On the performance gain of STFC-LDPC concatenated coding scheme for MIMO-WiMAX

In mobile communications, using multiple transmit and receive antennas has shown considerable improvement over single antenna systems. The performance increase can be characterized by more reliable throughput obtained through diversity and the higher achievable data rate through spatial multiplexing. The combination of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless technology with the IEEE 802.16e-2005 (WiMAX) standard has been recognized as one of the most promising technologies with the advent of next generation broadband wireless communications. The dissertation introduces a performance evaluation of modern multi-antenna coding techniques on a MIMO-WiMAX platform developed to be capable of simulating space-selective, time-selective and frequency-selective fading conditions, which are known as triply-selective fading conditions. A new concatenated space-time-frequency low-density parity check (LDPC) code is proposed for high performance MIMO systems, where it is shown that the newly defined coding technique outperforms a more conventional approach by concatenating space-time blocks with LDPC codes. The analysis of the coding techniques in realistic mobile environments, as well as the proposed STFC-LDPC code, can form a set of newly defined codes, complementing the current coding schemes defined in the WiMAX standard.Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2009.Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineeringunrestricte

Assessment and Real Time Implementation of Wireless Communications Systems and Applications in Transportation Systems

Programa Oficial de Doutoramento en Tecnoloxías da Información e das Comunicacións en Redes Móbiles. 5029V01[Resumo] Os sistemas de comunicación sen fíos de cuarta e quinta xeración (4G e 5G) utilizan unha capa física (PHY) baseada en modulacións multiportadora para a transmisión de datos cun gran ancho de banda. Este tipo de modulacións proporcionan unha alta eficiencia espectral á vez que permiten corrixir de forma sinxela os efectos da canle radio. Estes sistemas utilizan OFDMA como mecanismo para a repartición dos recursos radio dispoñibles entre os diferentes usuarios. Este repartimento realízase asignando un subconxunto de subportadoras a cada usuario nun instante de tempo determinado. Isto aporta unha gran flexibilidade ó sistema que lle permite adaptarse tanto ós requisitos de calidade de servizo dos usuarios como ó estado da canle radio. A capa de acceso ó medio (MAC) destes sistemas encárgase de configurar os diversos parámetros proporcionados pola capa física OFDMA, ademais de xestionar os diversos fluxos de información de cada usuario, transformando os paquetes de capas superiores en paquetes da capa física. Neste traballo estúdase o deseño e implementación das capas MAC e PHY de sistemas de comunicación 4G ademais da súa aplicabilidade en sistemas de transporte ferroviarios. Por unha parte, abórdase o deseño e implementación en tempo real do estándar WiMAX. Estúdanse os mecanismos necesarios para establecer comunicacións bidireccionais entre unha estación base e múltiples dispositivos móbiles. Ademais, estúdase como realizar esta implementación nunha arquitectura hardware baseada en DSPs e FPGAs, na que se implementan as capas MAC e PHY. Dado que esta arquitectura ten uns recursos computacionais limitados, tamén se estudan as necesidades de cada módulo do sistema para poder garantir o funcionamento en tempo real do sistema completo. Por outra parte, tamén se estuda a aplicabilidade dos sistemas 4G a sistemas de transporte públicos. Os sistemas de comunicacións e sinalización son unha parte vital para os sistemas de transporte ferroviario e metro. As comunicacións sen fíos utilizadas por estes sistemas deben ser robustas e proporcionar unha alta fiabilidade para permitir a supervisión, control e seguridade do tráfico ferroviario. Para levar a cabo esta avaliación de viabilidade realízanse simulacións de redes de comunicacións LTE en contornos de transporte ferroviarios, comprobando o cumprimento dos requisitos de fiabilidade e seguridade. Realízanse diferentes simulacións do sistema de comunicacións para poder ser avaliadas e seleccionar a configuración e arquitectura do sistema máis axeitada en función do escenario considerado. Tamén se efectúan simulacións de redes baseadas en Wi-Fi, dado que é a solución máis utilizada nos metros, para confrontar os resultados cos obtidos para LTE. Para que os resultados das simulacións sexan realistas débense empregar modelos de propagación radio axeitados. Nas simulacións utilízanse tanto modelos deterministas como modelos baseados nos resultados de campañas de medida realizadas nestes escenarios. Nas simulacións empréganse os diferentes fluxos de información destes escenarios para comprobar que se cumpren os requisitos de calidade de servicio (QoS). Por exemplo, os fluxos críticos para o control ferroviario, como European Train Control System (ETCS) ou Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC), necesitan unha alta fiabilidade e un retardo mínimo nas comunicacións para garantir o correcto funcionamento do sistema.