Space-time-frequency methods for interference-limited communication systems

textTraditionally, noise in communication systems has been modeled as an additive, white Gaussian noise process with independent, identically distributed samples. Although this model accurately reflects thermal noise present in communication system electronics, it fails to capture the statistics of interference and other sources of noise, e.g. in unlicensed communication bands. Modern communication system designers must take into account interference and non-Gaussian noise to maximize efficiencies and capacities of current and future communication networks. In this work, I develop new multi-dimensional signal processing methods to improve performance of communication systems in three applications areas: (i) underwater acoustic, (ii) powerline, and (iii) multi-antenna cellular. In underwater acoustic communications, I address impairments caused by strong, time-varying and Doppler-spread reverberations (self-interference) using adaptive space-time signal processing methods. I apply these methods to array receivers with a large number of elements. In powerline communications, I address impairments caused by non-Gaussian noise arising from devices sharing the powerline. I develop and apply a cyclic adaptive modulation and coding scheme and a factor-graph-based impulsive noise mitigation method to improve signal quality and boost link throughput and robustness. In cellular communications, I develop a low-latency, high-throughput space-time-frequency processing framework used for large scale (up to 128 antenna) MIMO. This framework is used in the world's first 100-antenna MIMO system and processes up to 492 Gbps raw baseband samples in the uplink and downlink directions. My methods prove that multi-dimensional processing methods can be applied to increase communication system performance without sacrificing real-time requirements.Electrical and Computer Engineerin

Distributed Digital Radios for Land Mobile Radio Applications

The main objective of this dissertation is to develop the second generation of Distributed Digital Radio (DDR) technology. A DDR II modem provides an integrated voice/data service platform, higher data rates and better throughput performance as compared to a DDR I modem. In order to improve the physical layer performance of DDR modems an analytical framework is first developed to model the Bit Error Rate (BER) performance of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing over Frequency Modulation (OFDM/FM) systems. The use of OFDM provides a spectrally efficient method of transmitting data over LMR channels. However, the high Peak-to-Average (PAR) of OFDM signals results in either a low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) at FM receiver or a high non-linear distortion of baseband signal in the FM transmitter. This dissertation presents an analytical framework to highlight the impact of high PAR of OFDM signal on OFDM/FM systems. A novel technique for reduction of PAR of OFDM called Linear Scaling Technique (LST) is developed. The use of LST mitigates the signal distortion occurring in OFDM over FM systems. Another important factor which affects the throughput of LMR networks is the Push-to-Talk (PTT) delay. A PTT delay refers to the delay between the instant when a PTT switch on a conventional LMR radio is keyed/unkeyed and a response is observed at the radio output. It can be separated into a Receive-To-Transmit Switch Interval (RTSI) or a Transmit-To-Receive Switch Interval (TRSI). This dissertation presents the typical RTSI delay values, distributions and their impact on throughput performance of LMR networks. An analytical model is developed to highlight the asymmetric throughput problem and the unintentional denial of service (UDOS) occurring in heterogeneous LMR networks consisting of radios with different PTT delay profiles. This information will be useful in performance and capacity planning of LMR networks in future

Self-concatenated coding for wireless communication systems

In this thesis, we have explored self-concatenated coding schemes that are designed for transmission over Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) and uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channels. We designed both the symbol-based Self-ConcatenatedCodes considered using Trellis Coded Modulation (SECTCM) and bit-based Self- Concatenated Convolutional Codes (SECCC) using a Recursive Systematic Convolutional (RSC) encoder as constituent codes, respectively. The design of these codes was carried out with the aid of Extrinsic Information Transfer (EXIT) charts. The EXIT chart based design has been found an efficient tool in finding the decoding convergence threshold of the constituent codes. Additionally, in order to recover the information loss imposed by employing binary rather than non-binary schemes, a soft decision demapper was introduced in order to exchange extrinsic information withthe SECCC decoder. To analyse this information exchange 3D-EXIT chart analysis was invoked for visualizing the extrinsic information exchange between the proposed Iteratively Decoding aided SECCC and soft-decision demapper (SECCC-ID). Some of the proposed SECTCM, SECCC and SECCC-ID schemes perform within about 1 dB from the AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels’ capacity. A union bound analysis of SECCC codes was carried out to find the corresponding Bit Error Ratio (BER) floors. The union bound of SECCCs was derived for communications over both AWGN and uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channels, based on a novel interleaver concept.Application of SECCCs in both UltraWideBand (UWB) and state-of-the-art video-telephone schemes demonstrated its practical benefits.In order to further exploit the benefits of the low complexity design offered by SECCCs we explored their application in a distributed coding scheme designed for cooperative communications, where iterative detection is employed by exchanging extrinsic information between the decoders of SECCC and RSC at the destination. In the first transmission period of cooperation, the relay receives the potentially erroneous data and attempts to recover the information. The recovered information is then re-encoded at the relay using an RSC encoder. In the second transmission period this information is then retransmitted to the destination. The resultant symbols transmitted from the source and relay nodes can be viewed as the coded symbols of a three-component parallel-concatenated encoder. At the destination a Distributed Binary Self-Concatenated Coding scheme using Iterative Decoding (DSECCC-ID) was employed, where the two decoders (SECCC and RSC) exchange their extrinsic information. It was shown that the DSECCC-ID is a low-complexity scheme, yet capable of approaching the Discrete-input Continuous-output Memoryless Channels’s (DCMC) capacity.Finally, we considered coding schemes designed for two nodes communicating with each other with the aid of a relay node, where the relay receives information from the two nodes in the first transmission period. At the relay node we combine a powerful Superposition Coding (SPC) scheme with SECCC. It is assumed that decoding errors may be encountered at the relay node. The relay node then broadcasts this information in the second transmission period after re-encoding it, again, using a SECCC encoder. At the destination, the amalgamated block of Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) scheme combined with SECCC then detects and decodes the signal either with or without the aid of a priori information. Our simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme is capable of reliably operating at a low BER for transmission over both AWGN and uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channels. We compare the proposed scheme’s performance to a direct transmission link between the two sources having the same throughput

