Evaluation of 5G Modulation Candidates WCP-COQAM, GFDM-OQAM, and FBMC-OQAM in Low-Band Highly Dispersive Wireless Channels

We analyse some of the candidates for modulations for 5G: FBMC-OQAM, GFDM-OQAM, and WCP-COQAM. Unlike most of the related bibliographies, which are oriented to mobile communications, our research is focused on 5G in cognitive radio based industrial wireless communications. According to the ultrareliability and low-latency requirements of industrial communications, we simulate the aforementioned modulations in low-band transmissions (carrier frequencies below 6GHz and a bandwidth narrower than 100MHz) through large indoor spaces and severe multipath channels that emulate industrial halls. Moreover, we give detailed information aboutWCP-COQAMand how the windowing affects the protection againstmultipath effect and reduces spectral efficiency compared to GFDM-OQAM.We also compare the aforementioned filtered multicarrier techniques and OFDM in terms of robustness against multipath channels, power spectral density, and spectral efficiency. Based on these results, we aim at providing an approximate idea about the suitability of 5G MCM candidates for industrial wireless communications based on CR

Analysis of 5G-TSN Integration to Support Industry 4.0

Time Sensitive Networking (TSN) is becoming the standard Ethernet-based technology for converged networks of Industry 4.0 due to its capacity to support deterministic latency requirements. However, it cannot provide the required flexibility to support mobile industrial applications required for the factories of the future. This could be enabled through the integration of wireless technologies in factories, and in particular of 5G and Beyond networks since they have been designed to support ultra-reliable and low-latency communications. This has triggered significant interest to integrate 5G and TSN networks, and first frameworks for such integration have been defined. However, the work is at early stages and the solutions to effectively integrate the two networks so that 5G can support TSN QoS levels are yet to be designed. This paper discusses current research and standardization work on 5G-TSN integration, and quantifies for a closed loop control application the 5GS bridge delay. The paper uses an example based on 5G-ACIA [1] to discuss open technical and research challenges to effectively integrate 5G and TS

Contaminación lumínica en el Anillo verde de Vitoria-Gasteiz

Este trabajo ha consistido en tomar mediciones de la cantidad de iluminación que reciben distintos ecosistemas alrededor de la ciudad de Vitoria-Gasteiz, para posteriormente analizar y valorar esas mediciones. En primer lugar, se hizo una valoración medioambiental de los distintos espacios, haciendo referencia a los servicios ambientales que prestan y a la flora y fauna presente. En segundo lugar, se tomaron mediciones de la contaminación lumínica de los distintos espacios para así poder comparar y analizar posibles diferencias existentes. Posteriormente se han expuesto los efectos adversos de la contaminación lumínica sobre la salud y el medio ambiente. Por último, se han propuesto actuaciones para mitigar la contaminación lumínica y así contribuir al ahorro energético.<br /

Analysis of NOMA-Based Retransmission Schemes for Factory Automation Applications

New use cases and applications in factory automation scenarios impose demanding requirements for traditional industrial communications. In particular, latency and reliability are considered as some of the most representative Key Performance Indicators (KPI) that limit the technological choices addressing wireless communications. Indeed, there is a considerable research effort ongoing in the area of wireless systems, not only from academia, but also from companies, towards novel solutions that fit Industry 4.0 KPIs. A major limitation for traditional wireless architectures is related to the harsh nature of the industrial propagation channel. Accordingly, this paper addresses these challenges by studying the reliability and latency performance of the joint use of different retransmission schemes in combination with Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) techniques. Two general retransmission schemes have been tested: time-based and spatial diversity-based retransmissions. An adaptive injection level NOMA solution has been combined with the retransmission schemes to improve the reliability of critical information. In all cases, a particular set of simulations has been carried out varying the main parameters, such as modulation, code rate and the injection level. Moreover, the impact of the number of transmitters in relation to the communication reliability has been analyzed. Results show that spatial diversity-based retransmissions overcome considerably the reliability obtained with time-domain retransmissions while maintaining assumable latency ratesThis work was supported in part by the Basque Government under Grant IT1234-19, in part by the PREDOC under Grant PRE_2020_2_0105, and in part by the Spanish Government through project PHANTOM (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) under Grant RTI2018-099162-B-I0

