Enabling Technology and Algorithm Design for Location-Aware Communications

Location-awareness is emerging as a promising technique for future-generation wire­ less network to adaptively enhance and optimize its overall performance through location-enabled technologies such as location-assisted transceiver reconfiguration and routing. The availability of accurate location information of mobile users becomes the essential prerequisite for the design of such location-aware networks. Motivated by the low locationing accuracy of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in dense multipath environments, which is commonly used for acquiring location information in most of the existing wireless networks, wireless communication system-based po­sitioning systems have been investigated as alternatives to fill the gap of the GPS in coverage. Distance-based location techniques using time-of-arrival (TOA) mea­surements are commonly preferred by broadband wireless communications where the arrival time of the signal component of the First Arriving Path (FAP) can be con­verted to the distance between the receiver and the transmitter with known location. With at least three transmitters, the location of the receiver can be determined via trilatération method. However, identification of the FAP’s signal component in dense multipath scenarios is quite challenging due to the significantly weaker power of the FAP as compared with the Later Arriving Paths (LAPs) from scattering, reflection and refraction, and the superposition of these random arrival LAPs’ signal compo­ nents will become large interference to detect the FAP. In this thesis, a robust FAP detection scheme based on multipath interference cancellation is proposed to im­ prove the accuracy of location estimation in dense multipath environments. In the proposed algorithm, the signal components of LAPs is reconstructed based on the estimated channel and data with the assist of the communication receiver, and sub­ sequently removed from the received signal. Accurate FAP detection results are then achieved with the cross-correlation between the interference-suppressed signal and an augmented preamble which is the combination of the original preamble for com­ munications and the demodulated data sequences. Therefore, more precise distance estimation (hence location estimation) can be obtained with the proposed algorithm for further reliable network optimization strategy design. On the other hand, multiceli cooperative communication is another emerging technique to substantially improve the coverage and throughput of traditional cellular networks. Location-awareness also plays an important role in the design and imple­mentation of multiceli cooperation technique. With accurate location information of mobile users, the complexity of multiceli cooperation algorithm design can be dra­matically reduced by location-assisted applications, e.g., automatic cooperative base station (BS) determination and signal synchronization. Therefore, potential latency aroused by cooperative processing will be minimized. Furthermore, the cooperative BSs require the sharing of certain information, e.g., channel state information (CSI), user data and transmission parameters to perform coordination in their signaling strategies. The BSs need to have the capabilities to exchange available information with each other to follow up with the time-varying communication environment. As most of broadband wireless communication systems are already orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based, a Multi-Layered OFDM System, which is spe­cially tailored for multiceli cooperation is investigated to provide parallel robust, efficient and flexible signaling links for BS coordination purposes. These layers are overlaid with data-carrying OFDM signals in both time and frequency domains and therefore, no dedicated radio resources are required for multiceli cooperative networks. In the final aspect of this thesis, an enhanced channel estimation through itera­ tive decision-directed method is investigated for OFDM system, which aims to provide more accurate estimation results with the aid of the demodulated OFDM data. The performance of traditional training sequence-based channel estimation is often lim­ ited by the length of the training. To achieve acceptable estimation performance, a long sequence has to be used which dramatically reduces the transmission efficiency of data communication. In this proposed method, the restriction of the training se­quence length can be removed and high channel estimation accuracy can be achieved with high transmission efficiency, and therefore it particular fits in multiceli coopera­tive networks. On the other hand, as the performance of the proposed FAP detection scheme also relies on the accuracy of channel estimation and data detection results, the proposed method can be combined with the FAP detection scheme to further optimize the accuracy of multipath interference cancellation and FAP detection

D 3. 3 Final performance results and consolidated view on the most promising multi -node/multi -antenna transmission technologies

This document provides the most recent updates on the technical contributions and research challenges focused in WP3. Each Technology Component (TeC) has been evaluated under possible uniform assessment framework of WP3 which is based on the simulation guidelines of WP6. The performance assessment is supported by the simulation results which are in their mature and stable state. An update on the Most Promising Technology Approaches (MPTAs) and their associated TeCs is the main focus of this document. Based on the input of all the TeCs in WP3, a consolidated view of WP3 on the role of multinode/multi-antenna transmission technologies in 5G systems has also been provided. This consolidated view is further supported in this document by the presentation of the impact of MPTAs on METIS scenarios and the addressed METIS goals.Aziz, D.; Baracca, P.; De Carvalho, E.; Fantini, R.; Rajatheva, N.; Popovski, P.; Sørensen, JH.... (2015). D 3. 3 Final performance results and consolidated view on the most promising multi -node/multi -antenna transmission technologies. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/7675

Solutions for New Terrestrial Broadcasting Systems Offering Simultaneously Stationary and Mobile Services

221 p.[EN]Since the first broadcasted TV signal was transmitted in the early decades of the past century, the television broadcasting industry has experienced a series of dramatic changes. Most recently, following the evolution from analogue to digital systems, the digital dividend has become one of the main concerns of the broadcasting industry. In fact, there are many international spectrum authorities reclaiming part of the broadcasting spectrum to satisfy the growing demand of other services, such as broadband wireless services, arguing that the TV services are not very spectrum-efficient. Apart from that, it must be taken into account that, even if up to now the mobile broadcasting has not been considered a major requirement, this will probably change in the near future. In fact, it is expected that the global mobile data traffic will increase 11-fold between 2014 and 2018, and what is more, over two thirds of the data traffic will be video stream by the end of that period. Therefore, the capability to receive HD services anywhere with a mobile device is going to be a mandatory requirement for any new generation broadcasting system. The main objective of this work is to present several technical solutions that answer to these challenges. In particular, the main questions to be solved are the spectrum efficiency issue and the increasing user expectations of receiving high quality mobile services. In other words, the main objective is to provide technical solutions for an efficient and flexible usage of the terrestrial broadcasting spectrum for both stationary and mobile services. The first contributions of this scientific work are closely related to the study of the mobile broadcast reception. Firstly, a comprehensive mathematical analysis of the OFDM signal behaviour over time-varying channels is presented. In order to maximize the channel capacity in mobile environments, channel estimation and equalization are studied in depth. First, the most implemented equalization solutions in time-varying scenarios are analyzed, and then, based on these existing techniques, a new equalization algorithm is proposed for enhancing the receivers’ performance. An alternative solution for improving the efficiency under mobile channel conditions is treating the Inter Carrier Interference as another noise source. Specifically, after analyzing the ICI impact and the existing solutions for reducing the ICI penalty, a new approach based on the robustness of FEC codes is presented. This new approach employs one dimensional algorithms at the receiver and entrusts the ICI removing task to the robust forward error correction codes. Finally, another major contribution of this work is the presentation of the Layer Division Multiplexing (LDM) as a spectrum-efficient and flexible solution for offering stationary and mobile services simultaneously. The comprehensive theoretical study developed here verifies the improved spectrum efficiency, whereas the included practical validation confirms the feasibility of the system and presents it as a very promising multiplexing technique, which will surely be a strong candidate for the next generation broadcasting services.[ES]Desde el comienzo de la transmisión de las primeras señales de televisión a principios del siglo pasado, la radiodifusión digital ha evolucionado gracias a una serie de cambios relevantes. Recientemente, como consecuencia directa de la digitalización del servicio, el dividendo digital se ha convertido en uno de los caballos de batalla de la industria de la radiodifusión. De hecho, no son pocos los consorcios internacionales que abogan por asignar parte del espectro de radiodifusión a otros servicios como, por ejemplo, la telefonía móvil, argumentado la poca eficiencia espectral de la tecnología de radiodifusión actual. Asimismo, se debe tener en cuenta que a pesar de que los servicios móviles no se han considerado fundamentales en el pasado, esta tendencia probablemente variará en el futuro cercano. De hecho, se espera que el tráfico derivado de servicios móviles se multiplique por once entre los años 2014 y 2018; y lo que es más importante, se pronostica que dos tercios del tráfico móvil sea video streaming para finales de ese periodo. Por lo tanto, la posibilidad de ofrecer servicios de alta definición en dispositivos móviles es un requisito fundamental para los sistemas de radiodifusión de nueva generación. El principal objetivo de este trabajo es presentar soluciones técnicas que den respuesta a los retos planteados anteriormente. En particular, las principales cuestiones a resolver son la ineficiencia espectral y el incremento de usuarios que demandan mayor calidad en los contenidos para dispositivos móviles. En pocas palabras, el principal objetivo de este trabajo se basa en ofrecer una solución más eficiente y flexible para la transmisión simultánea de servicios fijos y móviles. La primera contribución relevante de este trabajo está relacionada con la recepción de la señal de televisión en movimiento. En primer lugar, se presenta un completo análisis matemático del comportamiento de la señal OFDM en canales variantes con el tiempo. A continuación, con la intención de maximizar la capacidad del canal, se estudian en profundidad los algoritmos de estimación y ecualización. Posteriormente, se analizan los algoritmos de ecualización más implementados, y por último, basándose en estas técnicas, se propone un nuevo algoritmo de ecualización para aumentar el rendimiento de los receptores en tales condiciones. Del mismo modo, se plantea un nuevo enfoque para mejorar la eficiencia de los servicios móviles basado en tratar la interferencia entre portadoras como una fuente de ruido. Concretamente, tras analizar el impacto del ICI en los receptores actuales, se sugiere delegar el trabajo de corrección de dichas distorsiones en códigos FEC muy robustos. Finalmente, la última contribución importante de este trabajo es la presentación de la tecnología LDM como una manera más eficiente y flexible para la transmisión simultánea de servicios fijos y móviles. El análisis teórico presentado confirma el incremento en la eficiencia espectral, mientras que el estudio práctico valida la posible implementación del sistema y presenta la tecnología LDM c

