Peak‐to‐average power ratio reduction and digital predistortion effects in power amplifiers in OFDM system

In this paper, the effects of peak‐to‐average power ratio reduction in nonlinear power amplifiers (PAs) by considering memory effects and of digital predistortion are investigated. A new predistortion technique is proposed, which is called the complex gain memory predistortion (CGMP) method. The CGMP is applied to compensate the dynamic memory effects of PAs. The conventional partial transmit sequence method is applied for peak‐to‐average power ratio reduction, and combining it with the CGMP results in efficiency enhancement and spectrum efficiency improvement. Simulation and results are examined with the two types of PAs and with an OFDM signal with quadrature phase‐shift keying modulation. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Current-voltage behavior of AlGaAs/InGaAs pHEMT structures and the effect of optical illumination

Various pseudomorphic High Electron Mobility Transistor (pHEMT) structures of AlGaAs/InGaAs alloys have been observed their current-voltage behavior. The tungsten probes were used for a measurement the structures by ramping the voltage from −5 to 5 V and measure the electrical current. Measurement was carried out at room temperature and also under optical illumination. From the measurement, the electrical current was found to increase as the increase of Al content in the AlGaAs alloys layer in the pHEMT structure. This phenomenon was supported by the decrease of sheet resistance as obtained from Hall effect measurement. Under visible light illumination, the current-voltage behavior of pHEMT structure was observed to vary as the light power density was varied for 0, 25 and 55 μW/cm.     

A Robust Peak-to-Average Power Ratio Reduction Scheme by Inserting Dummy Signals with Enhanced Partial Transmit Sequence in OFDM Systems

Peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) is one of the main drawbacks in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. High PAPR forces the power amplifier to back off in order to operate in its linear region, which degrades the power efficiency of the system. Several PAPR reduction techniques have been developed, but most of them have not considered both complexity and PAPR reduction. In this paper, a novel PAPR reduction scheme based on the insertion of dummy sequences to an enhanced partial transmit sequence is proposed. By applying this scheme the PAPR performance is enhanced compared to the conventional methods while the complexity is significantly reduced. Numerical analysis is carried out with OFDM signal and QPSK modulation.     

Hierarchical steganography using novel optimum quantization technique

Security and imperceptibility are fundamental issues for steganography. This paper presents a multi-level steganography system based on concealing and deception. Basically, the secret image is embedded in a cover image, which in turn is embedded in another higher-level cover image. Each steganography level provides additional security, with lower levels implemented using stronger steganography methods. Furthermore, in the event that the higher level steganography is compromised, it would include misleading information to deceive the attacker that he/she is successfully eavesdropping. One challenge of hierarchical system is retaining hidden data in lower level in a higher level stenographic technique. To mitigate this issue, we designed a novel technique which combines discrete cosine transform and least significant bit (LSB). The technique objective is to maximize the capacity and invisibility of the secret image with minimal modification to the cover image (at most k-bits per block). The performance (capacity and peak signal-to-noise ratio) of the proposed method has superior performance compared with LSB since it combines the benefits of 1-bit and 3-bit LSBs. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that the secret message is successfully embedded and extracted in two-level steganography system with peak signal-to-nose ratio greater than 20 dB.     

An overview of spectrum sensing techniques for cognitive LTE and LTE-A radio systems

Advanced communication systems, such as long term evolution (LTE) and LTE-advanced (LTE-A) systems, promise to increase the number of users with high-speed data exchange. However, it leads to spectrum scarcity because of the huge size of data exchange with limited spectrum resources. Cognitive radio (CR) technique is considered the best solution for this spectrum scarcity problem. Spectrum sensing (SS), one of the CR techniques is used to detect the spectrum hole of primary user (PU) without interference with PU. In this paper, several SS approaches for LTE and LTE-A systems are investigated in the CR system. These SS approaches are based on two techniques, namely energy detection and cyclostationary feature detection techniques. The first technique includes four approaches of auto-correlation based advanced energy, time domain detection, Welch periodogram and two-stage model algorithms, while the second technique contains two approaches, namely pilot induced cyclostationary and second order cyclostationary algorithms. According to the analysis, the two-stage model and the second order cyclostationary algorithms are better than the other algorithms because they produce accurate results at the expense of system complexity. Hence, in general a good SS algorithms would require some trade-off between complexity and accuracy.     

