Canonical time-frequency, time-scale, and frequency-scale representations of time-varying channels

Mobile communication channels are often modeled as linear time-varying filters or, equivalently, as time-frequency integral operators with finite support in time and frequency. Such a characterization inherently assumes the signals are narrowband and may not be appropriate for wideband signals. In this paper time-scale characterizations are examined that are useful in wideband time-varying channels, for which a time-scale integral operator is physically justifiable. A review of these time-frequency and time-scale characterizations is presented. Both the time-frequency and time-scale integral operators have a two-dimensional discrete characterization which motivates the design of time-frequency or time-scale rake receivers. These receivers have taps for both time and frequency (or time and scale) shifts of the transmitted signal. A general theory of these characterizations which generates, as specific cases, the discrete time-frequency and time-scale models is presented here. The interpretation of these models, namely, that they can be seen to arise from processing assumptions on the transmit and receive waveforms is discussed. Out of this discussion a third model arises: a frequency-scale continuous channel model with an associated discrete frequency-scale characterization.Comment: To appear in Communications in Information and Systems - special issue in honor of Thomas Kailath's seventieth birthda

Sampling from a system-theoretic viewpoint: Part II - Noncausal solutions

This paper puts to use concepts and tools introduced in Part I to address a wide spectrum of noncausal sampling and reconstruction problems. Particularly, we follow the system-theoretic paradigm by using systems as signal generators to account for available information and system norms (L2 and L∞) as performance measures. The proposed optimization-based approach recovers many known solutions, derived hitherto by different methods, as special cases under different assumptions about acquisition or reconstructing devices (e.g., polynomial and exponential cardinal splines for fixed samplers and the Sampling Theorem and its modifications in the case when both sampler and interpolator are design parameters). We also derive new results, such as versions of the Sampling Theorem for downsampling and reconstruction from noisy measurements, the continuous-time invariance of a wide class of optimal sampling-and-reconstruction circuits, etcetera

On the Performance Limits of Pilot-Based Estimation of Bandlimited Frequency-Selective Communication Channels

In this paper the problem of assessing bounds on the accuracy of pilot-based estimation of a bandlimited frequency selective communication channel is tackled. Mean square error is taken as a figure of merit in channel estimation and a tapped-delay line model is adopted to represent a continuous time channel via a finite number of unknown parameters. This allows to derive some properties of optimal waveforms for channel sounding and closed form Cramer-Rao bounds

Cornerstones of Sampling of Operator Theory

This paper reviews some results on the identifiability of classes of operators whose Kohn-Nirenberg symbols are band-limited (called band-limited operators), which we refer to as sampling of operators. We trace the motivation and history of the subject back to the original work of the third-named author in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and to the innovations in spread-spectrum communications that preceded that work. We give a brief overview of the NOMAC (Noise Modulation and Correlation) and Rake receivers, which were early implementations of spread-spectrum multi-path wireless communication systems. We examine in detail the original proof of the third-named author characterizing identifiability of channels in terms of the maximum time and Doppler spread of the channel, and do the same for the subsequent generalization of that work by Bello. The mathematical limitations inherent in the proofs of Bello and the third author are removed by using mathematical tools unavailable at the time. We survey more recent advances in sampling of operators and discuss the implications of the use of periodically-weighted delta-trains as identifiers for operator classes that satisfy Bello's criterion for identifiability, leading to new insights into the theory of finite-dimensional Gabor systems. We present novel results on operator sampling in higher dimensions, and review implications and generalizations of the results to stochastic operators, MIMO systems, and operators with unknown spreading domains

Investigation of zero-crossings as information carriers

Analysis of bandlimited signal transmission by zero crossings of optimum signa

Sub-Nyquist Sampling: Bridging Theory and Practice

Sampling theory encompasses all aspects related to the conversion of continuous-time signals to discrete streams of numbers. The famous Shannon-Nyquist theorem has become a landmark in the development of digital signal processing. In modern applications, an increasingly number of functions is being pushed forward to sophisticated software algorithms, leaving only those delicate finely-tuned tasks for the circuit level. In this paper, we review sampling strategies which target reduction of the ADC rate below Nyquist. Our survey covers classic works from the early 50's of the previous century through recent publications from the past several years. The prime focus is bridging theory and practice, that is to pinpoint the potential of sub-Nyquist strategies to emerge from the math to the hardware. In that spirit, we integrate contemporary theoretical viewpoints, which study signal modeling in a union of subspaces, together with a taste of practical aspects, namely how the avant-garde modalities boil down to concrete signal processing systems. Our hope is that this presentation style will attract the interest of both researchers and engineers in the hope of promoting the sub-Nyquist premise into practical applications, and encouraging further research into this exciting new frontier.Comment: 48 pages, 18 figures, to appear in IEEE Signal Processing Magazin