115 research outputs found
A Distributed Approach to Interference Alignment in OFDM-based Two-tiered Networks
In this contribution, we consider a two-tiered network and focus on the
coexistence between the two tiers at physical layer. We target our efforts on a
long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) orthogonal frequency division multiple
access (OFDMA) macro-cell sharing the spectrum with a randomly deployed second
tier of small-cells. In such networks, high levels of co-channel interference
between the macro and small base stations (MBS/SBS) may largely limit the
potential spectral efficiency gains provided by the frequency reuse 1. To
address this issue, we propose a novel cognitive interference alignment based
scheme to protect the macro-cell from the cross-tier interference, while
mitigating the co-tier interference in the second tier. Remarkably, only local
channel state information (CSI) and autonomous operations are required in the
second tier, resulting in a completely self-organizing approach for the SBSs.
The optimal precoder that maximizes the spectral efficiency of the link between
each SBS and its served user equipment is found by means of a distributed
one-shot strategy. Numerical findings reveal non-negligible spectral efficiency
enhancements with respect to traditional time division multiple access
approaches at any signal to noise (SNR) regime. Additionally, the proposed
technique exhibits significant robustness to channel estimation errors,
achieving remarkable results for the imperfect CSI case and yielding consistent
performance enhancements to the network.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted and to appear in IEEE Transactions on
Vehicular Technology Special Section: Self-Organizing Radio Networks, 2013.
Authors' final version. Copyright transferred to IEE
Long-Range Communications in Unlicensed Bands: the Rising Stars in the IoT and Smart City Scenarios
Connectivity is probably the most basic building block of the Internet of
Things (IoT) paradigm. Up to know, the two main approaches to provide data
access to the \emph{things} have been based either on multi-hop mesh networks
using short-range communication technologies in the unlicensed spectrum, or on
long-range, legacy cellular technologies, mainly 2G/GSM, operating in the
corresponding licensed frequency bands. Recently, these reference models have
been challenged by a new type of wireless connectivity, characterized by
low-rate, long-range transmission technologies in the unlicensed sub-GHz
frequency bands, used to realize access networks with star topology which are
referred to a \emph{Low-Power Wide Area Networks} (LPWANs). In this paper, we
introduce this new approach to provide connectivity in the IoT scenario,
discussing its advantages over the established paradigms in terms of
efficiency, effectiveness, and architectural design, in particular for the
typical Smart Cities applications
Time-varying Clock Offset Estimation in Two-way Timing Message Exchange in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Factor Graphs
The problem of clock offset estimation in a two-way timing exchange regime is
considered when the likelihood function of the observation time stamps is
exponentially distributed. In order to capture the imperfections in node
oscillators, which render a time-varying nature to the clock offset, a novel
Bayesian approach to the clock offset estimation is proposed using a factor
graph representation of the posterior density. Message passing using the
max-product algorithm yields a closed form expression for the Bayesian
inference problem.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, ICASSP 201
Extending the Lora modulation to add further parallel channels and improve the LoRaWAN network performance
In this paper we present a new modulation, called DLoRa, similar in principle
to the conventional LoRa modulation and compatible with it in terms of
bandwidth and numerology. DLoRa departs from the conventional LoRa modulation
as it is using a decreasing instantaneous frequency in the chirps instead of an
increasing one as for the conventional LoRa modulation. Furthermore we describe
a software environment to accurately evaluate the "isolation" of the different
virtual channels created both by LoRa and DLoRa when using different Spreading
Factors. Our results are in agreement with the ones present in literature for
the conventional LoRa modulation and show that it is possible to double the
number of channels by using simultaneously LoRa and DLora. The higher (double)
number of subchannels available is the key to improve the network level
performance of LoRa based networks.Comment: This work has been submitted on Feb.1 2020 to European Wireless 2020
conference for possible presentation and subsequent publication by the IEE
Channel Impulse Response Estimation in IEEE 802.11p via Data Fusion and MMSE Estimator
Tracking the channel impulse response in systems based on the IEEE 802.11p standard, the most widely accepted standard for the physical layer in vehicular area networks (VANETs), is still an open research topic. In this paper we aim to improve previously proposed channel estimators by utilizing data aided algorithm that includes the channel decoding to enhance the quality of the estimated data. Moreover we propose a novel technique that exploits information provided by external sensors like GPS or speedometer, usually present in vehicles. The algorithm proposed so far has been analyzed in non-line-of-sight link conditions; in this paper we present an analysis of performances in the line-of-sight condition as well. Simulations show that both proposals give considerable improvements in terms of packet error rate and channel estimation error in the highway scenario which is surely the most stressing environment for the channel response tracker
Cognitive Interference Alignment for OFDM Two-tiered Networks
In this contribution, we introduce an interference alignment scheme that
allows the coexistence of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)
