Code Design for Non-Coherent Detection of Frame Headers in Precoded Satellite Systems

In this paper we propose a simple method for generating short-length rate-compatible codes over $\mathbb{Z}_M$ that are robust to non-coherent detection for $M$-PSK constellations. First, a greedy algorithm is used to construct a family of rotationally invariant codes for a given constellation. Then, by properly modifying such codes we obtain codes that are robust to non-coherent detection. We briefly discuss the optimality of the constructed codes for special cases of BPSK and QPSK constellations. Our method provides an upper bound for the length of optimal codes with a given desired non-coherent distance. We also derive a simple asymptotic upper bound on the frame error rate (FER) of such codes and provide the simulation results for a selected set of proposed codes. Finally, we briefly discuss the problem of designing binary codes that are robust to non-coherent detection for QPSK constellation.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Detection of Linear Modulations in the Presence of Strong Phase and Frequency Instabilities

Noncoherent sequence detection algorithms, recently proposed by the authors, have a performance which approaches that of coherent detectors and are robust to phase and frequency instabilities. These schemes exhibit a negligible performance loss in the presence of a frequency offset, provided this offset does not exceed an order of 1 % of the signaling frequency. For higher values, the performance rapidly degrades. In this paper, detection schemes are proposed, characterized by high robustness to frequency offsets and capable of tolerating offset values up to 10 % of the signaling frequency. More generally, these detection schemes are very robust to rapidly varying phase and frequency instabilities. The general case of coded linear modulations is addressed, with explicit reference to-ary phase shift keying and quadrature amplitude modulation

Constellation Optimization in the Presence of Strong Phase Noise

In this paper, we address the problem of optimizing signal constellations for strong phase noise. The problem is investigated by considering three optimization formulations, which provide an analytical framework for constellation design. In the first formulation, we seek to design constellations that minimize the symbol error probability (SEP) for an approximate ML detector in the presence of phase noise. In the second formulation, we optimize constellations in terms of mutual information (MI) for the effective discrete channel consisting of phase noise, additive white Gaussian noise, and the approximate ML detector. To this end, we derive the MI of this discrete channel. Finally, we optimize constellations in terms of the MI for the phase noise channel. We give two analytical characterizations of the MI of this channel, which are shown to be accurate for a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios and phase noise variances. For each formulation, we present a detailed analysis of the optimal constellations and their performance in the presence of strong phase noise. We show that the optimal constellations significantly outperform conventional constellations and those proposed in the literature in terms of SEP, error floors, and MI.Comment: 10 page, 10 figures, Accepted to IEEE Trans. Commu

Physical-layer Network Coding for Cooperative Wireless Networks

As a newly-emerged paradigm in the networking techniques, physical-layer network coding (PNC) [1, 5] takes advantage of the superimposition of the electromagnetic waves, and embraces the interference which was typically deemed as harmful, by performing exclusive-or mapping. Therefore, the spectral efficiency is utilized, which in turn boosts the network throughput. In the classical 2-way relay channel (2-WRC), PNC only spends two channel uses for the bi-directional data exchange. However, one challenge for such a paradigm is that the singular fading states in the uplink of 2-WRC, might result in ambiguity for decoding the network coded symbol. One major focus of this thesis is to address the fading issue for PNC in the 2-WRC. Another fundamental challenge for PNC is to extend the PNC from the 2-WRC to a multi-user network such as the multi-way relay channel (M-WRC) or the hierarchical wireless network (HWN). To tackle these two fundamental challenges of PNC, several solutions are proposed in this thesis, which are summarized as follows: First, we introduce two efficient fading correction strategies, i.e., the rotationally-invariant coded modulation and the soft-bit correction. Second, a novel multilevel coded linear PNC scheme with extended mapping for the Rayleigh fading 2-WRC is proposed. Third, we design a new type of linear PNC for the Rayleigh fading 2-WRC, based on rings. We refer to such design as linear PNC over the hybrid finite ring. Fourth, we redesign PNC for the HWN, which facilitates the multi-user data exchange. To combat the co-channel interference introduced by multi-user data exchange, two efficient interference exploitation strategies based on network coding are proposed: 1) PNC with joint decoding; and 2) analogue network coding with interference-aware maximum likelihood detection. Finally, we propose a multilevel coded LPNC for the data exchange in the M-WRC

On the Impact of Phase Noise in Communication Systems –- Performance Analysis and Algorithms

The mobile industry is preparing to scale up the network capacity by a factor of 1000x in order to cope with the staggering growth in mobile traffic. As a consequence, there is a tremendous pressure on the network infrastructure, where more cost-effective, flexible, high speed connectivity solutions are being sought for. In this regard, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and millimeter-wave communication systems are new physical layer technologies, which promise to facilitate the 1000 fold increase in network capacity. However, these technologies are extremely prone to hardware impairments like phase noise caused by noisy oscillators. Furthermore, wireless backhaul networks are an effective solution to transport data by using high-order signal constellations, which are also susceptible to phase noise impairments. Analyzing the performance of wireless communication systems impaired by oscillator phase noise, and designing systems to operate efficiently in strong phase noise conditions are critical problems in communication theory. The criticality of these problems is accentuated with the growing interest in new physical layer technologies, and the deployment of wireless backhaul networks. This forms the main motivation for this thesis where we analyze the impact of phase noise on the system performance, and we also design algorithms in order to mitigate phase noise and its effects. First, we address the problem of maximum a posteriori (MAP) detection of data in the presence of strong phase noise in single-antenna systems. This is achieved by designing a low-complexity joint phase-estimator data-detector. We show that the proposed method outperforms existing detectors, especially when high order signal constellations are used. Then, in order to further improve system performance, we consider the problem of optimizing signal constellations for transmission over channels impaired by phase noise. Specifically, we design signal constellations such that the error rate performance of the system is minimized, and the information rate of the system is maximized. We observe that these optimized constellations significantly improve the system performance, when compared to conventional constellations, and those proposed in the literature. Next, we derive the MAP symbol detector for a MIMO system where each antenna at the transceiver has its own oscillator. We propose three suboptimal, low-complexity algorithms for approximately implementing the MAP symbol detector, which involve joint phase noise estimation and data detection. We observe that the proposed techniques significantly outperform the other algorithms in prior works. Finally, we study the impact of phase noise on the performance of a massive MIMO system, where we analyze both uplink and downlink performances. Based on rigorous analyses of the achievable rates, we provide interesting insights for the following question: how should oscillators be connected to the antennas at a base station, which employs a large number of antennas