Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe use of multicarrier techniques has allowed the rapid expansion of broadband wireless communications. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been the most dominant technology in the past decade. It has been deployed in both indoor Wi-Fi and cellular environments, and has been researched for use in underwater acoustic channels. Recent works in wireless communications include the extension of OFDM to multiple access applications. Multiple access OFDM, or orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), has been implemented in the third generation partnership project (3GPP) long- term evolution (LTE) downlink. In order to reduce the intercarrier interference (ICI) when user's synchronization is relaxed, filterbank multicarrier communication (FBMC) systems have been proposed. The first contribution made in this dissertation is a novel study of the classical FBMC systems that were presented in 1960s. We note that two distinct methods were presented then. We show that these methods are closely related through a modulation and a time/frequency scaling step. For cellular channels, OFDM also has the weakness of relatively large peak-to-average power ratios (PAPR). A special form of OFDM for the uplink of multiple access networks, called single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), has been developed to mitigate this issue. In this regard, this dissertation makes two contributions. First, we develop an optimization method for designing an effective precoding method for SC-FDMA systems. Second, we show how an equivalent to SC-FDMA can be developed for systems that are based on FBMC. In underwater acoustic communications applications, researchers are investigating the use of multicarrier communication systems like OFDM in underwater channels. The movement of the communicating vehicles scales the received signal along the time axis, which is often referred to as Doppler scaling. To undo the signal degradation, researchers have investigated methods to estimate the Doppler scaling factor and restore the original signal using resampling. We investigate a method called nonuniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT) and apply that to increase the precision in the detection and correction of the Doppler scaling factor. NUFFT is applied to both OFDM and FBMC and its performance over the experimental data obtained from at sea experiments is investigated

Técnicas de igualização adaptativas com estimativas imperfeitas do canal para os futuros sistemas 5G

Wireless communication networks have been continuously experiencing an exponential growth since their inception. The overwhelming demand for high data rates, support of a large number of users while mitigating disruptive interference are the constant research focus and it has led to the creation of new technologies and efficient techniques. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is the most common example of a technology that has come to the fore in this past decade as it provided a simple and generally ideal platform for wireless data transmission. It’s drawback of a rather high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) and sensitivity to phase noise, which in turn led to the adoption of alternative techniques, such as the single carrier systems with frequency domain equalization (SC-FDE) or the multi carrier systems with code division multiple access (MC-CDMA), but the nonlinear Frequency Domain Equalizers (FDE) have been of special note due to their improved performance. From these, the Iterative Block Decision Feedback Equalizer (IB-DFE) has proven itself especially promising due to its compatibility with space diversity, MIMO systems and CDMA schemes. However, the IB-DFE requires the system to have constant knowledge of the communication channel properties, that is, to have constantly perfect Channel State Information (CSI), which is both unrealistic and impractical to implement. In this dissertation we shall design an altered IB-DFE receiver that is able to properly detect signals from SC-FDMA based transmitters, even with constantly erroneous channel states. The results shall demonstrate that the proposed equalization scheme is robust to imperfect CSI (I-CSI) situations, since its performance is constantly close to the perfect CSI case, within just a few iterations.Redes sem fios têm crescido de maneira contínua e exponencial desde a sua incepção. A tremenda exigência para altas taxas de dados e o suporte para um elevado número de utilizadores sem aumentar a interferência disruptiva originada por estes são alguns dos focos que levaram ao desenvolvimento de técnicas de compensação e novas tecnologias. “Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing” (OFDM) é um dos exemplos de tecnologias que se destacaram nesta última década, visto ter fornecido uma plataforma para transmissão de dados sem-fio eficaz e simples. O seu maior problema é a alta “peak-to-average power ratio” (PAPR) e a sua sensibilidade a ruído de fase que deram motivo à adoção de técnicas alternativas, tais como os sistemas “single carrier” com “frequency domain equalization” (SC-FDE) ou os sistemas “multi-carrier” com “code division multiple access” (MC-CDMA), mas equalizadores não lineares no domínio de frequência têm sido alvo de especial atenção devido ao seu melhor desempenho. Destes, o “iterative block decision feedback equalizer” (IB-DFE) tem-se provado especialmente promissor devido à sua compatibilidade com técnicas de diversidade no espaço, sistemas MIMO e esquemas CDMA. No entanto, IB-DFE requer que o sistema tenha constante conhecimento das propriedades dos canais usados, ou seja, necessita de ter perfeito “channel state information” (CSI) constantemente, o que é tanto irrealista como impossível de implementar. Nesta dissertação iremos projetar um recetor IB-DFE alterado de forma a conseguir detetar sinais dum transmissor baseado em tecnologia SC-FDMA, mesmo com a informação de estado de canal errada. Os resultados irão então demonstrar que o novo esquema de equalização proposto é robusto para situações de CSI imperfeito (I-CSI), visto que o seu desempenho se mantém próximo dos valores esperados para CSI perfeito, em apenas algumas iterações.Mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica e Telecomunicaçõe

