A combined MMSE-ML detection for a spectrally efficient non orthogonal FDM signal

In this paper, we investigate the possibility of reliable and computationally efficient detection for spectrally efficient non-orthogonal Multiplexing (FDM) system, exhibiting varying levels of intercarrier interference. Optimum detection is based on the Maximum Likelihood (ML) principle. However, ML is impractical due to its computational complexity. On the other hand, linear detection techniques such as Zero Forcing (ZF) and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) exhibit poor performance. Consequently, we explore the combination of MMSE estimation with ML estimation around a neighborhood of the MMSE estimate. We evaluate the performance of the different schemes in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN), with reference to the number of FDM carriers and their frequency separation. The combined MMSE-ML scheme achieves a near optimum error performance with polynomial complexity for a small number of BPSK FDM carriers. For QPSK modulation the performance of the proposed system improves for a large number of ML comparisons. In all cases, the detectability of the FDM signal is bounded by the signal dimension and the carriers frequency distance

Non-Orthogonal Narrowband Internet of Things: A Design for Saving Bandwidth and Doubling the Number of Connected Devices

IEEE Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) is a low power wide area network (LPWAN) technique introduced in 3GPP release 13. The narrowband transmission scheme enables high capacity, wide coverage and low power consumption communications. With the increasing demand for services over the air, wireless spectrum is becoming scarce and new techniques are required to boost the number of connected devices within a limited spectral resource to meet the service requirements. This work provides a compressed signal waveform solution, termed fast-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (Fast-OFDM), to double potentially the number of connected devices by compressing occupied bandwidth of each device without compromising data rate and bit error rate (BER) performance. Simulation is firstly evaluated for the Fast-OFDM with comparisons to single-carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA). Results indicate the same performance for both systems in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. Experimental measurements are also presented to show the bandwidth saving benefits of Fast-OFDM. It is shown that in a line-of-sight (LOS) scenario, Fast-OFDM has similar performance as SC-FDMA but with 50% bandwidth saving. This research paves the way for extended coverage, enhanced capacity and improved data rate of NB-IoT in 5th generation (5G) new radio (NR) networks

mm-Wave Data Transmission and Measurement Techniques: A Holistic Approach

The ever-increasing demand on data services places unprecedented technical requirements on networks capacity. With wireless systems having significant roles in broadband delivery, innovative approaches to their development are imperative. By leveraging new spectral resources available at millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequencies, future systems can utilize new signal structures and new system architectures in order to achieve long-term sustainable solutions.This thesis proposes the holistic development of efficient and cost-effective techniques and systems which make high-speed data transmission at mm-wave feasible. In this paradigm, system designs, signal processing, and measurement techniques work toward a single goal; to achieve satisfactory system level key performance indicators (KPIs). Two intimately-related objectives are simultaneously addressed: the realization of efficient mm-wave data transmission and the development of measurement techniques to enable and assist the design and evaluation of mm-wave circuits.The standard approach to increase spectral efficiency is to increase the modulation order at the cost of higher transmission power. To improve upon this, a signal structure called spectrally efficient frequency division multiplexing (SEFDM) is utilized. SEFDM adds an additional dimension of continuously tunable spectral efficiency enhancement. Two new variants of SEFDM are implemented and experimentally demonstrated, where both variants are shown to outperform standard signals.A low-cost low-complexity mm-wave transmitter architecture is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A simple phase retarder predistorter and a frequency multiplier are utilized to successfully generate spectrally efficient mm-wave signals while simultaneously mitigating various issues found in conventional mm-wave systems.A measurement technique to characterize circuits and components under antenna array mutual coupling effects is proposed and demonstrated. With minimal setup requirement, the technique effectively and conveniently maps prescribed transmission scenarios to the measurement environment and offers evaluations of the components in terms of relevant KPIs in addition to conventional metrics.Finally, a technique to estimate transmission and reflection coefficients is proposed and demonstrated. In one variant, the technique enables the coefficients to be estimated using wideband modulated signals, suitable for implementation in measurements performed under real usage scenarios. In another variant, the technique enhances the precision of noisy S-parameter measurements, suitable for characterizations of wideband mm-wave components

Bandwidth Compressed Waveform and System Design for Wireless and Optical Communications: Theory and Practice

This thesis addresses theoretical and practical challenges of spectrally efficient frequency division multiplexing (SEFDM) systems in both wireless and optical domains. SEFDM improves spectral efficiency relative to the well-known orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) by non-orthogonally multiplexing overlapped sub-carriers. However, the deliberate violation of orthogonality results in inter carrier interference (ICI) and associated detection complexity, thus posing many challenges to practical implementations. This thesis will present solutions for these issues. The thesis commences with the fundamentals by presenting the existing challenges of SEFDM, which are subsequently solved by proposed transceivers. An iterative detection (ID) detector iteratively removes self-created ICI. Following that, a hybrid ID together with fixed sphere decoding (FSD) shows an optimised performance/complexity trade-off. A complexity reduced Block-SEFDM can subdivide the signal detection into several blocks. Finally, a coded Turbo-SEFDM is proved to be an efficient technique that is compatible with the existing mobile standards. The thesis also reports the design and development of wireless and optical practical systems. In the optical domain, given the same spectral efficiency, a low-order modulation scheme is proved to have a better bit error rate (BER) performance when replacing a higher order one. In the wireless domain, an experimental testbed utilizing the LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation (CA) with SEFDM is operated in a realistic radio frequency (RF) environment. Experimental results show that 40% higher data rate can be achieved without extra spectrum occupation. Additionally, a new waveform, termed Nyquist-SEFDM, which compresses bandwidth and suppresses out-of-band power leakage is investigated. A 4th generation (4G) and 5th generation (5G) coexistence experiment is followed to verify its feasibility. Furthermore, a 60 GHz SEFDM testbed is designed and built in a point-to-point indoor fiber wireless experiment showing 67% data rate improvement compared to OFDM. Finally, to meet the requirements of future networks, two simplified SEFDM transceivers are designed together with application scenarios and experimental verifications