Turbo-MIMO for wireless communications

This article reviews an important class of MIMO wireless communications, known collectively as turbo-MIMO systems. A distinctive property of turbo-MIMO wireless communication systems is that they can attain a channel capacity close to the Shannon limit and do so in a computationally manageable manner. The article focuses attention on a subclass of turbo-MIMO systems that use space-time coding based on bit-inter-leaved coded modulation. Different computationally manageable decoding (detection) strategies are briefly discussed. The article also includes computer experiments that are intended to improve the understanding of specific issues involved in the design of turbo-MIMO systems.     

Network issues for wireless communications

This article specifically focuses on wireless personal communications, i.e., wireless access, that provides either terminal or personal mobility. In particular, we discuss some important issues in networking, traffic, and performance. Although within radio and networking aspects there are significant commonalities between traditional cellular mobile communications and wireless personal communications, there exist distinct differences due to radio propagation and fading effects, interference environment, smaller cell sizes, type and pattern of mobility, and call delivery. Indeed, with respect to networking issues, a large set of system choices, characteristics of traffic to be carried, and important parameters have to be considered. These include the problems involved in selecting an appropriate multiaccess technology to efficiently handle the required subscriber service profile across a multiplicity of systems to complete a call. To present a meaningful discussion of these issues, we address in some detail radio resource assignment, mobility management, call control, and traffic aspect, which have significant impact on the network performance     

Micromachined devices for wireless communications

An overview of recent progress in the research and development of micromachined devices for use in wireless communication subsystems is presented. Among the specific devices described are tunable micromachined capacitors, integrated high-Q inductors, micromachined low-loss microwave and millimeter-wave filters, low-loss micromechanical switches, microscale vibrating mechanical resonators with Q's in the tens of thousands, and miniature antennas for millimeter-wave applications. Specific applications are reviewed for each of these components with emphasis on methods for miniaturization and performance enhancement of existing and further wireless transceivers     

Network control for wireless communications

Existing wireless network architectures and the increasing demand for cellular services are reviewed. Wireless network control tasks and the structure of a cellular packet switch (CPS) based on an optical fiber metropolitan area network (MAN) are described. Protocols for moving information through the MAN focusing on handoff, a crucial function of wireless networks, are discussed. The results of an analysis of switch performance as measured by capacity and the distribution of functionality are presented. Several open issues regarding the capability of the CPS to deliver telephone service to wireless terminals, including privacy and security issues, are discussed     

Space-time processing for wireless communications

Space-time processing can improve network capacity, coverage, and quality by reducing co-channel interference (CCI) while enhancing diversity and array gain. This article focuses largely on the receive (mobile-to-base station) time-division multiple access (TDMA) (nonspread modulation) application for high-mobility networks. We describe a large (macro) cell propagation channel and discuss different physical effects such as path loss, fading delay spread, angle spread, and Doppler spread. We also develop a signal model incorporating channel effects. Both forward-link (transmit) and reverse-link (receive) channels are considered and the relationship between the two is discussed. Single- and multiuser models are treated for four important space-time processing problems, and the underlying spatial and temporal structure are discussed as are different algorithmic approaches to reverse link space-time professing with blind and nonblind methods for single- and multiple-user cases. We cover forward-link space-time algorithms and we outline methods for estimation of multipath parameters. We also discuss applications of space-time processing to CDMA, applications of space-time techniques to current cellular systems, and industry trends     

Designing for wireless LAN communications

Increasingly, the wireless communications industry has been moving toward networks that communicate over smaller areas at lower power levels. Until recently, most wireless communications were in the form of satellite transmissions. In the early 90s, the mobile cellular phone industry exploded and work has begun on short range wireless networks to send data. BBN's BodyLAN project proposes to take this progression one step further, by lowering the power consumption for extremely short range systems by more than an order of magnitude. Designing a low power system of this type requires an understanding of the capabilities of VLSI technology, the interrelation between hardware and software techniques, and some knowledge of radio frequency propagation. In this article, we discuss the engineering pitfalls to avoid, and the trade-offs inherent in such a design, using our experience with BodyLAN as a starting point for further development of such a system     

High-altitude platforms for wireless communications

The demand for high-capacity wireless services is bringing increasing challenges, especially for delivery of the “last mile”. Terrestrially, the need for line-of-sight propagation paths represents a constraint unless very large numbers of base-station masts are deployed, while satellite systems have capacity limitations. An emerging solution is offered by high-altitude platforms (HAPs) operating in the stratosphere at altitudes of up to 22 km to provide communication facilities that can exploit the best features of both terrestrial and satellite schemes. This paper outlines the application and features of HAPs, and some specific development programmes. Particular consideration is given to the use of HAPs for delivery of future broadband wireless communications     

Polygonal patch antennas for wireless communications

An effective design of polygonal patch antennas with multifrequency or broad-band operation modes for wireless communications is presented in this paper. It is shown how polygonal patches with suitable features may be obtained after a proper perturbation of conventional rectangular geometries, which inherently present poor bandwidth performances. These perturbed irregular geometries may support multiple resonances and, thus, may present a broad-band or multifrequency operation mode, even employing conventional patch antennas with a single dielectric substrate. These polygonal patches are efficiently analyzed through a numerical code based on the method of moments, with entire domain basis functions that accurately describe the radiation mechanism. After the presentation of the analysis and design techniques, some antenna layouts for modern wireless communication systems will be proposed. Such antennas are designed for both universal mobile telecommunication system and wireless local area network portable equipment with real-life finite ground planes.     

