Auxiliary-Path-Assisted Digital Linearization of Wideband Wireless Receivers

Wireless communication systems in recent years have aimed at increasing data rates by ensuring flexible and efficient use of the radio spectrum. The dernier cri in this field has been in the area of carrier aggregation and cognitive radio. Carrier aggregation is a major component of LTE-Advanced. With carrier aggregation, a number of separate LTE carriers can be combined, by mobile network operators, to increase peak data rates and overall network capacity. Cognitive radios, on the other hand, allow efficient spectrum usage by locating and using spatially vacant spectral bands. High monolithic integration in these application fields can be achieved by employing receiver architectures such as the wideband direct conversion receiver topology. This is advantageous from the view point of cost, power consumption and size. However, many challenges exist, of particular importance is nonlinear distortion arising from analog front-end components such as low noise amplifiers (LNA). Nonlinear distortions especially become severe when several signals of varying amplitudes are received simultaneously. In such cases, nonlinear distortions stemming from strong signals may deteriorate the reception of the weaker signals, and also impair the receiver’s spectrum sensing capabilities. Nonlinearity, usually a consequence of dynamic range limitation, degrades performance in wideband multi-operator communications systems, and it will have a notable role in future wireless communication system design. This thesis presents a digital domain linearization technique that employs a very nonlinear auxiliary receiver path for nonlinear distortion cancellation. The proposed linearization technique relies on one-time adaptively-determined linearization coefficients for cancelling nonlinear distortions. Specifically, we take a look at canceling the troublesome in-band third order intermodulation products using the proposed technique. The proposed technique can be extended to cancel out both even and higher order odd intermodulation products. Dynamic behavioral models are used to account for RF nonlinearities, including memory effects which cannot be ignored in the wideband scenario. Since the proposed linearization technique involves the use of two receiver paths, techniques for correcting phase delays between the two paths are also introduced. Simplicity is the hallmark of the proposed linearization technique. It can achieve up to +30 dBm in IIP3 performance with ADC resolution being a major performance bottleneck. It also shows strong tolerance to strong blocker nonlinearities

Synchronising coherent networked radar using low-cost GPS-disciplined oscillators

This text evaluates the feasibility of synchronising coherent, pulsed-Doppler, networked, radars with carrier frequencies of a few gigahertz and moderate bandwidths of tens of megahertz across short baselines of a few kilometres using low-cost quartz GPSDOs based on one-way GPS time transfer. It further assesses the use of line-of-sight (LOS) phase compensation, where the direct sidelobe breakthrough is used as the phase reference, to improve the GPS-disciplined oscillator (GPSDO) synchronised bistatic Doppler performance. Coherent bistatic, multistatic, and networked radars require accurate time, frequency, and phase synchronisation. Global positioning system (GPS) synchronisation is precise, low-cost, passive and covert, and appears well-suited to synchronise networked radar. However, very few published examples exist. An imperfectly synchronised bistatic transmitter-receiver is modelled. Measures and plots are developed enabling the rapid selection of appropriate synchronisation technologies. Three low-cost, open, versatile, and extensible, quartz-based GPSDOs are designed and calibrated at zero-baselines. These GPSDOs are uniquely capable of acquiring phase-lock four times faster than conventional phase-locked loops (PLLs) and a new time synchronisation mechanism enables low-jitter sub-10 ns oneway GPS time synchronisation. In collaboration with University College London, UK, the 2.4 GHz coherent pulsed-Doppler networked radar, called NetRAD, is synchronised using the University of Cape Town developed GPSDOs. This resulted in the first published example of pulsed-Doppler phase synchronisation using GPS. A tri-static experiment is set up in Simon’s Bay, South Africa, with a maximum baseline of 2.3 km. The Roman Rock lighthouse was used as a static target to simultaneously assess the range, frequency, phase, and Doppler performance of the monostatic, bistatic, and LOS phase corrected bistatic returns. The real-world results compare well to that predicted by the earlier developed bistatic model and zero-baseline calibrations. GPS timing limits the radar bandwidth to less than 37.5 MHz when it is required to synchronise to within the range resolution. Low-cost quartz GPSDOs offer adequate frequency synchronisation to ensure a target radial velocity accuracy of better than 1 km/h and frequency drift of less than the Doppler resolution over integration periods of one second or less. LOS phase compensation, when used in combination with low-cost GPSDOs, results in near monostatic pulsed-Doppler performance with a subclutter visibility improvement of about 30 dB

