Fractional fourier based sparse channel estimation for multicarrier underwater acoustic communication system

This paper presents a hybrid sparse channel estimation based on Fractional Fourier Transform (FrFT) for orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) scenario to exploit channel sparsity of underwater acoustic (UWA) channel. A novel channel dictionary matrix based on chirp signals is constructed and mutual coherence is adopted to evaluate its preservation of sparse information. In addition, Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit (CoSaMP) is implemented to estimate the sparse channel coefficients. Simulation results demonstrate a significant Normalized Mean Square Error (NMSE) improvement of 10dB over Basis Expansion Model (BEM) with less complexity

Sparse channel estimation for multicarrier underwater acoustic communication : from subspace methods to compressed sensing

Author Posting. © IEEE, 2009. This article is posted here by permission of IEEE for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing 58 (2010): 1708-1721, doi:10.1109/TSP.2009.2038424.In this paper, we investigate various channel estimators that exploit channel sparsity in the time and/or Doppler domain for a multicarrier underwater acoustic system. We use a path-based channel model, where the channel is described by a limited number of paths, each characterized by a delay, Doppler scale, and attenuation factor, and derive the exact inter-carrierinterference (ICI) pattern. For channels that have limited Doppler spread we show that subspace algorithms from the array processing literature, namely Root-MUSIC and ESPRIT, can be applied for channel estimation. For channels with Doppler spread, we adopt a compressed sensing approach, in form of Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP) and Basis Pursuit (BP) algorithms, and utilize overcomplete dictionaries with an increased path delay resolution. Numerical simulation and experimental data of an OFDM block-by-block receiver are used to evaluate the proposed algorithms in comparison to the conventional least-squares (LS) channel estimator.We observe that subspace methods can tolerate small to moderate Doppler effects, and outperform the LS approach when the channel is indeed sparse. On the other hand, compressed sensing algorithms uniformly outperform the LS and subspace methods. Coupled with a channel equalizer mitigating ICI, the compressed sensing algorithms can effectively handle channels with significant Doppler spread.C. Berger, S. Zhou, and P. Willett are supported by ONR grants N00014-09-10613, N00014-07-1-0805, and N00014-09-1-0704

Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe demand for high speed communication has been increasing in the past two decades. Multicarrier communication technology has been suggested to address this demand. Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is the most widely used multicarrier technique. However, OFDM has a number of disadvantages in time-varying channels, multiple access, and cognitive radios. On the other hand, filterbank multicarrier (FBMC) communication has been suggested as an alternative to OFDM that can overcome the disadvantages of OFDM. In this dissertation, we investigate the application of filtered multitone (FMT), a subset of FBMC modulation methods, to slow fading and fast fading channels. We investigate the FMT transmitter and receiver in continuous and discrete time domains. An efficient implementation of FMT systems is derived and the conditions for perfect reconstruction in an FBMC communication system are presented. We derive equations for FMT in slow fading channels that allow evaluation of FMT when applied to mobile wireless communication systems. We consider using fractionally spaced per tone channel equalizers with different number of taps. The numerical results are presented to investigate the performance of these equalizers. The numerical results show that single-tap equalizers suffice for typical wireless channels. The equalizer design study is advanced by introducing adaptive equalizers which use channel estimation. We derive equations for a minimum mean square error (MMSE) channel estimator and improve the channel estimation by considering the finite duration of channel impulse response. The results of optimum equalizers (when channel is known perfectly) are compared with those of the adaptive equalizers, and it is found that a loss of 1 dB or less incurs. We also introduce a new form of FMT which is specially designed to handle doubly dispersive channels. This method is called FMT-dd (FMT for doubly dispersive channels). The proposed FMT-dd is applied to two common methods of data symbol orientation in the time-frequency space grid; namely, rectangular and hexagonal lattices. The performance of these methods along with OFDM and the conventional FMT are compared and a significant improvement in performance is observed. The FMT-dd design is applied to real-world underwater acoustic (UWA) communication channels. The experimental results from an at-sea experiment (ACOMM10) show that this new design provides a significant gain over OFDM. The feasibility of implementing a MIMO system for multicarrier UWA communication channels is studied through computer simulations. Our study emphasizes the bandwidth efficiency of multicarrier MIMO communications .We show that the value of MIMO to UWA communication is very limited

