EM-Based iterative channel estimation and sequence detection for space-time coded modulation

Reliable detection of signals transmitted over a wireless communication channel requires knowledge of the channel estimate. In this work, the application of expectationmaximization (EM) algorithm to estimation of unknown channel and detection of space-time coded modulation (STCM) signals is investigated. An STCM communication system is presented which includes symbol interleaving at the transmitter and iterative EM-based soft-output decoding at the receiver. The channel and signal model are introduced with a quasi-static and time-varying Rayleigh fading channels considered to evaluate the performance of the communication system. Performance of the system employing Kalman filter with per-survivor processing to do the channel estimation and Viterbi algorithm for sequence detection is used as a reference. The first approach to apply the EM algorithm to channel estimation presents a design of an online receiver with sliding data window. Next, a block-processing EM-based iterative receiver is presented which utilizes soft values of a posteriori probabilities (APP) with maximum a posteriori probability (MAP) as the criterion of optimality in both: detection and channel estimation stages (APP-EM receiver). In addition, a symbol interleaver is introduced at the transmitter which has a great desirable impact on system performance. First, it eliminates error propagation between the detection and channel estimation stages in the receiver EM loop. Second, the interleaver increases the diversity advantage to combat deep fades of a fast fading channel. In the first basic version of the APP-EM iterative receiver, it is assumed that noise variance at the receiver input is known. Then a modified version of the receiver is presented where such assumption is not made. In addition to sequence detection and channel estimation, the EM iteration loop includes the estimation of unknown additive white Gaussian noise variance. Finally, different properties of the APP-EM iterative receiver are investigated including the effects of training sequence length on system performance, interleaver and channel correlation length effects and the performance of the system at different Rayleigh channel fading rates

Soft-in soft-output detection in the presence of parametric uncertainty via the Bayesian EM algorithm

We investigate the application of the Bayesian expectation-maximization (BEM) technique to the design of soft-in soft-out (SISO) detection algorithms for wireless communication systems operating over channels affected by parametric uncertainty. First, the BEM algorithm is described in detail and its relationship with the well-known expectation-maximization (EM) technique is explained. Then, some of its applications are illustrated. In particular, the problems of SISO detection of spread spectrum, single-carrier and multicarrier space-time block coded signals are analyzed. Numerical results show that BEM-based detectors perform closely to the maximum likelihood (ML) receivers endowed with perfect channel state information as long as channel variations are not too fast

New Receivers for Differentially Encoded Offset-QPSK

Before a new mobile radio system will be standardised, an intense process of decision making is required concerning the different aspects of the system. One aspect is the definition of the air interface and in particular the employed modulation method. During the standardisation of the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) system, the expert group decided to choose the linear modulation format π/4-QPSK. One important point for decision making was the requirement to support power efficient, nonlinear amplifiers. Although the second candidate, Offset-QPSK (OQPSK) shows further reduced envelope fluctuations, the nonavailibilty of a conventional differential demodulator for OQPSK led to a clear preference for π/4-QPSK. Differential demodulation is an at-tractive combined carrier phase estimation and demodulation technique on fast time selective fading channels. The work presented in the thesis is concerned with the synthesis and analysis of receiver algorithms for differentially encoded OQPSK signals, which fulfil the requirements of modern mobile radio systems. The thesis begins with an overview of the theoretical principles of digital modulation and optimum receivers. A description of mobile radio channels and the theoretical performance of PSK signals complete the basic chapter. A new receiver structure for DOQPSK using differential demodulation followed by a Viterbi decoder is then proposed. On this basis, an advanced algorithm suitable for general roll-off factors and with reduced complexity is derived and investigated. Following the differential demodulation, original algorithms for joint coherent demodulation and equalisation, which are based on the principle of per-survivor processing (PSP) are synthesised and discussed. These receiver structures are extended for the use in time and frequency selective mobile radio channels. With the aid of a computer simulation system the derived receiver structures are investigated. Simulation results on different linear and nonlinear channels are presented and compared with results obtained with standard π/4-DQPSK receivers and the theoretical bounds. The thesis concludes with a description of the simulation tool COSSAP and gives examples of created and implemented simulation models. The results of a fixed-point analysis of one model is presented and the possibilities to synthesise a hardware implementation is discussed

