Advanced constellation and demapper schemes for next generation digital terrestrial television broadcasting systems

206 p.Esta tesis presenta un nuevo tipo de constelaciones llamadas no uniformes. Estos esquemas presentan una eficacia de hasta 1,8 dB superior a las utilizadas en los últimos sistemas de comunicaciones de televisión digital terrestre y son extrapolables a cualquier otro sistema de comunicaciones (satélite, móvil, cable¿). Además, este trabajo contribuye al diseño de constelaciones con una nueva metodología que reduce el tiempo de optimización de días/horas (metodologías actuales) a horas/minutos con la misma eficiencia. Todas las constelaciones diseñadas se testean bajo una plataforma creada en esta tesis que simula el estándar de radiodifusión terrestre más avanzado hasta la fecha (ATSC 3.0) bajo condiciones reales de funcionamiento.Por otro lado, para disminuir la latencia de decodificación de estas constelaciones esta tesis propone dos técnicas de detección/demapeo. Una es para constelaciones no uniformes de dos dimensiones la cual disminuye hasta en un 99,7% la complejidad del demapeo sin empeorar el funcionamiento del sistema. La segunda técnica de detección se centra en las constelaciones no uniformes de una dimensión y presenta hasta un 87,5% de reducción de la complejidad del receptor sin pérdidas en el rendimiento.Por último, este trabajo expone un completo estado del arte sobre tipos de constelaciones, modelos de sistema, y diseño/demapeo de constelaciones. Este estudio es el primero realizado en este campo

Reliable and Low-Complexity MIMO Detector Selection using Neural Network

In this paper, we propose to dynamically select a MIMO detector using neural network for each resource element (RE) in the transport block of 5G NR/LTE communication system. The objective is to minimize the computational complexity of MIMO detection while keeping the transport block error rate (BLER) close to the BLER when dimension-reduced maximum-likelihood (DR-ML) detection is used. A detector selection problem is formulated to achieve this objective. However, since the problem is high dimensional and NP-hard, we first decompose the problem into smaller problems and train a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) network to obtain the solution. The MLP network is trained to select a low-complexity, yet reliable, detector using instantaneous channel condition in the RE. We first propose a method to generate a labeled dataset to select a low-complexity detector. Then, the MLP is trained twice using quasi-Newton method to select a reliable detector for each RE. The performance of online detector selection is evaluated in 5G NR link level simulator in terms of BLER and the complexity is quantified in terms of the number of Euclidean distance (ED) computations and the number of real additions and multiplication. Results show that the computational complexity in the MIMO detector can be reduced by ~10X using the proposed method

A tutorial on the characterisation and modelling of low layer functional splits for flexible radio access networks in 5G and beyond

The centralization of baseband (BB) functions in a radio access network (RAN) towards data processing centres is receiving increasing interest as it enables the exploitation of resource pooling and statistical multiplexing gains among multiple cells, facilitates the introduction of collaborative techniques for different functions (e.g., interference coordination), and more efficiently handles the complex requirements of advanced features of the fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) physical layer, such as the use of massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO). However, deciding the functional split (i.e., which BB functions are kept close to the radio units and which BB functions are centralized) embraces a trade-off between the centralization benefits and the fronthaul costs for carrying data between distributed antennas and data processing centres. Substantial research efforts have been made in standardization fora, research projects and studies to resolve this trade-off, which becomes more complicated when the choice of functional splits is dynamically achieved depending on the current conditions in the RAN. This paper presents a comprehensive tutorial on the characterisation, modelling and assessment of functional splits in a flexible RAN to establish a solid basis for the future development of algorithmic solutions of dynamic functional split optimisation in 5G and beyond systems. First, the paper explores the functional split approaches considered by different industrial fora, analysing their equivalences and differences in terminology. Second, the paper presents a harmonized analysis of the different BB functions at the physical layer and associated algorithmic solutions presented in the literature, assessing both the computational complexity and the associated performance. Based on this analysis, the paper presents a model for assessing the computational requirements and fronthaul bandwidth requirements of different functional splits. Last, the model is used to derive illustrative results that identify the major trade-offs that arise when selecting a functional split and the key elements that impact the requirements.This work has been partially funded by Huawei Technologies. Work by X. Gelabert and B. Klaiqi is partially funded by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme (HORIZON-MSCA-2021-DN-0) under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101073265. Work by J. Perez-Romero and O. Sallent is also partially funded by the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking (SNS JU) under the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreements No. 101096034 (VERGE project) and No. 101097083 (BeGREEN project) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 under ARTIST project (ref. PID2020-115104RB-I00). This last project has also funded the work by D. Campoy.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Performance analysis and optimization of DCT-based multicarrier system on frequency-selective fading channels

