Joint Communication and Positioning based on Channel Estimation

Mobile wireless communication systems have rapidly and globally become an integral part of everyday life and have brought forth the internet of things. With the evolution of mobile wireless communication systems, joint communication and positioning becomes increasingly important and enables a growing range of new applications. Humanity has already grown used to having access to multimedia data everywhere at every time and thereby employing all sorts of location-based services. Global navigation satellite systems can provide highly accurate positioning results whenever a line-of-sight path is available. Unfortunately, harsh physical environments are known to degrade the performance of existing systems. Therefore, ground-based systems can assist the existing position estimation gained by satellite systems. Determining positioning-relevant information from a unified signal structure designed for a ground-based joint communication and positioning system can either complement existing systems or substitute them. Such a system framework promises to enhance the existing systems by enabling a highly accurate and reliable positioning performance and increased coverage. Furthermore, the unified signal structure yields synergetic effects. In this thesis, I propose a channel estimation-based joint communication and positioning system that employs a virtual training matrix. This matrix consists of a relatively small training percentage, plus the detected communication data itself. Via a core semi- blind estimation approach, this iteratively includes the already detected data to accurately determine the positioning-relevant parameter, by mutually exchanging information between the communication part and the positioning part of the receiver. Synergy is created. I propose a generalized system framework, suitable to be used in conjunction with various communication system techniques. The most critical positioning-relevant parameter, the time-of-arrival, is part of a physical multipath parameter vector. Estimating the time-of-arrival, therefore, means solving a global, non-linear, multi-dimensional optimization problem. More precisely, it means solving the so-called inverse problem. I thoroughly assess various problem formulations and variations thereof, including several different measurements and estimation algorithms. A significant challenge, when it comes to solving the inverse problem to determine the positioning-relevant path parameters, is imposed by realistic multipath channels. Most parameter estimation algorithms have proven to perform well in moderate multipath environments. It is mathematically straightforward to optimize this performance in the sense that the number of observations has to exceed the number of parameters to be estimated. The typical parameter estimation problem, on the other hand, is based on channel estimates, and it assumes that so-called snapshot measurements are available. In the case of realistic channel models, however, the number of observations does not necessarily exceed the number of unknowns. In this thesis, I overcome this problem, proposing a method to reduce the problem dimensionality via joint model order selection and parameter estimation. Employing the approximated and estimated parameter covariance matrix inherently constrains the estimation problem’s model order selection to result in optimal parameter estimation performance and hence optimal positioning performance. To compare these results with the optimally achievable solution, I introduce a focused order-related lower bound in this thesis. Additionally, I use soft information as a weighting matrix to enhance the positioning algorithm positioning performance. For demonstrating the feasibility and the interplay of the proposed system components, I utilize a prototype system, based on multi-layer interleave division multiple access. This proposed system framework and the investigated techniques can be employed for multiple existing systems or build the basis for future joint communication and positioning systems. The assessed estimation algorithms are transferrable to all kinds of joint communication and positioning system designs. This thesis demonstrates their capability to, in principle, successfully cope with challenging estimation problems stemming from harsh physical environments

Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart Environments

The demand for mobile connectivity is continuously increasing, and by 2020 Mobile and Wireless Communications will serve not only very dense populations of mobile phones and nomadic computers, but also the expected multiplicity of devices and sensors located in machines, vehicles, health systems and city infrastructures. Future Mobile Networks are then faced with many new scenarios and use cases, which will load the networks with different data traffic patterns, in new or shared spectrum bands, creating new specific requirements. This book addresses both the techniques to model, analyse and optimise the radio links and transmission systems in such scenarios, together with the most advanced radio access, resource management and mobile networking technologies. This text summarises the work performed by more than 500 researchers from more than 120 institutions in Europe, America and Asia, from both academia and industries, within the framework of the COST IC1004 Action on "Cooperative Radio Communications for Green and Smart Environments". The book will have appeal to graduates and researchers in the Radio Communications area, and also to engineers working in the Wireless industry. Topics discussed in this book include: • Radio waves propagation phenomena in diverse urban, indoor, vehicular and body environments• Measurements, characterization, and modelling of radio channels beyond 4G networks• Key issues in Vehicle (V2X) communication• Wireless Body Area Networks, including specific Radio Channel Models for WBANs• Energy efficiency and resource management enhancements in Radio Access Networks• Definitions and models for the virtualised and cloud RAN architectures• Advances on feasible indoor localization and tracking techniques• Recent findings and innovations in antenna systems for communications• Physical Layer Network Coding for next generation wireless systems• Methods and techniques for MIMO Over the Air (OTA) testin

