Telemetering and telecommunications research

The research center activities during the reporting period have been focused in three areas: (1) developing the necessary equipment and test procedures to support the testing of 8PSK-TCM through TDRSS from the WSGT; (2) extending the theoretical decoder work to higher speeds with a design goal of 600MBPS at 2 bits/Hz; and (3) completing the initial phase of the CPFSK Multi-H research and determining what subsets (if any) of these coding schemes are useful in the TDRSS environment. The equipment for the WSGT TCM testing has been completed and is functioning in the lab at NMSU. Measured results to date indicate that the uncoded system with the modified HRD and NMSU symbol sync operates at 1 to 1.5 dB from theory when processing encoded 8PSK. The NMSU pragmatic decoder when combined with these units produces approximately 2.9 dB of coding gain at 10(exp -5) BER. Our study of CPFSK with Multi-H coding has reached a critical stage. The principal conclusions reached in this activity are: (1) no scheme using Multi-H alone investigated by us or found in the literature produces power/bandwidth trades that are as good as TCM with filtered 8PSK; (2) when Multi-H is combined with convolutional coding, one can obtain better coding gain than with Multi-H alone but still no better power/bandwidth performance than TCM and these gains are available only with complex receivers; (3) the only advantage we can find for the CPFSK schemes over filtered MPSK with TCM is that they are constant envelope (however, constant envelope is of no benefit in a multiple access channel and of questionable benefit in a single access channel since driving the TWT to saturation in this situation is generally acceptable); and (4) based upon these results the center's research program will focus on concluding the existing CPFSK studies

Detection, Receivers, and Performance of CPFSK and CPCK

Continuous Phase Modulation (CPM) is a power/bandwidth efficient signaling technique for data transmission. In this thesis, two subclasses of this modulation called Continuous Phase Frequency Shift Keying (CPFSK) and Continuous Phase Chirp Keying (CPCK) are considered and their descriptions and properties are discussed in detail and several illustrations are given. Bayesian Maximum Likelihood Ratio Test (MLRT) is designed for detection of CPFSK and CPCK in AWGN channel. Based on this test, an optimum receiver structure, that minimizes the total probability of error, is obtained. Using high- and low-SNR approximations in the Bayesian test, two receivers, whose performances are analytically easy-to-evaluate relative to the optimum receiver, are identified. Next, a Maximum Likelihood Sequence Detection (MLSD) technique for CPFSK and CPCK is considered and a simplified and easy-to-understand structure of the receiver is presented. Finally, a novel Decision Aided Receiver (DAR) for detection of CPFSK and CPCK is presented and closed-form expressions for its Bits Error Rate (BER) performance are derived. Throughout the thesis, performances of the receivers are presented in terms of probability of error as a function of Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), modulation parameters and number of observation intervals of the received waveform. Analytical results wherever possible and, in general, simulation results are presented. An analysis of numerical results is given from the viewpoint of the ability of CPFSK and CPCK to operate over AWGN Channel

Exact Spectral Analysis of Single-h and Multi-h CPM Signals through PAM decomposition and Matrix Series Evaluation

In this paper we address the problem of closed-form spectral evaluation of CPM. We show that the multi-h CPM signal can be conveniently generated by a PTI SM. The output is governed by a Markov chain with the unusual peculiarity of being cyclostationary and reducible; this holds also in the single-h context. Judicious reinterpretation of the result leads to a formalization through a stationary and irreducible Markov chain, whose spectral evaluation is known in closed-form from the literature. Two are the major outcomes of this paper. First, unlike the literature, we obtain a PSD in true closed-form. Second, we give novel insights into the CPM format.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figure

Characteristics of multi-h coded modulation

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-75).Multi-h Coded Continuous-Phase Frequency Shift Keying (Multi-h CPFSK) has gained interest in recent years because it offers an additional degree of freedom in the coding of CPFSK. Similar to Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM), it does not use redundancy to achieve coding gain. Hence with properly chosen modulation indices, impact to spectral occupancy is kept to a minimum. While there has been less attention given of this method as compared with TCM, this method can also be used with data coding. In cases where data coding is to be implemented, simultaneous use of Multi-h coding can be implemented with very little increase in complexity. In this thesis, a thorough mathematical review of this technique is made. A multi-oscillator multih coded modulator is shown similar to one presented by Massey for MSK. A unique analytical tool called a multi-oscillator trellis is presented. This considers the phase transitions with respect to each of the signalling frequencies instead of the center frequency, f₀. The multi-oscillator trellis is used to determine the state machine that will switch a bank of oscillators. The purpose of the state machine is to maintain continuous phase at the multi-oscillator output while generating the proper signal frequencies according to the data and modulation index. The Maximum Likelihood Detection process at the receiver is shown as a partition of an uncoded CPFSK signal. Finally, an analysis is made to determine if a modulator with a non-linear frequencyvoltage characteristic is suitable in a coherent multi-h coded application. Much of the literature on this topic has been comparative to PSK. It is the intent of this work to use FSK and MSK as the baseline to determine how existing structures may be extended to realize the benefits of multi-h coding. The application of this coding to an 8 Mbps 23 GHz CPFSK point-to-point terrestrial communications system is also a topic of this thesis. It is in this context that the analysis is made