Regarded as one of the most promising transmission techniques for future wireless communications, the discrete cosine transform (DCT) based multicarrier modulation (MCM) system employs cosine basis as orthogonal functions for real-modulated symbols multiplexing, by which the minimum orthogonal frequency spacing can be reduced by half compared to discrete Fourier transform (DFT) based one. With a time-reversed pre-filter employed at the front of the receiver, interference-free one-tap equalization is achievable for the DCT-based systems. However, due to the correlated pre-filtering operation in time domain, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is enhanced as a result at the output. This leads to reformulated detection criterion to compensate for such filtering effect, rendering minimum-mean-square-error (MMSE) and maximum likelihood (ML) detections applicable to the DCT-based multicarrier system. In this paper, following on the pre-filtering based DCT-MCM model that build in the literature work, we extend the overall system by considering both transceiver perfections and imperfections, where frequency offset, time offset and insufficient guard sequence are included. In the presence of those imperfection errors, the DCT-MCM systems are analysed in terms of desired signal power, inter-carrier interference (ICI) and inter-symbol interference (ISI). Thereafter, new detection algorithms based on zero forcing (ZF) iterative results are proposed to mitigate the imperfection effect. Numerical results show that the theoretical analysis match the simulation results, and the proposed iterative detection algorithms are able to improve the overall system performance significantly

A High-Performance and Low-Complexity 5G LDPC Decoder: Algorithm and Implementation

5G New Radio (NR) has stringent demands on both performance and complexity for the design of low-density parity-check (LDPC) decoding algorithms and corresponding VLSI implementations. Furthermore, decoders must fully support the wide range of all 5G NR blocklengths and code rates, which is a significant challenge. In this paper, we present a high-performance and low-complexity LDPC decoder, tailor-made to fulfill the 5G requirements. First, to close the gap between belief propagation (BP) decoding and its approximations in hardware, we propose an extension of adjusted min-sum decoding, called generalized adjusted min-sum (GA-MS) decoding. This decoding algorithm flexibly truncates the incoming messages at the check node level and carefully approximates the non-linear functions of BP decoding to balance the error-rate and hardware complexity. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed fixed-point GAMS has only a minor gap of 0.1 dB compared to floating-point BP under various scenarios of 5G standard specifications. Secondly, we present a fully reconfigurable 5G NR LDPC decoder implementation based on GA-MS decoding. Given that memory occupies a substantial portion of the decoder area, we adopt multiple data compression and approximation techniques to reduce 42.2% of the memory overhead. The corresponding 28nm FD-SOI ASIC decoder has a core area of 1.823 mm2 and operates at 895 MHz. It is compatible with all 5G NR LDPC codes and achieves a peak throughput of 24.42 Gbps and a maximum area efficiency of 13.40 Gbps/mm2 at 4 decoding iterations.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure

Advanced Layered Divsion Multiplexing Technologies for Next-Gen Broadcast

Tesis por compendioDesde comienzos del siglo XXI, los sistemas de radiodifusión terrestre han sido culpados de un uso ineficiente del espectro asignado. Para aumentar la eficiencia espectral, los organismos de estandarización de TV digital comenzaron a desarrollar la evolución técnica de los sistemas de TDT de primera generación. Entre otros, uno de los objetivos principales de los sistemas de TDT de próxima generación (DVB-T2 y ATSC 3.0) es proporcionar simultáneamente servicios de TV a dispositivos móviles y fijos. El principal inconveniente de esta entrega simultánea son los diferentes requisitos de cada condición de recepción. Para abordar estas limitaciones, se han considerado diferentes técnicas de multiplexación. Mientras que DVB-T2 acomete la entrega simultánea de los dos servicios mediante TDM, ATSC 3.0 adoptó la Multiplexación por División en Capas (LDM). LDM puede superar a TDM y a FDM al aprovechar la relación de Protección de Error Desigual (UEP), ya que ambos servicios, llamados capas, utilizan todos los recursos de frecuencia y tiempo con diferentes niveles de potencia. En el lado del receptor, se distinguen dos implementaciones, de acuerdo con la capa a decodificar. Los receptores móviles solo están destinados a obtener la capa superior, conocida como Core Layer (CL). Para no aumentar su complejidad en comparación con los receptores de capa única, la capa inferior, conocida como Enhanced Layer (EL), es tratada como un ruido adicional en la decodificación. Los receptores fijos aumentan su complejidad, ya que deben realizar un proceso de Cancelación de Interferencia (SIC) sobre la CL para obtener la EL. Para limitar la complejidad adicional de los receptores fijos, las capas de LDM en ATSC 3.0 están configuradas con diferentes capacidades de corrección, pero comparten el resto de bloques de la capa física, incluido el TIL, el PP, el tamaño de FFT, y el GI. Esta disertación investiga tecnologías avanzadas para optimizar el rendimiento de LDM. Primero se propone una optimización del proceso de demapeo para las dos capas de LDM. El algoritmo propuesto logra un aumento de capacidad, al tener en cuenta la forma de la EL en el proceso de demapeo de la CL. Sin embargo, el número de distancias Euclidianas a computar puede aumentar significativamente, conduciendo no solo a receptores fijos más complejos, sino también a receptores móviles más complejos. A continuación, se determina la configuración de piloto ATSC 3.0 más adecuada para LDM. Teniendo en cuenta que las dos capas comparten el mismo PP, surge una contrapartida entre la densidad de pilotos (CL) y la redundancia sobre los datos (EL). A partir de los resultados de rendimiento, se recomienda el uso de un PP no muy denso, ya que ya han sido diseñados para hacer frente a ecos largos y altas velocidades. La amplitud piloto óptima depende del estimador de canal en los receptores (ej., se recomienda la amplitud mínima para una implementación Wiener, mientras que la máxima para una implementación FFT). También se investiga la potencial transmisión conjunta de LDM con tres tecnologías avanzadas adoptadas en ATSC 3.0: las tecnologías de agregación MultiRF, los esquemas de MISO distribuido y los de MIMO colocalizado. Se estudian los potenciales casos de uso, los aspectos de implementación del transmisor y el receptor, y las ganancias de rendimiento de las configuraciones conjuntas para las dos capas de LDM. Las restricciones adicionales de combinar LDM con las tecnologías avanzadas se consideran admisibles, ya que las mayores demandas ya están contempladas en ATSC 3.0 (ej., una segunda cadena de recepción). Se obtienen ganancias significativas en condiciones de recepción peatonal gracias a la diversidad en frecuencia proporcionada por las tecnologías MultiRF. La conjunción de LDM con esquemas de MISO proporciona ganancias de rendimiento significativas en redes SFN para la capa fija con el esquema de Alamouti.Since the beginning of the 21st century, terrestrial broadcasting systems have been blamed of an inefficient use of the allocated spectrum. To increase the spectral efficiency, digital television Standards Developing Organizations settled to develop the technical evolution of the first-generation DTT systems. Among others, a primary goal of next-generation DTT systems (DVB-T2 and ATSC 3.0) is to simultaneously provide TV services to mobile and fixed devices. The major drawback of this simultaneous delivery is the different requirement of each reception condition. To address these constraints different multiplexing techniques have been considered. While DVB-T2 fulfilled the simultaneous delivery of the two services by TDM, ATSC 3.0 adopted the LDM technology. LDM can outperform TDM and FDM by taking advantage of the UEP ratio, as both services, namely layers, utilize all the frequency and time resources with different power levels. At receiver side, two implementations are distinguished, according to the intended layer. Mobile receivers are only intended to obtain the upper layer, known as CL. In order not to increase their complexity compared to single layer receivers, the lower layer, known as EL is treated as an additional noise on the CL decoding. Fixed receivers, increase their complexity, as they should performed a SIC process on the CL for getting the EL. To limit the additional complexity of fixed receivers, the LDM layers in ATSC 3.0 are configured with different error correction capabilities, but share the rest of physical layer parameters, including the TIL, the PP, the FFT size, and the GI. This dissertation investigates advanced technologies to optimize the LDM performance. A demapping optimization for the two LDM layers is first proposed. A capacity increase is achieved by the proposed algorithm, which takes into account