Full-Duplex OFDM Radar With LTE and 5G NR Waveforms: Challenges, Solutions, and Measurements

This paper studies the processing principles, implementation challenges, and performance of OFDM-based radars, with particular focus on the fourth-generation Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) mobile networks' base stations and their utilization for radar/sensing purposes. First, we address the problem stemming from the unused subcarriers within the LTE and NR transmit signal passbands, and their impact on frequency-domain radar processing. Particularly, we formulate and adopt a computationally efficient interpolation approach to mitigate the effects of such empty subcarriers in the radar processing. We evaluate the target detection and the corresponding range and velocity estimation performance through computer simulations, and show that high-quality target detection as well as high-precision range and velocity estimation can be achieved. Especially 5G NR waveforms, through their impressive channel bandwidths and configurable subcarrier spacing, are shown to provide very good radar/sensing performance. Then, a fundamental implementation challenge of transmitter-receiver (TX-RX) isolation in OFDM radars is addressed, with specific emphasis on shared-antenna cases, where the TX-RX isolation challenges are the largest. It is confirmed that from the OFDM radar processing perspective, limited TX-RX isolation is primarily a concern in detection of static targets while moving targets are inherently more robust to transmitter self-interference. Properly tailored analog/RF and digital self-interference cancellation solutions for OFDM radars are also described and implemented, and shown through RF measurements to be key technical ingredients for practical deployments, particularly from static and slowly moving targets' point of view.Comment: Paper accepted by IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Technique

LTE-verkon suorituskyvyn parantaminen CDMA2000:sta LTE:hen tehdyn muutoksen jälkeen