Wireless indoor localisation within the 5G internet of radio light

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonNumerous applications can be enhanced by accurate and efficient indoor localisation using wireless sensor networks, however trade-offs often exist between these two parameters. In this thesis, realworld and simulation data is used to examine the hybrid millimeter wave and Visible Light Communications (VLC) architecture of the 5G Internet of Radio Light (IoRL) Horizon 2020 project. Consequently, relevant localisation challenges within Visible Light Positioning (VLP) and asynchronous sampling networks are identified, and more accurate and efficient solutions are developed. Currently, VLP relies strongly on the assumed Lambertian properties of light sources. However, in practice, not all lights are Lambertian. To support the widespread deployment of VLC technology in numerous environments, measurements from non-Lambertian sources are analysed to provide new insights into the limitations of existing VLP techniques. Subsequently, a novel VLP calibration technique is proposed, and results indicate a 59% accuracy improvement against existing methods. This solution enables high accuracy centimetre level VLP to be achieved with non- Lambertian sources. Asynchronous sampling of range-based measurements is known to impact localisation performance negatively. Various Asynchronous Sampling Localisation Techniques (ASLT) exist to mitigate these effects. While effective at improving positioning performance, the exact suitability of such solutions is not evident due to their additional processes, subsequent complexity, and increased costs. As such, extensive simulations are conducted to study the effectiveness of ASLT under variable sampling latencies, sensor measurement noise, and target trajectories. Findings highlight the computational demand of existing ASLT and motivate the development of a novel solution. The proposed Kalman Extrapolated Least Squares (KELS) method achieves optimal localisation performance with a significant energy reduction of over 50% when compared to current leading ASLT. The work in this thesis demonstrates both the capability for high performance VLP from non- Lambertian sources as well as the potential for energy efficient localisation for sequentially sampled range measurements.Horizon 202

Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart Environments

The demand for mobile connectivity is continuously increasing, and by 2020 Mobile and Wireless Communications will serve not only very dense populations of mobile phones and nomadic computers, but also the expected multiplicity of devices and sensors located in machines, vehicles, health systems and city infrastructures. Future Mobile Networks are then faced with many new scenarios and use cases, which will load the networks with different data traffic patterns, in new or shared spectrum bands, creating new specific requirements. This book addresses both the techniques to model, analyse and optimise the radio links and transmission systems in such scenarios, together with the most advanced radio access, resource management and mobile networking technologies. This text summarises the work performed by more than 500 researchers from more than 120 institutions in Europe, America and Asia, from both academia and industries, within the framework of the COST IC1004 Action on "Cooperative Radio Communications for Green and Smart Environments". The book will have appeal to graduates and researchers in the Radio Communications area, and also to engineers working in the Wireless industry. Topics discussed in this book include: • Radio waves propagation phenomena in diverse urban, indoor, vehicular and body environments• Measurements, characterization, and modelling of radio channels beyond 4G networks• Key issues in Vehicle (V2X) communication• Wireless Body Area Networks, including specific Radio Channel Models for WBANs• Energy efficiency and resource management enhancements in Radio Access Networks• Definitions and models for the virtualised and cloud RAN architectures• Advances on feasible indoor localization and tracking techniques• Recent findings and innovations in antenna systems for communications• Physical Layer Network Coding for next generation wireless systems• Methods and techniques for MIMO Over the Air (OTA) testin

