Distributed Beamforming in Wireless Multiuser Relay-Interference Networks with Quantized Feedback

We study quantized beamforming in wireless amplify-and-forward relay-interference networks with any number of transmitters, relays, and receivers. We design the quantizer of the channel state information to minimize the probability that at least one receiver incorrectly decodes its desired symbol(s). Correspondingly, we introduce a generalized diversity measure that encapsulates the conventional one as the first-order diversity. Additionally, it incorporates the second-order diversity, which is concerned with the transmitter power dependent logarithmic terms that appear in the error rate expression. First, we show that, regardless of the quantizer and the amount of feedback that is used, the relay-interference network suffers a second-order diversity loss compared to interference-free networks. Then, two different quantization schemes are studied: First, using a global quantizer, we show that a simple relay selection scheme can achieve maximal diversity. Then, using the localization method, we construct both fixed-length and variable-length local (distributed) quantizers (fLQs and vLQs). Our fLQs achieve maximal first-order diversity, whereas our vLQs achieve maximal diversity. Moreover, we show that all the promised diversity and array gains can be obtained with arbitrarily low feedback rates when the transmitter powers are sufficiently large. Finally, we confirm our analytical findings through simulations.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figures, submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, July 2010. This work was presented in part at IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), Nov. 200

Principles of Physical Layer Security in Multiuser Wireless Networks: A Survey

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the domain of physical layer security in multiuser wireless networks. The essential premise of physical-layer security is to enable the exchange of confidential messages over a wireless medium in the presence of unauthorized eavesdroppers without relying on higher-layer encryption. This can be achieved primarily in two ways: without the need for a secret key by intelligently designing transmit coding strategies, or by exploiting the wireless communication medium to develop secret keys over public channels. The survey begins with an overview of the foundations dating back to the pioneering work of Shannon and Wyner on information-theoretic security. We then describe the evolution of secure transmission strategies from point-to-point channels to multiple-antenna systems, followed by generalizations to multiuser broadcast, multiple-access, interference, and relay networks. Secret-key generation and establishment protocols based on physical layer mechanisms are subsequently covered. Approaches for secrecy based on channel coding design are then examined, along with a description of inter-disciplinary approaches based on game theory and stochastic geometry. The associated problem of physical-layer message authentication is also introduced briefly. The survey concludes with observations on potential research directions in this area.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures, 303 refs. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1303.1609 by other authors. IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials, 201

Robust MMSE Precoding Strategy for Multiuser MIMO Relay Systems with Switched Relaying and Side Information

In this work, we propose a minimum mean squared error (MMSE) robust base station (BS) precoding strategy based on switched relaying (SR) processing and limited transmission of side information for interference suppression in the downlink of multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relay systems. The BS and the MIMO relay station (RS) are both equipped with a codebook of interleaving matrices. For a given channel state information (CSI) the selection function at the BS chooses the optimum interleaving matrix from the codebook based on two optimization criteria to design the robust precoder. Prior to the payload transmission the BS sends the index corresponding to the selected interleaving matrix to the RS, where the best interleaving matrix is selected to build the optimum relay processing matrix. The entries of the codebook are randomly generated unitary matrices. Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed techniques is significantly better than prior art in the case of imperfect CSI.

Rate Splitting for MIMO Wireless Networks: A Promising PHY-Layer Strategy for LTE Evolution

MIMO processing plays a central part towards the recent increase in spectral and energy efficiencies of wireless networks. MIMO has grown beyond the original point-to-point channel and nowadays refers to a diverse range of centralized and distributed deployments. The fundamental bottleneck towards enormous spectral and energy efficiency benefits in multiuser MIMO networks lies in a huge demand for accurate channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT). This has become increasingly difficult to satisfy due to the increasing number of antennas and access points in next generation wireless networks relying on dense heterogeneous networks and transmitters equipped with a large number of antennas. CSIT inaccuracy results in a multi-user interference problem that is the primary bottleneck of MIMO wireless networks. Looking backward, the problem has been to strive to apply techniques designed for perfect CSIT to scenarios with imperfect CSIT. In this paper, we depart from this conventional approach and introduce the readers to a promising strategy based on rate-splitting. Rate-splitting relies on the transmission of common and private messages and is shown to provide significant benefits in terms of spectral and energy efficiencies, reliability and CSI feedback overhead reduction over conventional strategies used in LTE-A and exclusively relying on private message transmissions. Open problems, impact on standard specifications and operational challenges are also discussed.Comment: accepted to IEEE Communication Magazine, special issue on LTE Evolutio