the underlying layer shape in the demapping process. Nevertheless, the number of Euclidean distances to be computed can be significantly increased, contributing to not only more complex fixed receivers, but also more complex mobile receivers. Next, the most suitable ATSC 3.0 pilot configuration for LDM is determined. Considering the two layers share the same PP a trade-off between pilot density (CL) and data overhead (EL) arises. From the performance results, it is recommended the use of a not very dense PP, as they have been already designed to cope with long echoes and high speeds. The optimum pilot amplitude depends on the channel estimator at receivers (e.g. the minimum amplitude is recommended for a Wiener implementation, while the maximum for a FFT implementation). The potential combination of LDM with three advanced technologies that have been adopted in ATSC 3.0 is also investigated: MultiRF technologies, distributed MISO schemes, and co-located MIMO schemes. The potential use cases, the transmitter and receiver implementations, and the performance gains of the joint configurations are studied for the two LDM layers. The additional constraints of combining LDM with the advanced technologies is considered admissible, as the greatest demands (e.g. a second receiving chain) are already contemplated in ATSC 3.0. Significant gains are found for the mobile layer at pedestrian reception conditions thanks to the frequency diversity provided by MultiRF technologies. The conjunction of LDM with distributed MISO schemes provides significant performance gains on SFNs for the fixed layer with Alamouti scheme. Last, considering the complexity in the mobile receivers and the CL performance, the recommended joint configuration is MISO in the CL and MIMO in the EL.Des de començaments del segle XXI, els sistemes de radiodifusió terrestre han sigut culpats d'un ús ineficient de l'espectre assignat. Per a augmentar l'eficiència espectral, els organismes d'estandardització de TV digital van començar a desenvolupar l'evolució tècnica dels sistemes de TDT de primera generació. Entre altres, un dels objectius principals dels sistemes de TDT de pròxima generació (DVB-T2 i el ATSC 3.0) és proporcionar simultàniament serveis de TV a dispositius mòbils i fixos. El principal inconvenient d'aquest lliurament simultani són els diferents requisits de cada condició de recepció. Per a abordar aquestes limitacions, s'han considerat diferents tècniques de multiplexació. Mentre que DVB-T2 escomet el lliurament simultani dels dos serveis mitjançant TDM, ATSC 3.0 va adoptar la Multiplexació per Divisió en Capes (LDM). LDM pot superar a TDM i a FDM en aprofitar la relació de Protecció d'Error Desigual (UEP), ja que tots dos serveis, cridats capes, utilitzen tots els recursos de freqüència i temps amb diferents nivells de potència. En el costat del receptor, es distingeixen dues implementacions, d'acord amb la capa a decodificar. Els receptors mòbils solament estan destinats a obtenir la capa superior, coneguda com Core Layer (CL). Per a no augmentar la seua complexitat en comparació amb els receptors de capa única, la capa inferior, coneguda com Enhanced Layer (EL), és tractada com un soroll addicional en la decodificació. Els receptors fixos augmenten la seua complexitat, ja que han de realitzar un procés de Cancel·lació d'Interferència (SIC) sobre la CL per a obtenir l'EL. Per a limitar la complexitat addicional dels receptors fixos, les capes de LDM en ATSC 3.0 estan configurades amb diferents capacitats de correcció, però comparteixen la resta de blocs de la capa física, inclòs el TIL, el PP, la grandària de FFT i el GI. Aquesta dissertació investiga tecnologies avançades per a optimitzar el rendiment de LDM. Primer es proposa una optimització del procés de demapeo per a les dues capes de LDM. L'algoritme proposat aconsegueix un augment de capacitat, en tenir en compte la forma de l'EL en el procés de demapeo de la CL. No obstant açò, el nombre de distàncies Euclidianes a computar pot augmentar significativament, conduint NO sols a receptors fixos més complexos, sinó també a receptors mòbils més complexos. A continuació, es determina la configuració de pilot ATSC 3.0 més adequada per a LDM. Tenint en compte que les dues capes comparteixen el mateix PP, es produeix una contrapartida entre la densitat de pilots (CL) i la redundància sobre les dades (EL). A partir dels resultats de rendiment, es recomana l'ús d'un PP no gaire dens, ja que ja han sigut dissenyats per a fer front a ecos llargs i altes velocitats. L'amplitud pilot òptima depèn de l'estimador de canal en els receptors (ex., es recomana l'amplitud mínima per a una implementació Wiener, mentre que la màxima per a una implementació FFT). També s'investiga la potencial transmissió conjunta de LDM amb tres tecnologies avançades adoptades en ATSC 3.0: les tecnologies d'agregació de MultiRF, els esquemes de MISO distribuït i els de MIMO colocalitzat. S'estudien els potencials casos d'ús, els principals aspectes d'implementació del transmissor i el receptor, i els guanys de rendiment de les configuracions conjuntes per a les dues capes de LDM. Les restriccions addicionals de combinar LDM amb les tecnologies avançades es consideren admissibles, ja que les majors demandes ja estan contemplades en ATSC 3.0 (ex., una segona cadena de recepció). S'obtenen guanys significatius per a la capa mòbil en condicions de recepció per als vianants gràcies a la diversitat en freqüència proporcionada per les tecnologies MultiRF. La conjunció de LDM amb esquemes MISO distribuïts proporciona guanys de rendiment significatius en xarxes SFN per a la capa fixa amb l'esquema d'Alamouti.Garro Crevillén, E. (2018). Advanced Layered Divsion Multiplexing Technologies for Next-Gen Broadcast [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/105559TESISCompendi

