Performance of antenna diversity multiuser receivers in CDMA channels with imperfect fading estimation

The performance of antenna diversity coherent and differentially coherent linear multiuser receivers is analyzed in frequency-nonselective Rayleigh fading CDMA channels with memory. The estimates of the complex fading processes are utilized for maximal-ratio combining and carrier recovery of the coherent multiuser receiver. To analyze the impact of channel estimation errors on the receiver performance, error probability is assessed directly in terms of the fading rate and the number of active users, showing the penalty imposed by imperfect channel estimation as well as the fading-induced error probability floor. The impact of fading dynamics on the differentially coherent decorrelating receiver with equal-gain combining is quantified. While performance of multiuser receivers at lower SNR is determined by both the fading dynamics and the number of active CDMA users, performance at higher SNR is given by an error probability floor which is due to fading only and has the same value as in a single-user case. The comparison of the two receiver structures indicates that the coherent decorrelating receiver with diversity reception may be preferable to the differentially coherent one in nonselective fading CDMA channels with memory.     

How fading affects CDMA: an asymptotic analysis with linearreceivers

Using asymptotic analysis, we study the effect of frequency-flat fading on code division multiple access (CDMA) systems with linear receivers and random spreading sequences. Specifically, we let the number of users grow without bound, while the ratio of number of users to spreading sequence length is kept fixed to a value α. We treat separately the cases of slow fading (nonergodic channel) and of fast fading (ergodic channel). For the former channel, we derive the outage probability, while for the latter we compute the channel capacity. In both cases, multiple classes of users with different qualities of service are dealt with. As α→∞, the system throughput tends to the same limit of 1.44 bit/symbol as for the nonfading channel with both single-user matched filter (SUMF) and linear minimum mean-square-error (MMSE) receivers. The outage probability exhibits a floor for all α with the SUMF receivers, while with MMSE receiver the floor is present only for α>1. We also address the tradeoffs involved in the allocation of available bandwidth between spreading and coding     

Performance of DS-CDMA receivers with MRC in nakagami-m fading channels with arbitrary fading parameters

The receivers that combine spatial antenna diversity with temporal multipath diversity are known as two-dimensional (2-D) RAKE receivers. In this paper, we consider the outage probability and the bit error rate performance of a coherent binary phase shift keying 2-D RAKE receiver in the context of an asynchronous direct sequence (DS)-code division multiple access (CDMA) system operating in a Nakagami-m fading channel with real and arbitrary fading parameters. The closed-form expressions derived for the two wireless performance measures are easily evaluated numerically and enable the link designer to examine the effects of system parameters, such as the number of receive antennas, RAKE fingers per antenna, and asynchronous CDMA users in the cell, as well as channel conditions, such as the amount of fading in the combined paths and the multipath intensity profile of the channel on the link performance. In addition, the diversity loss due to correlated fading among the spatially separated RAKE fingers is quantified.     

Genetic algorithm-based MMSE receiver for MC-CDMA systems transmitting over time-varying mobile channels

A novel multi-user detector, based on a genetic algorithm-assisted per-carrier MMSE criterion, is proposed for MC-CDMA systems transmitting over time-varying multipath fading channels. The analysed multi-user detector outperforms state-of-the-art adaptive receivers based on deterministic gradient algorithms, particularly for an increasing number of users     

Large system performance of linear multiuser receivers in multipathfading channels

A linear multiuser receiver for a particular user in a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) network gains potential benefits from knowledge of the channels of all users in the system. In fast multipath fading environments we cannot assume that the channel estimates are perfect and the inevitable channel estimation errors will limit this potential gain. We study the impact of channel estimation errors on the performance of linear multiuser receivers, as well as the channel estimation problem itself. Of particular interest are the scalability properties of the channel and data estimation algorithms: what happens to the performance as the system bandwidth and the number of users (and hence channels to estimate) grows? Our main results involve asymptotic expressions for the signal-to-interference ratio of linear multiuser receivers in the limit of large processing gain, with the number of users divided by the processing gain held constant. We employ a random model for the spreading sequences and the limiting signal-to-interference ratio expressions are independent of the actual signature sequences, depending only on the system loading and the channel statistics: background noise power, energy profile of resolvable multipaths, and channel coherence time. The effect of channel uncertainty on the performance of multiuser receivers is succinctly captured by the notion of effective interference     

Signal and interference statistics of a CDMA system with feedbackpower control

Power control is essential in the use of direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (CDMA) techniques over fading radio channels. The paper investigates a feedback power control approach that allows power commands to be updated at a higher rate than the rate of multipath fading. The signal and interference statistics as received at the base stations after power control are obtained for a simulated CDMA system which includes multiple base stations with diversity receivers and a large number of power-controlled users continuously moving at various speeds. The authors show that often-used analyses based on perfect average power control lead to optimistic capacity results (by about 25%) because interference is underestimated by as much as 1 dB     

