Adaptive space-time processing for digital mobile radio communication systems

The performance of digital mobile radio communication systems is primarily limited by cochannel interference and multipath fading. Antenna arrays, with optimum combining (OC), have been shown to combat multipath fading of the desired signal and are capable of reducing the power of interfering signals at the receiver through spatial filtering. With OC, the signals received by several antenna elements are weighted and combined to maximize the output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SLNR). We derive new closed-form expressions for (1) the probability density function (PDF) of the SINR at the output of the optimum combiner, (2) the average probability of bit error rate (BER) and its upper bound, and (3) the outage probability in a Rayleigh fading environment with multiple cochannel interferers. The study covers both the case when the number of antenna elements exceeds the number of interferers and vice versa. We consider independent fading at each antenna element, as well as the effect of fading correlation. The analysis is also extended to processing using maximal ratio combining (MRC). The performance of the optimum combiner is compared to that of the maximal ratio combiner and results show that OC performs significantly better than MRC. We investigate the performance of OC in a microcellular environment where the desired signal and the cochannel interference can have different statistical characteristics. The desired signal is assumed to have Rician statistics implying that a dominant multipath reflection or a line-of-sight (LOS) propagation exists within-cell transmission. Interfering signals from cochannel cells are assumed to be subject to Rayleigh fading due to the absence of LOS propagation. This is the so called Rician/Rayleigh model. We also study OC for a special case of the Rician/Rayleigh model, the Nonfading/Rayleigh model. We derive expressions for the PDF of the SJNR, the BER and the outage probability for both Rician/Rayleigh and Nonfading/Rayleigh models. Similar expressions are derived with MRC. Another area in which space-time processing may provide significant benefits is when wideband signals (such as code division multiple access (CDMA) signals) are overlaid on existing narrowband user signals. The conventional approach of rejecting narrowband interference in direct-sequence (DS) CDMA systems has been to sample the received signal at the chip interval, and to exploit the high correlation between the interference samples prior to spread spectrum demodulation. A different approach is space-time processing. We study two space-time receiver architectures, referred to as cascade and joint, respectively, and evaluate the performance of a DS-CDMA signal overlaying a narrowband signal for personal communication systems (PCS). We define aild evaluate the asymptotic efficiency of each configuration. We develop new closed-form expressions for the PDF of the SINR at the array output, the BER and its upper bound, for both cascade and joint configurations. We also analyze the performance of this system in the presence of multiple access interference (MAJ)

Hardware Realization of a Transform Domain Communication System

The purpose of this research was to implement a Transform Domain Communication System (TDCS) in hardware and compare experimental bit error performance with results published in literature. The intent is to demonstrate the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of a TDCS in communicating binary data across a real channel. In this case, an acoustic channel that is laden with narrowband interference was considered. A TDCS user pair was constructed to validate the proposed design using Matlab™ to control a PC sound card. The proposed TDCS design used the Bartlett method of spectrum estimation, the spectral notching algorithm found in TDCS literature, quadrature phase shift keying, and minimum mean square error transverse equalization to mitigate the effects of noise and intersymbol interference. Water-filling was evaluated as an alternative to spectral notching for performing waveform design and is shown to perform equivalently. Validated software was migrated to code suitable for use onboard a Digital Signal Processor Starter Kit (DSK). Two DSK boards were used, one for transmission and reception, and bit error performance results were obtained. Bit error analysis reveals that the TDCS hardware performs approximately the same as literature suggests

A Direct Sequence Code-Division Multiple-Access Local Area Network Model

The United States Air Force relies heavily on computer networks for every-day operations. The medium access control (MAC) protocol currently used by most local area (LAN) permits a single station to access the network at a time (e.g. CSMA/CD or Ethernet). This limits network throughput to, at most, the maximum transmission rate of a single node with overhead neglected. Significant delays are observed when a LAN is overloaded by multiple users attempting to access the common medium. In CSMA/CD, collisions are detected and the data sent by the nodes involved are delayed and transmitted at a later time. The retransmission time is determined with a binary exponential back-off-algorithm. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a technique that increases channel capacity by allowing multiple signals to occupy the same bandwidth simultaneously. Each signal is spread through multiplication with a unique pseudo-random code that distinguishes it from all other signals. Upon reception, the signal of interest is despread and separated from other incoming signals by multiplying it with the same exact code. With this technique, it is possible for multiple stations to transmit simultaneously with minimal ill effects. A simulation model is developed for a direct sequence spread spectrum CDMA (DS/CDMA) channel that incorporates the effects of multiple access interferers (MAI) having spreading codes from the same or different code families. The model introduces cross-correlation coefficients to calculate the signal-to-interference ratio and determine channel bit error performance. Transmission media attenuation and the near-far effects are accounted for in the model design. The model utility is demonstrated by determining the loss characteristics of a coaxial spread spectrum network. Due to the modular design, other transmission media characteristic can be easily incorporated. A bus network topology is simulated using 10Base2 coaxial cable. The model is compared and validated against a spread spectrum local area network hardware test bed

Intercarrier Interference Suppression for the OFDM Systems in Time-Varying Multipath Fading Channels

Due to its spectral efficiency and robustness over the multipath channels, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has served as one of the major modulation schemes for the modern communication systems. In the future, the wireless OFDM systems are expected to operate at high carrier-frequencies, high speed and high throughput mobile reception, where the fasting time-varying fading channels are encountered. The channel variation destroys the orthogonality among the subcarriers and leads to the intercarrier interference (ICI). ICI poses a significant limitation to the wireless OFDM systems. The aim of this dissertation is to find an efficient method of providing reliable communication using OFDM in the fast time-varying fading channel scenarios. First, we investigate the OFDM performance in the situation of time-varying mobile channels in the presence of multiple Doppler frequency shifts. A new mathematical framework of the ICI effect is derived. The simulation results show that ICI induces an irreducible error probability floor, which in proportional to the Doppler frequency shifts. Furthermore, it is observed that ICI power arises from a few adjacent subcarriers. This observation motivates us to design the low-complexity Q-tap equalizers, namely, Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) linear equalizer and Decision Feedback (DF) non-linear equalizer to mitigate the ICI. Simulation results show that both Q-tap equalizers can improve the system performance in the sense of symbol error rate (SER). To employ these equalizers, the channel state information is also required. In this dissertation, we also design a pilot-aided channel estimation via Wiener filtering for a time-varying Wide-sense Stationary Uncorrelated Scatterers (WSSUS) channel model. The channel estimator utilizes that channel statistical properties. Our proposed low-complexity ICI suppression scheme, which incorporates the Q-tap equalizer with our proposed channel estimator, can significantly improve the performance of the OFDM systems in a fast time-varying fading channels. At the last part of the dissertation, an alternative ICI mitigation approach, which is based on the ICI self-cancellation coding, is also discussed. The EM-based approach, which solves the phase and amplitude ambiguities associated with this approach, is also introduced