Estrategias de eliminación de sulfuro de hidrógeno con el reactivo IBS® en un reactor biopelícula

[ES] Los olores debidos a compuestos del azufre son un problema en conducciones y depuradoras de aguas residuales. Ciertas condiciones que se ocasionan en estos medios favorecen la formación de sulfuro de hidrógeno, principal gas maloliente que plantea problemas técnicos debidos a su corrrosividad y toxicidad, así como quejas sociales al ser fácilmente detectado por el sistema olfativo humano. Este trabajo estudia la eliminación de olores en un reactor biopelícula de laboratorio utilizando un compuesto químico (proporcionado por la empresa ACIdEKA S.A.) inhibidor de la actividad de la biomasa sulfato-reductora. Su eficacia se estudia variando la concentración, los modos de adición y el tiempo entre dosis. Por otro lado se investiga la posible aclimatación de la biomasa al reactivo. Se consiguen rendimientos máximos de eliminación de olor (SH2 y mercaptanos) cercanos al 99%, utilizando dosis de 18,6mg·g-1Biopelícula húmeda y adicionando de forma continua, no encontrándose indicios de aclimatación por parte de la biomasa al producto.Cacho Rasillo, L.; Amieva Del Val, JJ.; Tejero Monzón, I. (2007). Estrategias de eliminación de sulfuro de hidrógeno con el reactivo IBS® en un reactor biopelícula. Ingeniería del agua. 14(2):73-81. https://doi.org/10.4995/ia.2007.2903OJS7381142APHA (1995). Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 19ª Edición, Washington, D.C.Bowker, R., Smith, J. y Webstern, O., (1985). Odor and corrosion control in sanitary sewerage systems and treatment plants. EPA Design Manual. EPA 625/1-85/018.Burgess, J.E., Parsons, S.A. y Stuetz, R.M., (2001). Developments in Odour Control and Waste Gas Treatment Biotechnology: A Review. Biotechnology Advances, 19, 35-63.De los Santos M, Esteban A.L. y Tejero I., (2002). Generación de olores en reactores biopelícula en condiciones extremas de operación. Tesina de Master. Departamento de Ciencias y Técnicas del Agua y del Medio Ambiente. Universidad de Cantabria.Drinking Water and Health, (1977). National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.E.I. Du Pont de Nemours y Company, (1995). Anthraquinones as inhibitors of sulfide production from sulfate-reducing bacteria. Estados Unidos. Patente de invención número 5385842, 1995-01-31.Gostelow, P., Parsons, S.A. y Stuetz, R.M., (2001a). Odour Measurement for Sewage Treatment Works. Water Research, 35 (3), 579-597.Gostelow, P. y Parsons, S.A., (2001b). Hydrogen Sulfide Measurement. En Stuetz, R. y Frechen F. (eds.), Odours in Wastewater Treatment: Measurement, Modelling and Control. IWA Publishing. London. UK. pp. 120-129Hobson, J. y Yang, G., (2001). Odour Mapping Using H2S Measurements. En Odours in Wastewater Treatment: Measurement, Modelling and Control. Stuetz, R. y Frechen, F. (eds.), IWA publishing, London, UK. pp. 214-231.Hvitved-Jacobsen T. y Nielsen HalkjΩr Nielsen, (2000). Sulphur transformations during sewage transport. En Lens P.N.L. y HulshoÆ Pol L. (eds.), Environmental Technologies to Treat Sulphur Pollution, Principles and Engineering, London, IWA Publishing, pp. 131-151.Hydrogen Sulphide. Report by Committee on Medical and Biological Effects of Environmental Pollutants (Subcommittees on Hydrogen Sulphide), Division of Medical Sciences, National Research Council, Washington, DC, 1979.Li, X.Z., Wu, J.S. And Sun y D.L., (1998). Hydrogen Sulphide and Volatile Fatty Acid Removal Foul Air in a Fibrous Bed Bioreactor. Water Science and Technology, 38 (3), 323-329.Rinzema, A. y Lettinga G., (1988). Anaerobic treatment of sulfate containing wastewater. En Wise D.L. (ed.), Biotreatment Systems, Vol. III, Boca Raton, USA, CRC Press Inc., pp. 65-109.Stuetz, R.M., Fenner, R.A. y Engin, G., (1999), Assessment of Odours from Sewage Treatment Works by an Electronic Nose, H2S Analyses and Olfatometry. Water Research, 33 (2), 453-461.Universidad de Cantabria, (2000). Proceso de tratamiento biológico de aguas basado en biopelícula sobre soporte de diseño específico. España, patente de invención número ES2128962B1, 2000-04-01.Widdel, F., (1985). Sulphate-reducing bacteria and their ecological niches. En Barnes E.M. y Mead G.C. (eds.), Anaerobic bacteria in habitats other than men. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, pp. 157-18

