Advanced signal processing techniques for the modeling and linearization of wireless communication systems.

Los nuevos estándares de comunicaciones digitales inalámbricas están impulsando el diseño de amplificadores de potencia con unas condiciones límites en términos de linealidad y eficiencia. Si bien estos nuevos sistemas exigen que los dispositivos activos trabajen cerca de la zona de saturación en busca de la eficiencia energética, la no linealidad inherente puede producir que el sistema muestre prestaciones inadecuadas en emisiones fuera de banda y distorsión en banda. La necesidad de técnicas digitales de compensación y la evolución en el diseño de nuevas arquitecturas de procesamiento de señales digitales posicionan a la predistorsión digital (DPD) como un enfoque práctico. Los predistorsionadores digitales se suelen basar en modelos de comportamiento como el memory polynomial (MP), el generalized memory polynomial (GMP) y el dynamic deviation reduction-based (DDR), etc. Los modelos de Volterra sufren la llamada "maldición de la dimensionalidad", ya que su complejidad tiende a crecer de forma exponencial a medida que el orden y la profundidad de memoria crecen. Esta tesis se centra principalmente en contribuir a la rama de conocimiento que enmarca el modelado y linealización de sistemas de comunicación inalámbrica. Los principales temas tratados son el modelo Volterra-Parafac y el modelo general de Volterra para sistemas complejos, los cuales tratan la estructura del DPD y las series de Volterra estructuradas con compressed-sensing y un método para la linealización en un rango de potencias de operación, que se centran en cómo los coeficientes de los modelos deben ser obtenidos.Premio Extraordinario de Doctorado U

Comparative Analysis of Greedy Pursuits for the Order Reduction of Wideband Digital Predistorters

This paper provides a review of greedy pursuits for optimizing Volterra-based behavioral models structure and estimating its parameters. An experimental comparison of the digital predistortion (DPD) linearization performance achieved by these approaches for model-order reduction, such as compressive sampling matching pursuit (CoSaMP), subspace pursuit (SP), orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP), and the novel doubly OMP (DOMP), is presented. A benchmark of the techniques in the DPD of a commercial class AB power amplifier (PA) and a class J PA operating over a 15-MHz Long-Term Evolution (LTE) signal is presented, giving a clear overview of their pruning characteristics in terms of linearization indicators and regressor selection capabilities. In addition, the benchmark is run in a cross-validation scheme by identifying the DPD with a 30-MHz 5G-new radio (NR) signal and validating with the same signal and a 20-MHz multicarrier wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) signal. The DOMP is shown to be a promising technique since it achieves an enhanced model-order reduction for a similar linearization performance and precision

A bivariate volterra series model for the design of power amplifier digital predistorters

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy-Efficient Wireless Communication Systems)The operation of the power amplifier (PA) in wireless transmitters presents a trade-off between linearity and power efficiency, being more efficient when the device exhibits the highest nonlinearity. Its modeling and linearization performance depend on the quality of the underlying Volterra models that are characterized by the presence of relevant terms amongst the enormous amount of regressors that these models generate. The presence of PA mechanisms that generate an internal state variable motivates the adoption of a bivariate Volterra series perspective with the aim of enhancing modeling capabilities through the inclussion of beneficial terms. In this paper, the conventional Volterra-based models are enhanced by the addition of terms, including cross products of the input signal and the new internal variable. The bivariate versions of the general full Volterra (FV) model and one of its pruned versions, referred to as the circuit-knowledge based Volterra (CKV) model, are derived by considering the signal envelope as the internal variable and applying the proposed methodology to the univariate models. A comparative assessment of the bivariate models versus their conventional counterparts is experimentally performed for the modeling of two PAs driven by a 30 MHz 5G New Radio signal: a class AB PA and a class J PA. The results for the digital predistortion of the class AB PA under a direct learning architecture reveal the benefits in linearization performance produced by the bivariate CKV model structure compared to that of the univariate CKV model.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación TEC2017-82807-PFondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regiona

A Sparse-Bayesian Approach for the Design of Robust Digital Predistorters Under Power-Varying Operation

"Early access"In this article, a sparse-Bayesian treatment is proposed to solve the crucial questions posed by power amplifier (PA) and digital predistorter (DPD) modeling. To learn a model, the advanced Bayesian framework includes a group of specific processes that maximize the likelihood of the measured data: regressor pursuit and identification, coefficient estimation, stopping criterion, and regressor deselection. The relevance vector machine (RVM) method is reformulated theoretically to be implemented in complex-valued linear regression. In essence, given an initial set of candidate regressors, the result of this sparse-Bayesian learning approach is the most likely model. Experimental results are provided for the linearization of class AB and class J PAs driven by a 30-MHz fifth-generation new radio signal for a fixed average power, where the evolution of the figures of merit versus the number of active coefficients is examined for the proposed sparse-Bayesian pursuit (SBP) algorithm in comparison to other greedy algorithms. The SBP presents a good performance in terms of linearization capabilities and computational cost. Furthermore, the proposed Bayesian framework enabled the design of a DPD model structure, deselect regressors, and readjust coefficients in a direct learning architecture, demonstrating the robustness to changes in the power level over a 10-dB range.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación 10.13039/501100011033Junta de Andalucía - Fondos FEDER US-126499

