Blind Estimation of Multiple Carrier Frequency Offsets

Multiple carrier-frequency offsets (CFO) arise in a distributed antenna system, where data are transmitted simultaneously from multiple antennas. In such systems the received signal contains multiple CFOs due to mismatch between the local oscillators of transmitters and receiver. This results in a time-varying rotation of the data constellation, which needs to be compensated for at the receiver before symbol recovery. This paper proposes a new approach for blind CFO estimation and symbol recovery. The received base-band signal is over-sampled, and its polyphase components are used to formulate a virtual Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) problem. By applying blind MIMO system estimation techniques, the system response is estimated and used to subsequently transform the multiple CFOs estimation problem into many independent single CFO estimation problems. Furthermore, an initial estimate of the CFO is obtained from the phase of the MIMO system response. The Cramer-Rao Lower bound is also derived, and the large sample performance of the proposed estimator is compared to the bound.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the 18th Annual IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC), Athens, Greece, September 3-7, 200

Multi-Relay Communications in the Presence of Phase Noise and Carrier Frequency Offsets

Impairments like time varying phase noise (PHN) and carrier frequency offset (CFO) result in loss of synchronization and poor performance of multi-relay communication systems. Joint estimation of these impairments is necessary in order to correctly decode the received signal at the destination. In this paper, we address spectrally-efficient multi-relay transmission scenarios where all the relays simultaneously communicate with the destination. We propose an iterative pilot-aided algorithm based on the expectation conditional maximization (ECM) for joint estimation of multipath channels, Wiener PHNs, and CFOs in decode-and-forward (DF) based multi-relay orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. Next, a new expression of the hybrid Cramér-Rao lower bound (HCRB) for the multi-parameter estimation problem is derived. Finally, an iterative receiver based on an extended Kalman filter (EKF) for joint data detection and PHN tracking is employed. Numerical results show that the proposed estimator outperforms existing algorithms and its mean square error performance is close to the derived HCRB at differnt signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) for different PHN variances. In addition, the combined estimation algorithm and iterative receiver can significantly improve average bit-error rate (BER) performance compared to existing algorithms. In addition, the BER performance of the proposed system is close to the ideal case of perfect channel impulse responses (CIRs), PHNs and CFOs estimation

Network-Wide Distributed Carrier Frequency Offsets Estimation and Compensation via Belief Propagation

In this paper, we propose a fully distributed algorithm for frequency offsets estimation in decentralized systems. The idea is based on belief propagation, resulting in that each node estimates its own frequency offsets by local computations and limited exchange of information with its direct neighbors. Such algorithm does not require any centralized information processing or knowledge of global network topology, thus is scalable with network size. It is shown analytically that the proposed algorithm always converges to the optimal estimates regardless of network topology. Simulation results demonstrate the fast convergence of the algorithm and show that estimation mean-squared-error at each node approaches the centralized Craḿer-Rao bound within a few iterations of message exchange.published_or_final_versio

Timing and Carrier Synchronization in Wireless Communication Systems: A Survey and Classification of Research in the Last 5 Years

Timing and carrier synchronization is a fundamental requirement for any wireless communication system to work properly. Timing synchronization is the process by which a receiver node determines the correct instants of time at which to sample the incoming signal. Carrier synchronization is the process by which a receiver adapts the frequency and phase of its local carrier oscillator with those of the received signal. In this paper, we survey the literature over the last 5 years (2010–2014) and present a comprehensive literature review and classification of the recent research progress in achieving timing and carrier synchronization in single-input single-output (SISO), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), cooperative relaying, and multiuser/multicell interference networks. Considering both single-carrier and multi-carrier communication systems, we survey and categorize the timing and carrier synchronization techniques proposed for the different communication systems focusing on the system model assumptions for synchronization, the synchronization challenges, and the state-of-the-art synchronization solutions and their limitations. Finally, we envision some future research directions

Multiple Satellites Collaboration for Joint Code-aided CFOs and CPOs Estimation

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are being extensively researched in the development of secure Internet of Remote Things (IoRT). In scenarios with miniaturized terminals, the limited transmission power and long transmission distance often lead to low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) at the satellite receiver, which degrades communication performance. A solution to address this issue is the utilization of cooperative satellites, which can combine signals received from multiple satellites, thereby significantly improve SNR. However, in order to maximize the combination gain, the signal coherent combining is necessary, which requires the carrier frequency and phase of each receiving signal to be aligned. Under low SNR circumstances, carrier parameter estimation can be a significant challenge, especially for short burst transmission with no training sequence. In order to tackle it, we propose an iterative code-aided estimation algorithm for joint Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) and Carrier Phase Offset (CPO). The Cram\'er-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) is suggested as the limit on the parameter estimation performance. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can approach Bit Error Rate (BER) performance bound within 0.4 dB with regards to four-satellite collaboration