Spatially-Coupled Nearly-Regular LDPC Code Ensembles for Rate-Flexible Code Design

Spatially coupled regular LDPC code ensembles have outstanding performance with belief propagation decoding and can perform close to the Shannon limit. In this paper we investigate the suitability of coupled regular LDPC code ensembles with respect to rate-flexibility. Regular ensembles with good performance and low complexity exist for a variety of specific code rates. On the other hand it can be observed that outside this set of favorable rational rates the complexity and performance become unreasonably high. We therefore propose ensembles with slight irregularity that allow us to smoothly cover the complete range of rational rates. Our simple construction allows a performance with negligible gap to the Shannon limit while maintaining complexity as low as for the best regular code ensembles. At the same time the construction guarantees that asymptotically the minimum distance grows linearly with the length of the coupled blocks

Protograph Design for Spatially-Coupled Codes to Attain an Arbitrary Diversity Order

This work focuses on the design of SC-LDPC codes for transmission over non-ergodic, block-fading channels. Our main contribution is an algorithm, allowing to start from a (J,K )-regular, uncoupled LDPC ensemble, from which one can recursively build up a protograph-based SC-LDPC ensemble having any target diversity order d. The diversity order is achieved assuming a low-complexity iterative decoding algorithm. The increase of d comes at the cost of increasing the memory constraint (i.e., the coupling parameter) of the SC-LDPC ensemble

Impact of Antenna Downtilt on Cooperative Uplink Detection in a Large Scale Field Trial

Abstract-The spectral efficiency of today's cellular networks that feature small inter-site distance and high spectral reuse is limited by inter-cell interference. An effective means to cope with the signal radiation across cell boundaries in the cellular uplink is joint detection of multiple users at cooperative base stations (BSs), a concept known as network MIMO or coordinated multipoint (CoMP). However, it is well known that the cluster size of cooperating base stations is limited in a real system due to backhaul, latency and signaling constraints. Thus, cooperation of base station needs to be applied jointly with other methods for inter cell interference reduction. An important lever is the usage of antenna downtilt to control the direction of the vertical antenna pattern and, therefore, the distance of signal propagation. In this work, we investigate the effect of the antenna downtilt on the performance of cooperative uplink detection in a large scale field trial and show the importance of downtilt optimization for cooperative systems

Reduced Complexity Window Decoding Schedules for Coupled LDPC Codes

Window decoding schedules are very attractive for message passing decoding of spatially coupled LDPC codes. They take advantage of the inherent convolutional code structure and allow continuous transmission with low decoding latency and complexity. In this paper we show that the decoding complexity can be further reduced if suitable message passing schedules are applied within the decoding window. An improvement based schedule is presented that easily adapts to different ensemble structures, window sizes, and channel parameters. Its combination with a serial (on-demand) schedule is also considered. Results from a computer search based schedule are shown for comparison

Non-Uniform Window Decoding Schedules for Spatially Coupled LDPC Codes

Spatially coupled low-density parity-check codes can be decoded using a graph-based message passing algorithm applied across the total length of the coupled graph. However, considering practical constraints on decoding latency and complexity, a sliding window decoding approach is normally preferred. In order to reduce decoding complexity compared with standard parallel decoding schedules, serial schedules can be applied within a decoding window. However, uniform serial schedules within a window do not provide the expected reduction in complexity. Hence, we propose non-uniform schedules (parallel and serial) based on measured improvements in the estimated bit error rate (BER). We show that these non-uniform schedules result in a significant reduction in complexity without any loss in performance. Furthermore, based on observations made using density evolution, we propose a non-uniform pragmatic decoding schedule (parallel and serial) that does not require any additional calculations (e.g., BER estimates) within the decoding process

Interference Mitigation Framework for Cellular Mobile Radio Networks

For today's cellular mobile communication networks, the needed capacity is hard to realize without much more of (expensive) bandwidth. Thus new standards like LTE were developed. LTE advanced is in discussion as the successor of LTE and cooperative multipoint transmission (CoMP) is one of the hot topics to increase the system's capacity. System simulations often show only weak gains of the signal-to-interference ratio due to high interference from noncooperating cells in the downlink. This paper presents an interference mitigation framework to overcome the hardest issue, that is, the low penetration rate of mobile stations that can be served from a cluster composed of their strongest cells in the network. The results obtained from simulation tools are discussed with values resulting from testbed on the TU Dresden. They show that the theoretical ideas can be transferred into gains on real systems

Differences in Seasonal Melt in Greenland for Summer 2016 and 2017 - upGPR to determine liquid water percolation, retention and accumulation over the last two melt seasons

While summer 2016 air temperatures were above long term average over the entire Greenland ice Sheet (GrIS), melt in summer 2017 was considered as significantly below average, which may lead to an even positive surface mass balance in 2017 for the GrIS. However, apart from surficial extent of melt, only very little is known about effects of melt induced changes for snow and firn such as liquid water content, percolation depth and mass fluxes. To overcome this deficit, we installed an upward-looking radar systems (upGPR) 3.5 m below the snow surface in May 2016 close to Camp Raven (66.4779N/ 46.2856W) at 2120 m a.s.l. within the deep percolation zone of the GrIS. The radar is capable to monitor quasi-continuously changes in snow and firn stratigraphy, which occur above the antennas. For summer 2016, we observed four major melt events, which routed liquid water into various depths. The last event in mid-August resulted in the deepest percolation down to about 2.5 m beneath the surface. For the subsequent summer season in 2017, liquid water percolation barely reached the previous summer horizon until 15 August. In consequence, seasonal mass flux into underlying firn was strongly different for summer 2016 and 2017 at the site. While until mid-August 2016, melt events transferred a cumulative mass of almost 60 kg m−2 from the surface into firn, in 2017, for the same time period, no mass flux beneath the previous summer horizon has been observed. Comparisons with results predicted by the regional climate model MAR are in very good agreement in terms of specific surface accumulation, while neither the temporal evolution of density, nor bulk liquid water contents nor percolation depths agree with upGPR data. Such inaccuracies bias simulations of changes in snow and firn and limit our understanding of effects of water percolation as well as water retention in firn. A multi-yearsummer monitoring with upGPR may lead to a valuable data base for melt effects in perennial firn. At the current stage, we have continuous observations for a very strong melt season and a below average melt in 2017. We are looking forward to monitor even more extreme events to provide temporally continuous in-situ data for a large variety of melt years in perennial firn within the percolation zone of the GrIS

Seasonal monitoring of melt and accumulation within the deep percolation zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet and comparison with simulations of regional climate modeling

Increasing melt over the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) recorded over the past several years has resulted in significant changes of the percolation regime of the ice sheet. It remains unclear whether Greenland's percolation zone will act as a meltwater buffer in the near future through gradually filling all pore space or if near-surface refreezing causes the formation of impermeable layers, which provoke lateral runoff. Homogeneous ice layers within perennial firn, as well as near-surface ice layers of several meter thickness have been observed in firn cores. Because firn coring is a destructive method, deriving stratigraphic changes in firn and allocation of summer melt events is challenging. To overcome this deficit and provide continuous data for model evaluations on snow and firn density, temporal changes in liquid water content and depths of water infiltration, we installed an upward-looking radar system (upGPR) 3.4 m below the snow surface in May 2016 close to Camp Raven (66.4779 degrees N, 46.2856 degrees W) at 2120 m a.s.l. The radar is capable of quasi-continuously monitoring changes in snow and firn stratigraphy, which occur above the antennas. For summer 2016, we observed four major melt events, which routed liquid water into various depths beneath the surface. The last event in mid-August resulted in the deepest percolation down to about 2.3 m beneath the surface. Comparisons with simulations from the regional climate model MAR are in very good agreement in terms of seasonal changes in accumulation and timing of onset of melt. However, neither bulk density of near-surface layers nor the amounts of liquid water and percolation depths predicted by MAR correspond with upGPR data. Radar data and records of a nearby thermistor string, in contrast, matched very well for both timing and depth of temperature changes and observed water percolations. All four melt events transferred a cumulative mass of 56 kg m(-2) into firn beneath the summer surface of 2015. We find that continuous observations of liquid water content, percolation depths and rates for the seasonal mass fluxes are sufficiently accurate to provide valuable information for validation of model approaches and help to develop a better understanding of liquid water retention and percolation in perennial firn

