Apparatus for detecting the presence or the absence of a digitally modulated carrier, a corresponding receiver, and a corresponding method

摘要

The invention relates to apparatus for detecting the presence or the absence of a signal carrier wave received by a receiver. The carrier wave is modulated by a digital signal at a symbol clock frequency. According to the invention, the apparatus includes: a non-linear circuit receiving the received signal or the received signal after it has been frequency transposed, the non-linear circuit supplying in particular a signal whose frequency corresponds to the symbol clock frequency; a narrow-band filter centered on the symbol clock frequency and supplying a filtered signal; detection means for detecting the filtered signal and for supplying a detection signal; and comparator means for comparing the detection signal with a reference value, the output signal from the comparator means constituting a signal indicating the presence or the absence of the carrier wave. The invention is particularly applicable to a receiver including automatic gain control apparatus placed upstream, and the indicator signal may optionally be applied to automatic frequency control apparatus.