An Upgraded Dual-Band Digital Predistorter Model for Power Amplifiers Linearization

Digital predistortion (DPD) based on Volterra models is commonly employed to counteract the nonlinear distortion of power amplifiers. However, when concurrent dual-band signals are transmitted, 2-D DPD models are required. In this work, upgrading of a standard dual-band model is proposed and justified using multinomial theorem. The linearization performance of the current proposal has been compared to the unextended model. Fifth generation (5G) New Radio signals have been generated to compose a dual-band signal, which later was employed as input signal at Chalmers University of Technology's RF WebLab. Using coefficient selection techniques, the most relevant regressors are shown, and the importance of the new extension is proven. Linearization results highlight the benefits of this proposal.Comisión Europea, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo RegionalMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2017-82807-

On the Optimum Number of Coefficients of Sparse Digital Predistorters: A Bayesian Approach

This work presents insights on the application of the Bayesian information criterion (BIC) to fix the optimum number of coefficients in the Volterra series applied to the modeling and linearization of power amplifiers (PAs). The BIC is transformed from a rule to be applied after selection techniques to a stopping criterion, which enables the halting of the algorithm when a condition is reached. This study reveals that the BIC is equivalent to allow a certain identification normalized mean square error (NMSE) decrease after the inclusion of a model component. Experimental results of the digital predistortion of a class J PA are provided, demonstrating the proposal applicability in the attaining of the optimum number of coefficients. A comparison is made between the results obtained when the stopping rule is applied to the hill climbing (HC) and the doubly orthogonal matching pursuit (DOMP) algorithms

Digital predistortion of power amplifiers using structured compressed-sensing Volterra series

Digital predistortion has become an attractive technique for power amplifier linearisation whose limiting factor for using Volterra series as the underlying model is its computational complexity, since the number of components rapidly grows with the non-linear order and memory. Based on a previous reference algorithm, which consists on applying the orthogonal matching pursuit for the sorting of the model components and a Bayesian information criterion for the selection of the optimum number of components, a new technique to reduce the size of the support set taking into account the structural information within a model is presented. Experimental results of the predistortion of a commercial power amplifier are given as a proof of its capabilities, showing equivalent performance to the pruning with the reference algorithm while further reducing the number of components.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2011-23559 TEC2014-53103-

Formal deduction of a Volterra series model for complex-valued systems

This paper demonstrates a general model for nonlinear systems with complex-valued inputs and its application to communication systems modeling. Based on Wirtinger calculus and a double Volterra series approach, the proposed representation can also be considered as a generalization of the widely linear transformation to incorporate the description of nonlinear systems. The complete structure is pruned with the assistance of a compressive-sensing algorithm in order to reduce the number of parameters. To illustrate this approach, it has been experimentally implemented to model a transmitter for OFDM signals, which includes an I/Q modulator and a power amplifier.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2014-53103-P

Sparse identification of volterra models for power amplifiers without pseudoinverse computation

Article number 9178996We present a new formulation of the doubly orthogonal matching pursuit (DOMP) algorithm for the sparse recovery of Volterra series models. The proposal works over the covariance matrices by taking advantage of the orthogonal properties of the solution at each iteration and avoids the calculation of the pseudoinverse matrix to obtain the model coefficients. A detailed formulation of the algorithm is provided along with a computational complexity assessment, showing a fixed complexity per iteration compared with its previous versions in which it depends on the iteration number. Moreover, we empirically demonstrate the reduction in computational complexity in terms of runtime and highlight the pruning capabilities through its application to the digital predistortion of a class J power amplifier operating under 5G-NR signals with the bandwidth of 20 and 30 MHz, concluding that this proposal significantly outperforms existing techniques in terms of computational complexity

Transmitter Linearization Adaptable to Power-Varying Operation

This paper presents the design of a power-scalable digital predistorter (DPD) for transmitter architectures. The target is to accomplish the joint compensation of impairments due to the I/Q modulator and nonlinearities associated with the power amplifier, and procure a maintained linearization performance in a range of average working operation levels. The identification method for the linearizer parameters enriches the standard least-squares procedure with a synergistic integration with sparsity-based model pruning strategies. The method has been tested with a general complex-valued Volterra model applied to the linearization of two communications transmitters operating at 3.6 GHz. The linearizers designed for the two transmitters effectively provide the joint compensation of the nonlinear behavior. In addition to their good performance in terms of adjacent channel power ratio, the DPDs exhibit a wide range of power-varying adaptation.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) TEC2014-53103-