Space-time coding techniques with bit-interleaved coded modulations for MIMO block-fading channels

The space-time bit-interleaved coded modulation (ST-BICM) is an efficient technique to obtain high diversity and coding gain on a block-fading MIMO channel. Its maximum-likelihood (ML) performance is computed under ideal interleaving conditions, which enables a global optimization taking into account channel coding. Thanks to a diversity upperbound derived from the Singleton bound, an appropriate choice of the time dimension of the space-time coding is possible, which maximizes diversity while minimizing complexity. Based on the analysis, an optimized interleaver and a set of linear precoders, called dispersive nucleo algebraic (DNA) precoders are proposed. The proposed precoders have good performance with respect to the state of the art and exist for any number of transmit antennas and any time dimension. With turbo codes, they exhibit a frame error rate which does not increase with frame length.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Trans. on Information Theory, Submission: January 2006 - First review: June 200

Channel Estimation and Symbol Detection In Massive MIMO Systems Using Expectation Propagation

The advantages envisioned from using large antenna arrays have made massive multiple- input multiple-output systems (also known as massive MIMO) a promising technology for future wireless standards. Despite the advantages that massive MIMO systems provide, increasing the number of antennas introduces new technical challenges that need to be resolved. In particular, symbol detection is one of the key challenges in massive MIMO. Obtaining accurate channel state information (CSI) for the extremely large number of chan- nels involved is a difficult task and consumes significant resources. Therefore for Massive MIMO systems coherent detectors must be able to cope with highly imperfect CSI. More importantly, non-coherent schemes which do not rely on CSI for symbol detection become very attractive. Expectation propagation (EP) has been recently proposed as a low complexity algo- rithm for symbol detection in massive MIMO systems , where its performance is evaluated on the premise that perfect channel state information (CSI) is available at the receiver. However, in practical systems, exact CSI is not available due to a variety of reasons in- cluding channel estimation errors, quantization errors and aging. In this work we study the performance of EP in the presence of imperfect CSI due to channel estimation er- rors and show that in this case the EP detector experiences significant performance loss. Moreover, the EP detector shows a higher sensitivity to channel estimation errors in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regions where the rate of its performance improvement decreases. We investigate this behavior of the EP detector and propose a Modified EP detector for colored noise which utilizes the correlation matrix of the channel estimation error. Simulation results verify that the modified algorithm is robust against imperfect CSI and its performance is significantly improved over the EP algorithm, particularly in the higher SNR regions, and that for the modified detector, the slope of the symbol error rate (SER) vs. SNR plots are similar to the case of perfect CSI. Next, an algorithm based on expectation propagation is proposed for noncoherent symbol detection in large-scale SIMO systems. It is verified through simulation that in terms of SER, the proposed detector outperforms the pilotbased coherent MMSE detector for blocks as small as two symbols. This makes the proposed detector suitable for fast fading channels with very short coherence times. In addition, the SER performance of this detec- tor converges to that of the optimum ML receiver when the size of the blocks increases. Finally it is shown that for Rician fading channels, knowledge of the fading parameters is not required for achieving the SER gains. A channel estimation method was recently proposed for multi-cell massive MIMO sys- tems based on the eigenvalue decomposition of the correlation matrix of the received vectors (EVD-based). This algorithm, however, is sensitive to the size of the antenna array as well as the number of samples used in the evaluation of the correlation matrix. As the final work in this dissertation, we present a noncoherent channel estimation and symbol de- tection scheme for multi-cell massive MIMO systems based on expectation propagation. The proposed algorithm is initialized with the channel estimation result from the EVD- based method. Simulation results show that after a few iterations, the EP-based algorithm significantly outperforms the EVD-based method in both channel estimation and symbol error rate. Moreover, the EP-based algorithm is not sensitive to antenna array size or the inaccuracies of sample correlation matrix

Large-System Analysis of Joint Channel and Data Estimation for MIMO DS-CDMA Systems