Localization using Distance Geometry : Minimal Solvers and Robust Methods for Sensor Network Self-Calibration

In this thesis, we focus on the problem of estimating receiver and sender node positions given some form of distance measurements between them. This kind of localization problem has several applications, e.g., global and indoor positioning, sensor network calibration, molecular conformations, data visualization, graph embedding, and robot kinematics. More concretely, this thesis makes contributions in three different areas.First, we present a method for simultaneously registering and merging maps. The merging problem occurs when multiple maps of an area have been constructed and need to be combined into a single representation. If there are no absolute references and the maps are in different coordinate systems, they also need to be registered. In the second part, we construct robust methods for sensor network self-calibration using both Time of Arrival (TOA) and Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurements. One of the difficulties is that corrupt measurements, so-called outliers, are present and should be excluded from the model fitting. To achieve this, we use hypothesis-and-test frameworks together with minimal solvers, resulting in methods that are robust to noise, outliers, and missing data. Several new minimal solvers are introduced to accommodate a range of receiver and sender configurations in 2D and 3D space. These solvers are formulated as polynomial equation systems which are solvedusing methods from algebraic geometry.In the third part, we focus specifically on the problems of trilateration and multilateration, and we present a method that approximates the Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimator for different noise distributions. The proposed approach reduces to an eigendecomposition problem for which there are good solvers. This results in a method that is faster and more numerically stable than the state-of-the-art, while still being easy to implement. Furthermore, we present a robust trilateration method that incorporates a motion model. This enables the removal of outliers in the distance measurements at the same time as drift in the motion model is canceled

Analyzing Granger causality in climate data with time series classification methods

Attribution studies in climate science aim for scientifically ascertaining the influence of climatic variations on natural or anthropogenic factors. Many of those studies adopt the concept of Granger causality to infer statistical cause-effect relationships, while utilizing traditional autoregressive models. In this article, we investigate the potential of state-of-the-art time series classification techniques to enhance causal inference in climate science. We conduct a comparative experimental study of different types of algorithms on a large test suite that comprises a unique collection of datasets from the area of climate-vegetation dynamics. The results indicate that specialized time series classification methods are able to improve existing inference procedures. Substantial differences are observed among the methods that were tested

Radio Communications

In the last decades the restless evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) brought to a deep transformation of our habits. The growth of the Internet and the advances in hardware and software implementations modified our way to communicate and to share information. In this book, an overview of the major issues faced today by researchers in the field of radio communications is given through 35 high quality chapters written by specialists working in universities and research centers all over the world. Various aspects will be deeply discussed: channel modeling, beamforming, multiple antennas, cooperative networks, opportunistic scheduling, advanced admission control, handover management, systems performance assessment, routing issues in mobility conditions, localization, web security. Advanced techniques for the radio resource management will be discussed both in single and multiple radio technologies; either in infrastructure, mesh or ad hoc networks

Recent Advances in Indoor Localization Systems and Technologies

Despite the enormous technical progress seen in the past few years, the maturity of indoor localization technologies has not yet reached the level of GNSS solutions. The 23 selected papers in this book present the recent advances and new developments in indoor localization systems and technologies, propose novel or improved methods with increased performance, provide insight into various aspects of quality control, and also introduce some unorthodox positioning methods

Avoin alustakehitys IEEE 802.15.4 -standardin mukaisessa langattomassa automaatiossa

