Oscillating-beam smart antenna arrays and multicarrier systems: achieving transmit diversity, frequency diversity, and directionality

We introduce a novel merger of smart antenna arrays and multicarrier code-division multiple-access (MC-CDMA) systems. Here, each group of Q carriers in the MC-CDMA system is applied to its own M-element smart antenna at the base station (BS). The smart antennas are separated by a distance that ensures that signals generated by each smart antenna are independent. Applying proper time-varying phases to array elements of each smart antenna array, the beam pattern is carefully controlled to generate a mainlobe at the position of the intended user and small oscillations in the beam pattern. This beam-pattern oscillation creates a time-varying channel with a controllable coherence time and a time diversity benefit at the receiver. Employing MC-CDMA with the proposed antenna array at the BS, we achieve: 1) directionality, which supports space-division multiple access (SDMA); 2) a time diversity gain; 3) increased capacity and performance via MC-CDMA's ability to support both CDMA and frequency diversity benefits. Hence, merging MC-CDMA and BS antenna arrays in an innovative fashion, we achieve high performance at the mobile via joint frequency-time diversity, and high network capacity via joint space-code division multiple access.     

Merging multicarrier CDMA and oscillating-beam smart antenna arrays: exploiting directionality, transmit diversity, and frequency diversity

In this paper, a novel merger of multicarrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA) and smart antenna arrays is introduced. Here, a group of Q carriers in the MC-CDMA system is applied to its own M-element smart antenna array at the base station (BS). The smart antennas are located in close proximity to one another. We generate a transmit diversity gain at the receiver by carefully moving (oscillating) the antenna array's pattern. The pattern oscillation is achieved by applying appropriate time-varying phases to array elements of each smart antenna. The beam pattern oscillation ensures a mainlobe at the position of the intended user and small oscillations in the beam pattern. This beam pattern oscillation leads to a time-varying channel with a controllable coherence time; hence, a transmit diversity benefit, in the form of a time diversity benefit, is available at the receiver. Employing MC-CDMA with the proposed smart antenna at the BS, we achieve: 1) directionality which creates high network capacity via space-division multiple access; 2) a transmit diversity gain which supports high performance at the receiver in the mobile unit; and 3) increased capacity and performance via MC-CDMA's ability to support both CDMA and frequency diversity benefits, respectively.     

On uplink CDMA cell capacity: mutual coupling and scattering effects on beamforming

It has been shown that code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems that employ digital beamforming and base station antenna arrays have the potential to increase capacity significantly. Therefore, accurate performance prediction of such systems is important. We propose to take the electromagnetic behavior of the base station antenna array into account, as well as its impact on wireless channel propagation. Specifically, the wideband channel introduces scattering, while the mobile environment causes Doppler fading, which in turn degrades power controllability. We develop a more accurate performance analysis of antenna arrays, where the performance degradation in digital beamforming, due to the combination of mutual coupling, scatter and imperfect power control, and its impact on uplink CDMA system capacity is quantified. A Rayleigh fading amplitude with varying angle-of-arrival spread is assumed, and maximum signal-to-noise ratio beamforming weights are used. These weights are further correlated with mutual coupling at the base station array. Despite the degradation due to the combination of mutual coupling, scattering, and imperfect power control, significant capacity increases are possible.     

天线阵CDMA系统中基于神经网络的盲空时信道估计

提出了天线阵ＣＤＭＡ系统中盲空时信道估计的约束优化神经网络模型,对其全局收敛性进行了分析,并对其性能进行了数值模拟。     

Channel estimation and interference suppression for uplink CDMA mobile communication systems

Wireless communications for mobile telephone and data transmission is currently undergoing very rapid development. Code division multiple‐access (CDMA) implemented with direct sequence spread spectrum signaling is among the most promising multiplexing technologies for cellular telecommunications services. In this paper, jointly period inserted pilot symbols assisted recursive (PIPSAR) channel estimation and interference suppression techniques are proposed for uplink CDMA mobile communication systems. The uplink CDMA mobile communication system model is described in the form of space‐time domain through antenna array and multipath expression. Interference suppression is achieved by using adaptive minimum mean squared error (MMSE) digital filters that span several successive received chip oversampling vectors of a symbol interval. PIPSAR techniques are used to estimate channel parameters. The correlation between the successive periods is considered to further improve the performance of the proposed scheme. Analysis and simulations are used to evaluate the performance of the proposed scheme. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transmission Strategies for MISO Downlink MC-CDMA Mobile Systems

This paper proposes two space-frequency schemes with a multi-user pre-filtering technique for downlink (DL) multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) systems. We consider the use of antenna arrays at the base station (BS) and a single antenna at the mobile terminal (MT) and derive the proposed multi-user pre-filtering technique that modulates the transmitted signal to eliminate the effects of multiple access interference (MAI) and channel distortions at the mobile terminals, while maintaining low MT complexity. Two types of detectors are considered at the MT: simple despreading and single user equalizers. The performances of the proposed schemes are compared to those of other transmit signal design approaches that have been recently proposed for DL MC-CDMA, considering both typical indoor and pedestrian scenarios, and channel coding based on UMTS specifications.     