CDMA2000 technology has been widely used on 450 MHz band. Recently the equipment availability and improved performance offered by LTE has started driving the operators to migrate their networks from CDMA2000 to LTE. The migration may cause the network performance to be in suboptimal state. This thesis presents four methods to positively influence LTE network performance after CDMA2000 to LTE migration, especially on 450 MHz band. Furthermore, three of the four presented methods are evaluated in a live network. The measured three methods were cyclic prefix length, handover parameter optimization and uplink coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmission. The objective was to determine the effectiveness of each method. The research methods included field measurements and network KPI collection. The results show that normal cyclic prefix length is enough for LTE450 although the cell radius may be up to 50km. Only special cases exist where cyclic prefix should be extended. Operators should consider solving such problems individually instead of widely implementing extended cyclic prefix. Handover parameter optimization turned out to be an important point of attention after CDMA2000 to LTE migration. It was observed that if the handover parameters are not concerned, significant amount of unnecessary handovers may happen. It was evaluated that about 50% of the handovers in the network were unnecessary in the initial situation. By adjusting the handover parameter values 47,28 % of the handovers per user were removed and no negative effects were detected. Coordinated multipoint transmission has been widely discussed to be an effective way to improve LTE network performance, especially at the cell edges. Many challenges must be overcome before it can be applied to downlink. Also, implementing it to function between cells in different eNBs involve challenges. Thus, only intra-site uplink CoMP transmission was tested. The results show that the performance improvements were significant at the cell edges as theory predicted.CDMA2000 teknologiaa on laajalti käytetty 450 MHz:n taajuusalueella. Viime aikoina LTE:n tarjoamat halvemmat laitteistot ja parempi suorituskyky ovat kannustaneet operaattoreita muuttamaan verkkoaan CDMA2000:sta LTE:hen. Kyseinen muutos saattaa johtaa epäoptimaaliseen tilaan verkon suorituskyvyn kannalta. Tämä työ esittelee neljä menetelmää, joilla voidaan positiivisesti vaikuttaa LTE-verkon suorituskykyyn CDMA2000:ste LTE:hen tehdyn muutoksen jälkeen erityisesti 450 MHz:n taajuusalueella. Kolmea näistä menetelmistä arvioidaan tuotantoverkossa. Nämä kolme menetelmää ovat suojavälin pituus, solunvaihtoparametrien optimointi ja ylälinkin koordinoitu monipistetiedonsiirto. Tavoite oli määrittää kunkin menetelmän vaikutus. Tutkimusmenetelmiin kuului kenttämittaukset ja verkon suorituskykymittareiden analyysi. Tutkimustulosten perusteella voidaan sanoa, että normaali suojaväli on riittävän pitkä LTE450:lle vaikka solujen säde on jopa 50km. Vain erikoistapauksissa tarvitaan pidennettyä suojaväliä. Operaattoreiden tulisi ratkaista tällaiset tapaukset yksilöllisesti sen sijaan, että koko verkossa käytettäisiin pidennettyä suojaväliä. Solunvaihtoparametrien optimointi osoittautui tärkeäksi huomion aiheeksi CDMA2000:sta LTE:hen tehdyn muutoksen jälkeen. Turhia solunvaihtoja saattaa tapahtua merkittäviä määriä, mikäli parametreihin ei kiinnitetä huomiota. Lähtötilanteessa noin 50 % testiverkon solunvaihdoista arvioitiin olevan turhia. Solunvaihtoparametreja muuttamalla 47,28 % solunvaihdoista per käyttäjä saatiin poistettua ilman, että mitään haittavaikutuksia olisi huomattu. Koordinoidun monipistetiedonsiirron on laajalti sanottu olevan tehokas tapa parantaa LTE-verkon suorituskykyä, etenkin solujen reunoilla. Monia haasteita pitää ratkaista, enne kuin sitä voidaan käyttää alalinkin tiedonsiirtoon. Lisäksi sen käyttöön eri tukiasemien solujen välillä liittyy haasteita. Tästä syystä monipistetiedonsiirtoa voitiin testata vain ylälinkin suuntaan ja vain yhden tukiaseman välisten solujen kesken. Tulokset osoittivat, että suorituskyky parani merkittävästi solun reunalla