On the Impact of Phase Noise in Communication Systems –- Performance Analysis and Algorithms

The mobile industry is preparing to scale up the network capacity by a factor of 1000x in order to cope with the staggering growth in mobile traffic. As a consequence, there is a tremendous pressure on the network infrastructure, where more cost-effective, flexible, high speed connectivity solutions are being sought for. In this regard, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and millimeter-wave communication systems are new physical layer technologies, which promise to facilitate the 1000 fold increase in network capacity. However, these technologies are extremely prone to hardware impairments like phase noise caused by noisy oscillators. Furthermore, wireless backhaul networks are an effective solution to transport data by using high-order signal constellations, which are also susceptible to phase noise impairments. Analyzing the performance of wireless communication systems impaired by oscillator phase noise, and designing systems to operate efficiently in strong phase noise conditions are critical problems in communication theory. The criticality of these problems is accentuated with the growing interest in new physical layer technologies, and the deployment of wireless backhaul networks. This forms the main motivation for this thesis where we analyze the impact of phase noise on the system performance, and we also design algorithms in order to mitigate phase noise and its effects. First, we address the problem of maximum a posteriori (MAP) detection of data in the presence of strong phase noise in single-antenna systems. This is achieved by designing a low-complexity joint phase-estimator data-detector. We show that the proposed method outperforms existing detectors, especially when high order signal constellations are used. Then, in order to further improve system performance, we consider the problem of optimizing signal constellations for transmission over channels impaired by phase noise. Specifically, we design signal constellations such that the error rate performance of the system is minimized, and the information rate of the system is maximized. We observe that these optimized constellations significantly improve the system performance, when compared to conventional constellations, and those proposed in the literature. Next, we derive the MAP symbol detector for a MIMO system where each antenna at the transceiver has its own oscillator. We propose three suboptimal, low-complexity algorithms for approximately implementing the MAP symbol detector, which involve joint phase noise estimation and data detection. We observe that the proposed techniques significantly outperform the other algorithms in prior works. Finally, we study the impact of phase noise on the performance of a massive MIMO system, where we analyze both uplink and downlink performances. Based on rigorous analyses of the achievable rates, we provide interesting insights for the following question: how should oscillators be connected to the antennas at a base station, which employs a large number of antennas

Synchronisation, détection et égalisation de modulation à phase continue dans des canaux sélectifs en temps et en fréquence