Adaptive arrays for narrowband CDMA base stations

Base station antenna arrays are a promising method for providing significant capacity increases in cellular mobile radio systems. This paper examines receiver structures and algorithms to assess the potential capacity gains from the employment of multiple receiver antenna elements, of different sizes, for code division multiple access (CDMA) systems. It considers antenna arrays for the mobile to-base station or reverse link of a CDMA cellular system such as the IS-95 standard. It begins with an introduction to CDMA communication systems and also addresses the general topic of antenna array receivers. Channel modelling is then discussed, as this will influence the design of CDMA receivers. The specific form of receiver array processing algorithms is then discussed and some performance comparisons provided. Finally, the most important reason for implementing antenna array systems, the capacity gains which are achievable, is indicated     

Multiple-access capacity in mobile user satellite systems

The channel capacity of a satellite direct sequence CDMA system is analyzed including the effects of faded user interference, overlapping antenna beams, imperfect equalization of the antenna pattern across an antenna cell, and diversity reception. Simplified models are used to describe the impact of these effects on the channel capacity of single and multiple cofrequency CDMA systems. In a comparison of the uplink and downlink paths, the uplink of the CDMA system is shown to limit the channel capacity because the downlink can utilize code-orthogonality and coherent demodulation. In a multiple system comparison between band-shared CDMA and band-segmented FDMA/TDMA technologies, FDMA/TDMA is shown to provide about the same capacity for uniformly distributed traffic conditions over many cells and dramatically better capacity when traffic is concentrated in one cell. Due to the peak nature of telephony, this result supports the use of band-segmented systems in mobile user satellite systems     

Array Calibration for CDMA Smart Antenna Systems

In this paper, we investigate array calibration algorithms to derive a further improved version for correcting antenna array errors and RF transceiver errors in CDMA smart antenna systems. The structure of a multi‐channel RF transceiver with a digital calibration apparatus and its calibration techniques are presented, where we propose a new RF receiver calibration scheme to minimize interference of the calibration signal on the user signals. The calibration signal is injected into a multichannel receiver through a calibration signal injector whose array response vector is controlled in order to have a low correlation with the antenna response vector of the receive signals. We suggest a model‐based antenna array calibration to remove the antenna array errors including mutual coupling errors or to predict the element patterns from the array manifold measured at a small number of angles. Computer simulations and experiment results are shown to verify the calibration algorithms.     

Modeling and Performance Evaluation of 3G CDMA Networks with Beamforming

The second generation (2G) code-division multiple access (CDMA) IS-95A cellular network has been deployed for almost ten years. Although the system design rules and operating procedures for voice services are well established and understood, these rules and procedures need to be re-examined in light of several technology innovations. These innovations include the launch of third generation (3G) cdma2000 1× high-rate data services and the new research results in interference cancellation, antenna array and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technologies.We have built a 3G cdma2000 1× cellular simulator, which simulates the physical layer using MATLAB and networking layers using OPNET Modeler, to investigate various design issues of cdma2000 1× networks. This paper explores the use of a simple beamforming model and investigates the effectiveness of deploying antenna array techniques in cdma2000 1× networks. The capacity improvement for CDMA networks using antenna array techniques is evaluated under different deployment scenarios (voice versus data services and various number of antenna elements). Based on the performance evaluation results it is proposed to utilize beamforming as one of the elements in quality of service (QOS) provisioning for data services and to couple antenna arrays with dynamic soft handoff threshold adjustment for further improvement in the system capacity.This paper was presented in part at IEEE 60th Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC), Los Angeles, CA, USA, Sep. 26–29, 2004.     

