Robust Optical Wireless Links over Turbulent Media using Diversity Solutions

Free-space optic (FSO) technology, i.e., optical wireless communication (OWC), is widely recognized as superior to radio frequency (RF) in many aspects. Visible and invisible optical wireless links solve first/last mile connectivity problems and provide secure, jam-free communication. FSO is license-free and delivers high-speed data rates in the order of Gigabits. Its advantages have fostered significant research efforts aimed at utilizing optical wireless communication, e.g. visible light communication (VLC), for high-speed, secure, indoor communication under the IEEE 802.15.7 standard. However, conventional optical wireless links demand precise optical alignment and suffer from atmospheric turbulence. When compared with RF, they suffer a low degree of reliability and lack robustness. Pointing errors cause optical transceiver misalignment, adversely affecting system reliability. Furthermore, atmospheric turbulence causes irradiance fluctuations and beam broadening of transmitted light. Innovative solutions to overcome limitations on the exploitation of high-speed optical wireless links are greatly needed.Spatial diversity is known to improve RF wireless communication systems. Similar diversity approaches can be adapted for FSO systems to improve its reliability and robustness; however, careful diversity design is needed since FSO apertures typically remain unbalanced as a result of FSO system sensitivity to misalignment. Conventional diversity combining schemes require persistent aperture monitoring and repetitive switching, thus increasing FSO implementation complexities. Furthermore, current RF diversity combining schemes may not be optimized to address the issue of unbalanced FSO receiving apertures.This dissertation investigates two efficient diversity combining schemes for multi-receiving FSO systems: switched diversity combining and generalized selection combining. Both can be exploited to reduce complexity and improve combining efficiency. Unlike maximum ratio combing, equal gain combining, and selective combining, switched diversity simplifies receiver design by avoiding unnecessary switching among receiving apertures. The most significant advantage of generalized combining is its ability to exclude apertures with low quality that could potentially affect the resultant output signal performance.This dissertation also investigates mobile FSO by considering a multi-receiving system in which all receiving FSO apertures are circularly placed on a platform. System mobility and performance are analyzed. Performance results confirm improvements when using angular diversity and generalized selection combining.The précis of this dissertation establishes the foundation of reliable FSO communications using efficient diversity-based solutions. Performance parameters are analyzed mathematically, and then evaluated using computer simulations. A testbed prototype is developed to facilitate the evaluation of optical wireless links via lab experiments

Enhancements to the Generalized Sidelobe Canceller for Audio Beamforming in an Immersive Environment

The Generalized Sidelobe Canceller is an adaptive algorithm for optimally estimating the parameters for beamforming, the signal processing technique of combining data from an array of sensors to improve SNR at a point in space. This work focuses on the algorithm’s application to widely-separated microphone arrays with irregular distributions used for human voice capture. Methods are presented for improving the performance of the algorithm’s blocking matrix, a stage that creates a noise reference for elimination, by proposing a stochastic model for amplitude correction and enhanced use of cross correlation for phase correction and time-difference of arrival estimation via a correlation coefficient threshold. This correlation technique is also applied to a multilateration algorithm for an efficient method of explicit target tracking. In addition, the underlying microphone array geometry is studied with parameters and guidelines for evaluation proposed. Finally, an analysis of the stability of the system is performed with respect to its adaptation parameters