Power Allocation in Wireless Relay Networks

This thesis is mainly concerned with power allocation issues in wireless relay networks where a single or multiple relays assist transmission from a single or multiple sources to a destination. First, a network model with a single source and multiple relays is considered, in which both cases of orthogonal and non--orthogonal relaying are investigated. For the case of orthogonal relaying, two power allocation schemes corresponding to two partial channel state information (CSI) assumptions are proposed. Given the lack of full and perfect CSI, appropriate signal processing at the relays and/or destination is also developed. The performance behavior of the system with power allocation between the source and the relays is also analyzed. For the case of non-orthogonal relaying, it is demonstrated that optimal power allocation is not sufficiently effective. Instead, a relay beamforming scheme is proposed. A comprehensive comparison between the orthogonal relaying with power allocation scheme and the non-orthogonal relaying with beamforming scheme is then carried out, which reveals several interesting conclusions with respect to both error performance and system throughput. In the second part of the thesis, a network model with multiple sources and a single relay is considered. The transmission model is applicable for uplink channels in cellular mobile systems in which multiple mobile terminals communicate with the base station with the help of a single relay station. Single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) technique with frequency domain equalization is adopted in order to avoid the amplification of the multiple access interference at the relay. Minimizing the transmit power at the relay and optimizing the fairness among the sources in terms of throughput are the two objectives considered in implementing power allocation schemes. The problems are visualized as water-filling and water-discharging models and two optimal power allocation schemes are proposed, accordingly. Finally, the last part of the thesis is extended to a network model with multiple sources and multiple relays. The orthogonal multiple access technique is employed in order to avoid multiple access interference. Proposed is a joint optimal beamforming and power allocation scheme in which an alternative optimization technique is applied to deal with the non-convexity of the power allocation problem. Furthermore, recognizing the high complexity and large overhead information exchange when the number of sources and relays increases, a relay selection scheme is proposed. Since each source is supported by at most one relay, the feedback information from the destination to each relay can be significantly reduced. Using an equal power allocation scheme, relay selection is still an NP-hard combinatorial optimization problem. Nevertheless, the proposed sub-optimal scheme yields a comparable performance with a much lower computational complexity and can be well suited for practical systems

Resource allocation and feedback in wireless multiuser networks

This thesis focuses on the design of algorithms for resource allocation and feedback in wireless multiuser and heterogeneous networks. In particular, three key design challenges expected to have a major impact on future wireless networks are considered: cross-layer scheduling; structured quantization codebook design for MU-MIMO networks with limited feedback; and resource allocation to provide physical layer security. The first design challenge is cross-layer scheduling, where policies are proposed for two network architectures: user scheduling in single-cell multiuser networks aided by a relay; and base station (BS) scheduling in CoMP. These scheduling policies are then analyzed to guarantee satisfaction of three performance metrics: SEP; packet delay; and packet loss probability (PLP) due to buffer overflow. The concept of the τ-achievable PLP region is also introduced to explicitly describe the tradeoff in PLP between different users. The second design challenge is structured quantization codebook design in wireless networks with limited feedback, for both MU-MIMO and CoMP. In the MU-MIMO network, two codebook constructions are proposed, which are based on structured transformations of a base codebook. In the CoMP network, a low-complexity construction is proposed to solve the problem of variable codebook dimensions due to changes in the number of coordinated BSs. The proposed construction is shown to have comparable performance with the standard approach based on a random search, while only requiring linear instead of exponential complexity. The final design challenge is resource allocation for physical layer security in MU-MIMO. To guarantee physical layer security, the achievable secrecy sum-rate is explicitly derived for the regularized channel inversion (RCI) precoder. To improve performance, power allocation and precoder design are jointly optimized using a new algorithm based on convex optimization techniques

Resource allocation and feedback in wireless multiuser networks

This thesis focuses on the design of algorithms for resource allocation and feedback in wireless multiuser and heterogeneous networks. In particular, three key design challenges expected to have a major impact on future wireless networks are considered: cross-layer scheduling; structured quantization codebook design for MU-MIMO networks with limited feedback; and resource allocation to provide physical layer security. The first design challenge is cross-layer scheduling, where policies are proposed for two network architectures: user scheduling in single-cell multiuser networks aided by a relay; and base station (BS) scheduling in CoMP. These scheduling policies are then analyzed to guarantee satisfaction of three performance metrics: SEP; packet delay; and packet loss probability (PLP) due to buffer overflow. The concept of the τ-achievable PLP region is also introduced to explicitly describe the tradeoff in PLP between different users. The second design challenge is structured quantization codebook design in wireless networks with limited feedback, for both MU-MIMO and CoMP. In the MU-MIMO network, two codebook constructions are proposed, which are based on structured transformations of a base codebook. In the CoMP network, a low-complexity construction is proposed to solve the problem of variable codebook dimensions due to changes in the number of coordinated BSs. The proposed construction is shown to have comparable performance with the standard approach based on a random search, while only requiring linear instead of exponential complexity. The final design challenge is resource allocation for physical layer security in MU-MIMO. To guarantee physical layer security, the achievable secrecy sum-rate is explicitly derived for the regularized channel inversion (RCI) precoder. To improve performance, power allocation and precoder design are jointly optimized using a new algorithm based on convex optimization techniques