Linear receivers for the multiple-input multiple-output multiple-access channel

We consider a multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system using code-division multiple access (CDMA) and multiuser detection to discriminate the different users. Our focus is on the CDMA uplink of a frequency-nonselective Rayleigh fading channel. We study two types of receivers: joint receivers, which address simultaneously both spatial and multiple-access interference; and separate receivers, addressing the two types of interference individually. This approach allows assessing the benefits of adding MIMO processing capabilities to existing multiuser single-input single-output systems. For both receiver types, we analyze solutions based on linear (matched filter, decorrelator, minimum mean-square error) and maximum-likelihood receivers. For all the receivers considered, we provide closed-form expressions (as expectations of given functions) of the resulting pairwise error probabilities. Performance results are obtained in terms of frame-error rate versus E/sub b//N/sub 0/, following two different approaches. An analytic approach using large-system asymptotic methods, whereby the system parameters (number of users and antennas, spreading gain) are assumed to grow to infinity with finite limiting ratios. A computer-simulation approach is used to illustrate the differences between asymptotic and simulation results.     

Blind multiuser detection in uplink CDMA with multipath fading: a sequential EM approach

We consider joint channel estimation and data detection in uplink asynchronous code-division multiple-access systems employing aperiodic (long) spreading sequences in the presence of unknown multipath fading. Since maximum-likelihood (ML) sequence estimation is too complex to perform, multiuser receivers are proposed based on the sequential expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. With the prior knowledge of only the signature waveforms, the delays and the second-order statistics of the fading channel, the receivers sequentially estimate the channel using the sequential EM algorithm. Moreover, the snapshot estimates of each path are tracked by linear minimum mean-squared error filters. The user data are detected by a ML sequence detector, given the channel estimates. The proposed receivers that use the exact expressions have a computational complexity O(2/sup K/) per bit, where K is the number of users. Using the EM algorithm, we derive low-complexity approximations which have a computational complexity of O(K/sup 2/) per bit. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed receivers offer substantial performance gains over conventional pilot-symbol-assisted techniques and achieve a performance close to the known channel bounds. Furthermore, the proposed receivers even outperform the single-user RAKE receiver with Nyquist pilot-insertion rate in a single-user environment.     

Spectral efficiency of multicarrier CDMA

We analyze the spectral efficiency (sum-rate per subcarrier) of randomly spread synchronous multicarrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA) subject to frequency-selective fading in the asymptotic regime of number of users and bandwidth going to infinity with a constant ratio. Both uplink and downlink are considered, either conditioned on the subcarrier fading coefficients (for nonergodic channels) or unconditioned thereon (for ergodic channels). The following receivers are analyzed: a) jointly optimum receiver, b) linear minimum mean-square error (MMSE) receiver, c) decorrelator, and d) single-user matched filter.     

Asymptotic analysis of improved linear receivers for BPSK-CDMAsubject to fading

In this paper, we design and analyze a new class of linear multiuser detectors, which can be applied when the users employ BPSK modulation and the fading coefficients of the active users are known at the receiver (such as base-station demodulation). The tools of asymptotic distribution of the spectrum of large random matrices are used to show that relative to the classical minimum mean-square-error (MMSE) receiver, the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) improves by halving the number of effective interferers and adding 3 dB to the input SNR. We also propose sensible approximations to the proposed linear receivers so as to facilitate their use in CDMA systems that employ long codes     

LMMSE detection for DS-CDMA systems in fading channels

The linear minimum mean-squared-error (LMMSE) criterion can be used to obtain near-far resistant receivers in direct-sequence code-division multiple-access systems. The standard version of the LMMSE receiver (postcombining LMMSE) minimizes the mean-squared error between the filter output and the true transmitted data sequence. Since the detector depends on the channel coefficients of all users, it cannot be implemented adaptively in fading channels due to severe tracking problems. A modified criterion for deriving LMMSE receivers (precombining LMMSE) in fading channels is presented. The precombining LMMSE receiver is independent of the users' complex channel coefficients, and it effectively converts the time-varying Rayleigh fading channel to an equivalent fixed additive white Gaussian noise channel from the point of view of updating the detector. The performance of the LMMSE receivers in fading channels is studied via computer simulations and numerical analysis. The results show that the postcombining LMMSE receiver has potentially larger capacity, but it cannot be used in fast fading channels. The precombining LMMSE receiver has slightly worse capacity than the postcombining LMMSE receiver, but remarkably larger capacity than the conventional RAKE receiver at the signal-to-noise ratios of practical interest     

Differential and coherent decorrelating multiuser receivers for space-time-coded CDMA systems

Previously, we proposed a differential space-code modulation (DSCM) scheme that integrates the strength of differential space-time coding and spreading to achieve interference suppression and resistance to time-varying channel fading in single-user environments. In this paper, we consider the problem of multiuser receiver design for code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems that utilize DSCM for transmission. In particular, we propose two differential receivers for such systems. These differential receivers do not require the channel state information (CSI) for detection and, still, are resistant to multiuser interference (MUI) and time-varying channel fading. We also propose a coherent receiver that requires only the CSI of the desired user for detection. The coherent receiver yields improved performance over the differential receivers when reliable channel estimates are available (e.g., in slowly fading channels). The proposed differential/coherent receivers are decorrelative schemes that decouple the detection of different users. Both long and short spreading codes can be employed in these schemes. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed receivers.     

