast transitions in digital signals cause a wide band of interference noise. Reducing the amplitude and rate of these transitions greatly reduces the intensity and frequency range of the interference noise. For example, a 100 mV peak-to-peak voltage level limitation significantly reduces the intensity of the interference noise relative to a typical 3V peak-to-peak digital signal. The slew rate is reduced by reducing the transition amplitude (by reducing the peak-to-peak voltage) and/or by increasing the transition time. The transition time may be increased to a significant fraction of the minimum cycle time of the digital signal to achieve a significant reduction in the interference noise bandwidth. The output of gain control amplifier 424 is provided to demodulator/decoder 404 in differential form to reduce the signal amplitude while maintaining a high SNR.
An eighth aspect of front end 400 concerns the correction of I/Q angular and amplitude error which may be introduced by a low cost direct conversion architecture. Demodulator/decoder chip 404 comprises an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 464, an optional angular error equalizer 466, a complex multiplier 468, a decimation block 470, an interpolation block 472, a matched filter 474, an output control circuit 476, decode logic 226, a timing and carrier error block 478, and a gain error block 480. ADC 464 converts the baseband signal components into digital form at a sampling rate and sampling phase determined by a signal from crystal oscillator 408B. As will be discussed further below, external oscillator is set to oversample (i.e. sample at a rate more than twice the highest frequency component) the baseband signal components.
The digital baseband signal components may pass through an optional equalizer 466. Optional equalizer 466 is designed to correct I/Q angular error and I/Q amplitude imbalance. Ideally, the I and Q components represent portions of the receive signal that are 90 degrees out of phase. When the tuner and subsequent circuitry is less than ideal, the I and Q components may no longer be 90 degrees out of phase, and hence have an angular error sufficient to degrade performance. Additionally, the two separate signal paths for the I/Q components may result in an amplitude imbalance which can degrade performance. This angular error and amplitude imbalance is correctable by use of an adaptive finite-impulse response (FIR) filter which adjusts the amplitude and phase of one component relative to the other. Hence the addition of an angular error equalizer avoids the problem of degraded performance which might otherwise occur due to use of a direct downconversion tuner.
A ninth aspect of front end 400 concerns the correction of frequency offset error by demodulator/decoder chip 404. The digital baseband signals are multiplied by an output signal from a numerically controlled oscillator (NCO) 482 by complex multiplier 468. NCO 482 is set to provide a signal which cancels the frequency offset error. An important advantage is gained by canceling the offset error while the signal is oversampled. The range over which the frequency offset error can be tracked and compensated is K�FX /2, where K is the number of samples per symbol and FX is the symbol rate. By allowing K to range as high as 16 or more, the tracking range is greatly extended relative to Nyquist sampling (K=1). Since a tuner which performs direct downconversion to baseband (e.g. tuner chip 402) is susceptible to significant frequency offset errors in the baseband signal, having an extended tracking range in the demodulator/decoder makes using the more cost-effective, direct downconversion tuners feasible. The direct correction of the frequency offset error by the demodulator/decoder also enhances system performance by eliminating the delay introduced by external microprocessor control of the frequency synthesizer.
The offset-error canceled signal at the output of complex multiplier 468 passes through decimation block 470 which lowpass filters the digital baseband signal in preparation for downsampling. Interpolator 472 then reduces the sampling rate to two samples per symbol, with the sampling times adjusted according to feedback from loop filter 484. The downsampled signal is coupled to matched filter 474, which is designed to substantially maximize the signal-to-noise ratio of the digital baseband signal. To accomplish this, the impulse response of matched filter 474 is designed to be the time-reverse of the shape of a signal corresponding to one symbol. Hence, the impulse response is "matched" to the symbol signal. One common symbol signal shape is a square root raised cosine.
Prior to the decoding stage, the sampling rate of the signal is made equal to the symbol rate. This is accomplished by output control block 476 which passes on only one sample per symbol. The resulting sample sequence is processed by decode logic 226 to provide error correction and substantially recover the transmitted data stream. This received data stream is then provided as decoded output signal 238.
The signal provided at the output of matched filter 474 is processed by gain error block 480 to determine an estimate of the amplitude error in the equalized signal. The amplitude error estimates are processed by loop filter 490, which then adjusts the gain of gain control amplifier 424. The output of matched filter 474 is also processed by timing and carrier error block 478 to determine an estimate of timing error conditions present in the equalized signal. One estimate is for the sampling phase error, and this estimate is passed to loop filter 484. Loop filter 484 operates to regulate the sampling phase of interpolator 472. Another estimate is for the frequency offset error of the tuning signal, and this is passed to loop filter 486 and onboard microcontroller 488. Two frequency offset correction modes may be used. At high symbol rates (i.e. when the desired reception bandwidth is roughly the same size as the lowpass filter bandwidth), the frequency offset is corrected by the microcontroller 488 which "bumps" the setting of frequency synthesizer 426. The setting is adjusted by changing the swallow counter value A and possibly changing the program counter value N as well. At these symbol rates, the timing loops remain locked, and performance is not compromised. At low symbol rates (i.e. when the desired reception bandwidth is significantly smaller than the lowpass filter bandwidth) or small frequency offset error values, the receive signal is allowed to drift within the lowpass filter, and the frequency offset error estimates are processed by loop filter 486 to adjust the setting of NCO 482, which then compensates the offset error.
Turning now to FIG. 5, an alternative architecture for sub-dividing the frequency synthesizer 426 is shown. The phase detection portion, which comprises jitter reduction element 440, reference divider 442, and mixer 446, is placed on demodulator/decoder chip 504 with counters 434, 436. The oscillation portion, which comprises charge pump 448, loop filter 410, tank circuit 412, tuning oscillator 450, and frequency doubler 452 remains on the tuner chip 502 with prescaler 438. Excepting prescaler 438, all the digital circuitry is thereby removed from tuner chip 502, yielding a significant reduction in digital noise interference with tuner chip 502. It is expected that there is a tradeoff in frequency synthesizer performance due to interference with the output of mixer 446. However, this may be addressed by using a digital phase detector in place of mixer 446. To avoid reintroducing digital noise interference, the output of the digital phase detector would require a limited voltage range and slew rate.