[Resumen] Los sistemas de comunicación inalámbricos de cuarta y quinta generación (4G y 5G) utilizan una capa física (PHY) basada en modulaciones multiportadora para la transmisión de datos con un gran ancho de banda. Este tipo de modulaciones han demostrado tener una alta eficiencia espectral a la vez que permiten corregir de forma sencilla los efectos del canal radio. Estos sistemas utilizan OFDMA como mecanismo para el reparto de los recursos radio disponibles entre los diferentes usuarios. Este reparto se realiza asignando un subconjunto de subportadoras a cada usuario en un instante de tiempo determinado. Esto aporta una gran flexibilidad al sistema que le permite adaptarse tanto a los requisitos de calidad de servicio de los usuarios como al estado del canal radio. La capa de acceso al medio (MAC) de estos sistemas se encarga de configurar los diversos parámetros proporcionados por la capa física OFDMA, además de gestionar los diversos flujos de información de cada usuario, transformando los paquetes de capas superiores en paquetes de la capa física. En este trabajo se estudia el diseño e implementación de las capas MAC y PHY de sistemas de comunicación 4G además de su aplicabilidad en sistemas de transporte ferroviarios. Por una parte, se aborda el diseño e implementación en tiempo real del estándar WiMAX. Se estudian los mecanismos necesarios para establecer comunicaciones bidireccionales entre una estación base y múltiples dispositivos móviles. Además, se estudia cómo realizar esta implementación en una arquitectura hardware basada en DSPs y FPGAs, en la que se implementan las capas MAC y PHY. Dado que esta arquitectura tiene unos recursos computacionales limitados, también se estudian las necesidades de cada módulo del sistema para poder garantizar el funcionamiento en tiempo real del sistema completo. Por otra parte, también se estudia la aplicabilidad de los sistemas 4G a sistemas de transporte públicos. Los sistemas de comunicaciones y señalización son una parte vital para los sistemas de transporte ferroviario y metro. Las comunicaciones inalámbricas utilizadas por estos sistemas deben ser robustas y proporcionar una alta fiabilidad para permitir la supervisión, control y seguridad del tráfico ferroviario. Para llevar a cabo esta evaluación de viabilidad se realizan simulaciones de redes de comunicaciones LTE en entornos de transporte ferroviarios, comprobando si se cumplen los requisitos de fiabilidad y seguridad. Se realizan diferentes simulaciones del sistema de comunicaciones para poder ser evaluados y seleccionar la configuración y arquitectura del sistema más adecuada en función del escenario planteado. También se efectúan simulaciones de redes basadas en Wi-Fi, dado que es la solución más utilizada en los metros, para comparar los resultados con los obtenidos para LTE. Para que los resultados de las simulaciones sean realistas se deben utilizar modelos de propagación radio apropiados. En las simulaciones se utilizan tanto modelos deterministas como modelos basados en los resultados de campañas de medida realizadas en estos escenarios. En las simulaciones se utilizan los diferentes flujos de información de estos escenarios para comprobar que se cumplen sus requisitos de calidad de servicio. Por ejemplo, los flujos críticos para el control ferroviario, como European Train Control System (ETCS) o Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC), necesitan una alta fiabilidad y un retardo bajo en las comunicaciones para garantizar el correcto funcionamiento del sistema.[Abstract] The fourth and fifth generation wireless communication systems (4G and 5G) use a physical layer (PHY) based on multicarrier modulations for data transmission using high bandwidth. This type of modulations has shown to provide high spectral efficiency while allowing low complexity radio channel equalization. These systems use OFDMA as a mechanism for distributing the available radio resources among different users. This allocation is done by assigning a subset of subcarriers to each user in a given instant of time. This provides great flexibility to the system that allows it to adapt to both the quality of service requirements of users and the radio channel state. The media access layer (MAC) of these systems is in charge of configuring the multiple OFDMA PHY layer parameters, in addition to managing the data flows of each user, transforming the higher layer packets into PHY layer packets. This work studies the design and implementation of MAC and PHY layers of 4G communication systems as well as their applicability in rail transport systems. On the one hand, the design and implementation in real time of the WiMAX standard is addressed. The required mechanisms to establish bidirectional communications between a base station and several mobile devices are also evaluated. Moreover, a MAC layer and PHY layer implementation is presented, using a hardware architecture based in DSPs and FPGAs. Since this architecture has limited computational resources, the requirements of each processing block of the system are also studied in order to guarantee the real time operation of the complete system. On the other hand, the applicability of 4G systems to public transportation systems is also studied. Communications and signaling systems are a vital part of rail and metro transport systems. The wireless communications used by these systems must be robust and provide high reliability to enable the supervision, control and safety of rail traffic. To carry out this feasibility assessment, LTE communications network simulations are performed in rail transport environments to verify that reliability and safety requirements are met. Several simulations are carried out in order to evaluate the system performance and select the most appropriate system configuration in each case. Simulations of Wi-Fi based networks are also carried out, since it is the most used solution in subways, to compare the results with those obtained for LTE. To perform the simulations correctly, appropriate radio propagation models must be used. Both deterministic models and models based on the results of measurement campaigns in these scenarios are used in the simulations. The simulations use the different information flows present in the railway transportation systems to verify that its quality of service requirements are met. For example, critical flows for railway control, such as the European Train Control System (ETCS) or Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC), require high reliability and low delay communications to ensure the proper functioning of the system

