When Network Coding and Dirty Paper Coding meet in a Cooperative Ad Hoc Network

We develop and analyze new cooperative strategies for ad hoc networks that are more spectrally efficient than classical DF cooperative protocols. Using analog network coding, our strategies preserve the practical half-duplex assumption but relax the orthogonality constraint. The introduction of interference due to non-orthogonality is mitigated thanks to precoding, in particular Dirty Paper coding. Combined with smart power allocation, our cooperation strategies allow to save time and lead to more efficient use of bandwidth and to improved network throughput with respect to classical RDF/PDF.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Wireless transmission protocols using relays for broadcast and information exchange channels

Relays have been used to overcome existing network performance bottlenecks in meeting the growing demand for large bandwidth and high quality of service (QoS) in wireless networks. This thesis proposes several wireless transmission protocols using relays in practical multi-user broadcast and information exchange channels. The main theme is to demonstrate that efficient use of relays provides an additional dimension to improve reliability, throughput, power efficiency and secrecy. First, a spectrally efficient cooperative transmission protocol is proposed for the multiple-input and singleoutput (MISO) broadcast channel to improve the reliability of wireless transmission. The proposed protocol mitigates co-channel interference and provides another dimension to improve the diversity gain. Analytical and simulation results show that outage probability and the diversity and multiplexing tradeoff of the proposed cooperative protocol outperforms the non-cooperative scheme. Second, a two-way relaying protocol is proposed for the multi-pair, two-way relaying channel to improve the throughput and reliability. The proposed protocol enables both the users and the relay to participate in interference cancellation. Several beamforming schemes are proposed for the multi-antenna relay. Analytical and simulation results reveal that the proposed protocol delivers significant improvements in ergodic capacity, outage probability and the diversity and multiplexing tradeoff if compared to existing schemes. Third, a joint beamforming and power management scheme is proposed for multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) two-way relaying channel to improve the sum-rate. Network power allocation and power control optimisation problems are formulated and solved using convex optimisation techniques. Simulation results verify that the proposed scheme delivers better sum-rate or consumes lower power when compared to existing schemes. Fourth, two-way secrecy schemes which combine one-time pad and wiretap coding are proposed for the scalar broadcast channel to improve secrecy rate. The proposed schemes utilise the channel reciprocity and employ relays to forward secret messages. Analytical and simulation results reveal that the proposed schemes are able to achieve positive secrecy rates even when the number of users is large. All of these new wireless transmission protocols help to realise better throughput, reliability, power efficiency and secrecy for wireless broadcast and information exchange channels through the efficient use of relays

Cooperative strategies design based on the diversity and multiplexing tradeoff

This thesis focuses on designing wireless cooperative communication strategies that are either optimal or near-optimal in terms of the tradeoff between diversity and multiplexing gains. Starting from classical cooperative broadcast, multiple-access and relay channels with unit degree of freedom, to more general cooperative interference channels with higher degrees of freedom, properties of different network topologies are studied and their unique characteristics together with several advanced interference management techniques are exploited to design cooperative transmission strategies in order to enhance data rate, reliability or both at the same time. Moreover, various algorithms are proposed to solve practical implementation issues and performance is analyzed through both theoretical verifications and simulations