Turning now to FIG. 6, an exemplary pin out of a tuner chip 402 is shown. For the purposes of discussion, it is assumed that tuner chip 402 is manufactured in a square, 64-pin, surface mount package, with pins numbered 601 through 664 as shown. However, it is noted that any packaging type may indeed be used. The pin out of tuner chip 402 is distinguished by the feature that the input pins for the received signal are maximally spaced from pins for other high frequency input or output signals. This provides for a strongly reduced high frequency coupling to the received signal input line, which advantageously eliminates the need for special purpose couplers to prevent RF leakage into the input lines. The maximal spacing is achieved primarily by designating a corner pin (e.g. pin 664) as the received signal input pin, and designating pins on the opposite side of the chip as the tank circuit pins (e.g. pins 631, 632). These pins would preferentially be near the diagonally opposite corner from the received signal input pin, as in the given example. However, when a second receive signal input pin is present, the two receive signal input pins are positioned to form two vertices of an approximately equilateral triangle, with the third vertex being the adjacent tank circuit pins (e.g. receive signal pins 664, 617, and tank circuit pins 640, 641). This provides for maximal spacing to minimize the RF coupling. This strategy may be applied to packages with rectangular pinouts, where the resulting triangle is as close to equilateral as practical.
For one reason or another, the corner pins may be already assigned and it would be impractical to assign the high frequency signal pins to be adjacent to the package corners. The following method is provided as a way to determine a "good" distributed high frequency pin assignment. Assuming that the package has N pins, that the pins are numbered in a sequential fashion along the perimeter of the package, and that pins for M high frequency signal sources need to be distributed, then the pin numbers may be determined according to the formula:
Pi =round(i �N/M)+C mod N, i=1, . . . ,M,
where C is an offset number which may be chosen to shift the distribution of pins around the perimeter of the chip to better minimize any high frequency signal interference or to better fit the pins assignments with previously assigned pins. Signal sources having more than one associated pin typically have the associated pins adjacent to one another. (It is noted that the first and last pins are considered to be adjacent, e.g. pins 601, 664.) For these signal sources, only one pin number would be determined from the formula, and adjacent pin numbers are chosen for the rest of the associated pins. For two signal sources on the 64 pin package of FIG. 6, the pins are diametrically opposed. For three signal sources, pins 621, 643, 664 or some shifted version of this (e.g. 660, 617, and tank circuit pins 639, 640) provide a "good" distribution of the high frequency signal source inputs. Acceptable variations on the above formula include replacing the round(iN/M) term with an upper or lower bound term, e.g. i�.left brkt-top.N/M.right brkt-top. or i�.left brkt-bot.N/M.right brkt-bot..
The regulation mechanism for gain control amplifier 424 is a loop filter 490 which operates on a negative feedback signal provided by gain error block 480. The effect of loop filter 490 is to increase the gain of gain control amplifier 424 when the maximum amplitude of the output signal declines below a target level, and to decrease the gain when the maximum amplitude exceeds a target level. Turning now to FIG. 7, a block diagram of an exemplary loop filter 700 is shown. Loop filter 700 converts an error signal 702 into a feedback signal 704. Error signal 702 is multiplied (706) by a scale factor μ and integrated (708). Error signal 702 is also multiplied by a second scale factor λ (710) and added (712) to the result from integrator 708 to form feedback signal 704. Details on the theory of feedback control may be found in many standard textbooks.
In summary, DBS receiver embodiments have been described which (1) implement the front end as two integrated circuits with a very small number of supporting discrete components, (2) convert directly from the received signal to the baseband representation, (3) implement the tuning frequency synthesizer with digital counters on a CMOS IC and an oscillation sub-circuit on a bipolar IC, (4) provide an externally configurable charge pump on the (bipolar) tuner IC, (5) employ a frequency doubler in the oscillation sub-circuit, (6) provide a precision-configurable lowpass filter on the tuner IC, (7) use reduced amplitude and slew rate interface signals between the tuner and demodulator/decoder, (8) correct I/Q amplitude and phase error using a digital equalizer, (9) digitally track and compensate for frequency offset error in the demodulator/decoder, and (10) maximally space the pins for the receive signal and the local oscillator tank circuit. Each of these characteristics individually and in combination act to improve the DBS receiver front end performance and/or decrease implementation cost.
Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.
|Cited Patent
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|Apr 6, 1981
|Jul 19, 1983
|Motorola, Inc.
|Priority channel system for a synthesized transceiver
|Oct 7, 1993
|Aug 1, 1995
|U.S. Philips Corporation
|Direct conversion receiver
|Apr 13, 1994
|May 14, 1996
|Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
|PLL circuit having a multiloop, and FM receiving method and apparatus able to utilize the same
|Feb 10, 1997
|Sep 22, 1998
|Lsi Logic Corporation
|System and method for correction of I/Q angular error in a satellite receiver
|Jun 18, 1997
|Oct 6, 1998
|Lsi Logic Corporation
|Reduced power tuner chip with integrated voltage regulator for a satellite receiver system
|Feb 10, 1997
|Dec 1, 1998
|Lsi Logic Corporation
|System and method for digital tracking and compensation of frequency offset error in a satellite receiver
|Citing Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Sep 30, 1998
|Mar 14, 2000
|Lucent Technologies, Inc.
|Mixed mode adaptive analog receive architecture for data communications
|Jun 18, 1997
|Jul 18, 2000
|Lsi Logic Corporation
|Frequency synthesis architecture in a satellite receiver
|Jan 25, 1999
|Dec 23, 2003
|Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
|Tuning demodulator for digitally modulated RF signals
|Apr 14, 2003
|Nov 16, 2004
|Silicon Laboratories Inc.
|Method for tuning a bandpass analog-to-digital converter and associated architecture
|Apr 14, 2003
|Jan 23, 2007
|Silicon Laboratories Inc.