Si les drones militaires connaissent un développement important depuis une quinzaine d’année, suivi depuis quelques années par les drones civiles dont les usages ne font que se multiplier, en réalité les drones ont un siècle avec le premier vol d’un avion équipé d’un système de pilotage automatique sur une centaine de kilomètre en 1918. La question des règles d’usage des drones civiles sont en cours de développement malgré leur multiplication pour des usages allant de l’agriculture, à l’observation en passant par la livraison de colis. Ainsi, leur intégration dans l’espace aérien reste un enjeu important, ainsi que les standards de communication avec ces drones dans laquelle s’inscrit cette thèse. Cette thèse vise en effet à étudier et proposer des solutions pour les liens de communications des drones par satellite.L’intégration de ce lien de communication permet d’assurer la fiabilité des communications et particulièrement du lien de Commande et Contrôle partout dans le monde, en s’affranchissant des contraintes d’un réseau terrestre (comme les zones blanches). En raison de la rareté des ressources fréquentielles déjà allouées pour les futurs systèmes intégrant des drones, l’efficacité spectrale devient un paramètre important pour leur déploiement à grande échelle et le contexte spatiale demande l’utilisation d’un système de communication robuste aux non-linéarités. Les Modulations à Phase Continue permettent de répondre à ces problématiques. Cependant, ces dernières sont des modulations non-linéaire à mémoire entraînant une augmentation de la complexité des récepteurs. Du fait de la présence d’un canal multi-trajet (canal aéronautique par satellite), le principal objectif de cette thèse est de proposer des algorithmes d’égalisation (dans le domaine fréquentiel pour réduire leur complexité) et de synchronisation pour CPM adaptés à ce concept tout en essayant de proposer une complexité calculatoire raisonnable. Dans un premier temps, nous avons considéré uniquement des canaux sélectifs en fréquence et avons étudier les différents égaliseurs de la littérature. En étudiant leur similitudes et différences, nous avons pu développer un égaliseur dans le domaine fréquentiel qui proposant les mêmes performances a une complexité moindre. Nous proposons également des méthodes d’estimation canal et une méthode d’estimation conjointe du canal et de la fréquence porteuse. Dans un second temps nous avons montré comment étendre ces méthodes à des canaux sélectifs en temps et fréquence permettant ainsi de conserver une complexité calculatoire raisonnable

Reduced Complexity Sequential Monte Carlo Algorithms for Blind Receivers

Monte Carlo algorithms can be used to estimate the state of a system given relative observations. In this dissertation, these algorithms are applied to physical layer communications system models to estimate channel state information, to obtain soft information about transmitted symbols or multiple access interference, or to obtain estimates of all of these by joint estimation. Initially, we develop and analyze a multiple access technique utilizing mutually orthogonal complementary sets (MOCS) of sequences. These codes deliberately introduce inter-chip interference, which is naturally eliminated during processing at the receiver. However, channel impairments can destroy their orthogonality properties and additional processing becomes necessary. We utilize Monte Carlo algorithms to perform joint channel and symbol estimation for systems utilizing MOCS sequences as spreading codes. We apply Rao-Blackwellization to reduce the required number of particles. However, dense signaling constellations, multiuser environments, and the interchannel interference introduced by the spreading codes all increase the dimensionality of the symbol state space significantly. A full maximum likelihood solution is computationally expensive and generally not practical. However, obtaining the optimum solution is critical, and looking at only a part of the symbol space is generally not a good solution. We have sought algorithms that would guarantee that the correct transmitted symbol is considered, while only sampling a portion of the full symbol space. The performance of the proposed method is comparable to the Maximum Likelihood (ML) algorithm. While the computational complexity of ML increases exponentially with the dimensionality of the problem, the complexity of our approach increases only quadratically. Markovian structures such as the one imposed by MOCS spreading sequences can be seen in other physical layer structures as well. We have applied this partitioning approach with some modification to blind equalization of frequency selective fading channel and to multiple-input multiple output receivers that track channel changes. Additionally, we develop a method that obtains a metric for quantifying the convergence rate of Monte Carlo algorithms. Our approach yields an eigenvalue based method that is useful in identifying sources of slow convergence and estimation inaccuracy.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Douglas B. Williams; Committee Member: Brani Vidakovic; Committee Member: G. Tong zhou; Committee Member: Gordon Stuber; Committee Member: James H. McClella

Proceedings of the Fifth International Mobile Satellite Conference 1997

Satellite-based mobile communications systems provide voice and data communications to users over a vast geographic area. The users may communicate via mobile or hand-held terminals, which may also provide access to terrestrial communications services. While previous International Mobile Satellite Conferences have concentrated on technical advances and the increasing worldwide commercial activities, this conference focuses on the next generation of mobile satellite services. The approximately 80 papers included here cover sessions in the following areas: networking and protocols; code division multiple access technologies; demand, economics and technology issues; current and planned systems; propagation; terminal technology; modulation and coding advances; spacecraft technology; advanced systems; and applications and experiments