MIMO techniques for higher data rate wireless communications

The demand for higher data rate, higher spectral efficiency and better quality of service in wireless communications is growing fast in the past few years. However, obtaining these requirements become challenging for wireless communication systems due to the problems of channel multi-path fading, higher power loss and power bandwidth limitations. A lot of research interest has been directed towards implementing new techniques in wireless communication systems, such as MIMO an OFDM, to overcome the above mentioned problems. Methods of achieving higher data rate and better spectral efficiency have been dealt with in the thesis. The work comprised three parts; the first part focuses on channel modelling, the second looks at fading mitigation techniques, and the third part deals with adaptive transmission schemes for different diversity techniques. In the first part, we present multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) space-time geometrical channel model with hyperbolically distributed scatterers (GBHDS) for a macro-cell mobile environment. The model is based on one-ring scattering assumption. This MIMO model provides statistics of the time of arrival (TOA) and direction of arrival (DOA). Our analytical results are validated with measurement data and compared to different geometrical based signal bounce macro-cell (GBSSBM) channel models including Gaussian scatterer density (GSD) channel model, the geometrical based exponential (GBE) channel model. On the other hand, for the same channel model we investigate the analytical methods which capture physical wave and antenna configuration at both ends representing in a matrix form. In the second part, we investigate the proposed channel model using joint frequency and spatial diversity system. . We combine STBC with OFDM to improve the error performance in the fading channels. We consider two different fading scenarios namely frequency selective and time selective fading channels. For the first scenario we propose a new technique to suppress the frequency error offset caused by the motion of mobile (Doppler shift). On the other hand, we examine the performance of STBC-OFDM in time selective macro-cell channel environment. In the last part, we evaluate the spectral efficiency for different receiver diversity namely maximal ratio combiner (MRC), selection combiner (SC), and Hybrid (MRC/SC). We derive closed form expressions for the single user capacity, taking into account the effect of imperfect channel estimation at the receiver. The channel considered is a slowly varying spatially independent flat Rayleigh fading channel. Three adaptive transmission schemes are analysed: 1) optimal power rate and rate adaptation (opra), constant power with optimal rate adaptation (ora), and 3) channel inversion with fixed rate (cifr). Furthermore, we derive analytical results for capacity statistics including moment generating function (MGF), complementary cumulative distribution function (CDF) and probability density function (pdf)

Time-Frequency Masking Performance for Improved Intelligibility with Microphone Arrays

Time-Frequency (TF) masking is an audio processing technique useful for isolating an audio source from interfering sources. TF masking has been applied and studied in monaural and binaural applications, but has only recently been applied to distributed microphone arrays. This work focuses on evaluating the TF masking technique\u27s ability to isolate human speech and improve speech intelligibility in an immersive cocktail party environment. In particular, an upper-bound on TF masking performance is established and compared to the traditional delay-sum and general sidelobe canceler (GSC) beamformers. Additionally, the novel technique of combining the GSC with TF masking is investigated and its performance evaluated. This work presents a resource-efficient method for studying the performance of these isolation techniques and evaluates their performance using both virtually simulated data and data recorded in a real-life acoustical environment. Further, methods are presented to analyze speech intelligibility post-processing, and automated objective intelligibility measurements are applied alongside informal subjective assessments to evaluate the performance of these processing techniques. Finally, the causes for subjective/objective intelligibility measurement disagreements are discussed, and it was shown that TF masking did enhance intelligibility beyond delay-sum beamforming and that the utilization of adaptive beamforming can be beneficial

An Investigation into the Factors Influencing Growth and Survival of Caribbean Acroporid Corals in a Floating Nursery

For decades, coral reef ecosystems have been in decline. To promote recovery, restoration efforts have been implemented for many degraded reefs across the globe. In the Caribbean, there is restoration focus on the coral genus Acropora. Current methods target Acropora cervicornis and A. palmata, two threatened species of branching coral that can mate to form a hybrid taxon, A. prolifera. By including the hybrid in restoration efforts, researchers may better understand how this taxon may promote nursery expansion and outplanting in restoration efforts. Establishing efforts in novel areas may further advance restoration methods by comparing location differences in nursery success. For this project, Nova Southeastern University in conjunction with Norwegian Cruise Lines established three coral nursery sites at Great Stirrup Cay (GSC), The Bahamas. The goal of this project was to identify parameters that optimize successful fragment growth and survival in an in-situ floating tree coral nursery. A successful pilot study beginning in February 2018 using A. cervicornis and A. palmata at one nursery site allowed the project to move forward with an expansion to two additional nurseries after 5 months. Fragments from A. cervicornis, A. palmata, and A. prolifera were collected from reefs around New Providence by the Perry Institute of Marine Science and transported to GSC (n=157) in June 2018. These fragments were attached to floating trees at each of three nursery sites. Fragments were differentiated by nursery site, taxa, fragment type (apical, middle, and basal), and genotype. Linear growth, percent mortality, and condition data were collected monthly for each fragment. After 13 months, site significantly affected fragment survival (pA. prolifera fragments had the greatest growth by the end of the study period compared to all other taxa and fragment types. This study highlights the importance of careful consideration of nursery location to optimize survival. Coral taxa and fragment type should be considered when comparing growth within a nursery, especially for future use of coral fragments in outplanting. Coral restoration managers may benefit from capitalizing on fast growing hybrids for outplanting to degraded reefs and increasing the scale of nursery projects, with consideration of competition between the three acroporid species in outplanting methods