|Integrated multi-tuner satellite receiver architecture and associated method
|May 10, 2002
|Nov 13, 2007
|Sony Deutschland Gmbh
|Stereo demultiplexer
|Apr 14, 2003
|Mar 4, 2008
|Silicon Laboratories Inc.
|Receiver architectures utilizing coarse analog tuning and associated methods
|May 27, 2004
|Nov 18, 2008
|Electronics And Telecommunicatons Research Institute
|Adaptive frequency control apparatus and method thereof
|Jun 30, 2005
|Aug 25, 2009
|Slt Logic Llc
|Mixer-based phase control
|Mar 8, 2011
|Silicon Laboratories, Inc.
|Receiver architectures utilizing coarse analog tuning and associated methods
|Nov 13, 2008
|Dec 10, 2013
|Qualcomm Incorporated
|RF transceiver IC having internal loopback conductor for IP2 self test
|May 10, 2002
|Nov 14, 2002
|Jens Wildhagen
|Stereo demultiplexer
|Apr 14, 2003
|Oct 14, 2004
|Krone Andrew W.
|Method for tuning a bandpass analog-to-digital converter and associated architecture
|Apr 14, 2003
|Oct 14, 2004
|Ramin Khoini-Poorfard
|Integrated multi-tuner satellite receiver architecture and associated method
|Apr 14, 2003
|Oct 14, 2004
|Ramin Khoini-Poorfard
|Receiver architectures utilizing coarse analog tuning and associated methods
|Apr 14, 2003
|Oct 14, 2004
|Krone Andrew W.
|Multi-stage channel select filter and associated method
|Jun 16, 2004
|Dec 2, 2004
|Sharma Debendra Das
|Method and apparatus for verifying error correcting codes
|May 27, 2004
|Jun 30, 2005
|Seung-Hwan Lee
|Adaptive frequency control apparatus and method thereof
|Jun 30, 2005
|Oct 4, 2007
|Alan Fiedler
|Mixer-based phase control
|Dec 19, 2007
|Oct 9, 2008
|Silicon Laboratories Inc.
|Receiver architectures utilizing coarse analog tuning and associated methods
|Nov 13, 2008
|May 13, 2010
|Qualcomm Incorporated
|Rf transceiver ic having internal loopback conductor for ip2 self test
|Oct 19, 2007
|May 2, 2008
|Gct Semiconductor, Inc.
|Receiver with fast gan control and digital signal processing unit with transient signal compensation
|U.S. Classification
|375/344, 725/68, 375/371, 375/345, 375/374, 348/733, 348/731
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Jun 18, 1997
Owner name: LSI LOGIC CORPORATION, CALIFORNIA
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text:
Nicole Boss Saunders wants to
Have Facebook remove pages threatening the lives of cops.
Remove Pages from Facebook threating the lives of our Men & Woman in Blue
Remove Pages from Facebook threating the lives of our Men & Woman in Blue
Now they are categorized as civilians in military shelters and non-profits must get them adopted & bear the costs
"Any human has the right to help his fellow man." Feeding The Homeless Is Not A Crime!
Please express support and sympathy for the families who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook shooting, and those injured.
Bobo needs to be back with his family. It will be a year on March 20 since he was torn from his home. Do not let Bobo be
Save our Flag from beig removed from Schools and National Places ! 1. Admin. Debra Robinson./ Creator 2. Should the

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Below message was posted about 5 months ago when the share price was below $40. Since we are getting closer to end of first quarter I thought it is appropriate to check on the progress we have made so far. We are only about $2 shy of my target of $50 for the mid year. I have no doubt we are on tract for $60 by end of year barring unforseen force majeure situations.
Lost souls
I cannot understand why so many guys lurk on this board bashing Allstate day and night. If you do not like this company find another company you like and leave ALL alone guys. It seems your purpose is not fruitful here. The company is going from strength to more strength with or without you. ... More
Sentiment: Buy
Sentiment: Buy
Today we have achieved a major milestone. We have already crossed the $50 mark I have predicted by mid 2013 and marching very strong on fundamentals to the $60 by end of the year. We might even achieve the next milestone much earlier than end of the year. Lets wait and watch. Glad to see the bashers have found other message boards to vent. Good luck everybody.
Just doing a check on my prediction. We are very much on track for achieving the $60 a share mark by the end of 2013. Negligible catastrophe losses and increased policy retention it seems quite reachable. I noticed that the bashers have left the board. Would like to hear what others think hitting $60 a share before we step into 2014.
I'm afraid one good hurricane might just dash your hopes of treasure baths in a hurry. ALL's stability is always open to question.


text:
Once there was a little puppy. She was born on a farm out in the country, where she lived with her mother, her brothers and sisters and lots of other animals. Then, when she was about two months old, she went to live with a family who lived in town. The little puppy was all black, except for the big ruff of fur around her neck and the tip of her tail. They were white. Her coloring reminded her new family of a big chocolate sandwich cream, so they named her 'Cookie.'
Cookie was a kind of sheep dog. Sheep dogs have many important jobs on farms. They have to move the flock from place to place. They have to keep the sheep together when the shepherd tells them to. Most importantly, they protect the flock from wolves and other animals that may want to harm the sheep. There are several breeds of dogs called sheep dogs: Old English Shepherds, Bearded Collies, Australian Shepherd s and Border Collies are just some of them.
Cookie was a Border Collie. Since her family lived in town, and did not keep any sheep or cows or even ducks for Cookie to herd and keep safe, Cookie had to make do with cats, and toys and the neighborhood children.
She would run round and round the room, circling her toys closer and closer each time. Then Cookie would grab a toy and toss it in the air, pick it up and place it in the corner where she thought her 'flock' belonged.
Cookie grew up with three cats in the house, so the cats knew her and were not afraid of her at all. They played together all the time. Cookie's favorite game, of course, was 'herd the cats.' Cookie would crouch in front of the sofa in the living room and wait for one of the cats to come by. Very slowly, cookie would creep towards the cat. When Cookie was right behind him, Cookie would begin to bark and snap at the cat's feet to make the cat jump and run into another room. Cookie thought this was great fun. The cats were not amused.