Investigation into Information Capacity of Nonlinear Optical Fibre Communication Systems

The optical fibre is a ubiquitous transmission medium since it is able to provide both high speed and low loss. Optical fibre transmission systems carry 99% of the world’s telecommunication traffic. The emergence of new services and Internet applications gives rise to the exponentially increasing demand for higher transmission data rates, motivating the search for new methods to enhance the capacity of optical fibre systems. However, due to the presence of power-dependent signal degradation effects (the optical Kerr effects) together with bandwidth limitations constrained by the low-loss region of the fibre, the current optical fibre communication infrastructure is unable to cope with the ever-growing demand for data rates. The capacity of an optical fibre channel remains unknown and is an open research question. The PhD research described in this thesis aimed to theoretically investigate the capacity of the nonlinear optical fibre channel using information-theoretic tools with the view to improving information data rates of optical fibre networks. The first part of the thesis is concerned with a comprehensive study of Kerr nonlinearity-compensated dispersion unmanaged ultra-wide bandwidth optical fibre communication systems. The bounds on information rate, based on the proposed model, which takes into account the fundamental limitations due to nonlinear interactions between optical signal and amplifier noise, were accurately estimated. The second part deals with the application of the so-called integrability property (the general ideas based around nonlinear Fourier transform (NFT)) of a lossless and noiseless nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE). A new non-Gaussian channel model for soliton-based transmission, in which data is assumed to be embedded into the imaginary part of the nonlinear discrete spectrum was proposed for the first time. New asymptotic semi-analytic approximations for non-decaying capacity bounds have been derived. The theoretical results of this research can be considered as an important first step towards the ultimate capacity limits of nonlinear optical communication links

Proceedings of the Mobile Satellite Conference

A satellite-based mobile communications system provides voice and data communications to mobile users over a vast geographic area. The technical and service characteristics of mobile satellite systems (MSSs) are presented and form an in-depth view of the current MSS status at the system and subsystem levels. Major emphasis is placed on developments, current and future, in the following critical MSS technology areas: vehicle antennas, networking, modulation and coding, speech compression, channel characterization, space segment technology and MSS experiments. Also, the mobile satellite communications needs of government agencies are addressed, as is the MSS potential to fulfill them

Proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC 1990)

Presented here are the proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC), held June 17-20, 1990 in Ottawa, Canada. Topics covered include future mobile satellite communications concepts, aeronautical applications, modulation and coding, propagation and experimental systems, mobile terminal equipment, network architecture and control, regulatory and policy considerations, vehicle antennas, and speech compression

Satellite Communications

This study is motivated by the need to give the reader a broad view of the developments, key concepts, and technologies related to information society evolution, with a focus on the wireless communications and geoinformation technologies and their role in the environment. Giving perspective, it aims at assisting people active in the industry, the public sector, and Earth science fields as well, by providing a base for their continued work and thinking

Advanced Trends in Wireless Communications

Physical limitations on wireless communication channels impose huge challenges to reliable communication. Bandwidth limitations, propagation loss, noise and interference make the wireless channel a narrow pipe that does not readily accommodate rapid flow of data. Thus, researches aim to design systems that are suitable to operate in such channels, in order to have high performance quality of service. Also, the mobility of the communication systems requires further investigations to reduce the complexity and the power consumption of the receiver. This book aims to provide highlights of the current research in the field of wireless communications. The subjects discussed are very valuable to communication researchers rather than researchers in the wireless related areas. The book chapters cover a wide range of wireless communication topics

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