Ultra-wideband impulse radio with diversity reception

Master'sMASTER OF ENGINEERIN

Transceiver design and system optimization for ultra-wideband communications

This dissertation investigates the potential promises and proposes possible solutions to the challenges of designing transceivers and optimizing system parameters in ultra-wideband (UWB) systems. The goal is to provide guidelines for UWB transceiver implementations under constraints by regulation, existing interference, and channel estimation. New UWB pulse shapes are invented that satisfy the Federal Communications Commission spectral mask. Parameters are designed to possibly implement the proposed pulses. A link budget is quantified based on an accurate frequency-dependent path loss calculation to account for variations across the ultra-wide bandwidth of the signal. Achievable information rates are quantified as a function of transmission distance over additive white Gaussian noise and multipath channels under specific UWB constraints: limited power spectral density, specific modulation formats, and a highly dispersive channel. The effect of self-interference (SI) and inter-symbol interference (ISI) on channel capacity is determined, and modulation formats that mitigate against this effect is identified. Spreading gains of familiar UWB signaling formats are evaluated, and UWB signals are proved to be spread spectrum. Conditions are formulated for trading coding gain with spreading gain with only a small impact on performance. Numerical results are examined to demonstrate that over a frequency-selective channel, the spreading gain may be beneficial in reducing the SI and ISI resulting in higher information rates. A reduced-rank adaptive filtering technique is applied to the problem of interference suppression and optimum combining in UWB communications. The reduced-rank combining method, in particular the eigencanceler, is proposed and compared with a minimum mean square error Rake receiver. Simulation results are evaluated to show that the performance of the proposed method is superior to the minimum mean square error when the correlation matrix is estimated from limited data. Impact of channel estimation on UWB system performance is investigated when path delays and path amplitudes are jointly estimated. Cramér-Rao bound (CRB) expressions for the variance of path delay and amplitude estimates are formulated using maximum likelihood estimation. Using the errors obtained from the CRB, the effective signal-to-noise ratio for UWB Rake receivers employing maximum ratio combining (MRC) is devised in the presence of channel path delay and amplitude errors. An exact expression of the bit error rate (BER) for UWB Rake receivers with MRC is derived with imperfect estimates of channel path delays and amplitudes. Further, this analysis is applied to design optimal transceiver parameters. The BER is used as part of a binary symmetric channel and the achievable information rates are evaluated. The optimum power allocation and number of symbols allocated to the pilot are developed with respect to maximizing the information rate. The optimal signal bandwidth to be used for UWB communications is determined in the presence of imperfect channel state information. The number of multipath components to be collected by Rake receivers is designed to optimize performance with non-ideal channel estimation

Exact BER analysis and design of Prerake combining schemes for direct sequence ultra-wideband multiple access systems

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Bandwidth scaling behavior in wireless systems : theory, experimentation, and performance analysis

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2010.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 167-174).The need for ubiquitous wireless services has prompted the exploration of using increasingly larger transmission bandwidths often in environments with harsh propagation conditions. However, present analyses do not capture the behavior of systems in these channels as the bandwidth changes. This thesis: describes the development of an automated measurement apparatus capable of characterizing wideband channels up to 16 GHz; formulates a framework for evaluating the performance of wireless systems in realistic propagation environments; and applies this framework to sets of channel realizations collected during a comprehensive measurement campaign. In particular, the symbol error probability of realistic wideband subset diversity (SSD) systems, as well as improved lower bounds on time-of-arrival (TOA) estimation are derived and evaluated using experimental data at a variety of bandwidths. These results provide insights into how the performance of wireless systems scales as a function of bandwidth. Experimental data is used to quantify the behavior of channel resolvability as a function of bandwidth. The results show that there are significant differences in the amount of energy captured by a wideband SSD combiner under different propagation conditions. In particular, changes in the number of combined paths affect system performance more significantly in non-line-of-sight conditions than in line-of-sight conditions. Results also indicate that, for a fixed number of combined paths, lower bandwidths may provide better performance because a larger portion of the available energy is captured at those bandwidths. The expressions for lower bounds on TOA estimation, developed based on the Ziv-Zakai bound (ZZB), are able to account for the a priori information about the TOA as well as statistical information regarding the multipath phenomena. The ZZB, evaluated using measured channel realizations, shows the presence of an ambiguity region for moderate signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs). It is shown that in a variety of propagation conditions, this ambiguity region diminishes as bandwidth increases. Results indicate that decreases in the root mean square error for TOA estimation were significant for bandwidths up to approximately 8 GHz for SNRs in this region.by Wesley M. Gifford.Ph.D

Comparison between Coherent and Noncoherent Receivers for UWB Communications

We present a comparison between coherent and noncoherent UWB receivers, under a realistic propagation environment, that takes into account also the effect of path-dependent pulse distortion. As far as coherent receivers are concerned, both maximal ratio combining (MRC) and equal gain combining (EGC) techniques are analyzed, considering a limited number of estimated paths. Furthermore, two classical noncoherent schemes, a differential detector, and a transmitted-reference receiver, together with two iterative solutions, recently proposed in the literature, are considered. Finally, we extend the multisymbol approach to the UWB case and we propose a decision-feedback receiver that reduces the complexity of the previous strategy, thus still maintaining good performance. While traditional noncoherent receivers exhibit performance loss, if compared to coherent detectors, the iterative and the decision-feedback ones are able to guarantee error probability close to the one obtained employing an ideal RAKE, without requiring channel estimation, in the presence of static indoor channel and limited multiuser interference

Optimum receiver performance of TH-PPM ultra wideband system in multiple user interference, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2007, nr 4