Some of the children in the neighborhood were afraid of Cookie, because she barked at them a lot. When Cookie saw a boy or girl run past her yard, Cookie would run to the fence and bark for a long time. When some dogs bark, it is because they want something to bite and the dog is mean. Some dogs bark to give a warning to their family that a stranger is nearby. Cookie barked at everyone. It was her way of calling the children to come see her, so she could herd them, too.
Cookie grew up to be a very smart dog. She learned all her lessons quickly when she was just a puppy. Cookie would run and fetch a ball that was thrown for her, and bring it back to be thrown again. She could sit up and shake hands. She learned to play 'fly-ball' too.
Fly-ball is a game just for dogs. The dog runs down a long track, like a race track, then jumps with her front feet on a board. That makes a ball jump up for the dog to catch. The dog runs back just as fast as she can to give the dog to her person, then goes again. Cookie was just learning to play fly-ball, and wasn't ready to play it with other dogs. Right now, she just practiced at home with her family.
One day, the letter carrier had to bring a parcel to the door. He knew Cookie, as he spoke to her every day when he delivered the mail. Today though, he had a large package to take to the house. Cookie ran up to him and barked and barked. If the carrier didn't know her, he would have thought she was going to bite. But as soon as he said, 'Hi, Cookie,' she began to run in circles round him, so she could herd him to the door.
When the carrier was done, he left the front gate open just a little bit. Cookie didn't go out, though. She just ran to the gate and sat very quietly, watching people walk by. When Cookie was watching the street, looking for something to herd or protect, she saw the neighbor's little boy wander into the yard. She didn't see the little boy's mom or dad with him, or even his big sister. Cookie knew she finally had someone who really needed her protection.
Cookie watched the little boy very carefully. She knew he couldn't get into too much trouble if he stayed in the yard. Suddenly, Cookie heard a loud barking, far down the street, and it was getting closer! The mean dog that lived in the next block had jumped his fence again, and was coming after the little boy!
Cookie knew just what she had to do. She ran over to the neighbor's yard, barking and barking. When Cookie got to the little boy, she began to bark at him.
He looked at her and tried to pet her, but Cookie ran behind him and bumped him with her nose, trying to get him to move. She barked some more. The mean dog, who was two times as big as Cookie, was getting closer. Cookie knew she had to do something, fast. Cookie ran just as fast as she could, just like when she played fly-ball, and jumped against the little boy's front door with her paws. It made a terribly loud noise, and Cookie was certain the little boy's family heard. Then Cookie did something very brave. She ran straight at the big mean dog, barking and growling just as loudly as she could.
The big mean dog didn't quite know what to do. He was still barking, but stopped running towards the little boy. He looked at Cookie, who sounded more mean, more vicious than he ever did. The mean dog stopped in the street, then turned around and ran home, barking over his shoulder. Cookie chased him for a few more steps, just to make certain he kept going, then she headed back to her own yard and the little boy next door.
When Cookie got back, she saw both the little boy's mom and her own family outside with the little boy. Cookie ran over to the little boy and gave him a big doggie kiss on the side of his face. The little boy laughed and hugged her around her white ruff, and everyone petted her and told her what a good and brave dog she was. Then, for a special treat, Cookie had a big dish of dog biscuits and vanilla ice cream.
That night, in her dreams, Cookie herded little boys and sheep, and chased off wolves and big mean dogs.
Do you like Cookie's story? You can read more of her, and her friends' adventures, in YaYa Goes to Vandybear, by Anne Arrandale, and available at Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/YaYa-Goes-Vandybear-Story-Bear/dp/149281752X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384886375&sr=8-1&keywords=YaYa+Goes+to+Vandybear+by+Anne+Arrandale
23 1 0


text:
Medal of Honor - PC Games
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3 years, 6 months ago at Apr 16 17:22
The Good
Well-paced campaign
Immersive dialogue
Taut multiplayer action.
The Bad
Heavy-handed campaign scripting
Enemy AI isn't terribl... read more
Description: Operating directly under the National Command Authority, a relatively unknown entity of handpicked warriors are selected when it is crucial that a mission not fail. These are the Tier 1 Operators. There are over 2 million active soldiers. Of those, approximately 50 thousand fall under the direct control of the Special Operations Command. The Tier 1 Operator functions on a level above and beyond even the most highly trained Special Operations Forces. Their exact numbers, while classified, hover in the low hundreds. They are living, breathing, precision instruments of war, experts in the application of controlled violence. The new ... (more)
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text:
The End of Something
"The End of Something" is a short story written by Ernest Hemingway, published in 1925 in his collection of short stories In Our Time.
Publication history[edit]
According to notes on the manuscript, Hemingway wrote "The End of Something" in March 1924. Paul Smith claimed that based on the different kinds of paper used for the manuscript, it is possible that the story had "an earlier start". [1] "The End of Something" was published in 1925 in Hemingway's first collection of short stories, In Our Time. In May 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald reviewed In Our Time for Bookman, and called "The End of Something" "something fundamentally new." [1] Critics received the entire collection well, and "The End of Something" has been called a "harbinger of stories to come" [2] because of its plot involving a man choosing the companionship of another man over the companionship of a woman, which became a common theme in Hemingway's stories.
"The End of Something" begins with a description of Horton Bay, Michigan, a town that exists because of the lumber industry. Once the logs disappear, the lumber mill does, too, taking away "everything that had made… Hortons Bay a town." [3] By the time of the story, the town is deserted, and only the white limestone foundation of the mill is left. In this setting, Nick Adams and Marjorie, two teenagers in a relationship, fish in a small boat. While Marjorie daydreams that the remains of the mill are like a castle, Nick expresses his frustration over their unsuccessful fishing. The two then set up long lines and fish from the shore. Sitting by a driftwood fire the pair made, Marjorie asks Nick what is bothering him, and Nick expresses that "It isn't fun anymore." [4] Marjorie recognizes his words as the end of the relationship and leaves, while Nick lies face down on a blanket. When Nick's friend Bill arrives to ask how the breakup went, he proves that Nick had previously planned the breakup. When Nick yells at Bill to go away, however, Nick shows dissatisfaction with his decision.