I/Q imbalance mitigation for space-time block coded communication systems

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) space-time block coded (STBC) wireless communication systems provide reliable data transmissions by exploiting the spatial diversity in fading channels. However, due to component imperfections, the in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) imbalance caused by the non-ideal matching between the relative amplitudes and phases of the I and Q branches always exists in the practical implementation of MIMO STBC communication systems. Such distortion results in a complex conjugate term of the intended signal in the time domain, hence a mirror-image term in the frequency domain, in the data structure. Consequently, I/Q imbalance increases the symbol error rate (SER) drastically in MIMO STBC or STBC MIMO orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication systems, where both the signal and its complex conjugate are utilized for the information transmission, hence should be mitigated effectively. In this dissertation, the impact of I/Q imbalance in MIMO STBC systems over flat fading channels, the impact of I/Q imbalance in STBC MIMO-OFDM systems and in time- reversal STBC (TR-STBC) systems over frequency-selective fading channels are studied systematically. With regard to the MIMO STBC and the STBC MIMO-OFDM systems with I/Q imbalance, orthogonal space-time block codes (OSTBCs), quasi-orthogonal STBCs (QOSTBCs) and rotated QOSTBCs (RQOSTBCs) are studied, respectively. By exploiting the special structure of the received signal, low-complexity solutions are provided to mitigate the distortion induced by I/Q imbalance successfully. In addition, to mitigate I/Q imbalance while at the same time to exploit the multipath diversity for STBC OFDM systems over frequency-selective fading channels, a new encoding/decoing scheme for the grouped linear constellation precoded (GLCP) OFDM systems with I/Q imbalance is studied. In Chapter 1, the objectives of the research are elaborated. In Chapter 2, the various I/Q imbalance models are introduced, and the model used in this dissertation is established. In Chapter 3, the performance degradation caused by I/Q imbalance of the transceivers in MIMO STBC wireless communication systems over flat fading channels and the solutions are studied. A 2 Tx Alamouti system, a 4 Tx quasi-orthogonal STBC (QOSTBC) system, and a 4 Tx rotated QOSTBC (RQOSTBC) system with I/Q imbalance are studied in detail. By exploiting the special structure of the received signal, low-complexity solutions are proposed to mitigate I/Q imbalance successfully. Since STBCs are developed for frequency-flat fading channels, to achieve the spatial diversity in frequency-selective fading channels, MIMO-OFDM arrangements have been suggested, where STBCs are used across different antennas in conjunction with OFDM. In Chapter 4, the performance degradation caused by I/Q imbalance in STBC MIMO-OFDM wireless systems over frequency-selective fading channels and the solutions are studied. Similarly, a 2 Tx Alamouti system, a 4 Tx quasi-orthogonal STBC (QOSTBC) system, and a 4 Tx rotated QOSTBC (RQOSTBC) system with I/Q imbalance are studied in detail, and low-complexity solutions are proposed to mitigate the distortion effectively. However, OFDM systems suffer from the loss of the multipath diversity by converting frequency-selective fading channels into parallel frequency-flat fading subchannels. To exploit the multipath diversity and reduce the decoding complexity, GLCP OFDM systems with I/Q imbalance are studied. By judiciously assigning the mirror-subcarrier pair into one group, a new encoding/decoding scheme with a low-complexity is proposed to mitigate I/Q imbalance for GLCP OFDM systems in Chapter 5. Since OFDM communication systems have high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) problem and are sensitive to carrier frequency offset (CFO), to achieve both the spatial and multipath diversity, time-reversal STBC (TR-STBC) communication systems are introduced. In Chapter 6, the I/Q imbalance mitigating solutions in TR-STBC systems, both in the time domain and in the frequency domain, are studied