Spectrally and Energy Efficient Wireless Communications: Signal and System Design, Mathematical Modelling and Optimisation

This thesis explores engineering studies and designs aiming to meeting the requirements of enhancing capacity and energy efficiency for next generation communication networks. Challenges of spectrum scarcity and energy constraints are addressed and new technologies are proposed, analytically investigated and examined. The thesis commences by reviewing studies on spectrally and energy-efficient techniques, with a special focus on non-orthogonal multicarrier modulation, particularly spectrally efficient frequency division multiplexing (SEFDM). Rigorous theoretical and mathematical modelling studies of SEFDM are presented. Moreover, to address the potential application of SEFDM under the 5th generation new radio (5G NR) heterogeneous numerologies, simulation-based studies of SEFDM coexisting with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) are conducted. New signal formats and corresponding transceiver structure are designed, using a Hilbert transform filter pair for shaping pulses. Detailed modelling and numerical investigations show that the proposed signal doubles spectral efficiency without performance degradation, with studies of two signal formats; uncoded narrow-band internet of things (NB-IoT) signals and unframed turbo coded multi-carrier signals. The thesis also considers using constellation shaping techniques and SEFDM for capacity enhancement in 5G system. Probabilistic shaping for SEFDM is proposed and modelled to show both transmission energy reduction and bandwidth saving with advantageous flexibility for data rate adaptation. Expanding on constellation shaping to improve performance further, a comparative study of multidimensional modulation techniques is carried out. A four-dimensional signal, with better noise immunity is investigated, for which metaheuristic optimisation algorithms are studied, developed, and conducted to optimise bit-to-symbol mapping. Finally, a specially designed machine learning technique for signal and system design in physical layer communications is proposed, utilising the application of autoencoder-based end-to-end learning. Multidimensional signal modulation with multidimensional constellation shaping is proposed and optimised by using machine learning techniques, demonstrating significant improvement in spectral and energy efficiencies

Software Defined Radio Solutions for Wireless Communications Systems

Wireless technologies have been advancing rapidly, especially in the recent years. Design, implementation, and manufacturing of devices supporting the continuously evolving technologies require great efforts. Thus, building platforms compatible with different generations of standards and technologies has gained a lot of interest. As a result, software defined radios (SDRs) are investigated to offer more flexibility and scalability, and reduce the design efforts, compared to the conventional fixed-function hardware-based solutions.This thesis mainly addresses the challenges related to SDR-based implementation of today’s wireless devices. One of the main targets of most of the wireless standards has been to improve the achievable data rates, which imposes strict requirements on the processing platforms. Realizing real-time processing of high throughput signal processing algorithms using SDR-based platforms while maintaining energy consumption close to conventional approaches is a challenging topic that is addressed in this thesis.Firstly, this thesis concentrates on the challenges of a real-time software-based implementation for the very high throughput (VHT) Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ac amendment from the wireless local area networks (WLAN) family, where an SDR-based solution is introduced for the frequency-domain baseband processing of a multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO) transmitter and receiver. The feasibility of the implementation is evaluated with respect to the number of clock cycles and the consumed power. Furthermore, a digital front-end (DFE) concept is developed for the IEEE 802.11ac receiver, where the 80 MHz waveform is divided to two 40 MHz signals. This is carried out through time-domain digital filtering and decimation, which is challenging due to the latency and cyclic prefix (CP) budget of the receiver. Different multi-rate channelization architectures are developed, and the software implementation is presented and evaluated in terms of execution time, number of clock cycles, power, and energy consumption on different multi-core platforms.Secondly, this thesis addresses selected advanced techniques developed to realize inband fullduplex (IBFD) systems, which aim at improving spectral efficiency in today’s congested radio spectrum. IBFD refers to concurrent transmission and reception on the same frequency band, where the main challenge to combat is the strong self-interference (SI). In this thesis, an SDRbased solution is introduced, which is capable of real-time mitigation of the SI signal. The implementation results show possibility of achieving real-time sufficient SI suppression under time-varying environments using low-power, mobile-scale multi-core processing platforms. To investigate the challenges associated with SDR implementations for mobile-scale devices with limited processing and power resources, processing platforms suitable for hand-held devices are selected in this thesis work. On the baseband processing side, a very long instruction word (VLIW) processor, optimized for wireless communication applications, is utilized. Furthermore, in the solutions presented for the DFE processing and the digital SI canceller, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) multi-core central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) are used with the aim of investigating the performance enhancement achieved by utilizing parallel processing.Overall, this thesis provides solutions to the challenges of low-power, and real-time software-based implementation of computationally intensive signal processing algorithms for the current and future communications systems