UNDERWATER COMMUNICATIONS WITH ACOUSTIC STEGANOGRAPHY: RECOVERY ANALYSIS AND MODELING

In the modern warfare environment, communication is a cornerstone of combat competence. However, the increasing threat of communications-denied environments highlights the need for communications systems with low probability of intercept and detection. This is doubly true in the subsurface environment, where communications and sonar systems can reveal the tactical location of platforms and capabilities, subverting their covert mission set. A steganographic communication scheme that leverages existing technologies and unexpected data carriers is a feasible means of increasing assurance of communications, even in denied environments. This research works toward a covert communication system by determining and comparing novel symbol recovery schemes to extract data from a signal transmitted under a steganographic technique and interfered with by a simulated underwater acoustic channel. We apply techniques for reliably extracting imperceptible information from unremarkable acoustic events robust to the variability of the hostile operating environment. The system is evaluated based on performance metrics, such as transmission rate and bit error rate, and we show that our scheme is sufficient to conduct covert communications through acoustic transmissions, though we do not solve the problems of synchronization or equalization.Lieutenant, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited

Coded-GFDM for Reliable Communication in Underwater Acoustic Channels

The performance of the coded generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM) transceiver has been evaluated in a shallow underwater acoustic channel (UAC). Acoustic transmission is the scheme of choice for communication in UAC since radio waves suffer from absorption and light waves scatter. Although orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has found its ground for multicarrier acoustic underwater communication, it suffers from high peak to average power ratio (PAPR) and out of band (OOB) emissions. We propose a coded-GFDM based multicarrier system since GFDM has a higher spectral efficiency compared to a traditional OFDM system. In doing so, we assess two block codes, namely Bose, Chaudari, and Hocquenghem (BCH) codes, Reed-Solomon (RS) codes, and several convolutional codes. We present the error performances of these codes when used with GFDM. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of the proposed system using two equalizers: Matched Filter (MF) and Zero-Forcing (ZF). Simulation results show that among the various block coding schemes that we tested, BCH (31,6) and RS (15,3) give the best error performance. Among the convolutional codes that we tested, rate 1/4 convolutional codes give the best performance. However, the performance of BCH and RS codes is much better than the convolutional codes. Moreover, the performance of the ZF equalizer is marginally better than the MF equalizer. In conclusion, using the channel coding schemes with GFDM improves error performance manifolds thereby increasing the reliability of the GFDM system despite slightly higher complexity.This research was funded by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation in the framework of the project “NAUTILUS: Swarms of underwater autonomous vehicles guided by artificial intelligence: its time has come” (PID2020-112502RB/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University for supporting this work by Grant Code: (22UQU4300148DSR01). Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

Adaptive implementation of turbo multi-user detection architecture

MULTI-access techniques have been adopted widely for communications in underwater acoustic channels, which present many challenges to the development of reliable and practical systems. In such an environment, the unpredictable and complex ocean conditions cause the acoustic waves to be affected by many factors such as limited bandwidth, large propagation losses, time variations and long latency, which limit the usefulness of such techniques. Additionally, multiple access interference (MAI) signals and poor estimation of the unknown channel parameters in the presence of limited training sequences are two of the major problems that degrade the performance of such technologies. In this thesis, two different single-element multi-access schemes, interleave division multiple access (IDMA) and code division multiple access (CDMA), employing decision feedback equalization (DFE) and soft Rake-based architectures, are proposed for multi-user underwater communication applications. By using either multiplexing pilots or continuous pilots, these adaptive turbo architectures with carrier phase tracking are jointly optimized based on the minimum mean square error (MMSE) criterion and adapted iteratively by exchanging soft information in terms of Log-Likelihood Ratio (LLR) estimates with the single-user’s channel decoders. The soft-Rake receivers utilize developed channel estimation and the detection is implemented using parallel interference cancellation (PIC) to remove MAI effects between users. These architectures are investigated and applied to simulated data and data obtained from realistic underwater communication trials using off-line processing of signals acquired during sea-trials in the North Sea. The results of different scenarios demonstrate the penalty in performance as the fading induces irreducible error rates that increase with channel delay spread and emphasize the benefits of using coherent direct adaptive receivers in such reverberant channels. The convergence behaviour of the detectors is evaluated using EXIT chart analyses and issues such as the adaptation parameters and their effects on the performance are also investigated. However, in some cases the receivers with partial knowledge of the interleavers’ patterns or codes can still achieve performance comparable to those with full knowledge. Furthermore, the thesis describes implementation issues of these algorithms using digital signal processors (DSPs), such as computational complexity and provides valuable guidelines for the design of real time underwater communication systems.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo