An algorithm for the automatic synchronization of Omega receivers

The Omega navigation system and the requirement for receiver synchronization are discussed. A description of the synchronization algorithm is provided. The numerical simulation and its associated assumptions were examined and results of the simulation are presented. The suggested form of the synchronization algorithm and the suggested receiver design values were surveyed. A Fortran of the synchronization algorithm used in the simulation was also included

Space-time autocoding

Prior treatments of space-time communications in Rayleigh flat fading generally assume that channel coding covers either one fading interval-in which case there is a nonzero “outage capacity”-or multiple fading intervals-in which case there is a nonzero Shannon capacity. However, we establish conditions under which channel codes span only one fading interval and yet are arbitrarily reliable. In short, space-time signals are their own channel codes. We call this phenomenon space-time autocoding, and the accompanying capacity the space-time autocapacity. Let an M-transmitter antenna, N-receiver antenna Rayleigh flat fading channel be characterized by an M×N matrix of independent propagation coefficients, distributed as zero-mean, unit-variance complex Gaussian random variables. This propagation matrix is unknown to the transmitter, it remains constant during a T-symbol coherence interval, and there is a fixed total transmit power. Let the coherence interval and number of transmitter antennas be related as T=βM for some constant β. A T×M matrix-valued signal, associated with R·T bits of information for some rate R is transmitted during the T-symbol coherence interval. Then there is a positive space-time autocapacity Ca such that for all R<Ca, the block probability of error goes to zero as the pair (T, M)→∞ such that T/M=β. The autocoding effect occurs whether or not the propagation matrix is known to the receiver, and Ca=Nlog(1+ρ) in either case, independently of β, where ρ is the expected signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at each receiver antenna. Lower bounds on the cutoff rate derived from random unitary space-time signals suggest that the autocoding effect manifests itself for relatively small values of T and M. For example, within a single coherence interval of duration T=16, for M=7 transmitter antennas and N=4 receiver antennas, and an 18-dB expected SNR, a total of 80 bits (corresponding to rate R=5) can theoretically be transmitted with a block probability of error less than 10^-9, all without any training or knowledge of the propagation matrix

The academic and industrial embrace of space-time methods

[Guest Editors introduction to: Special issue on space-time transmission, reception, coding and signal processing] Every episode of the classic 1966–1969 television series Star Trek begins with Captain Kirk’s (played by William Shatner) famous words : “Space: The final frontier….” While space may not be the final frontier for the information and communication theory community, it is proving to be an important and fruitful one. In the information theory community, the notion of space can be broadly defined as the simultaneous use of multiple, possibly coupled, channels. The notions of space–time and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels are therefore often used interchangeably. The connection between space and MIMO is most transparent when we view the multiple channels as created by two or more spatially separated antennas at a wireless transmitter or receiver. A large component of the current interest in space–time methods can be attributed to discoveries in the late 1980s and early 1990s that a rich wireless scattering environment can be beneficial when multiple antennas are used on a point-to-point link. We now know that adding antennas in a rich environment provides proportional increases in point-to-point data rates, without extra transmitted power or bandwidth

Space-time autocoding constellations with pairwise-independent signals

The space-time autocoding effect implies that arbitrarily reliable communication is possible within a single coherence interval in Rayleigh flat fading as the symbol-duration of the coherence interval and the number of transmit antennas grow simultaneously. For relatively short (e.g., 16-symbol) coherence intervals, a codebook of isotropically random unitary space-time signals theoretically supports transmission rates that are a significant fraction of autocapacity with an extremely low probability of error. However a constellation of the required size (typically L = 280) is impossible to generate and store, and due to lack of structure there is little hope of finding a fast decoding scheme. We propose a random, but highly structured, constellation that is completely specified by log, L independent isotropically distributed unitary matrices. The distinguishing property of this construction is that any two signals in the constellation are pairwise statistically independent and isotropically distributed. Thus, the pairwise probability of error, and hence the union bound on the block probability of error, of the structured constellation is identical to that of a fully random constellation of independent signals

Structured unitary space-time autocoding constellations

We previously showed that arbitrarily reliable communication is possible within a single coherence interval in Rayleigh flat fading as the symbol duration of the coherence interval and the number of transmit antennas grow simultaneously. This effect, where the space-time signals act as their own channel codes, is called autocoding. For relatively short (e.g., 16-symbol) coherence intervals, a codebook of independent isotropically random unitary space-time signals theoretically supports transmission rates that are a significant fraction of autocapacity with an extremely low probability of error. The exploitation of space-time autocoding requires the creation and decoding of extraordinarily large constellations-typically L = 2^80. We make progress on the first part of the problem through a random, but highly structured, constellation that is completely specified by log2 L independent isotropically distributed unitary matrices. The distinguishing property of this construction is that any two signals in the constellation are pairwise statistically independent and isotropically distributed. Thus, the pairwise probability of error, and hence the union bound on the block probability of error, of the structured constellation is identical to that of a fully random constellation of independent signals. We establish the limitations of an earlier construction through a subsidiary result that is interesting in its own right: the square (or for that matter, any integer power greater than one) of an isotropically random unitary matrix is not isotropically random, with the sole exception of the one-by-one unitary matrix

Simulations of partially coherent focal plane imaging arrays: Fisher matrix approach to performance evaluation

Focal plane arrays of bolometers are increasingly employed in astronomy at far--infrared to millimetre wavelengths. The focal plane fields and the detectors are both partially coherent in these systems, but no account has previously been taken of the effect of partial coherence on array performance. In this paper, we use our recently developed coupled--mode theory of detection together with Fisher information matrix techniques from signal processing to characterize the behaviour of partially coherent imaging arrays. We investigate the effects of the size and coherence length of both the source and the detectors, and the packing density of the array, on the amount of information that can be extracted from observations with such arrays.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, submitted to MNRAS 7th March 200

CTCF loss has limited effects on global genome architecture in Drosophila despite critical regulatory functions.

Vertebrate genomes are partitioned into contact domains defined by enhanced internal contact frequency and formed by two principal mechanisms: compartmentalization of transcriptionally active and inactive domains, and stalling of chromosomal loop-extruding cohesin by CTCF bound at domain boundaries. While Drosophila has widespread contact domains and CTCF, it is currently unclear whether CTCF-dependent domains exist in flies. We genetically ablate CTCF in Drosophila and examine impacts on genome folding and transcriptional regulation in the central nervous system. We find that CTCF is required to form a small fraction of all domain boundaries, while critically controlling expression patterns of certain genes and supporting nervous system function. We also find that CTCF recruits the pervasive boundary-associated factor Cp190 to CTCF-occupied boundaries and co-regulates a subset of genes near boundaries together with Cp190. These results highlight a profound difference in CTCF-requirement for genome folding in flies and vertebrates, in which a large fraction of boundaries are CTCF-dependent and suggest that CTCF has played mutable roles in genome architecture and direct gene expression control during metazoan evolution

Conformational adaptation of Asian macaque TRIMCyp directs lineage specific antiviral activity

TRIMCyps are anti-retroviral proteins that have arisen independently in New World and Old World primates. All TRIMCyps comprise a CypA domain fused to the tripartite domains of TRIM5α but they have distinct lentiviral specificities, conferring HIV-1 restriction in New World owl monkeys and HIV-2 restriction in Old World rhesus macaques. Here we provide evidence that Asian macaque TRIMCyps have acquired changes that switch restriction specificity between different lentiviral lineages, resulting in species-specific alleles that target different viruses. Structural, thermodynamic and viral restriction analysis suggests that a single mutation in the Cyp domain, R69H, occurred early in macaque TRIMCyp evolution, expanding restriction specificity to the lentiviral lineages found in African green monkeys, sooty mangabeys and chimpanzees. Subsequent mutations have enhanced restriction to particular viruses but at the cost of broad specificity. We reveal how specificity is altered by a scaffold mutation, E143K, that modifies surface electrostatics and propagates conformational changes into the active site. Our results suggest that lentiviruses may have been important pathogens in Asian macaques despite the fact that there are no reported lentiviral infections in current macaque populations

Decision Aided Uplink Compressive Channel Estimation for Massive MIMO Systems

Thank to the observation that in massive multi-input multi-output systems, the channels associated with different base station antennas may share common sparse support, the significant path delays can be accurately captured by only few pilots, leading to a reduction of pilot overhead. However, when the number of pilots is small, the path gains can not be accurately estimated and this limits the system performance. To solve this problem, in this paper we propose a decision aided compressive sensing based channel estimation scheme, which utilizes the decoded data to refine the channel estimation. This scheme can effectively improve the channel estimation without increasing the length of pilot sequence, which is confirmed by both analyses and simulation results