This paper presents a large-system analysis of the performance of joint channel estimation, multiuser detection, and per-user decoding (CE-MUDD) for randomly-spread multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) systems. A suboptimal receiver based on successive decoding in conjunction with linear minimum mean-squared error (LMMSE) channel estimation is investigated. The replica method, developed in statistical mechanics, is used to evaluate the performance in the large-system limit, where the number of users and the spreading factor tend to infinity while their ratio and the number of transmit and receive antennas are kept constant. The performance of the joint CE-MUDD based on LMMSE channel estimation is compared to the spectral efficiencies of several receivers based on one-shot LMMSE channel estimation, in which the decoded data symbols are not utilized to refine the initial channel estimates. The results imply that the use of joint CE-MUDD significantly reduces rate loss due to transmission of pilot signals, especially for multiple-antenna systems. As a result, joint CE-MUDD can provide significant performance gains, compared to the receivers based on one-shot channel estimation.Comment: The paper was resubmitted to IEEE Trans. Inf. Theor

Hybrid solutions to instantaneous MIMO blind separation and decoding: narrowband, QAM and square cases

Future wireless communication systems are desired to support high data rates and high quality transmission when considering the growing multimedia applications. Increasing the channel throughput leads to the multiple input and multiple output and blind equalization techniques in recent years. Thereby blind MIMO equalization has attracted a great interest.Both system performance and computational complexities play important roles in real time communications. Reducing the computational load and providing accurate performances are the main challenges in present systems. In this thesis, a hybrid method which can provide an affordable complexity with good performance for Blind Equalization in large constellation MIMO systems is proposed first. Saving computational cost happens both in the signal sep- aration part and in signal detection part. First, based on Quadrature amplitude modulation signal characteristics, an efficient and simple nonlinear function for the Independent Compo- nent Analysis is introduced. Second, using the idea of the sphere decoding, we choose the soft information of channels in a sphere, and overcome the so- called curse of dimensionality of the Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm and enhance the final results simultaneously. Mathematically, we demonstrate in the digital communication cases, the EM algorithm shows Newton -like convergence.Despite the widespread use of forward -error coding (FEC), most multiple input multiple output (MIMO) blind channel estimation techniques ignore its presence, and instead make the sim- plifying assumption that the transmitted symbols are uncoded. However, FEC induces code structure in the transmitted sequence that can be exploited to improve blind MIMO channel estimates. In final part of this work, we exploit the iterative channel estimation and decoding performance for blind MIMO equalization. Experiments show the improvements achievable by exploiting the existence of coding structures and that it can access the performance of a BCJR equalizer with perfect channel information in a reasonable SNR range. All results are confirmed experimentally for the example of blind equalization in block fading MIMO systems

Spectrum Sensing and Multiple Access Schemes for Cognitive Radio Networks

Increasing demands on the radio spectrum have driven wireless engineers to rethink approaches by which devices should access this natural, and arguably scarce, re- source. Cognitive Radio (CR) has arisen as a new wireless communication paradigm aimed at solving the spectrum underutilization problem. In this thesis, we explore a novel variety of techniques aimed at spectrum sensing which serves as a fundamental mechanism to find unused portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. We present several spectrum sensing methods based on multiple antennas and evaluate their receiving operating characteristics. We study a cyclostationary feature detection technique by means of multiple cyclic frequencies. We make use of a spec- trum sensing method called sequential analysis that allows us to significantly decrease the time needed for detecting the presence of a licensed user. We extend this scheme allowing each CR user to perform the sequential analysis algorithm and send their local decision to a fusion centre. This enables for an average faster and more accurate detection. We present an original technique for accounting for spatial and temporal cor- relation influence in spectrum sensing. This reflects on the impact of the scattering environment on detection methods using multiple antennas. The approach is based on the scattering geometry and resulting correlation properties of the received signal at each CR device. Finally, the problem of spectrum sharing for CR networks is addressed in or- der to take advantage of the detected unused frequency bands. We proposed a new multiple access scheme based on the Game Theory. We examine the scenario where a random number of CR users (considered as players) compete to access the radio spec- trum. We calculate the optimal probability of transmission which maximizes the CR throughput along with the minimum harm caused to the licensed users’ performance

On the Performance of Terrestrial Free-Space Optical (FSO) Links under the Presence of Generalized Pointing Errors

