Global optimization methods for localization in compressive sensing

The dissertation discusses compressive sensing and its applications to localization in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radars. Compressive sensing is a paradigm at the intersection between signal processing and optimization. It advocates the sensing of “sparse” signals (i.e., represented using just a few terms from a basis expansion) by using a sampling rate much lower than that required by the Nyquist-Shannon sampling theorem (i.e., twice the highest frequency present in the signal of interest). Low-rate sampling reduces implementation’s constraints and translates into cost savings due to fewer measurements required. This is particularly true in localization applications when the number of measurements is commensurate to antenna elements. The theory of compressive sensing provides precise guidance on how the measurements should be acquired, and which optimization algorithm should be used for signal recovery. The first part of the dissertation addresses the application of compressive sensing for localization in the spatial domain, specifically direction of arrival (DOA), using MIMO radar. A sparse localization framework is proposed for a MIMO array in which transmit and receive elements are placed at random. This allows for a dramatic reduction in the number of elements needed, while still attaining performance comparable to that of a filled (Nyquist) array. By leveraging properties of structured random matrices, a bound on the coherence of the resulting measurement matrix is obtained, and conditions under which the measurement matrix satisfies the so-called isotropy property are detailed. The coherence and isotropy concepts are used to establish uniform and non-uniform recovery guarantees within the proposed spatial compressive sensing framework. In particular, it is shown that non-uniform recovery is guaranteed if the product of the number of transmit and receive elements, MN (which is also the number of degrees of freedom), scales with K (log G)2, where K is the number of targets and G is proportional to the array aperture and determines the angle resolution. In contrast with a filled virtual MIMO array where the product MN scales linearly with G, the logarithmic dependence on G in the proposed framework supports the high-resolution provided by the virtual array aperture while using a small number of MIMO radar elements. The second part of the dissertation focuses on the sparse recovery problem at the heart of compressive sensing. An algorithm, dubbed Multi-Branch Matching Pursuit (MBMP), is presented which combines three different paradigms: being a greedy method, it performs iterative signal support estimation; as a rank-aware method, it is able to exploit signal subspace information when multiple snapshots are available; and, as its name foretells, it possesses a multi-branch structure which allows it to trade-off performance (e.g., measurements) for computational complexity. A sufficient condition under which MBMP can recover a sparse signal is obtained. This condition, named MB-coherence, is met when the columns of the measurement matrix are sufficiently “incoherent” and when the signal-to-noise ratio is sufficiently high. The condition shows that successful recovery with MBMP is guaranteed for dictionaries which do not satisfy previously known conditions (e.g., coherence, cumulative coherence, or the Hanman relaxed coherence). Finally, by leveraging the MBMP algorithm, a framework for target detection from a set of compressive sensing radar measurements is established. The proposed framework does not require any prior information about the targets’ scene, and it is competitive with respect to state-of-the-art detection compressive sensing algorithms

Spatial Compressive Sensing for MIMO Radar

We study compressive sensing in the spatial domain to achieve target localization, specifically direction of arrival (DOA), using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar. A sparse localization framework is proposed for a MIMO array in which transmit and receive elements are placed at random. This allows for a dramatic reduction in the number of elements needed, while still attaining performance comparable to that of a filled (Nyquist) array. By leveraging properties of structured random matrices, we develop a bound on the coherence of the resulting measurement matrix, and obtain conditions under which the measurement matrix satisfies the so-called isotropy property. The coherence and isotropy concepts are used to establish uniform and non-uniform recovery guarantees within the proposed spatial compressive sensing framework. In particular, we show that non-uniform recovery is guaranteed if the product of the number of transmit and receive elements, MN (which is also the number of degrees of freedom), scales with K(log(G))^2, where K is the number of targets and G is proportional to the array aperture and determines the angle resolution. In contrast with a filled virtual MIMO array where the product MN scales linearly with G, the logarithmic dependence on G in the proposed framework supports the high-resolution provided by the virtual array aperture while using a small number of MIMO radar elements. In the numerical results we show that, in the proposed framework, compressive sensing recovery algorithms are capable of better performance than classical methods, such as beamforming and MUSIC.Comment: To appear in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processin

Sparsity based methods for target localization in multi-sensor radar

In this dissertation, several sparsity-based methods for ground moving target indicator (GMTI) radar with multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) random arrays are proposed. MIMO random arrays are large arrays that employ multiple transmitters and receivers, the positions of the transmitters and the receivers are randomly chosen. Since the resolution of the array depends on the size of the array, MIMO random arrays obtain a high resolution. However, since the positions of the sensors are randomly chosen, the array suffers from large sidelobes which may lead to an increased false alarm probability. The number of sensors of a MIMO random array required to maintain a certain level of peak sidelobes is studied. It is shown that the number of sensors scales with the logarithm of the array aperture, in contrast with a ULA where the number of elements scales linearly with the array aperture. The problem of sparse target detection given space-time observations from MIMO random arrays is presented. The observations are obtained in the presence of Gaussian colored noise of unknown covariance matrix, but for which secondary data is available for its estimation. To solve the detection problem two sparsity-based algorithms, the MP-STAP and the MBMP-STAP algorithms are proposed that utilizes knowledge of the upper bound on the number of targets. A constant false alarm rate (CFAR) sparsity based detector that does not utilize any information on the number of targets referred to as MP-CFAR and MBMP-CFAR are also developed. A performance analysis for the new CFAR detector is also derived, the metrics used to describe the performance of the detector are the probability of false alarm and the probability of detection. A grid refinement procedure is also proposed to eliminate the need for a dense grid which would increase the computational complexity significantly. Expressions for the computational complexity of the proposed CFAR detectors are derived. It is shown that the proposed CFAR detectors outperforms the popular adaptive beamformer at a modest increase in computational complexity