Técnicas de processamento com múltiplas antenas para o sistema LTE

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrónica e TelecomunicaçõesPerformance, mobilidade e partilha podem ser consideras como as três palavras-chave nas comunicações móveis de hoje em dia. Uma das necessidades fundamentais do ser humano é a partilha de experiencias e informação. Com a evolução ao nível do hardware móvel, a crescente popularidade de smartphones, tablets e outros dispositivos moveis, fez com que a exigência em termos de capacidade e taxa de transferência por parte das redes móveis não parasse de crescer. As limitações das redes 3G fizeram com que não conseguissem corresponder a tais exigências e como tal, a transição para uma tecnologia mais robusta e eficiente passou a ser inevitável. A resposta escolhida como solução a longo prazo é a rede designada por LTE, desenvolvida pela organização 3GPP é assumido que será a rede de telecomunicações predominante no futuro. As vantagens mais sonantes são, naturalmente, elevadas taxas de transmissão, maior eficiência espectral, redução da latência e de custos de operação. As principais tecnologias em que o LTE se baseia, são o OFDM e sua variante para múltiplo acesso, OFDMA, usado para o downlink e o SC-FDMA para o uplink. Além disso, usa sistemas com múltiplas antenas para impulsionar a eficiência espectral. Apesar de já implementado em alguns países por diversas operadoras, constantes pesquisas continuam a ser realizadas com o intuito de melhorar a sua performance. Nesta dissertação é proposto um esquema duplo de codificação na frequência e no espaço (D-SFBC) para um cenário baseado em OFDM com 4 antenas de transmissão e duas antenas de recepção (4 × 2 D-SFBC) para o downlink. No cenário considerado, 4 símbolos de dados são transmitidos utilizando unicamente 2 sub-portadoras, fazendo com que, este sistema seja limitado pela interferência. Para de forma eficiente descodificar os símbolos de dados transmitidos, foi desenvolvido um equalizador iterativo no domínio da frequência. Duas abordagens são consideradas: cancelamento da interferência em paralelo (PIC) e sucessivo cancelamento de interferência (SIC). Uma vez que apenas 2 sub-portadoras são usadas para transmitir quatro símbolos de dados em paralelo, o esquema desenvolvido duplica a taxa de dados quando comparado com o esquema 2 × 2 SFBC, especificado no standard do LTE. Os esquemas desenvolvidos foram avaliados sob as especificações para LTE e usando codificação de canal. Os resultados mostram que os esquemas implementados neste trabalho utilizando um equalizador iterativo supera os convencionais equalizadores lineares na eliminação da interferência adicional introduzida, em apenas 2 ou 3 iterações.Performance, mobility and sharing can be assumed as the three keywords in the mobile communications nowadays. One of the fundamental needs of human beings is to share experiences and information. With the evolution of mobile hardware level, the growing popularity of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, has made that the demand in terms of capacity and throughput by mobile networks did not stop growing. Thus, the limitations of 3G stops it of being the answer of such demand, and a transition to a powerful technology has become unavoidable. The answer chosen is LTE, developed by the 3GPP organization is assumed to be the predominant telecommunications network in the future. The most relevant advantages are high transmission rates, higher spectral efficiency, reducing latency and operating costs. The key technologies in which LTE is based, are OFDM and its variant schemes for multiple access, OFDMA, used for downlink, and SC-FDMA for the uplink. It also uses multiple antennas systems in order to improve spectral efficiency. Although already implemented in some countries by several operators, continuous research is conducted in order to improve their performance. In this dissertation it is proposed a double space-frequency block coding (D-SFBC) scheme for an OFDM based scenario with 4 transmit antennas and 2 receive antennas (4×2 D-SFBC) for the downlink. In the considered scenario, 4 data symbols are transmitted by using only 2 subcarriers and thus the system is interference limited. To efficiently decode the transmitted data symbols an iterative equalizer designed in frequency domain is developed. Two approaches are considered: parallel interference cancellation (PIC) and successive interference cancellation (SIC). Since only 2 subcarriers are used to transmit 4 data symbols in parallel the developed scheme achieve the double data rate when compared with the 2×2 SFBC, specified in the LTE standard. The developed schemes were evaluated under the main LTE specifications and using channel coding. The results have show that the schemes implemented in this work using an interactive equalizer outperforms the conventional linear equalizers in the interference removal, just by using 2 or 3 iterations