Un-coordinated multi-user and inter-cell interference alignment based on partial and outdated information for large cellular networks

The cellular networks have gone through rapid evolution during the past decade. However, their performance is still limited due to the problem of interference. Therefore, interference management in current and future cellular networks is still an ongoing research topic. Interference Alignment is one of the techniques to manage the interference efficiently by using "align" and "suppression" strategy. In the first part of this thesis we focus on Coordinated inter cell interference alignment in a large cellular network. We assess the performance of interference alignment based transmit precoding under specific receiver strategies and coordination scenarios by comparing with different state of the art precoding schemes. We continue our assessment by considering imperfect channel state information at the transmitter. The results show that the gains of coordinated alignment based transmission are very sensitive to the receiver strategies and imperfections as compared to the other precoding schemes. However, in case of the availability of good channel conditions with very slow moving users, coordinated interference alignment outperforms the other baselines even with imperfect channel state information. In addition to that, we propose efficient user selection methods to enhance the performance of coordinated alignment. The results of our assessment draws important conclusions about the application of coordinated interference alignment in practical systems. In the second part of the thesis we consider a cellular system where each cell is serving multiple users simultaneously using the same radio resource. In this scenario, we have to manage not only the inter cell interference but also the multi user interference. For this purpose, we propose a novel Uncoordinated transmit precoding scheme for multi user cellular networks which is based on the alignment of multi user interference with partial and outdated inter cell interference. We show analytically that our scheme approaches the performance optimal transmission scheme. With the help of simulations we show that our proposal outperforms the state of the art non-alignment based multi user transmit precoding schemes We further propose user selection methods which exploit the diversity gains and improve the system spectral efficiency. In order to assess the feasibility of our proposal in a real system, we evaluate our scheme with practical constraints like imperfect information at the transmitter and limited feedback in uplink channel. For the proof of concept we also evaluate the performance of our scheme with measured channels using a software defined measurement platform. Finally, we also assess the application of our proposal in future heterogeneous networks. The outcome of our efforts states that as an interference alignment based transmission scheme, our scheme is a good candidate to manage the two dimensional interference in multi user cellular networks. It outperforms the non-alignment baselines in many scenarios even with practical constraints

Hybrid generalized non-orthogonal multiple access for the 5G wireless networks.

