Near-Instantaneously Adaptive HSDPA-Style OFDM Versus MC-CDMA Transceivers for WIFI, WIMAX, and Next-Generation Cellular Systems

Burts-by-burst (BbB) adaptive high-speed downlink packet access (HSDPA) style multicarrier systems are reviewed, identifying their most critical design aspects. These systems exhibit numerous attractive features, rendering them eminently eligible for employment in next-generation wireless systems. It is argued that BbB-adaptive or symbol-by-symbol adaptive orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) modems counteract the near instantaneous channel quality variations and hence attain an increased throughput or robustness in comparison to their fixed-mode counterparts. Although they act quite differently, various diversity techniques, such as Rake receivers and space-time block coding (STBC) are also capable of mitigating the channel quality variations in their effort to reduce the bit error ratio (BER), provided that the individual antenna elements experience independent fading. By contrast, in the presence of correlated fading imposed by shadowing or time-variant multiuser interference, the benefits of space-time coding erode and it is unrealistic to expect that a fixed-mode space-time coded system remains capable of maintaining a near-constant BER

A robust timing and frequency synchronization for OFDM systems

Abstract—A robust symbol-timing and carrier-frequency synchronization scheme applicable to orthogonal frequency-division-multiplexing systems is presented. The proposed method is based on a training symbol specifically designed to have a steep rolloff timing metric. The proposed timing metric also provides a robust sync detection capability. Both time domain training and frequency domain (FD) training are investigated. For FD training, maintaining a low peak-to-average power ratio of the training symbol was taken into consideration. The channel estimation scheme based on the designed training symbol was also incorporated in the system in order to give both fine-timing and frequency-offset estimates. For fine frequency estimation, two approaches are presented. The first one is based on the suppression of the interference introduced in the frequency estimation process by the training symbol pattern in the context of multipath dispersive channels. The second one is based on the maximum likelihood principle and does not suffer from any interference. A new performance measure is introduced for timing estimation, which is based on the plot of signal to timing-error-induced average interference power ratio against the timing estimate shift. A simple approach for finding the optimal setting of the timing estimator is presented. Finally, the sync detection, timing estimation, frequency estimation, and bit-error-rate performance of the proposed method are presented in a multipath Rayleigh fading channel. Index Terms—Frequency-offset estimation, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), symbol-timing estimation, synchronization, training symbol. I

Synchronization in wireless communications

The last decade has witnessed an immense increase of wireless communications services in order to keep pace with the ever increasing demand for higher data rates combined with higher mobility. To satisfy this demand for higher data rates, the throughput over the existing transmission media had to be increased. Several techniques were proposed to boost up the data rate: multicarrier systems to combat selective fading, ultra wide band (UWB) communications systems to share the spectrum with other users, MIMO transmissions to increase the capacity of wireless links, iteratively decodable codes (e.g., turbo codes and LDPC codes) to improve the quality of the link, cognitive radios, and so forth

Waveform Advancements and Synchronization Techniques for Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing

To enable a new level of connectivity among machines as well as between people and machines, future wireless applications will demand higher requirements on data rates, response time, and reliability from the communication system. This will lead to a different system design, comprising a wide range of deployment scenarios. One important aspect is the evolution of physical layer (PHY), specifically the waveform modulation. The novel generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM) technique is a prominent proposal for a flexible block filtered multicarrier modulation. This thesis introduces an advanced GFDM concept that enables the emulation of other prominent waveform candidates in scenarios where they perform best. Hence, a unique modulation framework is presented that is capable of addressing a wide range of scenarios and to upgrade the PHY for 5G networks. In particular, for a subset of system parameters of the modulation framework, the problem of symbol time offset (STO) and carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation is investigated and synchronization approaches, which can operate in burst and continuous transmissions, are designed. The first part of this work presents the modulation principles of prominent 5G candidate waveforms and then focuses on the GFDM basic and advanced attributes. The GFDM concept is extended towards the use of OQAM, introducing the novel frequency-shift OQAM-GFDM, and a new low complexity model based on signal processing carried out in the time domain. A new prototype filter proposal highlights the benefits obtained in terms of a reduced out-of-band (OOB) radiation and more attractive hardware implementation cost. With proper parameterization of the advanced GFDM, the achieved gains are applicable to other filtered OFDM waveforms. In the second part, a search approach for estimating STO and CFO in GFDM is evaluated. A self-interference metric is proposed to quantify the effective SNR penalty caused by the residual time and frequency misalignment or intrinsic inter-symbol interference (ISI) and inter-carrier interference (ICI) for arbitrary pulse shape design in GFDM. In particular, the ICI can be used as a non-data aided approach for frequency estimation. Then, GFDM training sequences, defined either as an isolated preamble or embedded as a midamble or pseudo-circular pre/post-amble, are designed. Simulations show better OOB emission and good estimation results, either comparable or superior, to state-of-the-art OFDM system in wireless channels

Experimental study of cognitive radio test-bed using USRP

Cognitive Radio is an emerging technology that enables efficient utilization of the spectrum. As such, it has created great interests in industrial and research fields. Many people have proposed test-bed models for the performance analysis of primary and secondary users in a real-time noise environment. However, these test-beds are generally lacking in their range of capabilities as well as accurate implementation of the proposed models. In this thesis, we develop our test-bed on USRP to achieve the spectrum sensing and co-existence of primary and secondary users, while implementing the rendezvous protocols for secondary traffic coordination. We first demonstrate the spectrum sensing on the primary users using an energy detector(Average periodogram analysis) to obtain the average power of the primary channel under two different channel conditions (busy or idle). The focus is extended on developing the Markov traffic model and the Coded OFDM transceivers, while discussing the practical limitations for Markov traffic and viable solutions for reducing the burst errors for Coded OFDM. Finally, a four-node test-bed model of primary and secondary users is analyzed with the interference metrics (packet loss and error rate) for different scenarios. Also, the throughput and the interference metrics are compared for different rendezvous protocols of the secondary users