Advanced modulation technology development for earth station demodulator applications

The purpose of this contract was to develop a high rate (200 Mbps), bandwidth efficient, modulation format using low cost hardware, in 1990's technology. The modulation format chosen is 16-ary continuous phase frequency shift keying (CPFSK). The implementation of the modulation format uses a unique combination of a limiter/discriminator followed by an accumulator to determine transmitted phase. An important feature of the modulation scheme is the way coding is applied to efficiently gain back the performance lost by the close spacing of the phase points

Achievable Rate and Modulation for Bandlimited Channels with Oversampling and 1-Bit Quantization at the Receiver

Sustainably realizing applications of the future with high performance demands requires that energy efficiency becomes a central design criterion for the entire system. For example, the power consumption of the analog-to-digital converter (ADC) can become a major factor when transmitting at large bandwidths and carrier frequencies, e.g., for ultra-short range high data rate communication. The consumed energy per conversion step increases with the sampling rate such that high resolution ADCs become unfeasible in the sub-THz regime at the very high sampling rates required. This makes signaling schemes adapted to 1-bit quantizers a promising alternative. We therefore quantify the performance of bandlimited 1-bit quantized wireless communication channels using techniques like oversampling and faster-than-Nyquist (FTN) signaling to compensate for the loss of achievable rate. As a limiting case, we provide bounds on the mutual information rate of the hard bandlimited 1-bit quantized continuous-time – i.e., infinitely oversampled – additive white Gaussian noise channel in the mid-to-high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime. We derive analytic expressions using runlength encoded input signals. For real signals the maximum value of the lower bound on the spectral efficiency in the high-SNR limit was found to be approximately 1.63 bit/s/Hz. Since in practical scenarios the oversampling ratio remains finite, we derive bounds on the achievable rate of the bandlimited oversampled discrete-time channel. These bounds match the results of the continuous-time channel remarkably well. We observe spectral efficiencies up to 1.53 bit/s/Hz in the high-SNR limit given hard bandlimitation. When excess bandwidth is tolerable, spectral efficiencies above 2 bit/s/Hz per domain are achievable w.r.t. the 95 %-power containment bandwidth. Applying the obtained bounds to a bandlimited oversampled 1-bit quantized multiple-input multiple-output channel, we show the benefits when using appropriate power allocation schemes. As a constant envelope modulation scheme, continuous phase modulation is considered in order to relieve linearity requirements on the power amplifier. Noise-free performance limits are investigated for phase shift keying (PSK) and continuous phase frequency shift keying (CPFSK) using higher-order modulation alphabets and intermediate frequencies. Adapted waveforms are designed that can be described as FTN-CPFSK. With the same spectral efficiency in the high-SNR limit as PSK and CPFSK, these waveforms provide a significantly improved bit error rate (BER) performance. The gain in SNR required for achieving a certain BER can be up to 20 dB.Die nachhaltige Realisierung von zukünftigen Übertragungssystemen mit hohen Leistungsanforderungen erfordert, dass die Energieeffizienz zu einem zentralen Designkriterium für das gesamte System wird. Zum Beispiel kann die Leistungsaufnahme des Analog-Digital-Wandlers (ADC) zu einem wichtigen Faktor bei der Übertragung mit großen Bandbreiten und Trägerfrequenzen werden, z. B. für die Kommunikation mit hohen Datenraten über sehr kurze Entfernungen. Die verbrauchte Energie des ADCs steigt mit der Abtastrate, so dass hochauflösende ADCs im Sub-THz-Bereich bei den erforderlichen sehr hohen Abtastraten schwer einsetzbar sind. Dies macht Signalisierungsschemata, die an 1-Bit-Quantisierer angepasst sind, zu einer vielversprechenden Alternative. Wir quantifizieren daher die Leistungsfähigkeit von bandbegrenzten 1-Bit-quantisierten drahtlosen Kommunikationssystemen, wobei Techniken wie Oversampling und Faster-than-Nyquist (FTN) Signalisierung eingesetzt werden, um den durch Quantisierung verursachten Verlust der erreichbaren Rate auszugleichen. Wir geben Grenzen für die Transinformationsrate des Extremfalls eines strikt bandbegrenzten 1-Bit quantisierten zeitkontinuierlichen – d.h. unendlich überabgetasteten – Kanals mit additivem weißen Gauß’schen Rauschen bei mittlerem bis hohem Signal-Rausch-Verhältnis (SNR) an. Wir leiten analytische Ausdrücke basierend auf lauflängencodierten Eingangssignalen ab. Für reelle Signale ist der maximale Wert der unteren Grenze der spektralen Effizienz im Hoch-SNR-Bereich etwa 1,63 Bit/s/Hz. Da die Überabtastrate in praktischen Szenarien endlich bleibt, geben wir Grenzen für die erreichbare Rate eines bandbegrenzten, überabgetasteten zeitdiskreten Kanals an. Diese Grenzen stimmen mit den Ergebnissen des zeitkontinuierlichen Kanals bemerkenswert gut überein. Im Hoch-SNR-Bereich sind spektrale Effizienzen bis zu 1,53 Bit/s/Hz bei strikter Bandbegrenzung möglich. Wenn Energieanteile außerhalb des Frequenzbandes tolerierbar sind, können spektrale Effizienzen über 2 Bit/s/Hz pro Domäne – bezogen auf die Bandbreite, die 95 % der Energie enthält – erreichbar sein. Durch die Anwendung der erhaltenen Grenzen auf einen bandbegrenzten überabgetasteten 1-Bit quantisierten Multiple-Input Multiple-Output-Kanal zeigen wir Vorteile durch die Verwendung geeigneter Leistungsverteilungsschemata. Als Modulationsverfahren mit konstanter Hüllkurve betrachten wir kontinuierliche Phasenmodulation, um die Anforderungen an die Linearität des Leistungsverstärkers zu verringern. Beschränkungen für die erreichbare Datenrate bei rauschfreier Übertragung auf Zwischenfrequenzen mit Modulationsalphabeten höherer Ordnung werden für Phase-shift keying (PSK) and Continuous-phase frequency-shift keying (CPFSK) untersucht. Weiterhin werden angepasste Signalformen entworfen, die als FTN-CPFSK beschrieben werden können. Mit der gleichen spektralen Effizienz im Hoch-SNR-Bereich wie PSK und CPFSK bieten diese Signalformen eine deutlich verbesserte Bitfehlerrate (BER). Die Verringerung des erforderlichen SNRs zur Erreichung einer bestimmten BER kann bis zu 20 dB betragen