Esquemas de cooperação entre estações base para o LTE no sentido descendente

The explosive growth in wireless traffic and in the number of connected devices as smart phones or computers, are causing a dramatic increase in the levels of interference, which significantly degrades the capacity gains promised by the point-to-point multi input, multi output (MIMO) based techniques. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly clear that major new improvements in spectral efficiency of wireless networks will have to entail addressing intercell interference. So, there is a need for a new cellular architecture that can take these factors under consideration. It is in this context that LTE-Advanced arises. One of the most promising LTE-Advanced technology is Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP), which allows base stations to cooperate among them, in order to mitigate or eliminate the intercell interference and, by doing so, increase the system’s capacity. This thesis intends to study this concept, implementing some schemes that fall under the CoMP concept. In this thesis we consider a distributed precoded multicell approach, where the precoders are computed locally at each BS to mitigate the intercell interference. Two precoder are considered: distributed zero forcing (DZF) and distributed virtual signal-to-interference noise ratio (DVSINR) recently proposed. Then the system is further optimized by computing a power allocation algorithm over the subcarriers that minimizes the average bit error rate (BER). The considered algorithms are also evaluated under imperfect channel state information. A quantized version of the CSI associated to the different links between the BS and the UT is feedback from the UT to the BS. This information is then employed by the different BSs to perform the precoding design. A new DVSINR precoder explicitly designed under imperfect CSI is proposed. The proposed schemes were implemented considering the LTE specifications, and the results show that the considered precoders are efficiently to remove the interference even under imperfect CSI.O crescimento exponencial no tráfego de comunicações sem-fios e no número de dispositivos utilizados (smart phones, computadores portáteis, etc.) está a causar um aumento significativo nos níveis de interferência, que prejudicam significativamente os ganhos de capacidade assegurados pelas tecnologias baseadas em ligações ponto-a-ponto MIMO. Deste modo, torna-se cada vez mais necessário que os grandes aperfeiçoamentos na eficiência espectral de sistemas de comunicações sem-fios tenham em consideração a interferência entre células. De forma a tomar em consideração estes aspectos, uma nova arquitectura celular terá de ser desenvolvida. É assim, neste contexto, que surge o LTE-Advanced. Uma das tecnologias mais promissoras do LTE-Advanced é a Coordenação Multi-Ponto (CoMP), que permite que as estações base cooperem de modo a mitigar a interferência entre células e, deste modo, aumentar a capacidade do sistema. Esta dissertação pretende estudar este conceito, implementando para isso algumas técnicas que se enquadram no conceito do CoMP. Nesta dissertação iremos considerar a implementação de um sistema de pré-codificação em múltiplas células, em que os pré-codificadores são calculados em cada BS, de modo a mitigar a interferência entre células. São considerados dois pré-codificadores: Distributed Zero Forcing (DZF) e Distributed Virtual Signal-to-Interferance Noise Ratio (DVSINR), recentemente proposto. De seguida o sistema é optimizado com a introdução de algoritmos de alocação de potência entre as sub-portadoras com o objectivo de minimizar a taxa média de erros (BER). Os algoritmos considerados são também avaliados em situações em que a informação do estado do canal é imperfeita. Uma versão quantizada da CSI associada a cada uma das diferentes ligações entre as BS e os UT é assim enviada do UT para a BS. Esta informação é então utilizada para calcular os diferentes pré-codificadores em cada BS. Uma nova versão do pré-codificador DVSINR é proposta de modo a lidar com CSI imperfeito. Os esquemas propostos foram implementados considerandos especificações do LTE, e os resultados obtidos demonstram que os pré-codificadores removem de uma forma eficiente a interferência, mesmo em situações em que a CSI é imperfeita

