Iterative channel estimation and decoding of pilot symbol assistedturbo codes over flat-fading channels

A method for coherently detecting and decoding turbo-coded binary phase shift keying (BPSK) signals transmitted over frequency-flat fading channels is discussed. Estimates of the complex channel gain and variance of the additive noise are derived first from known pilot symbols and an estimation filter. After each iteration of turbo decoding, the channel estimates are refined using information fed back from the decoder. Both hard-decision and soft-decision feedback are considered and compared with three baseline turbo-coded systems: (1) a BPSK system that has perfect channel estimates; (2) a system that uses differential phase shift keying and hence needs no estimates; and (3) a system that performs channel estimation using pilot symbols but has no feedback path from decoder to estimator. Performance can be further improved by borrowing channel estimates from the previously decoded frame. Simulation results show the influence of pilot symbol spacing, estimation filter size and type, and fade rate. Performance within 0.49 and 1.16 dB of turbo-coded BPSK with perfect coherent detection is observed at a bit-error rate of 10^-4 for normalized fade rates of f_dT_s=0.005 and f_dT_s=0.02, respectively     

Incremental frequency, amplitude and phase tracker (IFAPT) forcoherent demodulation over fast flat fading channels

The incremental frequency amplitude and phase tracker (IFAPT) is a recursive algorithm that estimates the parameters of piecewise-linear approximation to assumed continuous narrow-band signals. The parameters are amplitude, phase, and their respective slopes. The simple, recursive nature of IFAPT enables its direct interaction with recursive algorithms, such as the Viterbi and the BCJR in the APP SISO module, used for iteratively decoding concatenated codes. An augmented APP (A ²P²)-module, containing IFAPT and BCJR algorithms, is here applied to iterative decoding serial concatenated convolutional codes under Rayleigh fading conditions with diversity reception. The bit-error rate under Rayleigh fading with dual diversity reception at E _bT/N₀=6 dB and f_dT_s=10^-2 is 10^-4, where E _bT is the total mean energy per bit in both diversity branches, f_d is the Doppler frequency, and T_s the symbol time     

Analysis and performance of bidirectional decoding of convolutionalcodes over fading channels

The performance of suboptimal convolutional decoding over fading channels is explored. The suboptimal decoding algorithm used is the bidirectional algorithm. By estimating a “decoder weight spectrum” for the decoder, an “equivalent free distance” may be observed. Furthermore, by using this “decoder weight spectrum”, useful estimations of the error probabilities are obtained and compared to computer-simulation results in the case of very slow and very fast fading. The resultant curves are shown to be very tightly related. Computer-simulation results are also shown for various signal-to-noise ratios, normalized Doppler spreads, and frame length on three typical fading channels: the Rayleigh fading channel with exponential and Bessel autocorrelation functions and the Rician fading channel with exponential autocorrelation function. We show that considerable gains (up to 4 dB) can be obtained with respect to a similar-complexity Viterbi decoder at a frame error probability P_e =10^-3 and a slightly smaller gain (up to 1.8 dB) at a bit error probability P_b=10^-5     

The error performance of CD900-like cellular mobile radio systems

The symbol error performance of CD900-like digital cellular mobile radio systems over narrowband and urban wideband transmission channels was investigated. The basic performance is presented for Gaussian, flat-fading Rayleigh, and log-normal channels in the presence of selection and ratio combining space diversity schemes. For wideband channels having more than one resolvable fading path, a CD900-like system without diversity reception suffers from large residual symbol error probabilities P_R(≈10^-1). The introduction of adaptive correlation diversity (ACD) mitigates the effects of multipath, yielding a P_R of 6×10^-5. Although this P_R value is relatively low, the probability of symbol error (P_e) versus signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is significantly poorer than for the Gaussian channel. By combining the ACD scheme with space diversity, the P_R is eliminated by P_e >10^-5, and the channel SNR is within 5 dB of the Gaussian channel performance when P_e is 10^-10     

