Eric C. Beck

Prototype experience for MIMO BLAST over third-generation wireless system

In this paper, a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) extension for a third-generation (3G) wireless system is described. The integration of MIMO concepts within the existing UMTS standard and the associated space-time RAKE receiver are explained. An analysis is followed by a description of an actual experimental MIMO transmitter and receiver architecture, both realized on digital signal processors (DSPs) and FPGAs within a precommercial OneBTS base station. It uses four transmit and four receive antennas to achieve downlink data rates up to 1 Mb/s per user with a spreading factor of 32 and the UMTS chip rate of 3.84 MHz. Furthermore, different MIMO detectors are evaluated, comparing their performance and complexity. System performance is evaluated through simulations and indoor over-the-air measurements. Capacity and bit-error rate measurement results are presented.

Rapid prototyping for wireless designs: the five-ones approach

In a highly innovative market, wireless systems nowadays undergo very short production cycles. Due to these tough timing constraints, the time-consuming process of prototyping is often neglected, jeopardizing the entire product becoming successful. Heavy application of automatic tools can allow for rapid prototyping overcoming this unfortunate situation and de-risking the product challenge. However, the application of automatic tools alone does not speed up the prototyping process sufficiently. By reflecting on current design processes, several paradigms for faster prototyping are concluded, named the Five-Ones Approach: One team, One environment, One code, One documentation and One code revision tool. Based on such a Five-Ones Approach, a consistent prototyping environment to implement a prototyping design from first idea to final implementation is presented in this paper. In particular, the design of a prototype for a MIMO system with four transmit and four receive antennas, based on the current UMTS FDD downlink standard is reported.

A compact low-cost add-on module for Doppler radar sensing of vital signs using a wireless communications terminal

A simple add-on module that allows the detection of human respiration and heart activity using an unmodified wireless telecommunications terminal is presented here. The module combines an antenna and mixing element to receive direct and back-scattered transmissions from the wireless terminal, and through Doppler radar principles produces an output signal proportional to the motion of the users heart and chest. This signal can be used to monitor heart and respiration rates, and can potentially be relayed by the wireless terminal to a remote health monitoring facility via the existing telecommunications infrastructure. Module functionality is demonstrated here using a 2.4 GHz cordless telephone.

Rapid prototyping design of a 4/spl times/4 BLAST-over-UMTS system

BLAST techniques to increase the utilized bandwidth in commercial systems are currently feasible. This paper describes the design of a UMTS prototype, supporting four transmit and four receive antennas, achieving almost four times the capacity of a conventional system. Various parts of the transmitter and receiver are mapped on FPGAs and fast DSPs communicating via a specially designed communication link. The system was entirely designed using C code, embedded in SIMULINK S-functions for simulation, and, after validation, automatically mapped onto the hardware platform.