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

Joint beamforming and channel estimation for pilot-aided WCDMA systems

The problem of joint beamforming and channel estimation for multi-rate multi-code systems is addressed. Usual schemes perform this filtering/estimation operation making use of a training sequence time-multiplexed with the transmitted data. However if pilot and traffic signals are transmitted simultaneously using distinct code allocation-as it is the case in recent standards such as cdma2000 or WCDMA-these schemes tend to fail. This paper proposes semi-blind techniques to overcome the uplink auto-interfering effects of such systems. It is shown that the semi-blind approach yields substantially better performance results thanks to the implicit modeling of the unknown traffic data.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Uplink beamforming for the FDD mode of UTRA

This paper presents some link level simulation results for the evaluation of adaptive antennas in the uplink of the FDD mode of UTRA (UMTS terrestrial radio access). Two families of algorithms were initially considered, the basic difference between them being their ability/disability to suppress the contribution from W-CDMA directional interfering sources. Two distinct schemes were established as representatives for each family and their performance was evaluated in presence of some illustrative interfering scenarios. In the light of the results it is shown that time-reference beamforming algorithms suffer from severe beam pattern distortion effects when applied as such. This in turn causes harsh performance degradation in terms of raw BER, especially at high SINR levels. It is shown that these shortcomings are essentially caused by the uplink multiplexing of the traffic channel, which is seen by the base station as a powerful interfering source coming from the direction of arrival of the desired user.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Adaptive Beamforming for High Bit Rate Services in the FDD Mode of UTRA

Most time-reference beamforming algorithms suffer from severe beampattern distortion effects when applied to high bit rate services in WCDMA, causing serious performance degradation in terms of output BER, especially at high input SINR levels. These shortcomings are essentially caused by the uplink multiplexing of the traffic channel, which is seen by the base station as a powerful interfering source coming from the direction of arrival of the desired user. In this paper, a semi-blind beamforming technique is proposed as a valid solution to overcome this effect. The suggested scheme resorts to a conditional maximum likelihood approach to the underlying estimation problem and is designed to operate in an iterative fashion.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

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Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

ML approaches to channel estimation for pilot-aided multi-rate DS/CDMA systems

This paper analyzes the asymptotic performance of maximum likelihood (ML) channel estimation algorithms in wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) scenarios. We concentrate on systems with periodic spreading sequences (period larger than or equal to the symbol span) where the transmitted signal contains a code division multiplexed pilot for channel estimation purposes. First, the asymptotic covariances of the training-only, semi-blind conditional maximum likelihood (CML) and semi-blind Gaussian maximum likelihood (GML) channel estimators are derived. Then, these formulas are further simplified assuming randomized spreading and training sequences under the approximation of high spreading factors and high number of codes. The results provide a useful tool to describe the performance of the channel estimators as a function of basic system parameters such as number of codes, spreading factors, or traffic to training power ratio.Peer Reviewe

Spatial filtering for pilot-aided WCDMA systems: a semi-blind subspace approach

This paper proposes a spatial filtering technique for the reception of pilot-aided multirate multicode direct-sequence code division multiple access (DS/CDMA) systems such as wideband CDMA (WCDMA). These systems introduce a code-multiplexed pilot sequence that can be used for the estimation of the filter weights, but the presence of the traffic signal (transmitted at the same time as the pilot sequence) corrupts that estimation and degrades the performance of the filter significantly. This is caused by the fact that although the traffic and pilot signals are usually designed to be orthogonal, the frequency selectivity of the channel degrades this orthogonality at hte receiving end. Here, we propose a semi-blind technique that eliminates the self-noise caused by the code-multiplexing of the pilot. We derive analytically the asymptotic performance of both the training-only and the semi-blind techniques and compare them with the actual simulated performance. It is shown, both analytically and via simulation, that high gains can be achieved with respect to training-onlybased techniques.Peer Reviewe

A Subspace Estimator for Fixed Rank Perturbations of Large Random Matrices

This paper deals with the problem of parameter estimation based on certain eigenspaces of the empirical covariance matrix of an observed multidimensional time series, in the case where the time series dimension and the observation window grow to infinity at the same pace. In the area of large random matrix theory, recent contributions studied the behavior of the extreme eigenvalues of a random matrix and their associated eigenspaces when this matrix is subject to a fixed-rank perturbation. The present work is concerned with the situation where the parameters to be estimated determine the eigenspace structure of a certain fixed-rank perturbation of the empirical covariance matrix. An estimation algorithm in the spirit of the well-known MUSIC algorithm for parameter estimation is developed. It relies on an approach recently developed by Benaych-Georges and Nadakuditi, relating the eigenspaces of extreme eigenvalues of the empirical covariance matrix with eigenspaces of the perturbation matrix. First and second order analyses of the new algorithm are performed.Comment: Assumption A6 has been modified (the speed of convergence of the matrix S*S to its limit must be controlled). Proof of Proposition 3 has been added accordingly. This article is accepted for publication in Journal of Multivariate Analysi

Two-stage code reference beamformer in mobile communications

This paper addresses a new architecture for blind adaptive beamforming when dealing with frequency hopping (FH) modulation in cellular mobile communications systems. The proposed code reference beamformer (CRB) takes advantage of the inherent frequency diversity to estimate beforehand the noise plus interference correlation matrix, which is employed as the first part of the framework. Then, a second stage is adaptively obtained without any a priori knowledge of either the direction of arrival or the array manifold. Using this information, the first stage is in turn readjusted and, as a result, the scheme is able to track non-stationary scenarios following the channel variations with no previous referencesPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Capacity of MIMO Channels: asymptotic evaluation under correlated fading

This paper investigates the asymptotic uniform power allocation capacity of frequency nonselective multiple-input multiple-output channels with fading correlation at either the transmitter or the receiver. We consider the asymptotic situation, where the number of inputs and outputs increase without bound at the same rate. A simple uniparametric model for the fading correlation function is proposed and the asymptotic capacity per antenna is derived in closed form. Although the proposed correlation model is introduced only for mathematical convenience, it is shown that its shape is very close to an exponentially decaying correlation function. The asymptotic expression obtained provides a simple and yet useful way of relating the actual fading correlation to the asymptotic capacity per antenna from a purely analytical point of view. For example, the asymptotic expressions indicate that fading correlation is more harmful when arising at the side with less antennas. Moreover, fading correlation does not influence the rate of growth of the asymptotic capacity per receive antenna with high Eb /N0.Peer Reviewe