Adaptive differential detection using linear prediction for M-aryDPSK

This paper proposes a novel adaptive differential detection scheme (adaptive DD), which can significantly reduce the irreducible bit-error rate (BER) of M-ary DPSK due to Doppler spread by the adaptive linear prediction of the reference signal. The predictor coefficient is adapted to changing channel conditions by using the recursive least-square (RLS) algorithm. A phase sequence estimation based on the M-state Viterbi algorithm (VA) and another based on the decision feedback algorithm (DFA) are presented. A theoretical BER analysis is presented for adaptive DD-DFA. BER performances of 2 and 4DPSK in Rayleigh fading channels are evaluated by computer simulations. When the RLS forgetting factor of β=1 is used, simulation results show that the irreducible BER of 4DPSK can be reduced to 7.2×10^-5 (3.9×10 ^-4) for VA (DFA) while conventional DD offers 3.9×10 ^-3 when f_DT_b (maximum Doppler frequency times bit duration)=0.01 and average E_b/N₀ (signal energy per bit-to-additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) power spectrum density ratio)=60 dB, where most errors are produced by Doppler spread. Adaptive DD is also effective in AWGN channels-simulations show that for the case of 4DPSK, a performance gain of 1.2 (0.7) dB is achieved over conventional DD for VA (DFA) at BER=10^-3     

Experimental evaluation of combined effect of coherent RAKEcombining and SIR-based fast transmit power control for reverse link ofDS-CDMA mobile radio

The combined effect of coherent RAKE combining using the weighted multislot averaging (WMSA) channel estimation filter and closed-loop fast transmit power control (TPC) in the 4.096 Mchip/s direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) mobile radio reverse link is experimentally evaluated. The WMSA channel estimation filter utilizes periodically transmitted pilot symbols (four pilot symbols are time-multiplexed in each 40-symbol time slot). Its observation period is extended to 2-K slots in order to improve the accuracy of the channel estimation. The fast TPC is based on the measurement of signal-to-interference plus background noise ratio (SIR) using pilot symbols. Laboratory experiments show that the use of the K=2 WMSA channel estimation filter reduces the required E_b/I₀ at the average BER of 10^-3 by approximately 0.5 dB compared to use of the linear interpolation filter, and that the required E_b/I₀ is minimized when the SIR measurement interval is M=10 symbols (one slot TPC delay). It was also clarified that SIR-based TPC works satisfactorily when two users with different information data rates, i.e., SF, independently employ fast TPC. Field experimental results obtained in an area nearby Tokyo showed that the average BER of 10^-3 is achieved at the target E_b/I₀ per antenna of approximately 2.5 dB by using four-finger branch RAKE and two-branch antenna diversity. Although the target E_b/I₀ to achieve same BER, when there is one interfering user with a fourfold greater transmit power than that of the desired user that independently employs fast TPC, is almost the same as that in the single-user case, the mobile transmit power is increased by 1.0-2.0 dB due to the increased MAI. These results indicate that the combination of coherent RAKE combining and fast TPC works well in practical multipath fading channels     

Photorefractive effects in proton exchanged LiTaO3optical waveguides

A circuit model is proposed to describe photorefractive effects in LiNbO₃/LiTaO₃ channel waveguides at any intensity level. Capacitive charge storage at the waveguide boundaries is assumed to be provided by trapping states associated with photoconductivity. A consequence of this model is that photoconductive transients are independent of optical intensity at low intensity levels. Photovoltaic and photoconductive effects in proton exchange LiTaO₃ channel waveguides were experimentally investigated. Dark conductivities of 2×10^-15 to 2 ×10^-14(Ω-cm)^-1 were extrapolated from photoconductivities up to 2×10^-13 (Ω-cm)^-1 for power levels of 0.1 to 3 mW. Large DC voltage dependent effects on the conductivity were observed. Straight channel waveguides were observed to be free of photovoltaic effects for output power levels below 35-75 mW     

Multiuser detectors with decision feedback for asynchronousspread-spectrum multiple access in multipath fading channels