Optimisation of Bluetooth wireless personal area networks

In recent years there has been a marked growth in the use of wireless cellular telephones, PCs and the Internet. This proliferation of information technology has hastened the advent of wireless networks which aim to increase the accessibility and reach of communications devices. Ambient Intelligence (Ami) is a vision of the future of computing in which all kinds of everyday objects will contain intelligence. To be effective, Ami requires Ubiquitous Computing and Communication, the latter being enabled by wireless networking. The IEEE's 802.11 task group has developed a series of radio based replacements for the familiar wired ethernet LAN. At the same time another IEEE standards task group, 802.15, together with a number of industry consortia, has introduced a new level of wireless networking based upon short range, ad-hoc connections. Currently, the most significant of these new Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) standards is Bluetooth, one of the first of the enabling technologies of Ami to be commercially available. Bluetooth operates in the internationally unlicensed Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band at 2.4 GHz. unfortunately, this spectrum is particularly crowded. It is also used by: WiFi (IEEE 802.11); a new WPAN standard called Zig- Bee; many types of simple devices such as garage door openers; and is polluted by unintentional radiators. The success of a radio specification for ubiquitous wireless communications is, therefore, dependant upon a robust tolerance to high levels of electromagnetic noise. This thesis addresses the optimisation of low power WPANs in this context, with particular reference to the physical layer radio specification of the Bluetooth system

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

Analysis of Internally Bandlimited Multistage Cubic-Term Generators for RF Receivers

Adaptive feedforward error cancellation applied to correct distortion arising from third-order nonlinearities in RF receivers requires low-noise low-power reference cubic nonidealities. Multistage cubic-term generators utilizing cascaded nonlinear operations are ideal in this regard, but the frequency response of the interstage circuitry can introduce errors into the cubing operation. In this paper, an overview of the use of cubic-term generators in receivers relative to other applications is presented. An interstage frequency response plan is presented for a receiver cubic-term generator and is shown to function for arbitrary three-signal third-order intermodulation generation. The noise of such circuits is also considered and is shown to depend on the total incoming signal power across a particular frequency band. Finally, the effects of the interstage group delay are quantified in the context of a relevant communication standard requirement

Equalization of Third-Order Intermodulation Products in Wideband Direct Conversion Receivers

This paper reports a SAW-less direct-conversion receiver which utilizes a mixed-signal feedforward path to regenerate and adaptively cancel IM3 products, thus accomplishing system-level linearization. The receiver system performance is dominated by a custom integrated RF front end implemented in 130-nm CMOS and achieves an uncorrected out-of-band IIP3 of -7.1 dBm under the worst-case UMTS FDD Region 1 blocking specifications. Under IM3 equalization, the receiver achieves an effective IIP3 of +5.3 dBm and meets the UMTS BER sensitivity requirement with 3.7 dB of margin

Auxiliary-Path-Assisted Digital Linearization of Wideband Wireless Receivers

Wireless communication systems in recent years have aimed at increasing data rates by ensuring flexible and efficient use of the radio spectrum. The dernier cri in this field has been in the area of carrier aggregation and cognitive radio. Carrier aggregation is a major component of LTE-Advanced. With carrier aggregation, a number of separate LTE carriers can be combined, by mobile network operators, to increase peak data rates and overall network capacity. Cognitive radios, on the other hand, allow efficient spectrum usage by locating and using spatially vacant spectral bands. High monolithic integration in these application fields can be achieved by employing receiver architectures such as the wideband direct conversion receiver topology. This is advantageous from the view point of cost, power consumption and size. However, many challenges exist, of particular importance is nonlinear distortion arising from analog front-end components such as low noise amplifiers (LNA). Nonlinear distortions especially become severe when several signals of varying amplitudes are received simultaneously. In such cases, nonlinear distortions stemming from strong signals may deteriorate the reception of the weaker signals, and also impair the receiver’s spectrum sensing capabilities. Nonlinearity, usually a consequence of dynamic range limitation, degrades performance in wideband multi-operator communications systems, and it will have a notable role in future wireless communication system design. This thesis presents a digital domain linearization technique that employs a very nonlinear auxiliary receiver path for nonlinear distortion cancellation. The proposed linearization technique relies on one-time adaptively-determined linearization coefficients for cancelling nonlinear distortions. Specifically, we take a look at canceling the troublesome in-band third order intermodulation products using the proposed technique. The proposed technique can be extended to cancel out both even and higher order odd intermodulation products. Dynamic behavioral models are used to account for RF nonlinearities, including memory effects which cannot be ignored in the wideband scenario. Since the proposed linearization technique involves the use of two receiver paths, techniques for correcting phase delays between the two paths are also introduced. Simplicity is the hallmark of the proposed linearization technique. It can achieve up to +30 dBm in IIP3 performance with ADC resolution being a major performance bottleneck. It also shows strong tolerance to strong blocker nonlinearities

Software-Defined Lighting.