Diversity techniques for broadband wireless communications: performance enhancement and analysis

The diversity techniques have been proven to be effective for next generation broadband wireless communications, and are the focus of this thesis. The diversity techniques can be broadly categorized into three types: Space, Time, and Frequency. In this thesis, we are mainly concerned with frequency and space diversity techniques. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a frequency diversity technique which offers several benefits such as easier digital implementation, immunity to multipath channels, low complexity channel equalization, etc. Despite these desirable features, there are few inherent problems in OFDM such as high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). High PAPR demands large dynamic range in the transmitted chain such as digital to analog converter (DAC) and power amplifier (PA). Unless pre-processed, the transmitted signal gets distorted due to quantization errors and inter-modulation. In the initial stage of PhD candidature, the author focused on PAPR reduction techniques. A simple modification on conventional iterative clipping and filtering (ICF) technique was proposed which has less computational complexity. The power savings achievable from clipping and filtering method was considered next. Furthermore the ICF is compared with another distortion-less PAPR reduction technique called Selective Mapping (SLM) based on power savings. Finally, impact of clipping and filtering on the channel estimation was analyzed. Space diversity seeks to exploit the multi-path characteristics of wireless channels to improve the performance. The simplest form of the space diversity is the receive diversity where two or more antennas with sufficient spacing collect independent copies of the same transmitted signal, which contributes to better signal reception. In this thesis new analytical expressions for spectral efficiency, capacity, and error rates were presented for adaptive systems with channel estimation error. Beamforming (steering signal towards desired receiver) is another useful technique in multiple-antenna systems to further improve the system performance. MRT (Maximal Ratio Transmission) or MIMO-MRC is such system where the transmitter, based on channel feedback from the receiver, uses weighting factors to steer the transmitted signal. Closed form expressions for symbol error rates were derived for MRT system with channel estimation error. The results were extended to evaluate closed form expressions of error rates for Rectangular QAM. Antenna correlation was considered in another contribution on MRC systems. Relay and Cooperative networks represent another form of spatial diversity and have recently attracted significant research attention. These networks rely on intermediate nodes called "relays" to establish communication between the source and the destination. In addition to coverage extension, the relay networks have shown to offer cooperative diversity when there is a direct link or multiple relays. The first contribution is to analyze a dual-hop amplify-forward relay networks with dissimilar fading scenarios. Next error rates of Rectangular QAM for decode-forward selection relay system are derived. Multiple antenna at relay is included to analyze the benefits of dual spatial diversity over Rayleigh and Nakagami fading channels. Antenna selection is a cost-effective way to exploit the antenna diversity. General Order Antenna Selection (GOAS), based on Ordered Statistics, is used to evaluate signal statistics for a MIMO relay network

Adaptive Power Control for Single and Multiuser Opportunistic Systems

In this dissertation, adaptive power control for single and multiuser opportunistic systems is investigated. First, a new adaptive power-controlled diversity combining scheme for single user systems is proposed, upon which is extended to the multiusers case. In the multiuser case, we first propose two new threshold based parallel multiuser scheduling schemes without power control. The first scheme is named on-off based scheduling (OOBS) scheme and the second scheme is named switched based scheduling (SBS) scheme. We then propose and study the performance of thresholdbased power allocation algorithms for the SBS scheme. Finally, we introduce a unified analytical framework to determine the joint statistics of partial sums of ordered RVs with i.i.d. and then the impact of interference on the performance of parallel multiuser scheduling is investigated based on our unified analytical framework