On the Non-Orthogonal Layered Broadcast Codes in Cooperative Wireless Networks

A multi-fold increase in spectral efficiency and throughput are envisioned in the fifth generation of cellular networks to meet the requirements of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) IMT-2020 on massive connectivity and tremendous data traffic. This is achieved by evolution in three aspects of current networks. The first aspect is shrinking the cell sizes and deploying dense picocells and femtocells to boost the spectral reuse. The second is to allocate more spectrum resources including millimeter-wave bands. The third is deploying highly efficient communications and multiple access techniques. Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is a promising communication technique that complements the current commercial spectrum access approach to boost the spectral efficiency, where different data streams/users’ data share the same time, frequency and code resource blocks (sub-bands) via superimposition with each other. The receivers decode their own messages by deploying the successive interference cancellation (SIC) decoding rule. It is known that the NOMA coding is superior to conventional orthogonal multiple access (OMA) coding, where the resources are split among the users in either time or frequency domain. The NOMA based coding has been incorporated into other coding techniques including multi-input multi-output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), cognitive radio and cooperative techniques. In cooperative NOMA codes, either dedicated relay stations or stronger users with better channel conditions, act as relay to leverage the spatial diversity and to boost the performance of the other users. The advantage of spatial diversity gain in relay-based NOMA codes, is deployed to extend the coverage area of the network, to mitigate the fading effect of multipath channel and to increase the system throughput, hence improving the system efficiency. In this dissertation we consider the multimedia content delivery and machine type communications over 5G networks, where scalable content and low complexity encoders is of interest. We propose cross-layer design for transmission of successive refinement (SR) source code interplayed with non-orthogonal layered broadcast code for deployment in several cooperative network architectures. Firstly, we consider a multi-relay coding scheme where a source node is assisted by a half-duplex multi-relay non-orthogonal amplify-forward (NAF) network to communicate with a destination node. Assuming the channel state information (CSI) is not available at the source node, the achievable layered diversity multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) curve is derived. Then, by taking distortion exponent (DE) as the figure of merit, several achievable lower bounds are proved, and the optimal expected distortion performance under high signal to noise ratio (SNR) approximation is explicitly obtained. It is shown that the proposed coding can achieve the multi-input single-output (MISO) upper bound under certain regions of bandwidth ratios, by which the optimal performance in these regions can be explicitly characterized. Further the non-orthogonal layered coding scheme is extended to a multi-hop MIMO decode-forward (DF) relay network where a set of DE lower bounds is derived. Secondly, we propose a layered cooperative multi-user scheme based on non-orthogonal amplify-forward (NAF) relaying and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) codes, aiming to achieve multi-user uplink transmissions with low complexity and low signaling overhead, particularly applicable to the machine type communications (MTC) and internet of things (IoT) systems. By assuming no CSI available at the transmitting nodes, the proposed layered codes make the transmission rate of each user adaptive to the channel realization. We derive the close-form analytical results on outage probability and the DMT curve of the proposed layered NAF codes in the asymptotic regime of high SNR, and optimize the end-to-end performance in terms of the exponential decay rate of expected distortion. Thirdly, we consider a single relay network and study the non-orthogonal layered scheme in the general SNR regime. A layered relaying scheme based on compress-forward (CF) is introduced, where optimization of end to end performance in terms of expected distortion is conducted to jointly determine network parameters. We further derive the explicit analytical optimal solution with two layers in the absence of channel knowledge. Finally, we consider the problem of multicast of multi-resolution layered messages over downlink of a cellular system with the assumption of CSI is not available at the base station (BS). Without loss generality, spatially random users are divided into two groups, where the near group users with better channel conditions decode for both layers, while the users in the second group decode for base layer only. Once the BS launches a multicast message, the first group users who successfully decoded the message, deploy a distributed cooperating scheme to assist the transmission to the other users. The cooperative scheme is naive but we will prove it can effectively enhance the network capacity. Closed form outage probability is explicitly derived for the two groups of users. Further it is shown that diversity order equal to the number of users in the near group is achievable, hence the coding gain of the proposed distributed scheme fully compensate the lack of CSI at the BS in terms of diversity order

Communication over Asynchronous Networks: Signaling and Rate-Reliability Analysis