Modular architecture providing convergent and ubiquitous intelligent connectivity for networks beyond 2030

The transition of the networks to support forthcoming beyond 5G (B5G) and 6G services introduces a number of important architectural challenges that force an evolution of existing operational frameworks. Current networks have introduced technical paradigms such as network virtualization, programmability and slicing, being a trend known as network softwarization. Forthcoming B5G and 6G services imposing stringent requirements will motivate a new radical change, augmenting those paradigms with the idea of smartness, pursuing an overall optimization on the usage of network and compute resources in a zero-trust environment. This paper presents a modular architecture under the concept of Convergent and UBiquitous Intelligent Connectivity (CUBIC), conceived to facilitate the aforementioned transition. CUBIC intends to investigate and innovate on the usage, combination and development of novel technologies to accompany the migration of existing networks towards Convergent and Ubiquitous Intelligent Connectivity (CUBIC) solutions, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) mechanisms and Machine Learning (ML) tools in a totally secure environment

¿Sería buena idea retrasar la segunda dosis de Moderna y Pfizer para vacunar antes a más gente?

Artículo de divulgación publicado en The Conversation España el día 20/04/2021.La Comisión de Salud Pública española ha decidido que las segundas dosis de las vacunas de Pfizer y Moderna se sigan administrando a los 21 y 28 días de haber recibido la primera. Cataluña, Madrid y Andalucía eran partidarias de retrasar las segundas dosis para poder vacunar antes a más gente. Hemos preguntado a varios expertos sobre estas estrategias de vacunación.N

A new decorated gallery at the Alkerdi 2 cave (Urdazubi/Urdax)

En el marco del proyecto de «Caracterización del macizo y sistema kárstico de Alkerdi, de la cueva de Alkerdi y de su entorno de protección», se continúa con el estudio científico de la cavidad de Alkerdi 2. Las labores de prospección espeleológica del desarrollo kárstico de la cavidad han permitido localizar una galería decorada inédita en 2020. En un primer estudio se ha identificado en su interior un conjunto de pinturas y de grabados compuestos principalmente por representaciones animales de bisontes, caballos y uros, a los que se unen un panel decorado con vulvas y dos conjuntos de trazos pareados en rojo.Within the framework of the characterization project of the karstic massif of Alkerdi and its system, the cave of Alkerdi and its protected environment, we have continued with the scientific study of the cave of Alkerdi 2. The speleological prospecting work of the karstic development of the cave has allowed locating an unknown decorated gallery in 2020. In a first study, a set of paintings and engravings has been detected inside, composed mainly of animal representations of bison, horses and aurochs, to which a panel decorated with vulvas and two sets of paired red traits are adde

