Pilot-aided ML schemes for joint beamforming and channel estimation in WCDMA systems

This paper proposes semi-blind channel estimation and interference cancellation schemes for the reception of pilot-aided signals in WCDMA systems. It is shown that the performance of classical training-based schemes is severely degraded due to the code-multiplexing (as opposed to time-multiplexing) of traffic and pilot signals. The time-dispersivity of the channel destroys the orthogonality between the traffic signal and the pilot, and consequently the traffic signal appears as a new interfering signal for the channel estimation/beamforming algorithm. In order to avoid this effect, we propose techniques that exploit both the presence of the training sequence and the structure of the traffic signal in a semi-blind fashion.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

La fauna endèmica Iberobalear i la seva conservació

Ibero-balearic endemic fauna and its conservation. The Iberian peninsula and the Balearic Islands constitute two outstanding territories in terms of animal biodiversity and endemic species. The continental freshwater fish, the reptiles and amphibians, and to a lesser extent birds, make up the groups of most unique vertebrates and those most renowned as threatened species. The biodiversity of Iberian invertebrates seems very high, but huge research efforts and accurate studies are necessary before their diversity can be quantified

In memoriam Josep Maria Palau i Camps (1914-1996)

Abstract not availabl

High resolution probe of coherence in low-energy charge exchange collisions with oriented targets

The trapping lasers of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) are used to bring Rb atoms into well defined oriented states. Coupled to recoil-ion momentum spectroscopy (RIMS), this yields a unique MOTRIMS setup which is able to probe scattering dynamics, including their coherence features, with unprecedented resolution. This technique is applied to the low-energy charge exchange processes Na$^+$+Rb($5p_{\pm 1}$) $\rightarrow$ Na($3p,4s$)+Rb$^+$. The measurements reveal detailed features of the collisional interaction which are employed to improve the theoretical description. All of this enables to gauge the reliability of intuitive pictures predicting the most likely capture transitions

First record of Ocinebrina hispidula (Pallary, 1904) (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Muricidae) to Ibero-Balearic sea

Abstract not availabl

Charles Darwin: la seva vida, el seu viatge, el seu entorn i les seves obres

L’any 2009 fou declarat Any Darwin en commemoració del segon centenari del naixement de l’insigne científic, així com del cent cinquantè aniversari de la publicació de la seva obra cabdal sobre l’origen de les espècies. Distintes entitats participaren en aquesta efemèride. La Societat d’Història Natural de les Balears també ho va fer. Entre els personatges que varen canviar el món amb les seves idees, Charles Darwin fou un dels seus protagonistes. En aquest article es donen uns pinzellades sobre la seva vida i el seu entorn familiar, un breu resum del seu viatge amb en Beagle i les seves obres. Les Illes Galápagos, així com altres indrets, foren clau per a l’elaboració de les teories evolutives. També s’ha volgut fer un repàs sobre els antecedents de l’evolucionisme, els seus col·laboradors científics més propers i la implantació d’aquestes teories a les Illes Balears