Optimization of Power Consumption for the Design of 802.11n MIMO_OFDM System

في انظمة الاتصالات الحديثة توجد طرق مختلفة لتحسين أداء التقنيات السابقة التقليدية والتي تتعلق بمعالجة البيانات المرسلة والمستلمة من حيث زيادة سرعة عمليات الارسال والاستلام حيث انه البطئ في هذه العملية يؤدي الى فقدان الكثير من المعلومات المرسلة لذا فانه من الضروري تحسين تقنية تعدد الإرسال بتقسيم التردد المتعامد OFDM)) لأنه يعتبر في اولوية النظام اللاسلكي الذي يتضمن بيانات الأمن وموثوقية بيانات الإرسال. تطبيقات الاتصالات اللاسلكية مهم في هذا المجال من أجل تحسين وزيادة سرعة عملية معالجة البيانات والذي يؤدي بدوره بشكل مهم إلى تقليل مستوى استهلاك الطاقة للنظام. أن تصميم وتنفيذ الدوائر المتكاملة بأستخدام مصفوفة البوابات المبرمجة (FPGA) جاء لأجل تحسين اداء نظام الارسال والاستلام لل 802.11n في تقسيم التردد المتعامد حيث تم تصميم نظام (OFDM_MIMO) 6X6 بأستخدام المحاكاة في برنامج الماتلاب ومن ثم استخدام لغة البرمجة VHDL لغرض استخدامها في برمجة مصفوفة البوابات المبرمجة (FPGA) حيث تم استخدام نوع Xilinx Spartan 3 XC3S200 وفي النتائج تم الحصول على أقل أستهلاك للطاقة الكلية للنظام حيث سجلت  94mW مقارنة مع عمل سابق كانت سجلت mW136 أي قلت كمية الطاقة المستهلكة بنسبة 30.8%.In modern systems communication, different methods have been improved to change the prior imitative techniques that process communication data with high speed. It is necessary to improve (OFDM) Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing technique because the development in the guideline communication of wireless system which include security data and transmission data reliability. The applications communications of wireless is important to develop in order to optimize the process of communication leads to reduce the level consumption energy of the output level signal. The architecture of VLSI is used to optimize the performance transceiver in 802.11 n OFDM-MIMO systems, this idea concentrate on the design of 6x6 MIMO_OFDM system in software simulink of MATLAB then using generator system for transfer to code of VHDL and applying in FPGA Xilinx Spartan 3 XC3S200 . The modelsim used to get the simulation while Xilinx power estimator is used to calculate power. The results registered total power consumption about 94mW while compared with previous work  was 136mW which means a high reduction of about 30.8%

Bit error rate estimation in WiMAX communications at vehicular speeds using Nakagami-m fading model