This doctoral dissertation focuses on open source platform development in wireless automation under IEEE 802.15.4 standard. Research method is empirical. A platform based approach, which targets to the design of a generic open source sensor platform, was selected as a design method. The design targets were further focused by interviewing the experts from the academia and industry. Generic and modular sensor platform, the UWASA Node, was developed as an outcome of this process. Based on the implementation results, a wireless sensor and actuator network based on the UWASA Node was a feasible solution for many types of wireless automation applications. It was also possible to interface it with the other parts of the system. The targeted level of sensor platform genericity was achieved. However, it was also observed that the achieved level of genericity increased the software complexity. The development of commercial sensor platforms, which support IEEE 802.15.4 sensor networking, has narrowed down the role of open source sensor platforms, but they are not disappearing. Commercial software is usually closed and connected to a specified platform, which makes it unsuitable for research and development work. Even though there exits many commercial WSN solutions and the market expectations in this area are high, there is still a lot of work to do before the visions about Internet of Things (IoT) are fulfilled, especially in the context of distributed and locally centralized operations in the network. In terms of control engineering, one of the main research issues is to figure out how the well-known control techniques may be applied in wireless automation where WSN is part of the automation system. Open source platforms offer an important tool in this research and development work.Tämä väitöskirja käsittelee avointa alustakehitystä IEEE 802.15.4 -standardin mukaisessa langattomassa automaatiossa. Tutkimusmenetelmä on empiirinen. Työssä sovelletaan alustaperustaista suunnittelutapaa, joka tähtää yleiskäyttöisen avoimen anturialustan kehittämiseen. Suunnittelun tavoitteita tarkennettiin haastattelemalla alan asiantuntijoita teollisuudesta ja yliopistomaailmasta. Tuloksena suunniteltiin ja toteutettiin anturialusta, the UWASA Node. Implementointituloksista voidaan vetää johtopäätös, että anturialustan tavoiteltu yleiskäyttöisyystaso saavutettiin. Toisaalta saavutettu yleiskäyttöisyystaso lisäsi alustan ohjelmistoarkkitehtuurin monimutkaisuutta. Kaupallisten IEEE 802.15.4 -standardia tukevien anturialustojen tulo markkinoille vähentää avointen anturialustojen käyttöä, mutta ne eivät ole katoamassa. Kaupalliset ohjelmistot ovat tyypillisesti suljettuja ja sidoksissa tiettyyn alustaan, mikä tekee niistä sopimattomia tutkimus- ja tuotekehityskäyttöön. Vaikka nykyään on saatavilla useita kaupallisia langattomia anturi- ja toimilaiteverkkoja, vaaditaan vielä paljon työtä ennen kun kaikki esineiden Internetiin (Internet of Things) liittyvät visiot voidaan toteuttaa. Tämä koskee erityisesti langattomassa anturi- ja toimilaiteverkossa hajautetusti tai paikallisesti toteutettavia toimintoja. Säätötekniikan näkökulmasta keskeinen kysymys on, miten tunnettuja säätömenetelmiä tulee soveltaa langattomassa automaatiossa, jossa langaton anturi- ja toimilaiteverkko on osa automaatiojärjestelmää. Avoimet anturialustat ovat tärkeä työkalu sen selvittämisessä.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

On the use of smartphones as novel photogrammetric water gauging instruments: Developing tools for crowdsourcing water levels