Genomic sequence analysis and characterization of Sneathia amnii sp. nov

Background Bacteria of the genus Sneathia are emerging as potential pathogens of the female reproductive tract. Species of Sneathia, which were formerly grouped with Leptotrichia, can be part of the normal microbiota of the genitourinary tracts of men and women, but they are also associated with a variety of clinical conditions including bacterial vaginosis, preeclampsia, preterm labor, spontaneous abortion, post-partum bacteremia and other invasive infections. Sneathia species also exhibit a significant correlation with sexually transmitted diseases and cervical cancer. BecauseSneathia species are fastidious and rarely cultured successfully in vitro; and the genomes of members of the genus had until now not been characterized, very little is known about the physiology or the virulence of these organisms. Results Here, we describe a novel species, Sneathia amnii sp. nov, which closely resembles bacteria previously designated Leptotrichia amnionii . As part of the Vaginal Human Microbiome Project at VCU, a vaginal isolate of S. amnii sp. nov. was identified, successfully cultured and bacteriologically cloned. The biochemical characteristics and virulence properties of the organism were examined in vitro, and the genome of the organism was sequenced, annotated and analyzed. The analysis revealed a reduced circular genome of ~1.34 Mbp, containing ~1,282 protein-coding genes. Metabolic reconstruction of the bacterium reflected its biochemical phenotype, and several genes potentially associated with pathogenicity were identified. Conclusions Bacteria with complex growth requirements frequently remain poorly characterized and, as a consequence, their roles in health and disease are unclear. Elucidation of the physiology and identification of genes putatively involved in the metabolism and virulence of S. amnii may lead to a better understanding of the role of this potential pathogen in bacterial vaginosis, preterm birth, and other issues associated with vaginal and reproductive health

Confronting Arctic Troposphere, Clouds, and Surface Energy Budget Representations in Regional Climate Models With Observations

A coordinated regional climate model (RCM) evaluation and intercomparison project based on observations from a July–October 2014 trans‐Arctic Ocean field experiment (ACSE‐Arctic Clouds during Summer Experiment) is presented. Six state‐of‐the‐art RCMs were constrained with common reanalysis lateral boundary forcing and upper troposphere nudging techniques to explore how the RCMs represented the evolution of the surface energy budget (SEB) components and their relation to cloud properties. We find that the main reasons for the modeled differences in the SEB components are a direct consequence of the RCM treatment of cloud and cloud‐radiative interactions. The RCMs could be separated into groups by their overestimation or underestimation of cloud liquid. While radiative and turbulent heat flux errors were relatively large, they often invoke compensating errors. In addition, having the surface sea‐ice concentrations constrained by the reanalysis or satellite observations limited how errors in the modeled radiative fluxes could affect the SEB and ultimately the surface evolution and its coupling with lower tropospheric mixing and cloud properties. Many of these results are consistent with RCM biases reported in studies over a decade ago. One of the six models was a fully coupled ocean‐ice‐atmosphere model. Despite the biases in overestimating cloud liquid, and associated SEB errors due to too optically thick clouds, its simulations were useful in understanding how the fully coupled system is forced by, and responds to, the SEB evolution. Moving forward, we suggest that development of RCM studies need to consider the fully coupled climate system