This paper extends earlier work of the authors to the multipath fading channel. For a normalized Doppler spread of f_DT=0.005 we show that a reduced state sequence estimation reduced-complexity receiver with K_s=2 users per state and a processing gain of N _s=127 performs only 0.5 dB worse than the single-user receiver for a bit-error rate of 10^-4     

Estimating particles velocity from laser measurements: maximumlikelihood and Cramer-Rao bounds

We address the problem of estimating particles velocity in the vicinity of an aircraft by means of a laser Doppler system. When a particle passes through the region of interference fringes generated by two coherent laser beams, the signal backscattered is of the form Aexp{-2α²·f_d²t² }cos{2πf_dt}, where the Doppler frequency f_d is related to the aircraft speed. This paper is concerned with the most precise estimation of the parameters A and f_d in the model considered. Cramer-Rao bounds (CRBs) on the accuracy of estimates of A and f_d are derived, and closed-formed expressions are given. Approximated formulas provide quantitative insights into the influence of α and f_d. Additionally, a maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) is presented. Numerical examples illustrate the performance of the MLE and compare it with the CRB. The influence of the SNR, the sample size, the optical parameter α, and the frequency f_d on the estimation performance is emphasized. Finally, an application to real data is presented     

A coded 16 QAM scheme for fast fading mobile radio channels

An adaptive Viterbi algorithm, derived from a dynamic estimate of the fading channel is used for the decoding of a convolutional coded 16 QAM system in a mobile environment. The estimates are obtained by a sequence of known pilot symbols embedded in the data stream, and perform compensation for Rayleigh fading. The likelihood criterion in the Viterbi decoder is also modified by these channel estimates through a metric weighting function. We demonstrate through computer simulations, that our new technique achieves a BER improvement of 7-10 dB at P_e =10^-3 in a fast flat Rayleigh fading environment compared to an uncoded system. The BER performance of our new technique in a co-channel interference (CCI) controlled environment is also studied, and the results show that it may achieve a 40% to 85% improvement in capacity over the standard modem scheme for the new US digital cellular system, π/4-QPSK     

Interference cancelling equalizer (ICE) for mobile radiocommunication

This paper proposes an adaptive interference cancelling equalizer (ICE), which not only equalizes intersymbol interference (ISI), but also cancels cochannel interference (CCI) in the received signal in Rayleigh-fading environments, ICE is an adaptive multiuser detector for the frequency-selective fading environment commonly experienced by mobile communication channels. ICE employs a novel detection scheme: recursive least-squares maximum-likelihood sequence estimation (RLS-MLSE), which simultaneously estimates time-varying channel parameters and transmitted signal sequences. Diversity reception is used to enhance the signal detection performance of ICE. A computer simulation of a 40-kb/s QPSK time-division multiple-access (TDMA) cellular mobile radio system demonstrates the possibility of improving system capacity with ICE. Simulations of ICE with and without diversity are carried out under various fading conditions. For the maximum Doppler frequency of 40 Hz, ICE can attain an average bit-error rate (BER) of 10 ^-2 under a single CCI carrier-to-interference ratio (CIR) of ~14 dB. Moreover, ICE for two independent CCI signals can attain the average BER of 1.5×10^-2 with average CIR⩾-10 dB     

Variable rate QAM for mobile radio

Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) schemes which vary the number of modulation levels in accordance with the mobile radio fading channel variations are investigated. Important parameters considered are the fading rate and the block size used. We describe how the adaptive QAM modems can be employed and consider their use in a DECT-like TDD packet structure. System performance in the presence of cochannel interference is also considered. Simulations show that the variable rate system has about 5 dB improvement in channel SNR over a fixed 16-level QAM system for BER's between 10^-2 and 10^-5 and channel SNR's between 25 and 40 dB     

Coherent orthogonal filter using pilot symbol-assisted channelestimation for DS-CDMA

A coherent orthogonal filter (COF) using pilot symbol-assisted channel estimation is proposed for DS-CDMA cellular mobile radio. In the proposed scheme, a complex fading envelope in the multi-path environment is estimated using pilot symbols, and tap coefficients of orthogonal filter are controlled for maximising the signal to interference ratio (SIR) of a RAKE combined signal. Computer simulation results show that the required E_b/N₀ of the proposed COF is reduced by ~10.0 dB compared to conventional matched filter receiver at an average BER of 3×10² when there are 10 users and processing gain is 31     