Trellis coding with Continuous Phase Modulation (CPM) for satellite-based land-mobile communications

This volume of the final report summarizes the results of our studies on the satellite-based mobile communications project. It includes: a detailed analysis, design, and simulations of trellis coded, full/partial response CPM signals with/without interleaving over various Rician fading channels; analysis and simulation of computational cutoff rates for coherent, noncoherent, and differential detection of CPM signals; optimization of the complete transmission system; analysis and simulation of power spectrum of the CPM signals; design and development of a class of Doppler frequency shift estimators; design and development of a symbol timing recovery circuit; and breadboard implementation of the transmission system. Studies prove the suitability of the CPM system for mobile communications

Two-Way Relaying Using Constant Envelope Modulation and Phase-Superposition-Phase-Forward

In this article, we propose the idea of phase-superposition-phase-forward (PSPF) relaying for 2-way 3-phasecooperative network involving constant envelope modulation with discriminator detection in a time-selectiveRayleigh fading environment. A semi-analytical expression for the bit-error-rate (BER) of this system is derived andthe results are verified by simulation. It was found that, compared to one-way relaying, 2-way relaying with PSPFsuffers only a moderate loss in energy efficiency (of 1.5 dB). On the other hand, PSPF improves the transmissionefficiency by 33%. Furthermore, we believe that the loss in transmission efficiency can be reduced if power isallocated to the different nodes in this cooperative network in an ‘optimal’ fashion. To further put the performanceof the proposed PSPF scheme into perspective, we compare it against a phase-combining phase-forwardtechnique that is based on decode-and-forward (DF) and multi-level CPFSK re-modulation at the relay. It wasfound that DF has a higher BER than PSPF and requires additional processing at the relay. It can thus beconcluded that the proposed PSPF technique is indeed the preferred way to maintain constant envelope signalingthroughout the signaling chain in a 2-way 3 phase relaying system