macro-cell and a cognitive small-cell, deployed in a two-tiered structure and
transmitting over the same bandwidth. We derive the optimal linear strategy for
the single antenna secondary base station, maximizing the spectral efficiency
of the opportunistic link, accounting for both signal sub-space structure and
power loading strategy. Our analytical and numerical findings prove that the
precoder structure proposed is optimal for the considered scenario in the face
of Rayleigh and exponential decaying channels.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted and presented at the IEEE 13th
International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless
Communications (SPAWC), 2012. Authors' final version. Copyright transferred
to IEE
Cognitive Orthogonal Precoder for Two-tiered Networks Deployment
In this work, the problem of cross-tier interference in a two-tiered
(macro-cell and cognitive small-cells) network, under the complete spectrum
sharing paradigm, is studied. A new orthogonal precoder transmit scheme for the
small base stations, called multi-user Vandermonde-subspace frequency division
multiplexing (MU-VFDM), is proposed. MU-VFDM allows several cognitive small
base stations to coexist with legacy macro-cell receivers, by nulling the
small- to macro-cell cross-tier interference, without any cooperation between
the two tiers. This cleverly designed cascaded precoder structure, not only
cancels the cross-tier interference, but avoids the co-tier interference for
the small-cell network. The achievable sum-rate of the small-cell network,
satisfying the interference cancelation requirements, is evaluated for perfect
and imperfect channel state information at the transmitter. Simulation results
for the cascaded MU-VFDM precoder show a comparable performance to that of
state-of-the-art dirty paper coding technique, for the case of a dense cellular
layout. Finally, a comparison between MU-VFDM and a standard complete spectrum
separation strategy is proposed. Promising gains in terms of achievable
sum-rate are shown for the two-tiered network w.r.t. the traditional bandwidth
management approach.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted and to appear in IEEE Journal on
Selected Areas in Communications: Cognitive Radio Series, 2013. Copyright
transferred to IEE
Platforms and Protocols for the Internet of Things
Building a general architecture for the Internet of Things (IoT) is a very complex task, exacerbated by the extremely large variety of devices, link layer technologies, and services that may be involved in such a system. In this paper, we identify the main blocks of a generic IoT architecture, describing their features and requirements, and analyze the most common approaches proposed in the literature for each block. In particular, we compare three of the most important communication technologies for IoT purposes, i.e., REST, MQTT, and AMQP, and we also analyze three IoT platforms: openHAB, Sentilo, and Parse. The analysis will prove the importance of adopting an integrated approach that jointly addresses several issues and is able to flexibly accommodate the requirements of the various elements of the system. We also discuss a use case which illustrates the design challenges and the choices to make when selecting which protocols and technologies to use
On the Use of LoRaWAN for Indoor Industrial IoT Applications
Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs) have recently emerged as appealing communication systems in the context of the Internet of Things (IoT). Particularly, they proved effective in typical IoT applications such as environmental monitoring and smart metering. Such networks, however, have a great potential also in the industrial scenario and, hence, in the context of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), which represents a dramatically growing field of application. In this paper we focus on a specific LPWAN, namely, LoRaWAN, and provide an assessment of its performance for typical IIoT employments such as those represented by indoor industrial monitoring applications. In detail, after a general description of LoRaWAN, we discuss how to set some of its parameters in order to achieve the best performance in the considered industrial scenario. Subsequently we present the outcomes of a performance assessment, based on realistic simulations, aimed at evaluating the behavior of LoRaWAN for industrial monitoring applications. Moreover, the paper proposes a comparison with the IEEE 802.15.4 network protocol, which is often adopted in similar application contexts. The obtained results confirm that LoRaWAN can be considered as a strongly viable opportunity, since it is able to provide high reliability and timeliness, while ensuring very low energy consumption
Minimum-Latency Scheduling For Partial-Information Multiple Access Schemes
Partial-information multiple access (PIMA) is an orthogonal multiple access
(OMA) uplink scheme where time is divided into frames, each composed of two
parts. The first part is used to count the number of users with packets to
transmit, while the second has a variable number of allocated slots, each
assigned to multiple users to uplink data transmission. We investigate the case
of correlated user activations, wherein the correlation is due to the
retransmissions of the collided packets, modeling PIMA as a partially
observable-Markov decision process. The assignment of users to slots is
optimized based on the knowledge of both the number of active users and past
successful transmissions and collisions. The scheduling turns out to be a mixed
integer nonlinear programming problem, with a complexity exponentially growing
with the number of users. Thus, sub-optimal greedy solutions are proposed and
evaluated. Our solutions show substantial performance improvements with respect
to both traditional OMA schemes and conventional PIMA.Comment: Conference paper, 6 pages, 4 figure
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