A simple modulation scheme for error performance improvement oflow-deviation digital FM

The paper proposes a simple digital modulation scheme named LF (lowpass filtered)-π/2 TFSK. Since it is essentially a constant envelope modulation scheme, it can be applied to severely band-limited channels such as land mobile and satellite mobile radio channels. Its error performance is superior to that of MSK modulation in band-limited channels at the cost of a slightly wider bandwidth (approximately 1.06 times) than GMSK. The required E_b/N₀ with 2-bit differential detection at the error rate of 10^-5 is 2.3 dB smaller than that of GMSK in an additive Gaussian channel and 3 dB smaller at the average error rate of 10^-4 in a fast Rayleigh fading channel. The above result, obtained by an exact error rate analysis, was confirmed by laboratory experiments at a frequency of 880 MHz. The spectral characteristics were analyzed through computer simulations and the results were found to agree with those obtained from a hardware implementation     

Emission cross sections and spectroscopy of Ho3+ laserchannels in KGd(WO4)2 single crystal

The spectroscopic properties of Ho³⁺ laser channels in KGd(WO₄)₂ crystals have been investigated using optical absorption, photoluminescence, and lifetime measurements. The radiative lifetimes of Ho³⁺ have been calculated through a Judd-Ofelt (JO) formalism using 300-K optical absorption results. The JO parameters obtained were Ω₂=15.35×10^-20 cm², Ω ₄=3.79×10^-20 cm², Ω₆ =1.69×10^-20 cm². The 7-300-K lifetimes obtained in diluted (8·10¹⁸ cm^-3) KGW:0.1% Ho samples are: τ(⁵F₃)≈0.9 μs, τ( ⁵S₂)=19-3.6 μs, and τ(⁵F₅ )≈1.1 μs. For Ho concentrations below 1.5×10²⁰ cm^-3, multiphonon emission is the main source of non radiative losses, and the temperature independent multiphonon probability in KGW is found to follow the energy gap law τ_ph ^-1(0)=βexp(-αΔE), where β=1.4×10^-7 s^-1, and α=1.4×10³ cm. Above this holmium concentration, energy transfer between Ho impurities also contributes to the losses. The spectral distributions of the Ho³⁺ emission cross section σ_EM for several laser channels are calculated in σ- and π-polarized configurations. The peak a σ_EM values achieved for transitions to the ⁵I₈ level are ≈2×10^-20 cm² in the σ-polarized configuration, and three main lasing peaks at 2.02, 2.05, and 2.07 μm are envisaged inside the ⁵I₇→⁵I₈ channel     

Test Method for Measuring Bit Error Rate of Pulsed Transceivers in Presence of Narrowband Interferers

The popularity of pulse-based transceivers can be attributed to the high information rates that can be achieved in such systems compared to traditional narrowband systems. However, such systems are usually low-power and transmission efficiency is severely affected by the interference signals from other moderate to high-power narrowband transmitters. Hence, during manufacturing, pulse-based systems must be characterized and tested for bit error rate (BER) performance in the presence of narrowband interferers. Usually, at large interference levels, the BER is moderate (10^-4) to high (10^-2). However, at low interference levels when very few bits are in error, the BER is low (10^-6 - 10^-10 ) and testing for the BER becomes time consuming. We propose a new measurement technique employing sinusoidal pulses such that the BER value obtained is significantly large (10^-3 - 10^-4 ) even at low interference levels. BER values obtained using sinusoidal pulses are highly correlated to the actual BER values. Hence, the actual BER can be accurately estimated in a much smaller time without actually performing the standard test. This method was implemented in hardware using an Altera field-programmable gate-array development board. From the measurements, BER estimation error was less than 3%. In addition, significant reduction (up to 100 x) in test time was obtained using the proposed method.     

