The Linear Zero-Forcing Crosstalk Canceller is Near-optimal in DSL Channels

The design and optimization of orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) systems typically take the following form: The design objective is usually to maximize the total sum rate which is the sum of individual rates in each frequency tone. The design constraints are usually linear constraints imposed across all tones. This paper explains why dual methods are ideally suited for this class of problems. The main result is the following: Regardless of whether the objective or the constraints are convex, the duality gap for this class of problems is always zero in the limit as the number of frequency tones goes to infinity. As the dual problem typically decouples into many smaller per-tone problems, solving the dual is much more efficient. This gives an efficient method to find the global optimum of non-convex optimization problems for the OFDM system. Multiuser optimal power allocation, optimal frequency planning, and optimal low-complexity crosstalk cancellation for vectored DSL are used to illustrate this point

A Near-Optimal Linear Crosstalk Canceler for Upstream VDSL

Crosstalk is the major source of performance degradation in VDSL. Several crosstalk cancelers have been proposed to address this. Unfortunately, they suffer from error propagation, high complexity, and long latency. This paper presents a simple, linear zero-forcing (ZF) crosstalk canceler. This design has a low complexity and no latency and does not suffer from error propagation. Furthermore, due to the well-conditioned structure of the VDSL channel matrix, the ZF design causes negligible noise enhancement. A lower bound on the performance of the linear ZF canceler is derived. This allows performance to be predicted without explicit knowledge of the crosstalk channels, which simplifies service provisioning considerably. This bound shows that the linear ZF canceler operates close to the single-user bound. Therefore, the linear ZF canceler is a low-complexity, low-latency design with predictable near-optimal performance. The combination of spectral optimization and crosstalk cancellation is also considered. Spectra optimization in a multiaccess channel generally involves a complex optimization problem. Since the linear ZF canceler decouples transmission on each line, the spectrum on each modem can be optimized independently, leading to a significant reduction in complexity

A Near-Optimal Linear Crosstalk Canceler for VDSL

Crosstalk is the major source of performance degradation in VDSL. Several crosstalk cancelers have been proposed to address this. Unfortunately they suffer from error propagation, high complexity and long latency. In this paper we present a simple, linear zero forcing (ZF) crosstalk canceler. This design has a low complexity, no latency and does not suffer from error propagation. Furthermore, due to the well conditioned structure of the VDSL channel matrix, the ZF design causes negligible noise enhancement. A lower bound on the performance of the linear ZF canceler is derived. This allows performance to be predicted without explicit knowledge of the crosstalk channels, which simplies service provisioning considerably. This bound shows that the linear ZF canceler operates close to the single user bound. So the linear ZF canceler is a low complexity, low latency design with predictable, near-optimal performance. The combination of spectral optimization and crosstalk cancellation is also considered. Spectra optimization in a multi-access channel generally involves a highly complex optimization problem. Since the linear ZF canceler decouples transmission on each line, the spectrum on each modem can be optimized independently, leading to a signicant reduction in complexity.

A Near-Optimal Linear Crosstalk Precoder for VDSL

Crosstalk is the major source of performance degradation in VDSL. In downstream transmission crosstalk precoding can be applied. The transmitted signal is predistorted, such that the predistortion annihilates with the crosstalk introduced in the binder. Several crosstalk precoders have been proposed. Unfortunately they either give poor performance or require non-linear operations, which results in a high complexity. In this paper we present a simple, linear diagonalizing crosstalk precoder with low run-time complexity. A lower bound on the performance of the DP is derived. This allows performance to be predicted without explicit knowledge of the crosstalk channels, which simplies service provisioning considerably. This bound shows that the DP operates close to the single-user bound. So the DP is a low complexity design with predictable, near-optimal performance. The combination of spectra optimization and crosstalk precoding is also considered. Spectra optimization in a broadcast channel generally involves a highly complex optimization problem. Since the DP decouples transmission on each line, the spectrum on each modem can be optimized through a dual decomposition, leading to a significant reduction in complexity

Iterative receiver based on SAGE algorithm for crosstalk cancellation in upstream vectored VDSL