Asynchronism inherently exists in many communication systems specially in multi-terminal networks mainly due to the effect of multi-path and propagation delay. While in theoretical analysis of communication systems perfect synchronization of the terminals is often presumed, in some cases in which the nodes are randomly distributed over a geometrical area, it might be impossible to synchronize the nodes even if an ideal infrastructure service provider is used. In this work, two major categories of multi-user communication systems, i.e., relay networks and interference channels, are considered and the effect of the asynchronism among the terminals on characteristic properties of these channels are investigated. In Chapter 2, the construction of distributed space-time codes for a general two-hop asynchronous cooperative relay network is considered. A novel algebraic structure is proposed and shown to achieve full diversity for arbitrary number of relays, arbitrary input alphabets, and arbitrary delay profiles among the relays. Unlike previously proposed delay tolerant schemes, the new design has minimum length which translates into smaller decoding complexity at the same transmission rate. Full-rate and full-diversity are achieved by the new designs with or without the use of guard intervals between successive transmissions. Simulation results confirm the mathematical analysis of the proposed codes. In Chapter 3, the underlying asynchronous network is examined for various relaying protocols such as non-orthogonal selection decode-and-forward, orthogonal selection decode-and-forward, non-orthogonal amplify-and-forward (NAF), and orthogonal amplify-and-forward (OAF). The transmitter nodes send pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signals, in which information symbols are linearly modulated by a shaping waveform to be sent to the destination, asynchronously. We consider two different cases with respect to the type of the shaping waveforms used in the structure of the PAM signals. In the theoretical case where band-limited shaping waveforms are used, it is shown that the asynchronism does not affect the DMT performance of the system and the same DMT as that of the corresponding synchronous network is obtained for all the aforementioned protocols. In the practical case where time-limited shaping waveforms are used, it is shown that better diversity gains can be achieved at the expense of a bandwidth expansion. More precisely, in the decode-and-forward type protocols, the asynchronous network provides a better diversity gain than that of the corresponding synchronous network throughout the range of the multiplexing gain. In the amplify-and-forward type protocols, the asynchronous network provides the same DMT as that of the corresponding synchronous counterpart under the OAF protocol; however, a better diversity gain is achieved under the NAF protocol throughout the range of the multiplexing gain. In particular, in the single relay asynchronous network, the NAF protocol provides the same DMT as that of the 2 × 1 multiple-input single-output channel. In Chapter 4, a constant K-user interference channel in which the users are not symbol synchronous is considered. It is shown that the asynchronism among the users does not affect the total number of degrees of freedom (DOF) of this channel; however, it facilitates aligning interfering signals at each receiver node. To achieve the total K/2 DOF of this channel when single antenna nodes are used, a novel practical interference alignment scheme is proposed wherein the alignment task is performed with the help of asynchronous delays which inherently exist among the received signals at each receiver node. The asynchronism causes inter-symbol-interference (ISI) among transmitted symbols by different transmitters resulting in the underlying quasi-static links to be converted to ISI and accordingly into time varying channels. It is proved that this conversion solves the lack of channel variation required for the interference alignment in quasi-static scenarios. When each node is equipped with M > 1 antennas, it is argued that the same alignment scheme proposed for the single antenna nodes’ interference channel is sufficient to achieve the total MK/2 DOF of the medium provided that each pair of the transmitters and the receivers experience the same asynchronous delay for all the corresponding antennas. In contrast to previously proposed alignment schemes, the channel state information of the links does not need to be known at the transmitter nodes. Instead, the relative delays among the received signals at each receiver node are globally known to the entire network. While the asynchronism is usually treated as a troublesome factor in communication systems, in this dissertation, we are interested to introduce it as a useful property of the wireless medium similar to the fading which can improve the system performance in some communication scenarios or facilitate signaling over the medium in some other scenarios