Terminal LTE flexível

Mstrado em Engenharia Eletrónica e TelecomunicaçõesAs redes móveis estão em constante evolução. A geração atual (4G) de redes celulares de banda larga e representada pelo standard Long Term Evolution (LTE), definido pela 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Existe uma elevada procura/uso da rede LTE, com um aumento exponencial do número de dispositivos móveis a requerer uma ligação à Internet de alto débito. Isto pode conduzir à sobrelotação do espetro, levando a que o sinal tenha que ser reforçado e a cobertura melhorada em locais específicos, tal como em grandes conferências, festivais e eventos desportivos. Por outro lado, seria uma vantagem importante se os utilizadores pudessem continuar a usar os seus equipamentos e terminais em situações onde o acesso a redes 4G é inexistente, tais como a bordo de um navio, eventos esporádicos em localizações remotas ou em cenários de catástrofe, em que as infraestruturas que permitem as telecomunicações foram danificadas e a cobertura temporária de rede pode ser decisiva em processos de salvamento. Assim sendo, existe uma motivação clara por trás do desenvolvimento de uma infraestrutura celular totalmente reconfigurável e que preencha as características mencionadas anteriormente. Uma possível abordagem consiste numa plataforma de rádio definido por software (SDR), de código aberto, que implementa o standard LTE e corre em processadores de uso geral (GPPs), tornando possível construir uma rede completa investindo somente em hardware - computadores e front-ends de radiofrequência (RF). Após comparação e análise de várias plataformas LTE de código aberto foi selecionado o OpenAirInterface (OAI) da EURECOM, que disponibiliza uma implementação compatível com a Release 8.6 da 3GPP (com parte das funcionalidades da Release 10). O principal objectivo desta dissertação é a implementação de um User Equipment (UE) flexível, usando plataformas SDR de código aberto que corram num computador de placa única (SBC) compacto e de baixa potência, integrado com um front-end de RF - Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP). A transmissão de dados em tempo real usando os modos de duplexagem Time Division Duplex (TDD) e Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) é suportada e a reconfiguração de certos parâmetros é permitida, nomeadamente a frequência portadora, a largura de banda e o número de Resource Blocks (RBs) usados. Além disso, é possível partilhar os dados móveis LTE com utilizadores que estejam próximos, semelhante ao que acontece com um hotspot de Wi-Fi. O processo de implementação é descrito, incluindo todos os passos necessários para o seu desenvolvimento, englobando o port do UE de um computador para um SBC. Finalmente, a performance da rede é analisada, discutindo os valores de débitos obtidos.Mobile networks are constantly evolving. 4G is the current generation of broadband cellular network technology and is represented by the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard, de ned by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). There's a high demand for LTE at the moment, with the number of mobile devices requiring an high-speed Internet connection increasing exponentially. This may overcrowd the spectrum on the existing deployments and the signal needs to be reinforced and coverage improved in speci c sites, such as large conferences, festivals and sport events. On the other hand, it would be an important advantage if users could continue to use their equipment and terminals in situations where cellular networks aren't usually available, such as on board of a cruise ship, sporadic events in remote locations, or in catastrophe scenarios in which the telecommunication infrastructure was damaged and the rapid deployment of a temporary network can save lives. In all of these situations, the availability of exible and easily deployable cellular base stations and user terminals operating on standard or custom bands would be very desirable. Thus, there is a clear motivation for the development of a fully recon gurable cellular infrastructure solution that ful lls these requirements. A possible approach is an open-source, low-cost and low maintenance Software-De ned Radio (SDR) software platform that implements the LTE standard and runs on General Purpose Processors (GPPs), making it possible to build an entire network while only spending money on the hardware itself - computers and Radio-Frequency (RF) front-ends. After comparison and analysis of several open-source LTE SDR platforms, the EURECOM's OpenAirInterface (OAI) was chosen, providing a 3GPP standard-compliant implementation of Release 8.6 (with a subset of Release 10 functionalities). The main goal of this dissertation is the implementation of a exible opensource LTE User Equipment (UE) software radio platform on a compact and low-power Single Board Computer (SBC) device, integrated with an RF hardware front-end - Universal Software Radio Peripheral (USRP). It supports real-time Time Division Duplex (TDD) and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) LTE modes and the recon guration of several parameters, namely the carrier frequency, bandwidth and the number of LTE Resource Blocks (RB) used. It can also share its LTE mobile data with nearby users, similarly to a Wi-Fi hotspot. The implementation is described through its several developing steps, including the porting of the UE from a regular computer to a SBC. The performance of the network is then analysed based on measured results of throughput

Performance analysis of interference measurement methods for link adaptation in 5G New Radio

5G New Radio (NR) is coming faster than expected with early deployments which take place early 2019. It is more than a new mobile generation that offers higher data rates compared to previous generations, although it’s still the main driver. It will enable many new use cases and deployment scenarios that can be put into three main categories: enhanced mobile broad band (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) and massive machine type communications (mMTC). 5G NR aims to further increase frequency resources utilization and efficiency. Cell edge users usually suffer from high levels of interference known as inter-cell interference. This phenomenon results in lower performance for the cell edge users and inefficient utilization of radio resources. Link adaptation techniques aim to increase cell edge performance by exploiting varying channel conditions and interference level at user equipment (UE). In this thesis channel state information (CSI) is studied as an essential part of link adaptation process. Channel quality indicator (CQI) is the main component of CSI reports from UE that gives recommendations about the next transmission modulation order and code rate. The accuracy of reported CQI depends on the accuracy of channel and interference measurements. In this thesis two different interference measurement methods based on two reference signals are studied: CSI interference measurement (CSI-IM) and non-zero power CSI reference signal (NZP CSI-RS). In this thesis performance with different configurable factors, different channel models and UE speeds are considered. Overall system overhead is also studied to give recommendation about the configuration of lower system overhead. Simulation results has shown that CSI-IM based interference measurement is more efficient compared to NZP CSI-RS method and operates well in different channel scenarios and different UE speed. While NZP CS-RS shows sensitivity to frequency selective channels and in higher user mobility cases. On the other hand, from overall system overhead perspective, CSI-IM based configuration is the best solution