Sub-Nyquist Channel Estimation over IEEE 802.11ad Link

Nowadays, millimeter-wave communication centered at the 60 GHz radio frequency band is increasingly the preferred technology for near-field communication since it provides transmission bandwidth that is several GHz wide. The IEEE 802.11ad standard has been developed for commercial wireless local area networks in the 60 GHz transmission environment. Receivers designed to process IEEE 802.11ad waveforms employ very high rate analog-to-digital converters, and therefore, reducing the receiver sampling rate can be useful. In this work, we study the problem of low-rate channel estimation over the IEEE 802.11ad 60 GHz communication link by harnessing sparsity in the channel impulse response. In particular, we focus on single carrier modulation and exploit the special structure of the 802.11ad waveform embedded in the channel estimation field of its single carrier physical layer frame. We examine various sub-Nyquist sampling methods for this problem and recover the channel using compressed sensing techniques. Our numerical experiments show feasibility of our procedures up to one-seventh of the Nyquist rates with minimal performance deterioration.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, SampTA 2017 conferenc

Adaptive OFDM Radar for Target Detection and Tracking

We develop algorithms to detect and track targets by employing a wideband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing: OFDM) radar signal. The frequency diversity of the OFDM signal improves the sensing performance since the scattering centers of a target resonate variably at different frequencies. In addition, being a wideband signal, OFDM improves the range resolution and provides spectral efficiency. We first design the spectrum of the OFDM signal to improve the radar\u27s wideband ambiguity function. Our designed waveform enhances the range resolution and motivates us to use adaptive OFDM waveform in specific problems, such as the detection and tracking of targets. We develop methods for detecting a moving target in the presence of multipath, which exist, for example, in urban environments. We exploit the multipath reflections by utilizing different Doppler shifts. We analytically evaluate the asymptotic performance of the detector and adaptively design the OFDM waveform, by maximizing the noncentrality-parameter expression, to further improve the detection performance. Next, we transform the detection problem into the task of a sparse-signal estimation by making use of the sparsity of multiple paths. We propose an efficient sparse-recovery algorithm by employing a collection of multiple small Dantzig selectors, and analytically compute the reconstruction performance in terms of the $ell_1$-constrained minimal singular value. We solve a constrained multi-objective optimization algorithm to design the OFDM waveform and infer that the resultant signal-energy distribution is in proportion to the distribution of the target energy across different subcarriers. Then, we develop tracking methods for both a single and multiple targets. We propose an tracking method for a low-grazing angle target by realistically modeling different physical and statistical effects, such as the meteorological conditions in the troposphere, curved surface of the earth, and roughness of the sea-surface. To further enhance the tracking performance, we integrate a maximum mutual information based waveform design technique into the tracker. To track multiple targets, we exploit the inherent sparsity on the delay-Doppler plane to develop an computationally efficient procedure. For computational efficiency, we use more prior information to dynamically partition a small portion of the delay-Doppler plane. We utilize the block-sparsity property to propose a block version of the CoSaMP algorithm in the tracking filter

Structure-Based Bayesian Sparse Reconstruction

Sparse signal reconstruction algorithms have attracted research attention due to their wide applications in various fields. In this paper, we present a simple Bayesian approach that utilizes the sparsity constraint and a priori statistical information (Gaussian or otherwise) to obtain near optimal estimates. In addition, we make use of the rich structure of the sensing matrix encountered in many signal processing applications to develop a fast sparse recovery algorithm. The computational complexity of the proposed algorithm is relatively low compared with the widely used convex relaxation methods as well as greedy matching pursuit techniques, especially at a low sparsity rate.Comment: 29 pages, 15 figures, accepted in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing (July 2012

Signal Processing and Learning for Next Generation Multiple Access in 6G

Wireless communication systems to date primarily rely on the orthogonality of resources to facilitate the design and implementation, from user access to data transmission. Emerging applications and scenarios in the sixth generation (6G) wireless systems will require massive connectivity and transmission of a deluge of data, which calls for more flexibility in the design concept that goes beyond orthogonality. Furthermore, recent advances in signal processing and learning have attracted considerable attention, as they provide promising approaches to various complex and previously intractable problems of signal processing in many fields. This article provides an overview of research efforts to date in the field of signal processing and learning for next-generation multiple access, with an emphasis on massive random access and non-orthogonal multiple access. The promising interplay with new technologies and the challenges in learning-based NGMA are discussed