- The one town – The town that they row past during the first part of the story is described as having passed its peak years ago, and it is now very worn-out and broken-looking. No one lives there anymore. It represents the state of Nick's and Marjorie's relationship.
- The fish – Marjorie, in an attempt to make conversation, comments that the fish are plentiful nearby. "But they won't bite," Nick replies. In this case, Nick is supposed to be a fish, and Marjorie the fisherman, trying to "lure" or "bait" Nick into marriage. However, Nick doesn't want to get married and won't "bite".
- Resolution – Despite, or maybe because of, the break-up, Nick is clearly depressed at the end of the story. He cannot escape his feeling of loss.
- Nick Adams is a recurring character throughout this collection and other works by Hemingway. Considered an autobiographical character for Hemingway, Nick experiences the many struggles of coming of age throughout Hemingway's works.
- Marjorie is Nick's girlfriend. Like Nick, she exhibits an appreciation for fishing.
- Bill is Nick's friend who encouraged Nick to end his relationship with Marjorie. Bill appears again in "The Three-Day Blow".
Autobiographical elements[edit]
Many literary analysts have noted the connection of "The End of Something" to events in Hemingway's life. In Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story, Baker notes that Hemingway had "a brief romance with Marjorie Bump, at Horton Bay in the summer of 1919." [5] H.R. Stoneback provided an explanation for the autobiographical elements of the story in his essay "'Nothing was ever lost': Another Look at 'That Marge Business'". Stoneback claimed that "Marge and Hemingway met long before the summer of 1919."[6] According to Stoneback, Marjorie came to Horton Bay to visit her uncle, Professor Ernest L. Ohle of Washington University of St. Louis, who had his summer cottage there."[7] William Ohle in How it was in Horton Bay explained that Hemingway and Marge met in 1915 when Marge "was walking back from the creek to her uncle's house, a speckled trouth on a stringer in one hand and a long cane pole in the other." [8] Bernice Kert described Marge as "softly vulnerable and good-natured, the right degree of woman for Ernest."[9] Stoneback disdained such quaint descriptions of the real-life Marjorie. He claimed that the "competence, skill, discipline, humility, pride, and poise" shown by Marge in the story reflected the Marjorie Hemingway knew.[10]
|This article is written like a personal reflection or opinion essay that states the Wikipedia editor's personal feelings about a topic, rather than the opinions of experts. (December 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Most readers agree the opening description "represents a vivid (if disturbing) metaphor for the relationship Nick and Marjorie share." [11] Analysts like Paul Smith claimed that the use of a descriptive and symbolic introduction is rather common in writing, but this does not reduce the introduction's usefulness in conveying the state of Marjorie and Nick's relationship at the beginning of the story. In "False Wilderness", Frederic Svoboda emphasized the significance of the description of the old lumber town when he explained that "Horton Bay in Hemingway's time was hardly the ghost town of "The End of Something." While the lumber mills indeed had moved away… the village was not abandoned. It was rather a small summer resort." [12] We[who?] can conclude from Svoboda's research that Hemingway was not simply representing Horton Bay as he remembered it, but instead making a distinct choice to create a setting representative of the plot of the story. Laura Gruber Godfrey agreed that "The End of Something" shows "the careful interweaving of human characters with their communities and their landscapes." [13] In losing the mill, the town lost the linchpin that held it together, so when Nick and Marjorie row by ten years later, "there was nothing of the mill left except the broken white limestone of its foundations." [14] The mill was once something, like the relationship of Nick and Marjorie, but, as reflected in the title of the short story, time and change has reduced it to brokenness.
Lisa Turner took the comparison even further in claiming that Hemingway parallels Nick's behavior towards Marjorie with loggers' treatment of the forests of Michigan, so that "Nick, like the loggers, is all too aware of the damage he is doing," but he has simply ignored the harm he causes Marjorie until it is too late.[15] Turner argued that "Hemingway uses the imagery of an irreparably damaged environment in "The End of Something" and elsewhere throughout the stories of In Our Time to link violence against nature with other forms of violence depicted in that collection, including violence against… women,… suggesting that he was more ecofeminist in his sympathies that his readers have yet acknowledged." [16] While many view Turner's argument as rather radical, she was correct that the environment surrounding Nick and Marjorie represents their relationship.
As the story moves into dialogue between Nick and Marjorie, Marjorie begins to prove her emotional maturity. Nick merely complains about the fish and resists any conversation outside of what is necessary for their fishing. By avoiding conversation, Nick acknowledges that something is wrong, but he does not communicate it with Marjorie. Showing both her knowledge of Nick and her maturity, Marjorie recognizes the tension when she asks, "What's the matter, Nick?" [17] When Nick avoids the question, she asks again, "What's really the matter?" (Hemingway, 81) According to Turner, Marjorie's questioning proves her "sensitivity to Nick's emotional state." [18] She understands Nick, and in her questioning, she gives Nick a chance to express his problems. As exhibited in her understanding, Marjorie could help Nick with the emotional struggles he is facing, but he resists her because he simply does not know what he wants ("everything was gone to hell inside of me"). In his refusal to communicate even when Marjorie encourages him, Nick shows his emotional immaturity.
