What is carrier lock and bit lock?












2














I'm not sure if this question belongs here or in Amateur Radio, but during the acquisition of signal from New Horizons on New Year's Day, I heard the controllers call out "carrier lock", "symbol lock", "bit lock" and "bit sync" - what exactly does this mean?










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    I'm not sure if this question belongs here or in Amateur Radio, but during the acquisition of signal from New Horizons on New Year's Day, I heard the controllers call out "carrier lock", "symbol lock", "bit lock" and "bit sync" - what exactly does this mean?










    share|improve this question







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    OZ1SEJ is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.























      2












      2








      2







      I'm not sure if this question belongs here or in Amateur Radio, but during the acquisition of signal from New Horizons on New Year's Day, I heard the controllers call out "carrier lock", "symbol lock", "bit lock" and "bit sync" - what exactly does this mean?










      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      OZ1SEJ is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      I'm not sure if this question belongs here or in Amateur Radio, but during the acquisition of signal from New Horizons on New Year's Day, I heard the controllers call out "carrier lock", "symbol lock", "bit lock" and "bit sync" - what exactly does this mean?







      communication communication-satellite radio-communication data-transmission telecommunication






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      asked 2 hours ago









      OZ1SEJ

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          First you lock on to energy at (or near) the expected frequency. That’s carrier lock.



          Then you start to look for patterns in how the phase changes. The transmitter is coding groups of bits as phase-change “symbols”, and you want to find the time-pattern of those: symbol lock.



          But those are not yet bits because the coding works in blocks of bits. Once you find the edges of those blocks, you can decode the bits in them: bit lock.



          Finally, you work through those bits to figure out which means what in the data stream, synchronizing your view of the bits meaning with the transmitter’s: bit synch.



          There’s more on the New Horizons hardware that does this here.






          share|improve this answer





















          • speaking of bits and blocks, any thoughts on what is or isn't considered "spread-spectrum" Have deep-space spacecraft always used some form of spread-spectrum for data downlink?
            – uhoh
            40 mins ago













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          1 Answer
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          1 Answer
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          active

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          active

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          First you lock on to energy at (or near) the expected frequency. That’s carrier lock.



          Then you start to look for patterns in how the phase changes. The transmitter is coding groups of bits as phase-change “symbols”, and you want to find the time-pattern of those: symbol lock.



          But those are not yet bits because the coding works in blocks of bits. Once you find the edges of those blocks, you can decode the bits in them: bit lock.



          Finally, you work through those bits to figure out which means what in the data stream, synchronizing your view of the bits meaning with the transmitter’s: bit synch.



          There’s more on the New Horizons hardware that does this here.






          share|improve this answer





















          • speaking of bits and blocks, any thoughts on what is or isn't considered "spread-spectrum" Have deep-space spacecraft always used some form of spread-spectrum for data downlink?
            – uhoh
            40 mins ago


















          2














          First you lock on to energy at (or near) the expected frequency. That’s carrier lock.



          Then you start to look for patterns in how the phase changes. The transmitter is coding groups of bits as phase-change “symbols”, and you want to find the time-pattern of those: symbol lock.



          But those are not yet bits because the coding works in blocks of bits. Once you find the edges of those blocks, you can decode the bits in them: bit lock.



          Finally, you work through those bits to figure out which means what in the data stream, synchronizing your view of the bits meaning with the transmitter’s: bit synch.



          There’s more on the New Horizons hardware that does this here.






          share|improve this answer





















          • speaking of bits and blocks, any thoughts on what is or isn't considered "spread-spectrum" Have deep-space spacecraft always used some form of spread-spectrum for data downlink?
            – uhoh
            40 mins ago
















          2












          2








          2






          First you lock on to energy at (or near) the expected frequency. That’s carrier lock.



          Then you start to look for patterns in how the phase changes. The transmitter is coding groups of bits as phase-change “symbols”, and you want to find the time-pattern of those: symbol lock.



          But those are not yet bits because the coding works in blocks of bits. Once you find the edges of those blocks, you can decode the bits in them: bit lock.



          Finally, you work through those bits to figure out which means what in the data stream, synchronizing your view of the bits meaning with the transmitter’s: bit synch.



          There’s more on the New Horizons hardware that does this here.






          share|improve this answer












          First you lock on to energy at (or near) the expected frequency. That’s carrier lock.



          Then you start to look for patterns in how the phase changes. The transmitter is coding groups of bits as phase-change “symbols”, and you want to find the time-pattern of those: symbol lock.



          But those are not yet bits because the coding works in blocks of bits. Once you find the edges of those blocks, you can decode the bits in them: bit lock.



          Finally, you work through those bits to figure out which means what in the data stream, synchronizing your view of the bits meaning with the transmitter’s: bit synch.



          There’s more on the New Horizons hardware that does this here.







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered 1 hour ago









          Bob Jacobsen

          4,795625




          4,795625












          • speaking of bits and blocks, any thoughts on what is or isn't considered "spread-spectrum" Have deep-space spacecraft always used some form of spread-spectrum for data downlink?
            – uhoh
            40 mins ago




















          • speaking of bits and blocks, any thoughts on what is or isn't considered "spread-spectrum" Have deep-space spacecraft always used some form of spread-spectrum for data downlink?
            – uhoh
            40 mins ago


















          speaking of bits and blocks, any thoughts on what is or isn't considered "spread-spectrum" Have deep-space spacecraft always used some form of spread-spectrum for data downlink?
          – uhoh
          40 mins ago






          speaking of bits and blocks, any thoughts on what is or isn't considered "spread-spectrum" Have deep-space spacecraft always used some form of spread-spectrum for data downlink?
          – uhoh
          40 mins ago












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