Long polyphase sequences for adaptive mmse detector in asynchronous cdma plc network with impulsive noise

Esta tesis analiza el diseño e implementación de un dispositivo PLC Smart Grid para un entorno de una red de area de hogar, donde la robustez y fiabilidad del enlace de comunicacion son un requisito. La red powerline es un medio de transmision compartido usado por todos los nodos de forma independiente. Por lo tanto, se deben emplear tecnicas de acceso multiple para dividir las senales de transmision, las cuales deben ser ortogonales entre si. Ademas de esto, la complejidad computacional del sistema, coste y consumo energetico deben tenerse en cuenta durante la fase de diseno. De modo que es necesario implementar sistemas simples, de manera que todos los usuarios accedan asincronamente al medio de transmision sin la necesidad de ningun nodo central. Para entender las dificultades de las comunicaciones powerline, y diseñar sistemas de transmision robustos, se debe tener una buena comprension de las caracteristicas del canal de comunicaciones. En particular, el rango de la respuesta frecuencial y las propiedades del ruido del canal. En esta tesis se propone un modelo de simulacion del canal powerline que tiene en cuenta el ruido generado en la red asi como los perfiles de atenuacion frecuencial de una red desadaptada. El modelo propuesto esta basado en los resultados de una campana de medidas y las propuestas de otros trabajos. Un analisis del efecto del ruido impulsional sobre las señales transmitidas revela un umbral en el rendimiento del receptor, que depende de las propiedades estadisticas del ruido impulsional. Los sistemas multiportadora de alta velocidad han mostrado un excelente rendimiento en canales con efecto multitrayecto, mientras que las extensiones MC-CDMA y OFDMA han investigado los buenos resultados en entornos sincronos de comunicaciones powerline. Esta tesis examina el rendimiento de algunas de estas tecnicas de acceso multiple en entornos asincronos powerline, usando secuencias de ensanchamiento largas binarias y complejas, en lugar de las tradicionales ortogonales cortas debido a sus malas propiedades de correlacion cruzada en entornos asincronos. Con el objetivo centrado en dispositivos Smart Grid, esta tesis evita el uso de tecnicas complejas de deteccion multiusuario (MUD) en el receptor como por ejemplo canceladores de interferencia en paralelo, para centrarse en tecnicas mas simples de un unico usuario (SUD). Con respecto a sistemas CDMA monoportadora, se selecciona un receptor MMSE debido a la facilidad de adaptacion usando algoritmos adaptativos. El rendimiento de un receptor MMSE a nivel de simbolo en sistemas asincronos DS-CDMA con secuencias largas es analizado y comparado con sistemas MC-CDMA empleando intervalo de guarda en forma de Resumen ii prefijo ciclico. Los analisis de rendimiento se basan en el metodo SGA y son verificados con simulaciones Monte Carlo para un numero alto de usuarios simultaneos con ruido impulsional, y usando diferentes tipos de secuencias. De los resultados del analisis se muestra un superior rendimiento desechando la interferencia de acceso multiple de los sistemas CDMA monoportadora en entornos asincronos. Las simulaciones Monte Carlo tambien confirman el umbral de la tasa de error debido al ruido impulsional. Se propone una estructura adaptativa para la implementacion del receptor MMSE, que requiere diferentes parametros dificiles de estimar desde el receptor. El receptor adaptativo esta basado en un filtro cuyos coeficientes son actualizados por un algoritmo, teniendo la capacidad de suprimir la interferencia de ruido y acceso multiple haciendo uso de las propiedades cicloestacionarias de las senales transmitidas. Las simulaciones Monte Carlo muestran un buen rendimiento en sistemas DS-CDMA asincronos comparado con los sistemas multiportadora MC-CDMA y MC-DS-CDMA en las mismas condiciones, especialmente usando secuencias polifasicas. Se examinan los algoritmos NLMS y RLS, y se propone una version mejorada de este ultimo que resulta menos vulnerable al ruido impulsional. Para SNR altas la interferencia de acceso multiple degrada el rendimiento del receptor adaptativo usando secuencias binarias largas, mientras que el ruido impulsional prevalece sobre la interferencia en caso de usar secuencias polifasicas, las cuales obtienen el mejor rendimiento en combinacion de un receptor RLS mejorado. Para finalizar, se muestra como los algoritmos