Race-UMTS for third generation wireless communications

Universal mobile telecommunication system (umts) is a projected European standard of the ccir defined future public land mobile telecommunication systems (fplmts) for third generation mobile communications. Race mobile project is studying issues related to umts. Race is the European Commission’s programme on research and development in advanced communications in Europe. The main purpose of this programme is to introduce an integrated broadband communications network (ibcn) so that it provides an universal standard telecommunications system across Europe, with the capacity to meet demand in the early 21st. century. The purpose of this paper is two fold. The first one is to make the reader familiar with the Race mobile project which is partially funded by Commission of European Community (cec). The second one is devoted to the activities in the project since its start in 1988 and major results up to now. Further, the paper describes many techniques investigated within the project with respect to umts requirements.     

MIMO systems for broadband wireless communications

The emergence of broadband wireless access (BWA) and mobility poses significant challenges to the future telecommunications landscape. Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) is a potential technology that can be used to improve system performances such as coverage, capacity and data rates for broadband wireless networks. Although this technology has proved to be beneficial for both current and future services by many research results, it is not clear how these benefits can be practically achieved with a MIMO system. Fundamental issues on capacity enhancement and performance limits need to be addressed before operators will be willing to deploy MIMO systems in their networks. This paper addresses some of the key issues that remain open regarding MIMO technology for BWA. The paper focuses on MIMO channel modelling and capacity analysis.     

Robust adaptive array for wireless communications

In the application of a receiver antenna array to wireless communications, a known signal preamble is used for estimating the propagation vector at the beginning of each data frame. The estimated propagation vector is then used in linear combining of array inputs for interference suppression and demodulation of a desired user's information data stream. Since the training preamble is usually very short, conventional training methods, which estimate the propagation vector based solely on the training preamble, may incur large estimation errors. In many wireless channels, the ambient noise is known to be decidedly non-Gaussian, due to impulsive phenomena. The conventional training methods may suffer further from such impulsive noise. Moreover, performance of linear combining techniques can degrade substantially in the presence of impulsive noise. We first propose a new technique for propagation vector estimation which exploits the whole frame of the received signal. It is shown that as the length of the signal frame tends to infinity, in the absence of noise, this method can recover the propagation vector of the desired user exactly, given a small number of training symbols for that user. We then develop robust techniques for propagation vector estimation and array combining in the presence of impulsive noise. These techniques are nonlinear in nature and are based on the M-estimation method. It is seen that the proposed robust methods offer performance improvement over linear techniques in non-Gaussian noise, with little attendant increase in computational complexity. Finally, we address the extension of the proposed techniques to dispersive channels with intersymbol interference     

ISI simulation for indoor wireless communications

In this paper, simulations for intersymbol interference (ISI) and outage probability for site-specific environments are presented. All factors such as the impulse response, carrier recovery, and timing recovery are considered in the simulations. An approximation method which can save a large amount of computing time and storage space in the calculation of many impulse responses in a room is proposed. This approximation method is used to simulate ISI for several indoor environments, including a room furnished with metal shelves and rooms separated by walls with and without windows on top of the walls. Results show that the existence of windows can raise the average level of received power, however, due to a greater dispersion of multipath waves, the allowable data transmission rate is lowered     

A low-power-consuming SOM for wireless communications

This paper presents theoretical and experimental results of a low-power-consuming hybrid push-pull self-oscillating mixer (SOM) circuit at the UHF frequency band. The frequency-stable SOM circuit is designed and fabricated using matched-pair Si bipolar junction transistors and high-Q resonators, where measured phase noise of this free-running voltage-controlled oscillator is -101.2 dBc/Hz at 100-kHz offset. A 20-dB up-conversion gain, a compression dynamic range (CDR) of 65 dB·MHz, and a spurious-free dynamic range of 50 dB·MHz ^2/3 are also measured for the mixer portion of this SOM. Moreover, a down-conversion gain of ≈-2 dB with a CDR of 100 dB·MHz is also measured     

Wavelet packet modulation for wireless communications

As proven by the success of OFDM, multicarrier modulation has been recognized as an efficient solution for wireless communications. Waveform bases other than sine functions could similarly be used for multicarrier systems in order to provide an alternative to OFDM. In this paper, we study the performance of wavelet packet transform modulation (WPM) for transmission over wireless channels. This scheme is shown to be overall quite similar to OFDM but with some interesting additional features and improved characteristics. A detailed analysis of the system's implementation complexity as well as an evaluation of the influence of implementation‐related impairments are also reported. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Neural network-based receiver for wireless communications

A novel approach, based on neural networks, for the design of a receiver for TDMA wireless communications is described. The receiver utilises three functional blocks: time-frequency analysis, feature extraction, and pattern classification. Computer simulation results are presented comparing the performance of the new receiver against a conventional MSK receiver for a Rayleigh fading multipath channel. The results show that the new receiver is capable of achieving a performance comparable to that of the MSK receiver without the regular transmission of a training sequence     

Electronic tracking for wireless infrared communications

A high-speed wireless system (/spl ges/100 Mb/s) for indoor infrared (IR) communications via the line of sight is described and feasibility is shown in an experimental demonstrator. A diffuse link is used for connectivity, and tracked directed links are used for high-speed communications. The transmitter is made of a laser diode array in combination with multiple-beam forming optics. For the receiver (Rx), a wide-angle lens, and an avalanche photodiode array are used. For the diffuse link, the signals from all pixels in the array are combined. Pixels are selectively addressed to realize directed links. Fast electronic tracking of a directed link is possible by switching the signal path onto the right pixel in the array. Diffuse link, directed link, position detection, and tracking can be realized with one and the same transceiver hardware. A favorite system design is derived from constraints due to the IR channel, eye safety, lenses, photodetectors, and the overall system complexity. The experimental system shows some key features, namely 155-Mb/s wireless transmission over a distance of nearly 2 m with electronic tracking at an imaging IR Rx. Electronic tracking of IR links, thus, allows both high data rates and high capacity for wireless access in small office and home environments.