Channel Estimation and Equalization for Cooperative Communication

The revolutionary concept of space-time coding introduced in the last decade has demonstrated that the deployment of multiple antennas at the transmitter allows for simultaneous increase in throughput and reliability because of the additional degrees of freedom offered by the spatial dimension of the wireless channel. However, the use of antenna arrays is not practical for deployment in some practical scenarios, e. g. , sensor networks, due to space and power limitations. A new form of realizing transmit diversity has been recently introduced under the name of user cooperation or cooperative diversity. The basic idea behind cooperative diversity rests on the observation that in a wireless environment, the signal transmitted by the source node is overheard by other nodes, which can be defined as "partners" or "relays". The source and its partners can jointly process and transmit their information, creating a "virtual antenna array" and therefore emulating transmit diversity. Most of the ongoing research efforts in cooperative diversity assume frequency flat channels with perfect channel knowledge. However, in practical scenarios, e. g. broadband wireless networks, these assumptions do not apply. Frequency-selective fading and imperfect channel knowledge should be considered as a more realistic channel model. The development of equalization and channel estimation algorithms play a crucial element in the design of digital receivers as their accuracy determine the overall performance. This dissertation creates a framework for designing and analyzing various time and frequency domain equalization schemes, i. e. distributed time reversal (D-TR) STBC, distributed single carrier frequency domain (D-SC-FDE) STBC, and distributed orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (D-OFDM) STBC schemes, for broadband cooperative communication systems. Exploiting the orthogonally embedded in D-STBCs, we were able to maintain low-decoding complexity for all underlying schemes, thus, making them excellent candidates for practical scenarios, such as multi-media broadband communication systems. Furthermore, we propose and analyze various non-coherent and channel estimation algorithms to improve the quality and reliability of wireless communication networks. Specifically, we derive a non-coherent decoding rule which can be implemented in practice by a Viterbi-type algorithm. We demonstrate through the derivation of a pairwise error probability expression that the proposed non-coherent detector guarantees full diversity. Although this decoding rule has been derived assuming quasi-static channels, its inherent channel tracking capability allows its deployment over time-varying channels with a promising performance as a sub-optimal solution. As a possible alternative to non-coherent detection, we also investigate the performance of mismatched-coherent receiver, i. e. , coherent detection with imperfect channel estimation. Our performance analysis demonstrates that the mismatched-coherent receiver is able to collect the full diversity as its non-coherent competitor over quasi-static channels. Finally, we investigate and analyze the effect of multiple antennas deployment at the cooperating terminals assuming different relaying techniques. We derive pairwise error probability expressions quantifying analytically the impact of multiple antenna deployment at the source, relay and/or destination terminals on the diversity order for each of the relaying methods under consideration

Distributed Quasi-Orthogonal Space-Time coding in wireless cooperative relay networks

Cooperative diversity provides a new paradigm in robust wireless re- lay networks that leverages Space-Time (ST) processing techniques to combat the effects of fading. Distributing the encoding over multiple relays that potentially observe uncorrelated channels to a destination terminal has demonstrated promising results in extending range, data- rates and transmit power utilization. Specifically, Space Time Block Codes (STBCs) based on orthogonal designs have proven extremely popular at exploiting spatial diversity through simple distributed pro- cessing without channel knowledge at the relaying terminals. This thesis aims at extending further the extensive design and analysis in relay networks based on orthogonal designs in the context of Quasi- Orthogonal Space Time Block Codes (QOSTBCs). The characterization of Quasi-Orthogonal MIMO channels for cooper- ative networks is performed under Ergodic and Non-Ergodic channel conditions. Specific to cooperative diversity, the sub-channels are as- sumed to observe different shadowing conditions as opposed to the traditional co-located communication system. Under Ergodic chan- nel assumptions novel closed-form solutions for cooperative channel capacity under the constraint of distributed-QOSTBC processing are presented. This analysis is extended to yield closed-form approx- imate expressions and their utility is verified through simulations. The effective use of partial feedback to orthogonalize the QOSTBC is examined and significant gains under specific channel conditions are demonstrated. Distributed systems cooperating over the network introduce chal- lenges in synchronization. Without extensive network management it is difficult to synchronize all the nodes participating in the relaying between source and destination terminals. Based on QOSTBC tech- niques simple encoding strategies are introduced that provide compa- rable throughput to schemes under synchronous conditions with neg- ligible overhead in processing throughout the protocol. Both mutli- carrier and single-carrier schemes are developed to enable the flexi- bility to limit Peak-to-Average-Power-Ratio (PAPR) and reduce the Radio Frequency (RF) requirements of the relaying terminals. The insights gained in asynchronous design in flat-fading cooperative channels are then extended to broadband networks over frequency- selective channels where the novel application of QOSTBCs are used in distributed-Space-Time-Frequency (STF) coding. Specifically, cod- ing schemes are presented that extract both spatial and mutli-path diversity offered by the cooperative Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) channel. To provide maximum flexibility the proposed schemes are adapted to facilitate both Decode-and-Forward (DF) and Amplify- and-Forward (AF) relaying. In-depth Pairwise-Error-Probability (PEP) analysis provides distinct design specifications which tailor the distributed- STF code to maximize the diversity and coding gain offered under the DF and AF protocols. Numerical simulation are used extensively to confirm the validity of the proposed cooperative schemes. The analytical and numerical re- sults demonstrate the effective use of QOSTBC over orthogonal tech- niques in a wide range of channel conditions