Space-time turbo codes with full antenna diversity

In attempting to find a spectrally and power efficient channel code which is able to exploit maximum diversity from a wireless channel whenever available, we investigate the possibility of constructing a full antenna diversity space-time turbo code. As a result, both three-antenna and two-antenna (punctured) constructions are shown to be possible and very easy to find. To check the decodability and performance of the proposed codes, we derive non-binary soft-decoding algorithms. The performance of these codes are then simulated and compared with two existing space-time convolutional codes (one has minimum worst-case symbol-error probability; the other has maximal minimum free distance) having similar decoding complexity. As the simulation results show, the proposed space-time turbo codes give similar or slightly better performance than the convolutional codes under extremely slow fading. When fading is fast, the better distance spectra of the turbo codes help seize the temporal diversity. Thus, the performance advantage of the turbo codes becomes evident. In particular, 10^-5 bit-error rate and 10^-3 frame-error rate can be achieved at less than 6-dB E_b/N₀ with 1 b/s/Hz and binary phase-shift keying modulation. The practical issue of obtaining the critical channel state information (CSI) is also considered by applying an iteratively filtered pilot symbol-assisted modulation technique. The penalty when the CSI is not given a priori is about 2-3 dB     

Path diversity for FFH/PSK spread-spectrum communication systems

A fast frequency hopping (FFH) method which uses path-diversity combining is proposed. Diversity techniques are realized when a signal is received from diverse independent paths, each of which carries identical information but suffers from independent fading variations. The improvement of communication performance of FFH systems is possible as the delayed paths are used and path-diversity combination is realized. The advantages of this method, operating in Rayleigh fading channels are confirmed by theoretical analyses. The improvement is in order of 2~3 dB at bit error rate (BER) of 10^-3. This method can be also effective against interferences from other users in a code division multiple access (CDMA) environment. The performance of this system in a CDMA environment is evaluated by theoretical analyses and is shown to be superior to non-combining method. At BER of 10^-3 the required E_b/N₀ of the proposed system is 5 dB lower. If E_b/N_o is fixed, a greater number of users can be accommodated using the proposed system     

A Turbo Detection and Sphere-Packing-Modulation-Aided Space-Time Coding Scheme

A recently proposed space-time block-coding (STBC) signal-construction method that combines orthogonal design with sphere packing (SP), referred to here as STBC-SP, has shown useful performance improvements over Alamouti's conventional orthogonal design. In this contribution, we demonstrate that the performance of STBC-SP systems can be further improved by concatenating SP-aided modulation with channel coding and performing demapping as well as channel decoding iteratively. We also investigate the convergence behavior of this concatenated scheme with the aid of extrinsic-information-transfer charts. The proposed turbo-detected STBC-SP scheme exhibits a "turbo-cliff" at E_b/N₀=2.5 dB and provides E_b/N₀ gains of approximately 20.2 and 2.0 dB at a bit error rate of 10 ^-5 over an equivalent-throughput uncoded STBC-SP scheme and a turbo-detected quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulated STBC scheme, respectively, when communicating over a correlated Rayleigh fading channel.A condensed version of this paper was presented at VTC'04 Fall, LA, USA     

A digital coherent receiver suitable for land-mobile satellitecommunications

Describes an advanced coherent demodulation technique suitable for land-mobile satellite communications. The proposed technique features a combined narrow/wide band dual open loop (DOL) carrier phase estimator, which effectively enables the coherent receiver to track fast phase fluctuations caused by fading, without degradation in phase slip characteristics. Additionally, an open loop phase estimator has inherent quick recovery performance. Its bit error rate (BER) performance is shown to be superior to that for existing detection schemes, achieving a 10^-2 BER at 6.3 dB E_b/N₀ (0.9 dB greater than the theoretical E_b/N₀ condition for perfect carrier phase tracking) for QPSK over a Rician fading channel with the 10 dB Rician factor and the 1/16 baud rate fading pitch. The paper also describes a quick bit timing recovery scheme, with interpolation, featuring an open loop structure. Further, it presents an experimental digital modem developed through the use of digital signal processors