Master of Science in Computer Engineering. University of KwaZulu-Natal. Durban, 2018.The deployment of 5G networks will lead to an increase in capacity, spectral efficiency, low latency and massive connectivity for wireless networks. They will still face the challenges of resource and power optimization, increasing spectrum efficiency and energy optimization, among others. Furthermore, the standardized technologies to mitigate against the challenges need to be developed and are a challenge themselves. In the current predecessor LTE-A networks, orthogonal frequency multiple access (OFDMA) scheme is used as the baseline multiple access scheme. It allows users to be served orthogonally in either time or frequency to alleviate narrowband interference and impulse noise. Further spectrum limitations of orthogonal multiple access (OMA) schemes have resulted in the development of non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) schemes to enable 5G networks to achieve high spectral efficiency and high data rates. NOMA schemes unorthogonally co-multiplex different users on the same resource elements (RE) (i.e. time-frequency domain, OFDMA subcarrier, or spreading code) via power domain (PD) or code domain (CD) at the transmitter and successfully separating them at the receiver by applying multi-user detection (MUD) algorithms. The current developed NOMA schemes, refered to as generalized-NOMA (G-NOMA) technologies includes; Interleaver Division Multiple Access (IDMA, Sparse code multiple access (SCMA), Low-density spreading multiple access (LDSMA), Multi-user shared access (MUSA) scheme and the Pattern Division Multiple Access (PDMA). These protocols are currently still under refinement, their performance and applicability has not been thoroughly investigated. The first part of this work undertakes a thorough investigation and analysis of the performance of the existing G-NOMA schemes and their applicability. Generally, G-NOMA schemes perceives overloading by non-orthogonal spectrum resource allocation, which enables massive connectivity of users and devices, and offers improved system spectral efficiency. Like any other technologies, the G-NOMA schemes need to be improved to further harvest their benefits on 5G networks leading to the requirement of Hybrid G-NOMA (G-NOMA) schemes. The second part of this work develops a HG-NOMA scheme to alleviate the 5G challenges of resource allocation, inter and cross-tier interference management and energy efficiency. This work develops and investigates the performance of an Energy Efficient HG-NOMA resource allocation scheme for a two-tier heterogeneous network that alleviates the cross-tier interference and improves the system throughput via spectrum resource optimization. By considering the combinatorial problem of resource pattern assignment and power allocation, the HG-NOMA scheme will enable a new transmission policy that allows more than two macro-user equipment’s (MUEs) and femto-user equipment’s (FUEs) to be co-multiplexed on the same time-frequency RE increasing the spectral efficiency. The performance of the developed model is shown to be superior to the PD-NOMA and OFDMA schemes

Radio Communications

In the last decades the restless evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) brought to a deep transformation of our habits. The growth of the Internet and the advances in hardware and software implementations modified our way to communicate and to share information. In this book, an overview of the major issues faced today by researchers in the field of radio communications is given through 35 high quality chapters written by specialists working in universities and research centers all over the world. Various aspects will be deeply discussed: channel modeling, beamforming, multiple antennas, cooperative networks, opportunistic scheduling, advanced admission control, handover management, systems performance assessment, routing issues in mobility conditions, localization, web security. Advanced techniques for the radio resource management will be discussed both in single and multiple radio technologies; either in infrastructure, mesh or ad hoc networks