En ambos grupos se han obtenido expresiones matemáticas en forma cerrada que permiten evaluar la capacidad en todo el rango de valores de SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) en algunos casos y, en otros, solo ha sido posible obtener su comportamiento asintótico debido a la dificultad matemática que presentaba el análisis. A la luz de los resultados obtenidos, podemos concluir que los sistemas MISO FSO son probablemente la solución más interesante en comparación a los sistemas SIMO y MIMO FSO. Al mismo tiempo, los resultados obtenidos en comunicaciones cooperativas permiten concluir que los sistemas cooperativos basados en retransmisión DF son capaces de aumentar la capacidad e incluso mejorar a la capacidad obtenida por un sistema basado en diversidad espacial para determinadas posiciones del nodo retransmisor. En el caso de las contribuciones realizadas en el modelado de errores por desapuntamiento generalizado, los cuales siguen una distribución Beckmann, podemos destacar la aproximación propuesta en esta tesis que nos permite incluir de una forma eficiente y sencilla dichos errores por desapuntamiento al análisis de prestaciones de cualquier sistema de comunicaciones FSO. La herramienta propuesta es válida para analizar cualquier sistema FSO en términos de BER y probabilidad de outage y nos permite detectar qué efecto es dominante, es decir, si la turbulencia atmosférica o los errores por desapuntamiento. El efecto de la correlación también ha sido contemplado, concluyendo que no puede ser ignorado.Los sistemas de comunicaciones ópticas en espacio libre (FSO, Free-Space Optical) para aplicaciones terrestres se presentan en la actualidad como una solución muy interesante para solventar el importante reto provocado por la escasez del espectro RF (Radio-Frequency) disponible. Además, los sistemas FSO se configuran como una seria alternativa frente a otras tecnologías de acceso y transporte como los sistemas de RF debido a las altas tasas de señalización potencialmente muy superiores que se pueden conseguir. Estas ventajas, entre otras, han intensificado la investigación en estos sistemas en las últimas décadas. Por tanto, el análisis de sus prestaciones en términos de probabilidad de error de bit (BER, Bit Error-Rate), probabilidad de outage y capacidad ergódica es de interés relevante, siendo estas altamente afectadas por la turbulencia atmosférica, los errores por desapuntamiento entre transmisor y receptor así como por la niebla densa. En esta tesis, el análisis de las prestaciones de los sistemas FSO ha sido abordado, presentando novedosos resultados para la comunidad científica e investigadora. Dicho análisis de prestaciones se ha dividido en dos grandes áreas de investigación: análisis de la capacidad ergódica, y modelado de errores por desapuntamiento generalizado entre transmisor y receptor. Las contribuciones realizadas dentro del análisis de la capacidad ergódica están divididas en dos grupos: por un lado, el análisis de la capacidad de sistemas FSO avanzados basados en diversidad espacial tales como los sistemas MISO (Multiple-Input/Single-Output), SIMO (Single-Input/Multiple-Output) y MIMO(Multiple-Input/Multiple-Output) FSO; por otro lado, el análisis de la capacidad de sistemas cooperativos basados en retransmisión DF (Detect-and-Forward)

Enhanced Dynamic Frequency Hopping Performance in Cognitive Radio IEEE 802.22 Standard

IEEE 802.22 is a Cognitive Radio based standard designed for Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRAN) for the purpose of providing wireless broadband access to rural and remote areas. The standard relies on the utilization of the unoccupied spectrum that became available after the TV signal was converted from analog to digital. In this thesis, we present an enhanced scheme for the operation of the Dynamic Frequency Hopping (DFH) technique in the IEEE 802.22 standard for WRANs. The performance of the DFH is analyzed thoroughly for various types of channels and for a Multiple-input Multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The core of this research is based on the coexistence of the incumbent users and the WRANs in the TV white spaces (TVWS). The proposed technique, aims at protecting the licensed users from interfering with the cognitive broadband access in the TV spectrum. In order to achieve that, spectrum sensing is performed in the intended working channel in DFH while spectrum monitoring with the energy-ratio (ER) algorithm is applied during the WRAN data transmission in the currently working channel. Hence, in the DFH-ER algorithm the reappearance of an incumbent user in a band occupied by the WRANs would be detected immediately, providing interference free performance for the licensed user as well as reliable data transmission for the unlicensed one. Simulation results of the proposed DFH-ER technique compared to the conventional DFH scenario exemplify the enhancement of the WRAN data transmission while protecting the incumbent users