adaptativos muestran mejores capacidades de seguimiento y mejor rechazo de interferencia cerca-lejano con secuencias largas polifasicas. Abstract iii Abstract This thesis examines the design and implementation of a Smart Grid powerline communication device for a Home Area Network environment, where the communication link robustness and reliability are a requirement. Powerline network represents a shared transmission medium used by all nodes independently. Therefore, multiple–access techniques must be employed in order to divide transmitted signals, which have to be orthogonal to each other. In addition to this, system computational complexity, cost and power consumption need to be taken into account during design phase. So, simple systems need to be implemented, so that all the users access the medium asynchronously without the coordination of any central node. To understand the challenges of powerline communication, and to design robust data transmission systems, one must have a good understanding of the communication channel characteristics; in particular, the range of channel frequency response, and the characteristics of the channel noise. In this thesis, a powerline channel model is proposed, which takes into account the noise generated in the network as well as the frequency attenuation profile of the unmatched network. The proposed model is based on a channel measurement campaign results and proposals from other works. An analysis of the impulsive noise effect over transmitted signals reveals a performance bound at the receiver side, which depends on impulsive noise statistics. High data rate multi–carrier systems have shown successful performance under multipath channels, whereas its multiple–access extensions MC-CDMA and OFDMA have probed good results under synchronous powerline communications environments. The thesis examines the performance of some multiple–access techniques in asynchronous powerline communications environments using long binary and complex–valued polyphase spreading sequences, instead of short orthogonal codes due to their worse cross–correlation properties in asynchronous environments. This thesis avoids complex joint detection techniques at the receiver, such as multi– user detection and parallel interference cancellers, and it focuses on single–user detection techniques. Concerning single–carrier CDMA system, an MMSE receiver is selected due to its advantage of ease of adaptation, since standard adaptive algorithms can be employed. The performance of the single user detector symbol–level MMSE receiver in asynchronous long sequences DS-CDMA systems is analyzed and compared with that of MC-CDMA receiver employing an interval guard in the form of a CP. Performance analysis is based on the SGA method, and validated for a large number of simultaneous nodes with Monte Carlo simulations under powerline impulsive noise, and using different kind of long sequences. From analysis results, it is shown the superior performance rejecting MAI of single-carrier multiple–access technique in asynchronous environments. Monte Carlo simulations also confirm the BER bound due to impulsive noise An adaptive architecture is proposed for practical implementation of the MMSE receiver, which requires several parameters difficult to estimate from the receiver side. The adaptive receiver is based on a FSE whose tap weights are updated by an adaptive algorithm, having the capability of performing multiple-access interference and narrowband noise suppression taking advantage from cyclostationary properties of the transmitted signals, requiring the knowledge of fewer parameters compared to the MMSE and RAKE receiver. Monte Carlo simulations show the good performance of adaptive FSE receivers in asynchronous DS-CDMA systems compared to MC-CDMA and MC-DS-CDMA systems, especially using polyphase long sequences. Two well-known pilot-aided NLMS and RLS adaptive algorithms are examined. An enhanced version of the RLS algorithm less vulnerable to the impulsive noise is proposed. At high signal-to-noise ratio, the MAI degrades the performance of adaptive FSE receiver using binary long sequences, whereas the powerline impulsive noise prevails over the MAI in the case of using polyphase long sequences, which achieves the best performance in combination with the enhanced RLS receiver. The adaptive algorithms show better tracking capabilities and good near-far interference rejection with long polyphase sequences