Multicast Multigroup Precoding and User Scheduling for Frame-Based Satellite Communications

The present work focuses on the forward link of a broadband multibeam satellite system that aggressively reuses the user link frequency resources. Two fundamental practical challenges, namely the need to frame multiple users per transmission and the per-antenna transmit power limitations, are addressed. To this end, the so-called frame-based precoding problem is optimally solved using the principles of physical layer multicasting to multiple co-channel groups under per-antenna constraints. In this context, a novel optimization problem that aims at maximizing the system sum rate under individual power constraints is proposed. Added to that, the formulation is further extended to include availability constraints. As a result, the high gains of the sum rate optimal design are traded off to satisfy the stringent availability requirements of satellite systems. Moreover, the throughput maximization with a granular spectral efficiency versus SINR function, is formulated and solved. Finally, a multicast-aware user scheduling policy, based on the channel state information, is developed. Thus, substantial multiuser diversity gains are gleaned. Numerical results over a realistic simulation environment exhibit as much as 30% gains over conventional systems, even for 7 users per frame, without modifying the framing structure of legacy communication standards.Comment: Accepted for publication to the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, 201

Robustness maximization of parallel multichannel systems

Bit error rate (BER) minimization and SNR-gap maximization, two robustness optimization problems, are solved, under average power and bit-rate constraints, according to the waterfilling policy. Under peak-power constraint the solutions differ and this paper gives bit-loading solutions of both robustness optimization problems over independent parallel channels. The study is based on analytical approach with generalized Lagrangian relaxation tool and on greedy-type algorithm approach. Tight BER expressions are used for square and rectangular quadrature amplitude modulations. Integer bit solution of analytical continuous bit-rates is performed with a new generalized secant method. The asymptotic convergence of both robustness optimizations is proved for both analytical and algorithmic approaches. We also prove that, in conventional margin maximization problem, the equivalence between SNR-gap maximization and power minimization does not hold with peak-power limitation. Based on a defined dissimilarity measure, bit-loading solutions are compared over power line communication channel for multicarrier systems. Simulation results confirm the asymptotic convergence of both allocation policies. In non asymptotic regime the allocation policies can be interchanged depending on the robustness measure and the operating point of the communication system. The low computational effort of the suboptimal solution based on analytical approach leads to a good trade-off between performance and complexity.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, submitted to IEEE Trans. Inform. Theor