This paper demonstrates optimum receiver performance in terms of bit error rate (BER) for time hopping pulse position modulation (TH-PPM) ultra wideband (UWB) system in multiple user interference environment for indoor radio communication. Equal gain combining and selective gain combining have been demonstrated in terms of ideal RAKE (ARAKE), selective RAKE (SRAKE) and partial RAKE (PRAKE) receiver performances. The recently accepted IEEE 802.15.3a model of the UWB channel has been used to describe UWB propagation in indoor environment. Two channel scenarios named CM-1 and CM-3 for IEEE 802.15.3a channel model have been investigated principally. Finally, this paper concludes with an approximation of equivalence of number of fingers in SRAKE and PRAKE receivers as well as an indication of SNR gains achievable as the RAKE finger number is increased, espe- cially with multiple user interference (MUI), for a 16.6 Mbit/s UWB system

Ultra-wideband technology for short-range wireless communication

The ultra-wideband (UWB) radio core idea is to open large amounts of spectrum to a variety of users with little mutual interference between them. While ultra-wideband is being championed by several commercial companies, this technology has not followed the conventional path where commercial interest is preceded by years of academic research. This work attempts to fill in some of the gap by studying fundamental properties of communications with impulse-based radio UWB signals. We study jam resistance and capacity of UWB. Jam resistance is analyzed for binary pulse position modulation (PPM) with the interference being modeled as correlated Gaussian. Closed-form expressions are provided for the jam resistance of a PPM UWB system utilizing rectangular pulses. Simple approximations are obtained for special cases (narrowband interference). Such analysis is extended to other practical UWB waveforms such as Gaussian and Rayleigh monocycles. It is shown that under some conditions, the UWB jam resistance is superior to that of direct sequence spread spectrum (DS-SS). In the second part of this work, we study the capacity of the single-user UWB communication systems utilizing M-ary PPM and bi-phase as well as on-off keying modulation scheme over additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and multipath channels. Starting from the known capacity of M-ary modulated signals, the computation of UWB capacity over the AWGN channel takes into account UWB specific constraints. The constraints are the power spectrum density limitation under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Part 15 rules and the spreading ratio required to achieve a specified jam resistance level. UWB capacity over AWGN channel is expressed as a function of spreading ratio and communication range. Trade-offs between capacity and range of communications and between capacity and spreading ratio are explored. We extend the study of capacity of UWB communications to the multipath channel using the modified S-V model proposed by the IEEE 802.15.3a task group. The complementary cumulative distribution function (CCDF) of the capacities, subject to the FCC power spectral density (PSD) limitation, are obtained for the all Rake (ARake) and selective Rake (SRake) receivers. In both of the cases, maximum ratio combining is employed. Finally, the capacity of multiple-access UWB communications is studied over the AWGN channel. Under certain assumptions, the multiple-access noise component at the receiver is modeled as Gaussian. An expression for the UWB capacity of the multiple-access channel is developed as a function of number of users

Measurement-Based Modeling of Wireless Propagation Channels - MIMO and UWB

Future wireless systems envision higher speeds and more reliable services but at the same time face challenges in terms of bandwidth being a limited resource. Two promising techniques that can provide an increased throughput without requiring additional bandwidth allocation are multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems and ultra-wideband (UWB) systems. However, the performance of such systems is highly dependent on the properties of the wireless propagation channel, and an understanding of the channel is therefore crucial in the design of future wireless systems. Examples of such systems covered by this thesis are wireless personal area networks (papers I and II), vehicle-to-vehicle communications (paper III), board-to-board communications inside computers (paper IV) and sensor networks for industrial applications (paper V). Typically, channel models are used to evaluate the performance of different transmission and reception schemes. Channel modeling is the focus of this thesis, which contains a collection of papers that analyze and model the behavior of MIMO and UWB propagation channels. Paper I investigates the fading characteristics of wireless personal area networks (PANs), networks that typically involve human influence close to the antenna terminals. Based on extensive channel measurements using irregular antenna arrays, typical properties of PAN propagation channels are discussed and a model for the complete fading of a single link is presented. Paper II extends the model from paper I to a complete MIMO channel model. The paper combines the classical LOS model for MIMO with results from paper I by prescribing different fading statistics and mean power at the different antenna elements. The model is verified against measurement data and the paper also provides a parameterization for an example of a PAN scenario. Paper III presents a geometry-based stochastic MIMO model for vehicle-to-vehicle communications. The most important propagation effects are discussed based on the results from extensive channel measurements, and the modeling approach is motivated by the non-stationary behavior of such channels. The model distinguishes between diffuse contributions and those stemming from interaction with significant objects in the propagation channel, and the observed fading characteristics of the latter are stochastically accounted for in the model. Paper IV gives a characterization of UWB propagation channels inside desktop computer chassis. By studying measurement results from two different computers, it is concluded that the propagation channel only shows minor differences for different computers and positions within the chassis. It is also found out that the interference power produced by the computer is limited to certain subbands, suggesting that multiband UWB systems are more suitable for this type of applications. Paper V describes a UWB channel model based on the first UWB measurements in an industrial environment. Analyzing results from two different factory halls, it is concluded that energy arrives at the receiver in clusters, which motivates the use of a classical multi-cluster model to describe the channel impulse response. Parts of the results from this paper were also used as input to the channel model in the IEEE 802.15.4a UWB standardization work. In summary, the work within this thesis leads to an increased understanding of the behavior of wireless propagation channels for MIMO and UWB systems. By providing three detailed simulation models, two for MIMO and one for UWB, it can thus contribute to a more efficient design of the wireless communications systems of tomorrow