When Nick expresses the frustrations he has with the relationship, he shows his own emotional immaturity, but his failures give Marjorie an opportunity to show her responsibility and sensibleness. Nick declares to Marjorie that "You know everything. That's the trouble." [4] The claim is false, at least in relation to Marjorie's outdoor skills, since Nick has to explain to Marjorie how to properly gut a fish, telling her that "You don't want to take the ventral fin out" [17] It is, however, an accurate description of Marjorie's maturity. When she recognizes Nick's unhappiness, she questions him about it. She refuses to ignore and overlook difficult problems. Instead, she confronts them in order to find solutions. When Nick expresses his dissatisfaction with the relationship, instead of drawing out the conversation or pleading with Nick to reconsider, she declares "I'm going to take the boat." [4] When Nick offers to push it off for her, she informs him that "You don't need to."[19] Marjorie handles the situation calmly and maturely, especially in comparison to the emotionally stricken Nick who has his head in his hands. Once she is aware of Nick's feelings, she makes a rational decision and leaves. She even asserts her independence and her by rejecting Nick's offer to assist her. She is capable, strong, and far more serene than Nick. H.R. Stoneback claims that Marjorie's handling of the entire situation shows "competence, skill, discipline, humility, pride, and poise." [10] Perhaps Nick is right that "It isn't fun any more. Not any of it." [4] Perhaps Marjorie has outgrown him, and he is not ready to move from being playful and young to making a commitment and solving difficult problems.
Nick's incapacity to acknowledge difficult problems plays a significant role in the end of the relationship, but in the final sentences, Hemingway reveals the breakup might have been encouraged by Bill. Based on the "Three Day Blow," Bill had supported Nick's decision to end things with Marjorie because of differences in class and because women "ruin you".[20] Some analysts, like Gerry Brenner, interpret the Bill interlude as expressing Hemingway's "latent homoeroticism." [21] According to Smith, such an argument explores how Nick and Marjorie sat on the blanket "without touching each other," and afterwards how Nick notices that "Bill didn't touch him, either." [19] By adding "either" to the end of the second phrase, Hemingway definitely intended to connect the two, but most literary analysts believe that the lines do not express Nick's unfulfilled romantic desire for Bill, as there is little other evidence to support such an argument. Instead, the lines show an isolation of Nick from the rest of humanity. Stoneback claims that the theme of "touch and being touched" runs throughout In Our Time, with a culmination of the theme in "Big Two-Hearted River", when Nick reaches a place where "Nothing could touch him."[22] This corresponds with the emotional angst Nick expresses with his revelation that "I feel as though everything was gone to hell inside of me."[4] Smith takes a different route from Stoneback in claiming that Bill and Marjorie are "disembodied representations of a conflict within [Nick's] mind," but his analysis is also consistent with Nick's expression of his inner hell.[23] and this is the true meaning of this analysis.
- ^ a b Smith, 50
- ^ Smith, 51
- ^ Hemingway, 79
- ^ a b c d e Hemingway, 81
- ^ Baker, 132–33
- ^ Stoneback, 60
- ^ Stoneback, 63
- ^ Ohle, 105
- ^ Kert, The Hemingway Women
- ^ a b Stoneback, 66
- ^ Tyler, 62
- ^ Svoboda, 19
- ^ Godfrey, 60
- ^ Hemingway, 79
- ^ Turner, 64
- ^ Tyler, 70
- ^ a b Hemingway, 80
- ^ Turner, 63
- ^ a b Hemingway 81, 82
- ^ Hemingway, 90
- ^ Brenner 20–21
- ^ Hemingway, 167
- ^ Smith, 54
- Baker, Carlos. Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story. New York: Scribner, 1969.
- Brenner, Gerry. Concealments In Hemingway's Works. Columbus:Ohio State University Press, 1983.
- Godfrey, Laura Gruber. "The Landscape of Logging in 'The End of Something.'" The Hemingway Review 26.1 (Fall 2006): 47-62.
- Hemingway, Ernest. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. New York:Simon & Schulster, 1987.
- Kert, Bernice. The Hemingway Women. New York: Norton, 1983.
- Ohle, William H.How it Was in Horton Bay. Charlevoix, MI, 1983.
- Smith, Paul. "The End of Something," A Reader's Guide to the Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Ed. James Nagel. Boston. G.K. Hall & Co, 1989.
- Stoneback, H.R. "'Nothing Was Ever Lost": Another Look at 'That Marge Business,'" Hemingway: Up in Michigan Perspectives." Ed. Frederick J. Svoboda and Joseph J. Waldmier. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1995.
- Svoboda, Frederic J. "False Wilderness: Northern Michigan as Created in the Nick Adams Stories," Hemingway: Up in Michigan Perspectives. Ed. Frederick J. Svoboda and Joseph J. Waldmier. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1995.
- Tyler, Lisa. "'How Beautiful the Virgin Forrests Were Before the Loggers Came': an Ecofeminist's Reading of Hemingway's 'End of Something.'" The Hemingway Review (Spring 2008).


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According to Trucker Path, more than 80 percent of the truck stops in the app are independently-owned, yet receive 75 percent fewer interactions than the larger truck stops.Read More
Trucker Path found from its crowdsourcing service in its app that 12 percent of truck parking locations along the U.S. highway system, including truck stops, rest areas and other places with truck parking, are 80-90 percent empty between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m.Read More
Trucker Path's "Truckloads" feature to officially launch publicly with brokered freight March 30. And: Overhaul service for high-value/high-security loads coming later in the year.Read More
The Trucker Path Pro smartphone app now provides a new user-friendly overall design as well as a new "Fuel View" feature, showing prices along particular lanes displayed on a map.Read More
The foundation of Trucker Path's success now and in its future, says company CEO and founder Ivan Tsybaev, "is community. That's what's important. Without that, technology is worthless."Read More
During the public beta testing, fleets, owner-operators or drivers won't need to pay a transaction fee to use Trucker Path's new Truckloads freight-marketplace platform.Read More
The Trucker Path multifunction smartphone app introduced a new feature for the app, which enables truckers to provide and access parking availability information for locations across the country.Read More
To attracts carrier users to its smartphone app, Trucker Path built a robust trip-planning app with intentions of later launching an online freight marketplace, now in beta testing phase.Read More
Tech startups aimed at long-haul TL need critical mass of freight, carrier capacity and more to compete with systems entrenched in the freight market, themselves adopting some Uber-like functionality.Read More
An online seminar with BigRoad's Terry Frey yields new insights on the question in the title. What's your answer?Read More


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This 21 page guide will help learn about solid state drives in a manner that's enjoyable to read and easy to understand while still providing plenty of useful information.