For much of the past century, indoor lighting has been based on incandescent or gas-discharge technology. But, with LED lighting experiencing a 20x/decade increase in flux density, 10x/decade decrease in cost, and linear improvements in luminous efficiency, solid-state lighting is finally cost-competitive with the status quo. As a result, LED lighting is projected to reach over 70% market penetration by 2030. This dissertation claims that solid-state lighting’s real potential has been barely explored, that now is the time to explore it, and that new lighting platforms and applications can drive lighting far beyond its roots as an illumination technology. Scaling laws make solid-state lighting competitive with conventional lighting, but two key features make solid-state lighting an enabler for many new applications: the high switching speeds possible using LEDs and the color palettes realizable with Red-Green-Blue-White (RGBW) multi-chip assemblies. For this dissertation, we have explored the post-illumination potential of LED lighting in applications as diverse as visible light communications, indoor positioning, smart dust time synchronization, and embedded device configuration, with an eventual eye toward supporting all of them using a shared lighting infrastructure under a unified system architecture that provides software-control over lighting. To explore the space of software-defined lighting (SDL), we design a compact, flexible, and networked SDL platform to allow researchers to rapidly test new ideas. Using this platform, we demonstrate the viability of several applications, including multi-luminaire synchronized communication to a photodiode receiver, communication to mobile phone cameras, and indoor positioning using unmodified mobile phones. We show that all these applications and many other potential applications can be simultaneously supported by a single lighting infrastructure under software control.PhDElectrical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/111482/1/samkuo_1.pd

A Millimeter-Wave Coexistent RFIC Receiver Architecture in 0.18-µm SiGe BiCMOS for Radar and Communication Systems

Innovative circuit architectures and techniques to enhance the performance of several key BiCMOS RFIC building blocks applied in radar and wireless communication systems operating at the millimeter-wave frequencies are addressed in this dissertation. The former encapsulates the development of an advanced, low-cost and miniature millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver for short-range, high-resolution radar and high data rate communication systems. A new class of broadband low power consumption active balun-LNA consisting of two common emitters amplifiers mutually coupled thru an AC stacked transformer for power saving and gain boosting. The active balun-LNA exhibits new high linearity technique using a constant gm cell transconductance independent of input-outputs variations based on equal emitters’ area ratios. A novel multi-stages active balun-LNA with innovative technique to mitigate amplitude and phase imbalances is proposed. The new multi-stages balun-LNA technique consists of distributed feed-forward averaging recycles correction for amplitude and phase errors and is insensitive to unequal paths parasitic from input to outputs. The distributed averaging recycles correction technique resolves the amplitude and phase errors residuals in a multi-iterative process. The new multi-stages balun-LNA averaging correction technique is frequency independent and can perform amplitude and phase calibrations without relying on passive lumped elements for compensation. The multi-stage balun-LNA exhibits excellent performance from 10 to 50 GHz with amplitude and phase mismatches less than 0.7 dB and 2.86º, respectively. Furthermore, the new multi-stages balun-LNA operates in current mode and shows high linearity with low power consumption. The unique balun-LNA design can operates well into mm-wave regions and is an integral block of the mm-wave radar and communication systems. The integration of several RFIC blocks constitutes the broadband millimeter-wave coexistent current mode direct conversion receiver architecture operating from 22- 44 GHz. The system and architectural level analysis provide a unique understanding into the receiver characteristics and design trade-offs. The RF front-end is based on the broadband multi-stages active balun-LNA coupled into a fully balanced passive mixer with an all-pass in-phase/quadrature phase generator. The trans-impedance amplifier converts the input signal current into a voltage gain at the outputs. Simultaneously, the high power input signal current is channelized into an anti-aliasing filter with 20 dB rejection for out of band interferers. In addition, the dissertation demonstrates a wide dynamic range system with small die area, cost effective and very low power consumption