Capacity analysis of macro/microcellular CDMA with power ratiocontrol and tilted antenna

The reverse link capacity is obtained analytically for macro/microcellular code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems operating in the same frequency band. The focuses are on the ratio of required receive power of the macrocell base station (BS) to that of the microcell BS and the tilt angle of the microcell antenna to increase the system capacity. The microcell-to-macrocell interference is derived in closed form by geometric approximation, and the macrocell-to-microcell interference is calculated on the divided regions of macrocell. The optimal tilt angle is obtained by defining the minimum interference tradeoff factor that maximizes the system capacity. It is shown that the system capacity increases remarkably with power ratio control in macro/microcellular environments. Also, the properly chosen antenna tilt angle adds more capacity, and enables the microcell users to save on the transmit power     

Experimental studies of direction of arrivals using a smart antenna testbed in wireless communication systems

This paper presents some preliminary results from experimental studies on space‐division‐multiple‐access (SDMA) for wireless communications. A smart antenna system utilizing direction‐of‐arrival (DOA)‐based beamforming techniques can enhance signal quality by reducing co‐channel interference from mobiles located at angles spatially distinct from the base station. Adopting both smart uplink and downlink beamforming, a communication system with an antenna array can increase the cell coverage of a base station and significantly boost capacity compared with conventional antenna systems. However, successful implementation of DOA‐based beamforming techniques depends on the DOA characteristics. This paper presented the feasibility of direction finding and DOA variation with respect to frequency. Furthermore, the angle spread was studied for selected environments. The results demonstrate the feasibility of applying proposed smart antenna system utilizing DOA‐based beamforming algorithm for increasing channel capacity and improving system performance in frequency‐division‐duplex (FDD) wireless communication systems. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance analysis of coded space‐time adaptive detection in DS/CDMA systems over Rayleigh fading channels

In this paper, we study the use of channel coding in a direct‐sequence code‐division multiple‐access (DS‐CDMA) system that employs space‐time adaptive minimum‐mean square‐error (MMSE) interference suppression over Rayleigh fading channels. It is shown that the employment of adaptive antenna arrays at the receiver can assist in attenuating multiuser interference and at the same time speeds‐up the convergence rate of the adaptive receiver. In this work, we assess the accuracy of the theoretical results developed for the uncoded and convolutionally coded space‐time multiuser detector when applied to the adaptive case. It is found that the use of antenna arrays brings the receiver performance very close to its multiuser counterpart. Using performance error bounds, we show that a user‐capacity gain of approximately 200% can easily be achieved for the space‐time adaptive detector when used with a rate 1/2 convolutional code (CC) and a practical channel interleaver. This capacity gain is only 10% less than the gain achieved for the more complicated multiuser‐based receiver. Finally, we perform a comparison between convolutional and turbo coding where we find that the latter outperforms the former at all practical bit‐error rates (BER). Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vector channels for smart antennas. Measurements, statisticalmodeling, and directional properties in outdoor environments

In wireless communications, smart antenna systems that employ antenna arrays coupled with adaptive signal-processing techniques at the basestation improve capacity, coverage, and trunking efficiency. However, design and performance analysis of smart antenna systems strongly depend on channel propagation characteristics of signals present at the antenna array, the so-called vector channels. Here, variation of narrow-band vector channels (spatial signatures) due to a moving terminal is studied in typical suburban settings. Vector channel measurements are taken using a real-time smart antenna system with a uniform circular array at the basestation and a mobile transmitter at several locations. Two different wireless scenarios, namely, pedestrian and car mobile, are implemented to emulate the random movement of the mobile user. In each scenario, the mobile transmitter locations are chosen so that there exists line-of-sight (LOS), nonline-of-sight (NOLOS), or both LOS and NOLOS (mixed) propagation to the basestation. We find that in all cases, the Beta distribution can be used to empirically represent the spatial signature correlations and that large spatial diversity exists in NOLOS cases compared to LOS cases. Also, direction-of-arrivals mostly do not change much with movement in a suburban environment     

Performance of wireless CDMA with M-ary orthogonal modulation andcell site antenna arrays

An antenna array-based base station receiver structure for wireless direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS/CDMA) with M-ary orthogonal modulation is proposed. The base station uses an antenna array beamformer-RAKE structure with noncoherent equal gain combining. The receiver consists of a “front end” beamsteering processor feeding a conventional noncoherent RAKE combiner. The performance of the proposed receiver with closed loop power control in multipath fading channels is evaluated. Expressions for the system uncoded bit-error probability (BEP) as a function of the number of users, number of antennas, and the angle spread are derived for different power control scenarios. The system capacity in terms of number of users that can be supported for a given uncoded BEP is also evaluated. Analysis results show a performance improvement in terms of the system capacity due to the use of antenna arrays and the associated signal processing at the base station. In particular, analysis results show an increase in system capacity that is proportional to the number of antennas. They also show an additional performance improvement due to space diversity gain provided by the array for nonzero angle spreads     