You may have seen a lot of talk about Solid State Drives recently. In the last six months or so they've really taken the mid-range to high end computing world by storm. If a manufacturer decides to include a solid state drive in their computer they'll make sure that you know it's there. But what are they? This guide will answer this question and much more.
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Disneyland Park Layout
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- Story of the Soul Tarot Layout
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Divination >> Tarot Cards
- Survivalists' Guide for the New Millennium: Chapter 5
- WHERE I LAY MY HEAD IS HOME A foot and light-hearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, and the world before me, The long brown path before me leading Wherever I choose. Henceforth I ask not for good fortune, I myself am good fortune, Henceforth I...
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- Religious Tolerance In Springfield and the Greenleaf Coven
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- Survivalists' Guide for the New Millennium: Chapter 4
- THE TRANSFORMATION OF CATERPILLAR TO BUTTERFLY It is not difficult to see that the whole Agenda behind owning a bigger home, a newer car and more land is one of ego. This is an orientation toward the building of an empire of material wealth, in a vain...
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Most people have a certain association with the Ford nameplate: strong, efficient trucks that can handle any job thrown at them. The 2016 Ford Trucks Coming Soon to Renton are no exception; capable and well-equipped, Ford trucks are available in many different forms, allowing people to get exactly what they want out of their new truck.
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The King Ranch trim available on the Super Duty is likely familiar to many Ford enthusiasts: it adds a layer of luxury not often found in work vehicles, equipping the Super Duty with leather seating and even more features–particularly notable, since the Super Duty is already loaded with features.
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If you need to go even bigger, the Ford F-650 and Ford F-750 are commercial trucks that will do any business a great service. These new 2016 Ford Trucks Coming Soon to Renton are not only powerful; they allow workers to drive in comfort, with user-friendly gauges and controls and a steering wheel that will remain easy to grip even after hours on the road. A specially-tuned suspension means that ride quality and stability see a large improvement.
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The average pay for an Operations Manager, Financial Organization is $64,776 per year. Skills that are associated with high pay for this job are Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office. Pay for this job rises steadily for more experienced workers, but goes down significantly for the few employees with more than 20 years' experience.
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Operations managers of financial organizations are in charge of coordinating the day-to-day operations of financial organizations, such as banks. They are responsible for managing personnel, supervising financial activities, and verifying that all operations are completed correctly and on time.Read More...
They depend their leadership skills to motivate financial professionals. They follow strict financial regulations to prevent economic loss and detect fraudulent activities as they happen. They work well with other managers to reach all operational goals in a timely manner. These managers can also perform well on their own with minimal supervision. One of their main responsibilities is creating processes to minimize the cost of operations. They coach different staff to enhance performance throughout all positions. They review and implement different technological devices, as well as business policies for financial clients, staff, and government agencies. They verify that all accounting standards are followed at the beginning and end of each day. They follow strict safety guidelines when receiving or sending large amounts of currency. In addition, they evaluate sales and logistics to check that all asset protection measures are in place.
A bachelor's degree in finance, economics, business administration, logistics management, or a related field is required for this job. Previous years of work experience as an operations manager in a financial organization can be helpful. Finance and leadership certifications are a plus.
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Skip to comments.Update to: Dearborn Students Wear Shirts Glorifying 911
Posted on 01/06/2010 12:19:56 PM PST by Islaminaction
Here is an update to the Dearborn Students Wear Shirts Glorifying 911~Video story. Besides what is mentioned in the article below, I called this school today. I asked them if the students were at least suspended for their atrocious behavior. They asked if I was a parent of a student at the school. When I responded no, the woman said that she could not disclose that information. She asked that if I was a parent of one of the students would I want that information made public? I responded that since the issue made the public, and do to the serious nature of the issue and the worldwide threat of Islamic terrorism, the public does have a right to know.
(Excerpt) Read more at loganswarning.com ...
Islamic expansionism/threat ping list. If anyone wants on or off, please email me. Thanks!
Besides what is mentioned in the article below, I called this school today. I asked them if the students were at least suspended for their atrocious behavior.
Ummmm..., well, the students at the school know who was suspended and who wasn't.
Ask them and we'll find out the answer... :-)
I wonder what they would do to a student wearing a shirt with a picture of Daniel Perl's head being sawed off by ROPers?
this needs to be followed up and all the students would know if they were gone or not...
I saw fox and friends cover this, this morning and they neevr told their viewers at all that the people who had the tops were muslims.
All they reported was that some students wore them but never mentioned the word muslim once.
Even fox is PC . so when are the media going to actually wake up and call a spade a spade because right now the muslims and radicals/homosexuals know they can do anything and get away with it or the media will not report their going on's
Very true ST!
We need someone in the area, that can ask a student there.
A week or so ago, there was a Muslim being interviewed on FOX. He said that Muslims will never go along with those x-ray like body scanners at the airport. The reporter did not even challenge him. He should of straight out asked him if he believed that Islamic law should come before our state laws and policies.
How stupid. Christmas is just soooooooooo....scary! Lol!
I think that's great then they can't on the damn plane! No problem here.
I think I know the answer to that.
The other day in the UK there was a group of paki muslims who got put in court because of what they said to Brit soldiers.
When the judge said they needed to stand up they said no they will never stand up except for allah because he is the law not the Brit justice system.
The judge should have made them by having those same soldiers they abused to get them up.(hope that makes sense).
How many times have we heard we have freedom of speech?
Well yes we do but the problem with Islam is that it is not just a religion but a way of life a law unto itself and that is why islam will always be at odds against the west.
Now either America and the west grow a pair and tell them that islam is not law and they can piss off if they don't like that then see ya.
They have no problem telling us what is their law in their country so why are we pussy footing around them
When they banned the wearing of those colors one kid would wear red and another green and walk the halls together. The principle said it was insubordination and they knew what he was talking about so he suspended those kids and banned those colors altogether ....
MIping update.
Commie rule. Parents should be screaming from the rooftops.
They should of been forced to stand, that is crazy and it is just a matter of time until Muslims across the West think that they have enough power and say that they do not recognize our laws and only Islam's.