The term global climate change is omnipresent since the beginning of the last decade. Changes in the global climate are associated with an increase in heavy rainfalls that can cause nearly unpredictable flash floods. Consequently, spatio-temporally high-resolution monitoring of rivers becomes increasingly important. Water gauging stations continuously and precisely measure water levels. However, they are rather expensive in purchase and maintenance and are preferably installed at water bodies relevant for water management. Small-scale catchments remain often ungauged. In order to increase the data density of hydrometric monitoring networks and thus to improve the prediction quality of flood events, new, flexible and cost-effective water level measurement technologies are required. They should be oriented towards the accuracy requirements of conventional measurement systems and facilitate the observation of water levels at virtually any time, even at the smallest rivers. A possible solution is the development of a photogrammetric smartphone application (app) for crowdsourcing water levels, which merely requires voluntary users to take pictures of a river section to determine the water level. Today’s smartphones integrate high-resolution cameras, a variety of sensors, powerful processors, and mass storage. However, they are designed for the mass market and use low-cost hardware that cannot comply with the quality of geodetic measurement technology. In order to investigate the potential for mobile measurement applications, research was conducted on the smartphone as a photogrammetric measurement instrument as part of the doctoral project. The studies deal with the geometric stability of smartphone cameras regarding device-internal temperature changes and with the accuracy potential of rotation parameters measured with smartphone sensors. The results show a high, temperature-related variability of the interior orientation parameters, which is why the calibration of the camera should be carried out during the immediate measurement. The results of the sensor investigations show considerable inaccuracies when measuring rotation parameters, especially the compass angle (errors up to 90° were observed). The same applies to position parameters measured by global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers built into smartphones. According to the literature, positional accuracies of about 5 m are possible in best conditions. Otherwise, errors of several 10 m are to be expected. As a result, direct georeferencing of image measurements using current smartphone technology should be discouraged. In consideration of the results, the water gauging app Open Water Levels (OWL) was developed, whose methodological development and implementation constituted the core of the thesis project. OWL enables the flexible measurement of water levels via crowdsourcing without requiring additional equipment or being limited to specific river sections. Data acquisition and processing take place directly in the field, so that the water level information is immediately available. In practice, the user captures a short time-lapse sequence of a river bank with OWL, which is used to calculate a spatio-temporal texture that enables the detection of the water line. In order to translate the image measurement into 3D object space, a synthetic, photo-realistic image of the situation is created from existing 3D data of the river section to be investigated. Necessary approximations of the image orientation parameters are measured by smartphone sensors and GNSS. The assignment of camera image and synthetic image allows for the determination of the interior and exterior orientation parameters by means of space resection and finally the transfer of the image-measured 2D water line into the 3D object space to derive the prevalent water level in the reference system of the 3D data. In comparison with conventionally measured water levels, OWL reveals an accuracy potential of 2 cm on average, provided that synthetic image and camera image exhibit consistent image contents and that the water line can be reliably detected. In the present dissertation, related geometric and radiometric problems are comprehensively discussed. Furthermore, possible solutions, based on advancing developments in smartphone technology and image processing as well as the increasing availability of 3D reference data, are presented in the synthesis of the work. The app Open Water Levels, which is currently available as a beta version and has been tested on selected devices, provides a basis, which, with continuous further development, aims to achieve a final release for crowdsourcing water levels towards the establishment of new and the expansion of existing monitoring networks.Der Begriff des globalen Klimawandels ist seit Beginn des letzten Jahrzehnts allgegenwärtig. Die Veränderung des Weltklimas ist mit einer Zunahme von