Effects of Array Weight Errors on Parallel Interference Cancellation Receiver in Uplink Synchronous and Asynchronous DS‐CDMA Systems

This paper investigates the impacts of array weight errors (AWE) in an antenna array (AA) on a parallel interference cancellation (PIC) receiver in uplink synchronous and asynchronous direct sequence code division multiple access (DS‐CDMA) systems. The performance degradation due to an AWE, which is approximated by a Gaussian distributed random variable, is estimated as a function of the variance of the AWE. Theoretical analysis, confirmed by simulation, demonstrates the tradeoffs encountered between system parameters such as the number of antennas and the variance of the AWE in terms of the achievable average bit error rate and the user capacity. Numerical results show that the performance of the PIC with the AA in the DS‐CDMA uplink is sensitive to the AWE. However, either a larger number of antennas or uplink synchronous transmissions have the potential of reducing the overall sensitivity, and thus improving its performance.     

Adaptive MMSE receiver with beamforming for DS/CDMA systems

The minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) receiver is a linear filter which can suppress multiple access interference (MAI) effectively in direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (CDMA) communications. An antenna array is also an efficient scheme for suppressing MAI and improving the system performance. In this letter, we consider an adaptive MMSE receiver in conjunction with beamforming in CDMA systems employing an antenna array. The proposed structure is featured as a low complexity receiver, which adapts the MMSE filter coefficients and the beamforming weights simultaneously. However, it does require the channel state information and the direction of arrival (DOA) of the desired user signal. As a result, we propose two adaptation methods to perform joint channel estimation and signal detection without any training sequence. It is demonstrated that the two proposed methods achieve similar bit-error-rate performance. More importantly, their performance degradation compared with the case with perfect channel information is small.     

Channel Capacity Between Antenna Arrays— Part I: Sky Noise Dominates

Space–time coding techniques can be used to achieve very high spectral efficiencies in highly scattering environments using multiple transmit and receive antennas. At the remote station, there is usually a more limited space allotted to the antenna array than at the base station. Since the spectral efficiency improves with the number of antennas, one is interested in how many antennas can be crammed into the limited space on the remote station. This paper (Part I of II) addresses some of the issues which affect the allowable density of antennas in the remote station. In particular, the mutual impedance between antenna elements in the remote array and the correlation between the signal and noise fields received by these elements are analyzed for their impact on the channel capacity achievable by such arrays. In particular, we assume the transmitter is radiating from$n_T$elements of uncoupled half-wave dipoles and knows nothing of the channel. A formula is given for the maximum channel capacity to a receiving array of$n_R$elements, coupled to each other in the presence of ambient noise or interference with a uniform angle of arrival distribution. This formula neglects amplifier noise in the receivers. It is shown that the channel capacity is already determined at the terminals of the receiving array, and can not be improved by internal coupling networks following the receiving array. When the propagation is by means of full three-dimensional scattering, the channel capacity is unaffected by mutual coupling in the receiving array.     

A space-time correlation model for multielement antenna systems inmobile fading channels

Analysis and design of multielement antenna systems in mobile fading channels require a model for the space-time cross correlation among the links of the underlying multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel. In this paper, we propose a general space-time cross-correlation function for mobile frequency nonselective Rice fading MIMO channels, in which various parameters of interest such as the angle spreads at the base station and the user, the distance between the base station and the user, mean directions of the signal arrivals, array configurations, and Doppler spread are all taken into account. The new space-time cross-correlation function includes all the relevant parameters of the MIMO fading channel in a clean compact form, suitable for both mathematical analysis and numerical calculations/simulations. It also covers many known correlation models as special cases. We demonstrate the utility of the new space-time correlation model by clarifying the limitations of a widely accepted correlation model for MIMO fading channels. As another application, we quantify the impact of nonisotropic scattering around the user, on the capacity of a MIMO fading channel     

Downlink channel covariance matrix (DCCM) estimation and itsapplications in wireless DS-CDMA systems

The downlink channel covariance matrix (DCCM) is of vital importance in determining downlink beamforming weights for base station (BS) antenna array systems. For the frequency-division-duplex (FDD) mode, DCCM is difficult to obtain due to a lack of direct measurement of downlink channel responses. In this paper, a novel technique is proposed for estimating DCCM using uplink channel responses only, which does not need direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation and its association. The downlink beamforming scheme is then proposed for wireless DS-CDMA systems, using the obtained DCCM information together with the so-called virtual uplink beamforming and power control technique. Computer simulations show that using the BS antenna array together with this new beamforming technique can provide larger system capacity than traditional DOA-based approaches, which just direct the main beam toward the desired user