Would you happen to have a link to that?
We have better stop catering to them, and also stop worrying what "offends" them, before it is too late.
I'd imagine, then, they'd have a problem with the more than 20 different Christmas ties that I wear during December just before our Christmas break.
If you would like to be added or dropped from the Michigan ping list, please freepmail me.
You don't have to, Channel 4 already did a follow-up report this morning. The students who were responsible gave the reasoning behind what they did then offered their apologies. As I suspected,their symbolism was not carefully thought thru and they were very contrite about what they had did.
As for the other students and parents in that community, they were rightfully offended and there was no support from them for the bad judgment on the part of the students involved.
As I said in a previous post, 15 year old kids do not have the intellectual capacity nor common sense to fully understand the ramifications of their adolescent actions.........
stoat put the link and thread up but I'm sure if you get in touch with him he'll provide the links
There were 3 links with the same subject on.
Have you ever seen the chart table where it shows how a certain % of muslims affect a country
i.e. just a couple of them and they say they're offended and the it goes on right up to like 505 where they take over by violence.
I'd lie to see that chart again actually, I'll look for it when I get more time.
Islam does not respect other countries laws, Islam t hem is the law and that is why there is so much trouble with them
Here you go,
As long as the Muslim population remains around 1% of any given country/region/city they will be regarded as a peace-loving minority and not as a threat to anyone. In fact, they may be featured in articles and films, stereotyped for their colorful uniqueness:
Nation % Muslim
United States 1.0%
Australia 1.5%
Italy 1.5%
Norway 1.8%
Canada 1.9%
China 2.0%
At 2% and 3% they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs:
Nation % Muslim
Denmark 2.0%
United Kingdom 2.7%
Germany 3.7%
Spain 4.0%
Thailand 4.6%
From 5% on they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. They will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature it on their shelves along with threats for failure to comply. (United States).
Nation % Muslim
Switzerland 4.3%
Philippines 5.0%
Sweden 5.0%
The Netherlands 5.5%
Trinida and Tabago 5.8%
France 8.0%
At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islam is not to convert the world but to establish Sharia law over the entire world.
When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions (Paris car-burnings). Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats (Amsterdam Mohammed cartoons).
Nation % Muslim
Guyana 10.0%
India 13.4%
Israel 16.0%
Kenya 10.0%
Russia 15.0%
After reaching 20% expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings and church and synagogue burning:
Nation % Muslim
Ethiopia 32.8%
At 40% you will find widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks and ongoing militia warfare:
Nation % Muslim
Bosnia 40.0%
Chad 50.1%
Lebanon 59.7%
From 60% you may expect unfettered persecution of non-believers and other religions, sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels:
Nation % Muslim
Albania 70.0%
Malaysia 60.4%
Qatar 77.5%
Sudan 70.0%
After 80% expect State run ethnic cleansing and genocide:
Nation % Muslim
Bangladesh 83.0%
Egypt 90.0%
Gaza 98.7%
Indonesia 86.1%
Iran 98.0%
Iraq 97.0%
Jordan 92.0%
Morocco 98.7%
Pakistan 97.0%
Syria 90.0%
Tajikistan 90.0%
Turkey 99.8%
United Arab Emirates 96.0%
100% will usher in the peace of Dar-es-Salaam the Islamic House of Peace theres supposed to be peace because everybody is a Muslim:
Nation % Muslim
Yemen 99.9%
Afghanistan 100.0%
Saudi Arabia 100.0%
Somalia 100.0%
Of course, thats not the case. To satisfy their blood lust, Muslims then start killing each other for a variety of reasons.
Right, those poor Muslims kids, living in the Islamic pit of Dearborn. Yea, they did not know better...
Please add me and thanks for the ping.
G, I see not many people know about Dearborn.
Kick the moslems out. It worked for Spain in 1492.
Very excellent facts ...outstanding.
ICE should show up and deport 1000 of those scumbag sons of shiite.
Thanks and thanks for your service!
If you want me to add you to the my daily ping list, just let me know. If not, I completely understand.
that's it and when they do become a muslim country we then have them killing each other between shia's and sunni's
They have been taught to hate and to think that Islam will and should take over.
They then go with that teaching their kids.
I'm originally form the UK and remember the first waves of muslims form Pakistan
They were quiet and kept to themselves but they told their kids to not mix with us English.
Now their kids and their kids walk around killing, and beating people. yes they have killed quite a few just because they were not muslim, I could give you names of many or even the likes of walter chamberlain a world war 2 vet who nearly was killed, 'Churches have been burned and pubs been fire bombed.
Two years ago I took my family back t Manchester and drove around certain parts and she as an American said that if she took a picture there right now of this street then there would be no way people back in America would think we were in England.
She saw many pubs petrol bombed and one church which had been smashed.
Got to DEARBORN MI and other part as a woman wearing a summer dress or a man wearing a cross and you can guarantee that looks and would come your way as well as men pushing into you and maybe the odd comments.
if we do not stop letting them get their way this country and the west will have enclaves like Kosovo which was nearly all serb Christian and now mainly muslim who still are forcing Christians out.
All we have to do, is look to the UK to see what is coming our way here in America in regards to Islam. The line of thinking that American Muslims are different and non-threatening is pure fantasy.
we thought that back when they first came over as they were quiet and we never heard a peep form them but all of a sudden they seemed to spread and take over areas, then the mosques came, then the gangs came and now the police don';t even go into those areas now
Real nice kids. Just what the country needs.
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realmagick.com The shrine of knowledge.
A selection of articles related to mellonia.
Original articles from our library related to the Mellonia. See Table of Contents for further available material (downloadable resources) on Mellonia.
- Mellonia
- Presiding Goddess of bee-keeping....
Deities & Heros >> Roman
Mellonia is described in multiple online sources, as addition to our editors' articles, see section below for printable documents, Mellonia books and related discussion.
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- "This is a speech without historic precedent," church historian Alberto Melloni, a contributor to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, said in a telephone interview. "If the pope uses this tone, it's because he knows it's necessary.
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