Fotis I. Lazarakis

Circular and Elliptical CPW-Fed Slot and Microstrip-Fed Antennas for Ultrawideband Applications

This letter presents novel circular and elliptical coplanar waveguide (CPW)-fed slot and mictrostip-fed antenna designs targeting the 3.1¿10.6 GHz band. The antennas are comprised of elliptical or circular stubs that excite similar-shaped slot apertures. Four prototypes have been examined, fabricated and experimentally tested, the three being fed by a CPW and the fourth by a microstrip line, exhibiting a very satisfactory behavior throughout the 7.5 GHz of the allocated bandwidth in terms of impedance matching

Outage Analysis of Decode-and-Forward Relaying Over Nakagami-

(hbox VSWR¿2)

m

, radiation efficiency and radiation pattern characteristics. Measured impedance bandwidths of beyond 175% will be presented.

Fading Channels

In this letter, closed-form outage probability expressions are presented for an -relays dual-hop plus a direct link network, in which the decode-and-forward relaying protocol is employed. Our analysis significantly extends previous results on Rayleigh fading, considering a Nakagami- fading environment with either equal or distinct second hops fading parameters to average power ratios. Various numerical examples illustrate the proposed analysis.

Services in interworking 3G and WLAN environments

Interworking WLANs and 3G mobile networks are expected to provide ubiquitous wireless communications at high data rates and a large variety of services with variable bandwidth and QoS requirements, across a wide range of propagation environments and mobility conditions, using dual mode terminals. The interworking of the two networks is a major step toward a new generation of wireless networks in which other radio technologies are also be integrated. In this article we present possible architectures that enable the interworking of 3G and WLAN networks. We then address the capabilities of various terminal types and describe future services in the interworking environment. Finally, we present market forecasts on terminal and service demand growth.

Error performance of digital modulation schemes with MRC diversity reception over η-μ fading channels

This paper provides exact-form expressions for the average symbol error probability (ASEP) of various digital modulation schemes with maximal ratio combining (MRC) diversity over L independent, not necessarily identically distributed (n.i.d.) eta-mu fading channels. The derived expressions are given in terms of the Lauricella and Appell hypergeometric functions and include several others available in the literature such as those for Nakagami-m and Hoyt. General asymptotic ASEP expressions are also derived for all the considered modulation schemes which provide useful insights regarding the factors affecting the performance of the considered system.

New results for the multivariate Nakagami-m fading model with arbitrary correlation matrix and applications

New results for the multichannel Nakagami-m fading model with an arbitrary correlation matrix are presented in this paper. By using an efficient tridiagonalization method based on Householder matrices, the inverse of the Gaussian correlation matrix is transformed to tridiagonal, managing to derive a closed-form union upper bound for the joint Nakagami-m probability density function and an exact analytical expression for the moment generating function of the sum of identically distributed gamma random variables. Our analysis considers an arbitrary correlation structure, which includes as special cases the exponential, constant, circular, and linear correlation ones. Based on the proposed mathematical analysis, we obtain a tight union upper bound for the outage probability of multibranch selection diversity receivers as well as exact analytical expressions for the outage and the average error probability of multibranch maximal-ratio diversity receivers. Our analysis is verified by comparing numerically evaluated with extensive computer simulation performance evaluation results, showing the usefulness of the proposed approach.

Sum of Non-Identical Independent Squared η-μ Variates and Applications in the Performance Analysis of DS-CDMA Systems

In this paper, new expressions for the probability density function (pdf) of the sum of non-identical independent squared η-μ random variables are derived. Based on our newly derived results, we provide a pdf-based approach for the performance analysis of 1-D and 2-D RAKE receivers in the context of an asynchronous direct sequence code division multiple access system operating over η-μ fading channels. For the considered system, useful performance metrics such as the outage probability, the channel capacity and the average bit error probability are investigated. Extensive numerical and computer simulation results are presented that illustrate the proposed mathematical analysis.

Simple, accurate formula for the average bit error probability of multiple-input multiple-output free-space optical links over negative exponential turbulence channels.

In this Letter we investigate the error performance of multiple-input multiple-output free-space optical communication systems employing intensity modulation/direct detection and operating over strong atmospheric turbulence channels. Atmospheric-induced strong turbulence fading is modeled using the negative exponential distribution. For the considered system, an approximate yet accurate analytical expression for the average bit error probability is derived and an efficient method for its numerical evaluation is proposed. Numerically evaluated and computer simulation results are further provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed mathematical analysis.

Interoperability criteria, mechanisms, and evaluation of system performance for transparently interoperating WLAN and UMTS-HSDPA networks

The main challenge in the development of future wireless communication systems is to provide users with a wide range of services across different radio access technologies through a single mobile terminal, while maintaining the minimum QoS requirements, and ideally with no limits on the coverage area, mobility or radio conditions. Thus, the need for seamless interworking between heterogeneous wireless communication systems consisting of multiple radio access technologies and overlapping networks emerges. In this article we address the main issues that arise while implementing the interoperability mechanisms between two different radio access networks, with emphasis on UMTS-HSDPA and WLAN (HIPERLAN/2). Two interoperability mechanisms are introduced and described in detail: initial user assignment (optimal network selection) and intersystem handover. Both mechanisms are activated via the optimization of a suitably defined cost function which takes into account all the appropriate system level parameters that trigger the interoperability process. Finally, we investigate the overall performance of the proposed mechanisms by means of a software simulation platform. A number of simulations have been carried out in order to demonstrate the performance enhancements achieved by the proposed mechanisms in terms of unsatisfied users, dropped handovers, and system throughput.