We propose the use of an iterative receiver based on the Space Alternating Generalized Expectation maximization (SAGE) algorithm for crosstalk cancellation in upstream vectored VDSL. In the absence of alien crosstalk, we show that when initialized with the frequency-domain equalizer (FEQ) output, the far-end crosstalk (FEXT) can be cancelled with no more real-time complexity than the existing linear receivers. In addition, the suggested approach does not require offline computation of the channel inverse and thus reduces the receiver complexity. In the presence of alien crosstalk, there is a significant gap between the rate performance of the linear receivers as compared with the single-user bound (SUB). The proposed receiver is shown to successfully bridge this gap while requiring only a little extracomplexity. Computer simulations are presented to validate the analysis and confirm the performance of the proposed receiver

Multi-User Signal and Spectra Coordination for Digital Subscriber Lines

The appetite amongst consumers for ever higher data-rates seems insatiable. This booming market presents a huge opportunity for telephone and cable operators. It also presents a challenge: the delivery of broadband services to millions of customers across sparsely populated areas. Fully fibre-based networks, whilst technically the most advanced solution, are prohibitively expensive to deploy. Digital subscriber lines (DSL) provide an alternative solution. Seen as a stepping-stone to a fully fibre-based network, DSL operates over telephone lines that are already in place, minimizing the cost of deployment. The basic principle behind DSL technology is to increase data-rate by widening the transmission bandwidth. Unfortunately, operating at high frequencies, in a medium originally designed for voice-band transmission, leads to crosstalk between the different DSLs. Crosstalk is typically 10-15 dB larger than the background noise and is the dominant source of performance degradation in DSL. This thesis develops practical multi-user techniques for mitigating crosstalk in DSL. The techniques proposed have low complexity, low latency, and are compatible with existing customer premises equipment (CPE). In addition to being practical, the techniques also yield near-optimal performance, operating close to the theoretical multi-user channel capacity. Multi-user techniques are based on the coordination of the different users in a network, and this can be done on either a spectral or signal level

Performance of Crosstalk Cancellation in VDSL

Crosstalk in DSL leads to significant performance degradation and large loses in data-rate. Several crosstalk cancellation techniques have been proposed to address this problem, however, in the existing literature the analysis of these approaches is based on SNR calculations and the SNR-gap approximation. Furthermore, for crosstalk cancellation techniques based on decision feedback, the effect of error propagation is completely ignored. This makes it hard to predict the performance of crosstalk cancellation in real life, and to see if the significant potential gains can actually be realized. To address this problem, this paper uses Monte-Carlo simulation to investigate the performance of the various crosstalk cancellation techniques that have been proposed. The effect of noise-enhancement in zero-forcing crosstalk cancellers and error-propagation in decision-feedback cancellers is examined. The results confirm that a very simple crosstalk cancellation structure can achieve near-optimal performance

Physical Layer Techniques for High Frequency Wireline Broadband Systems

This thesis collects contributions to wireline and wireless communication systems with an emphasis on multiuser and multicarrier physical layer technology. To deliver increased capacity, modern wireline access systems such as G.fast extend the signal bandwidth up from tens to hundreds of MHz. This ambitious development revealed a number of unforeseen hurdles such as the impact of impedance changes in various forms. Impedance changes have a strong effect on the performance of multi-user crosstalk mitigation techniques such as vectoring. The first part of the thesis presents papers covering the identification of one of these problems, a model describing why it occurs and a method to mitigate its effects, improving line stability for G.fast systems.A second part of the thesis deals with the effects of temperature changes on wireline channels. When a vectored (MIMO) wireline system is initialized, channel estimates need to be obtained. This thesis presents contributions on the feasibility of re-using channel coefficients to speed up the vectoring startup procedures, even after the correct coefficients have changed, e.g., due to temperature changes. We also present extensive measurement results showing the effects of temperature changes on copper channels using a temperature chamber and British cables. The last part of the thesis presents three papers on the convergence of physical layer technologies, more specifically the deployment of OFDM-based radio systems using twisted pairs in different ways. In one proposed scenario, the idea of using the access copper lines to deploy small cells inside users' homes is explored. The feasibility of the concept, the design of radio-heads and a practical scheme for crosstalk mitigation are presented in three contributions