Neural Network Based Receiver for Multiuser Detection in MC-CDMA Systems

In this paper, we present a multiuser detection technique based on artificial neural network (NN) for synchronous multicarrier code division multiple access systems over Rayleigh fading channels. To test the robustness of the proposed receiver, also the effect of power control problem is studied with a comparative manner. Bit error rate (BER) performance of the NN based receiver is compared with the single user bound and conventional receivers. Although the BER performance of the conventional receiver degrades as the number of the users and power level differences among the users increase, as a decision structure, neural network based receiver gives closer BER performance to the single user bound.     

Micro- and macrodiversity NCFSK (DPSK) on shadowed Nakagami-fadingchannels

The improvements achievable using diversity with matched filter NCFSK (and DPSK) receivers operating on log-normal shadowed Nakagami-fading channels are analyzed. Three microdiversity techniques, equal gain combining (EGC), maximal ratio combining (MRC) and selection combining (SC) are compared. The system performances are assessed by considering two measures of coverage; one well suited for mobile users and one well suited for portable users. The detrimental effects of multipath fading in cellular mobile radio systems can be mitigated by using a number of microdiversity paths at the receiver. The effects of shadowing can be mitigated by using a number K of macrodiversity radio ports to serve each cell. The improvements gained by using microdiversity to combat multipath fading and macrodiversity to combat shadowing are investigated. The effects of the fading severity, the number of microdiversity branches at each port L and the number of macrodiversity ports K on the system performance are investigated in detail. The results, in most cases, are obtained by carrying out a single numerical integration (for any order of diversity). The results show that although MRC gives the best performance, EGC and SC perform nearly as well for dual (L=2) diversity. For larger L, i.e., L⩾4, the relative performance of SC deteriorates substantially whereas the performance of EGC remains close to that of MRC. Also, our results show that as the fading gets less severe, the performance of EGC gets closer to that of MRC, while the performance of SC worsens compared to that of MRC     

Information-theoretic considerations for symmetric, cellular,multiple-access fading channels. II

For pt.I see ibid., vol.43, no.6, p.1877-94 (1997). A simple idealized linear (and planar) uplink, cellular, multiple-access communication model, where only adjacent cell interference is present and all signals may experience fading is considered. Shannon theoretic arguments are invoked to gain insight into the implications on performance of the main system parameters and multiple-access techniques. The model treated in Part I (Shamai, 1997) is extended here to account for cell-site receivers that may process also the received signal at an adjacent cell site, compromising thus between the advantage of incorporating additional information from other cell sites on one hand and the associated excess processing complexity on the other. Various settings which include fading, time-division multiple access (TDMA), wideband (WB), and (optimized) fractional inter-cell time sharing (ICTS) protocols are investigated and compared. In this case and for the WB approach and a large number of users per cell it is found, surprisingly, that fading may enhance performance in terms of Shannon theoretic achievable rates. The linear model is extended to account for general linear and planar configurations. The effect of a random number of users per cell is investigated and it is demonstrated that randomization is beneficial. Certain aspects of diversity as well as some features of TDMA and orthogonal code-division multiple access (CDMA) techniques in the presence of fading are studied in an isolated cell scenario     

CDMA systems in fading channels: admissibility, network capacity,and power control

We study the admissibility and network capacity of imperfect power-controlled code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems with linear receivers in fading environments. In a CDMA system, a set of users is admissible if their simultaneous transmission does not result in violation of any of their quality-of-service (QoS) requirements; the network capacity is the maximum number of admissible users. We consider a single-cell imperfect power-controlled CDMA system, assuming known received power distributions. We identify the network capacities of single-class systems with matched-filter (MF) receivers for both the deterministic and random signature cases. We also characterize the network capacity of single-class systems with linear minimum-mean-square-error (MMSE) receivers for the deterministic signature case. The network capacities can be expressed uniquely in terms of the users' signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) requirements and received power distributions. For multiple-class systems equipped with MF receivers, we find a necessary and sufficient condition on the admissibility for the random signature case, but only a sufficient condition for the deterministic signature case. We also introduce the notions of effective target SIR and effective bandwidth, which are useful in determining the admissibility and hence network capacity of an imperfect power-controlled system     