Quarter-Wavelength Side-Coupled Ring Resonator for Bandpass Filters

This paper deals with a dual-mode ring resonator fed by quarter-wavelength side-coupled lines. The resonator synthesis was developed so as to fix the central frequency, bandwidth, and transmission zeros frequencies, as well as the insertion loss in the passband. Based on this resonator, several bandpass filters were designed, which include the cascaded rings and the combination of such ring resonator with coupled line sections. Simulations are proposed throughout the paper to illustrate the various possibilities offered by the concept. The filters' experimental results in microstrip technology are also presented to validate the idea.     

Wireless LAN Access Point Placement Based on User Mobility

In a wide area campus, a university provides Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) for users to connect to the Internet. Most users take advantage of this WLAN benefit by using their laptops. However, the number of smart phone users is growing fast. Since a smart phone is able to get an Internet connection using WLAN, users can use their smart phones without having to pay for a cellular operator. Users tend to use their smart phones more, due to their higher mobility compared to a laptop. This capability enables new services in the market, such as Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC), which integrates a fixed network (traditional telephony, WLAN) and a mobile network (cellular) to provide seamless voice communications anytime, anywhere. These new applications require a WLAN connection availability nearly everywhere. However, due to limited budgets, a university can only install APs in places with a high connection demand. We propose a novel WLAN AP placement technique that takes user mobility into consideration. This new approach is more complete than previous approaches, which mainly focus on coverage area and throughput data. Our technique has been implemented in our university. The results show the suitability of the WLAN access point locations in our university campus based on user mobility and activities.     

Efficient data management and control over WSNs using SDN‐enabled aerial networks

The recent developments in collaborative search, acquisition, and tracking have hoisted the geographical barrier. The network between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is one such collaboration, which comprises battery‐powered static sensor nodes that act as sources and sinks and UAVs that act as relays. This collaborative network presents with opportunities and advantages, but at the same time, configuration of such networks is an arduous task. The WSN nodes are characterized by constant depleting power. Their network itself requires constant management and reconfiguration. These requisites can be slaked through the formation of an efficient data dissemination algorithm, which acclimates according to the network state. Considering this, a data dissemination approach is presented in this paper, which constructs a virtual topology predicated on the charge of WSN nodes utilizing software‐defined networks (SDNs) through UAVs. The topology is constantly monitored and reconfigured when required. The aerial nodes are equipped with multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) antennas in order to facilitate simultaneous communication with the ground nodes, the base station, and the SDN controller. An efficient sleep timer and backoff counter strategies are also utilized by the proposed approach. The SDN controller facilitates the topology formation and maintenance of a sleep timer and a backoff counter. The proposed model is compared with clustered hierarchical layouts and hexagonal cell layouts through the network simulations. The results suggest significant improvements in the proposed model for various metrics, such as lifetime, delay, latency, delivery ratio, and throughput in comparison with the existing solutions.     

Targeted Delivery of Anesthetic Agents to Bone Tissues using Conductive Microneedles Enhanced Iontophoresis for Painless Dental Anesthesia

Pain management during dental procedures is a cornerstone for successful daily practice. In current practice, the traditional needle and syringe injection is used to administer local anesthesia. However, the appearance of long needles and the pain associated with it often leads to dental anxiety deterring timely interventions. Microneedles (MNs) have emerged as a minimally invasive alternative to hypodermic needles and shown to be effective in transdermal drug delivery applications. In this article, the potential use of MNs for local anesthesia delivery in dentistry is explored. The development of a novel conductive MN array that can be used in combination with iontophoresis technique to achieve drug penetration through the oral mucosa and the underlying bone tissue is presented. The conductive MN array plays a dual-role, creating micro-conduits and lowering the resistance of the oral mucosa. The reduced tissue resistance further enhances the application of a low-voltage current that is able to direct and accelerate the drug molecules to target the sensory nerves supplying teeth. The successful delivery of lidocaine using this new strategy in a clinically relevant rabbit incisor model is shown to be as effective as the current gold standard.     

Low Complexity Partial Transmit Sequence with Complex Gain Memory Predistortion in OFDM Systems

In this paper the peak to average power ratio (PAPR) reduction and digital predistortion effects in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems are investigated. By applying a predistortion technique called complex gain memory predistortion (CGMP), power amplifier works at higher power efficiency. The proposed enhanced partial transmit sequence scheme is applied for PAPR reduction and integration with CGMP technique results in increasing in OFDM system efficiency and prolonged battery life. Simulation and results are examined with actual power amplifier and OFDM signal with quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) modulation.