The wireless communication industry has experienced a rapid technological evolution from its basic first generation (1G) wireless systems to the latest fourth generation (4G) wireless broadband systems. Wireless broadband systems are becoming increasingly popular with consumers and the technological strength of 4G has played a major role behind the success of wireless broadband systems. The IEEE 802.16m standard of the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) has been accepted as a 4G standard by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2011. The IEEE 802.16m is fully optimised for wireless communications in fixed environments and can deliver very high throughput and excellent quality of service. In mobile communication environments however, WiMAX consumers experience a graceful degradation of service as a direct function of vehicular speeds. At high vehicular speeds, the throughput drops in WiMAX systems and unless proactive measures such as forward error control and packet size optimisation are adopted and properly adjusted, many applications cannot be facilitated at high vehicular speeds in WiMAX communications. For any proactive measure, bit error rate estimation as a function of vehicular speed, serves as a useful tool. In this thesis, we present an analytical model for bit error rate estimation in WiMAX communications using the Nakagami-m fading model. We also show, through an analysis of the data collected from a practical WiMAX system, that the Nakagami-m model can be made adaptive as a function of speed, to represent fading in fixed environments as well as mobile environments

A Survey on Wireless Security: Technical Challenges, Recent Advances and Future Trends

This paper examines the security vulnerabilities and threats imposed by the inherent open nature of wireless communications and to devise efficient defense mechanisms for improving the wireless network security. We first summarize the security requirements of wireless networks, including their authenticity, confidentiality, integrity and availability issues. Next, a comprehensive overview of security attacks encountered in wireless networks is presented in view of the network protocol architecture, where the potential security threats are discussed at each protocol layer. We also provide a survey of the existing security protocols and algorithms that are adopted in the existing wireless network standards, such as the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and the long-term evolution (LTE) systems. Then, we discuss the state-of-the-art in physical-layer security, which is an emerging technique of securing the open communications environment against eavesdropping attacks at the physical layer. We also introduce the family of various jamming attacks and their counter-measures, including the constant jammer, intermittent jammer, reactive jammer, adaptive jammer and intelligent jammer. Additionally, we discuss the integration of physical-layer security into existing authentication and cryptography mechanisms for further securing wireless networks. Finally, some technical challenges which remain unresolved at the time of writing are summarized and the future trends in wireless security are discussed.Comment: 36 pages. Accepted to Appear in Proceedings of the IEEE, 201

Project Final Report – FREEDOM ICT-248891

This document is the final publishable summary report of the objective and work carried out within the European Project FREEDOM, ICT-248891.This document is the final publishable summary report of the objective and work carried out within the European Project FREEDOM, ICT-248891.Preprin

Multiple Parallel Concatenated Gallager Codes and Their Applications

Due to the increasing demand of high data rate of modern wireless communications, there is a significant interest in error control coding. It now plays a significant role in digital communication systems in order to overcome the weaknesses in communication channels. This thesis presents a comprehensive investigation of a class of error control codes known as Multiple Parallel Concatenated Gallager Codes (MPCGCs) obtained by the parallel concatenation of well-designed LDPC codes. MPCGCs are constructed by breaking a long and high complexity of conventional single LDPC code into three or four smaller and lower complexity LDPC codes. This design of MPCGCs is simplified as the option of selecting the component codes completely at random based on a single parameter of Mean Column Weight (MCW). MPCGCs offer flexibility and scope for improving coding performance in theoretical and practical implementation. The performance of MPCGCs is explored by evaluating these codes for both AWGN and flat Rayleigh fading channels and investigating the puncturing of these codes by a proposed novel and efficient puncturing methods for improving the coding performance. Another investigating in the deployment of MPCGCs by enhancing the performance of WiMAX system. The bit error performances are compared and the results confirm that the proposed MPCGCs-WiMAX based IEEE 802.16 standard physical layer system provides better gain compared to the single conventional LDPC-WiMAX system. The incorporation of Quasi-Cyclic QC-LDPC codes in the MPCGC structure (called QC-MPCGC) is shown to improve the overall BER performance of MPCGCs with reduced overall decoding complexity and improved flexibility by using Layered belief propagation decoding instead of the sum-product algorithm (SPA). A proposed MIMO-MPCGC structure with both a 2X2 MIMO and 2X4 MIMO configurations is developed in this thesis and shown to improve the BER performance over fading channels over the conventional LDPC structure