Resource pooling and effective bandwidths in CDMA networks withmultiuser receivers and spatial diversity

Much of the performance analysis on multiuser receivers for direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems is focused on worst case near-far scenarios. The user capacity of power-controlled networks with multiuser receivers are less well-understood. Tse and Hanly (see ibid., vol.45, p.541-657, 1999) have shown that under some conditions, the user capacity of an uplink power-controlled CDMA cell for several important linear receivers can be very simply characterized via a notion of effective bandwidth. We show that these results extend to the case of antenna arrays. We consider a CDMA system consisting of users transmitting to an antenna array with a multiuser receiver, and obtain the limiting signal-to-interference (SIR) performance in a large system using random spreading sequences. Using this result, we show that the SIR requirements of all the users can be met if and only if the sum of the effective bandwidths of the users is less than the total number of degrees of freedom in the system. The effective bandwidth of a user depends only on its own requirement. Our results show that the total number of degrees of freedom of the whole system is the product of the spreading gain and the number of antennas. In the case when the fading distributions to the antennas are identical, we show that a curious phenomenon of “resource pooling” arises: the multiantenna system behaves like a system with only one antenna but with the processing gain the product of the processing gain of the original system and the number of antennas, and the received power of each user the sum of the received powers at the individual antennas     

Gaussian class multivariate Weibull distributions: theory and applications in fading channels

Ascertaining on the suitability of the Weibull distribution to model fading channels, a theoretical framework for a class of multivariate Weibull distributions, originated from Gaussian random processes, is introduced and analyzed. Novel analytical expressions for the joint probability density function (pdf), moment-generating function (mgf), and cumulative distribution function (cdf) are derived for the bivariate distribution of this class with not necessarily identical fading parameters and average powers. Two specific distributions with arbitrary number of correlated variates are considered and studied: with exponential and with constant correlation where their pdfs are introduced. Both cases assume equal average fading powers, but not necessarily identical fading parameters. For the multivariate Weibull distribution with exponential correlation, useful corresponding formulas, as for the bivariate case, are derived. The presented theoretical results are applied to analyze the performance of several diversity receivers employed with selection, equal-gain, and maximal-ratio combining (MRC) techniques operating over correlated Weibull fading channels. For these diversity receivers, several useful performance criteria such as the moments of the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) (including average output SNR and amount of fading) and outage probability are analytically derived. Moreover, the average symbol error probability for several coherent and noncoherent modulation schemes is studied using the mgf approach. The proposed mathematical analysis is complemented by various evaluation results, showing the effects of the fading severity as well as the fading correlation on the diversity receivers performance.     

Linear multiuser receivers in random environments

We study the signal-to-interference (SIR) performance of linear multiuser receivers in random environments, where signals from the users arrive in “random directions.” Such a random environment may arise in a DS-CDMA system with random signature sequences, or in a system with antenna diversity where the randomness is due to channel fading. Assuming that such random directions can be tracked by the receiver, the resulting SIR performance is a function of the directions and therefore also random. We study the asymptotic distribution of this random performance in the regime where both the number of users K and the number of degrees of freedom N in the system are large, but keeping their ratio fixed. Our results show that for both the decorrelator and the minimum mean-square error (MMSE) receiver, the variance of the SIR distribution decreases like 1/N, and the SIR distribution is asymptotically Gaussian. We compute closed-form expressions for the asymptotic means and variances for both receivers. Simulation results are presented to verify the accuracy of the asymptotic results for finite-sized systems     

Secrecy Trade-off at the Physical Layer over Mixed Fading Multicast Channels Employing Antenna Diversity

This paper deals with the secrecy performance analysis of a multicast network over mixed fading scenarios in which a cluster of passive eavesdroppers is trying to overhear the secret transmission. Our key contribution is to prevent this malicious attack of the illegitimate receivers. Rayleigh/ Rician mixed fading channels are considered to model alternately the multicast/ eavesdropper and eavesdropper/ multicast channels as such mixed fading scenarios are often encountered in cellular communication where only one link (either multicast or eavesdropper) undergo a line-of-sight propagation path. At first, we derive the probability density functions for the single-input-multiple-output multicast scenarios and then the secrecy analysis is carried out by obtaining closed-form expressions for the performance matrices such as the probability of non-zero secrecy multicast capacity, ergodic secrecy multicast capacity, and secure outage probability for multicasting. The derived expressions are beneficial to investigate how the antenna diversity can combat the detrimental impact of fading as well as the number of multicast users and eavesdroppers, and improve the secrecy level to the acceptable limit. Moreover, the best secure scenario in terms of the secrecy parameters is obtained when the multicast channels undergo Rician fading whereas the eavesdropper channels experience Rayleigh fading. Finally, the analytical expressions are justified via the Monte-Carlo simulations.