Starkregenereignissen verbunden, die nahezu unvorhersehbare Sturzfluten verursachen können. Folglich gewinnt die raumzeitlich hochaufgelöste Überwachung von Fließgewässern zunehmend an Bedeutung. Pegelmessstationen erfassen kontinuierlich und präzise Wasserstände, sind jedoch in Anschaffung und Wartung sehr teuer und werden vorzugsweise an wasserwirtschaftlich-relevanten Gewässern installiert. Kleinere Gewässer bleiben häufig unbeobachtet. Um die Datendichte hydrometrischer Messnetze zu erhöhen und somit die Vorhersagequalität von Hochwasserereignissen zu verbessern, sind neue, kostengünstige und flexibel einsetzbare Wasserstandsmesstechnologien erforderlich. Diese sollten sich an den Genauigkeitsanforderungen konventioneller Messsysteme orientieren und die Beobachtung von Wasserständen zu praktisch jedem Zeitpunkt, selbst an den kleinsten Flüssen, ermöglichen. Ein Lösungsvorschlag ist die Entwicklung einer photogrammetrischen Smartphone-Anwendung (App) zum Crowdsourcing von Wasserständen mit welcher freiwillige Nutzer lediglich Bilder eines Flussabschnitts aufnehmen müssen, um daraus den Wasserstand zu bestimmen. Heutige Smartphones integrieren hochauflösende Kameras, eine Vielzahl von Sensoren, leistungsfähige Prozessoren und Massenspeicher. Sie sind jedoch für den Massenmarkt konzipiert und verwenden kostengünstige Hardware, die nicht der Qualität geodätischer Messtechnik entsprechen kann. Um das Einsatzpotential in mobilen Messanwendungen zu eruieren, sind Untersuchungen zum Smartphone als photogrammetrisches Messinstrument im Rahmen des Promotionsprojekts durchgeführt worden. Die Studien befassen sich mit der geometrischen Stabilität von Smartphone-Kameras bezüglich geräteinterner Temperaturänderungen und mit dem Genauigkeitspotential von mit Smartphone-Sensoren gemessenen Rotationsparametern. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine starke, temperaturbedingte Variabilität der inneren Orientierungsparameter, weshalb die Kalibrierung der Kamera zum unmittelbaren Messzeitpunkt erfolgen sollte. Die Ergebnisse der Sensoruntersuchungen zeigen große Ungenauigkeiten bei der Messung der Rotationsparameter, insbesondere des Kompasswinkels (Fehler von bis zu 90° festgestellt). Selbiges gilt auch für Positionsparameter, gemessen durch in Smartphones eingebaute Empfänger für Signale globaler Navigationssatellitensysteme (GNSS). Wie aus der Literatur zu entnehmen ist, lassen sich unter besten Bedingungen Lagegenauigkeiten von etwa 5 m erreichen. Abseits davon sind Fehler von mehreren 10 m zu erwarten. Infolgedessen ist von einer direkten Georeferenzierung von Bildmessungen mittels aktueller Smartphone-Technologie abzusehen. Unter Berücksichtigung der gewonnenen Erkenntnisse wurde die Pegel-App Open Water Levels (OWL) entwickelt, deren methodische Entwicklung und Implementierung den Kern der Arbeit bildete. OWL ermöglicht die flexible Messung von Wasserständen via Crowdsourcing, ohne dabei zusätzliche Ausrüstung zu verlangen oder auf spezifische Flussabschnitte beschränkt zu sein. Datenaufnahme und Verarbeitung erfolgen direkt im Feld, so dass die Pegelinformationen sofort verfügbar sind. Praktisch nimmt der Anwender mit OWL eine kurze Zeitraffersequenz eines Flussufers auf, die zur Berechnung einer Raum-Zeit-Textur dient und die Erkennung der Wasserlinie ermöglicht. Zur Übersetzung der Bildmessung in den 3D-Objektraum wird aus vorhandenen 3D-Daten des zu untersuchenden Flussabschnittes ein synthetisches, photorealistisches Abbild der Aufnahmesituation erstellt. Erforderliche Näherungen der Bildorientierungsparameter werden von Smartphone-Sensoren und GNSS gemessen. Die Zuordnung von Kamerabild und synthetischem Bild erlaubt die Bestimmung der inneren und äußeren Orientierungsparameter mittels räumlichen Rückwärtsschnitt. Nach Rekonstruktion der Aufnahmesituation lässt sich die im Bild gemessene 2D-Wasserlinie in den 3D-Objektraum projizieren und der vorherrschende Wasserstand im Referenzsystem der 3D-Daten ableiten. Im Soll-Ist-Vergleich mit konventionell gemessenen Pegeldaten zeigt OWL ein erreichbares Genauigkeitspotential von durchschnittlich 2 cm, insofern synthetisches und reales Kamerabild einen möglichst konsistenten Bildinhalt aufweisen und die Wasserlinie zuverlässig detektiert werden kann. In der vorliegenden Dissertation werden damit verbundene geometrische und radiometrische Probleme ausführlich diskutiert sowie Lösungsansätze, auf der Basis fortschreitender Entwicklungen von Smartphone-Technologie und Bildverarbeitung sowie der zunehmenden Verfügbarkeit von 3D-Referenzdaten, in der Synthese der Arbeit vorgestellt. Mit der gegenwärtig als Betaversion vorliegenden und auf ausgewählten Geräten getesteten App Open Water Levels wurde eine Basis geschaffen, die mit kontinuierlicher Weiterentwicklung eine finale Freigabe für das Crowdsourcing von Wasserständen und damit den Aufbau neuer und die Erweiterung bestehender Monitoring-Netzwerke anstrebt