LTE Indoor MIMO Performance and Antenna Configuration

Long-term evolution (LTE) and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) have earned reputations to be a cutting‒edge technology, which can boost significantly wireless communication performances. However, many aspects influence on LTE MIMO efficiency; those include propagation environments and antenna configurations. The goal of the thesis is to study performances of LTE MIMO on downlink in indoor. MIMO gains over transmit diversity and single antenna are the objective. Additionally, the study compares MIMO indoor performances with different antenna configurations at LTE base station and UE, including space diversity and polarization diversity. Some results obtained in this thesis follow the expectations what have been studied in literature and previous practical studies but some differences are also pointed out. Medium access control throughput (MAC TP) and some system parameters in LTE network that are linked with TP are analysed; those parameters are CQI, MCS as well as MIMO utilization. Effects of indoor propagation, such as LoS, NLoS, good and bad signal levels on SNR strength and MIMO utilization are clarified. In overall, MIMO outperforms transmit diversity (TxDiv) and single antenna in LTE indoor. The overall MIMO MAC TP gains are about nearly 40.0% over TxDiv and more than 20.0% over single stream. LoS environment boost SNR strength. Hence, up to 35.0% TP gain over single antenna is achieved. However, LoS signals make the channel become correlated due to lack of multipaths, causing that MIMO is not fully utilized. The gain of MIMO over single antenna is reduced at no LoS environments, particularly only around 17.0% and 21.0% MAC TP gains are recorded at NLoS channels with good signal levels and weak signal strength, relatively. The overall TP gain the UE experiences by using TxDiv over single antenna is roughly more than 20.0%, but LoS environment limits TxDiv performance. Hence, at LoS channel, TxDiv performance is reduced by around 2.0% compared to single stream. The worse the channel, the better TxDiv performs. The highest gain is at cell edge environment when TxDiv improves throughput more than 40.0% over single antenna. Clearly, antenna configuration impacts network performance. Large horizontal separation (7λ) between antenna elements outperforms small separation (0.5λ) in terms of SNR, MIMO utilization and MAC TP. The MAC TPs of large separation by using omni-directional and directional antennas are almost similar, around 27.0 Mbps. Space diversity with omni-directional antennas provides roughly 14.0% MAC TP improvement while only approximately 4.5% TP gain can be achieved with directional antennas. Vertical‒horizontal polarization pair deployed at LTE base station is found to provide better performance over vertical‒vertical polarization and X‒pol pairs. Signals also appear to be more correlated with vertical-horizontal polarization pair since MIMO utilization gets better values, MIMO utilization gains are around 18.0% over vertical-vertical polarization pair and 6.0% over X-pol pair, resulting in around 31.7% and 17.0% MAC TP gains over the two latter, relatively. The results also point out that changing polarizations at UE do not give clear MAC TP and MIMO utilization improvements. From the radio network planning point of view, the results obtained in this thesis can be considered as guidelines for indoor network planning and optimization for network operators. It is important to conclude that based on the measurements made in this thesis, space diversity (7λ) with omni-directional antennas and vertical-horizontal polarization pairs appear to give optimal indoor performance. However, it should be taken into consideration that all results presented in this thesis are highly dependable on the chosen antennas, LTE network systems, devices and indoor environment where the measurements are carried out. Hence, the results may vary with the factors mentioned