Adaptive relaying protocol multiple-input multiple-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems

In wireless broadband communications, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been adopted as a promising technique to mitigate multi-path fading and provide high spectral efficiency. In addition, cooperative communication can explore spatial diversity where several users or nodes share their resources and cooperate through distributed transmission. The concatenation of the OFDM technique with relaying systems can enhance the overall performance in terms of spectral efficiency and improve robustness against the detrimental effects of fading. Hybrid relay selection is proposed to overcome the drawbacks of conventional forwarding schemes. However, exciting hybrid relay protocols may suffer some limitations when used for transmission over frequency-selective channels. The combination of cooperative protocols with OFDM systems has been extensively utilized in current wireless networks, and have become a promising solution for future high data rate broadband communication systems including 3D video transmission. This thesis covers two areas of high data rate networks. In the first part, several techniques using cooperative OFDM systems are presented including relay selection, space time block codes, resource allocation and adaptive bit and power allocation to introduce diversity. Four (4) selective OFDM relaying schemes are studied over wireless networks; selective OFDM; selective OFDMA; selective block OFDM and selective unequal block OFDM. The closed-form expression of these schemes is derived. By exploiting the broadcast nature, it is demonstrated that spatial diversity can be improved. The upper bound of outage probability for the protocols is derived. A new strategy for hybrid relay selection is proposed to improve the system performance by removing the sub-carriers that experience deep fading. The per subcarrier basis selection is considered with respect to the predefined threshold signal-to-noise ratio. The closed-form expressions of the proposed protocol in terms of bit error probability and outage probability are derived and compared with conventional hybrid relay selection. Adaptive bit and power allocation is also discussed to improve the system performance. Distributed space frequency coding applied to hybrid relay selection to obtain full spatial and full data rate transmission is explored. Two strategies, single cluster and multiple clusters, are considered for the Alamouti code at the destination by using a hybrid relay protocol. The power allocation with and without sub-carrier pairing is also investigated to mitigate the effect of multipath error propagation in frequency-selective channels. The second part of this thesis investigates the application of cooperative OFDM systems to high data rate transmission. Recently, there has been growing attention paid to 3D video transmission over broadband wireless channels. Two strategies for relay selection hybrid relay selection and first best second best are proposed to implement unequal error protection in the physical layer over error prone channels. The closed-form expressions of bit error probability and outage probability for both strategies are examined. The peak signal-to-noise ratio is presented to show the quality of reconstruction of the left and right views

A Simulation Study of Cooperative Communications over HF Channels

The High Frequency (HF) band lies within 2-30 MHz of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this part of the spectrum, propagation via direct wave, surface wave, and ionospheric refraction mechanisms provides means of communications from line-of-sight to beyond-line-of-sight ranges. The characteristics of ionospheric channel impose fundamental limitations on the performance of HF communication systems. The major impairment is fading which results in random fluctuations in the received signal level and affects the instantaneous signal-to-noise ratio. This requires the deployment of powerful diversity techniques to mitigate the degrading effects of fading on the performance. The range of wavelengths in HF band unfortunately restricts the use of spatial diversity (i.e., deployment of multiple antennas) for most practical purposes. This thesis focuses on an alternative method to exploit the spatial dimension of the HF channel. Specifically, we aim to extract distributed spatial diversity through relay-assisted transmission. Towards this main goal, we consider multi-carrier HF communication and investigate the performance of cooperative OFDM over HF channels