Koralia N. Pappi

Wireless-Powered Communications With Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access

We study a wireless-powered uplink communication system with non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), consisting of one base station and multiple energy harvesting users. More specifically, we focus on the individual data rate optimization and fairness improvement and we show that the formulated problems can be optimally and efficiently solved by either linear programming or convex optimization. In the provided analysis, two types of decoding order strategies are considered, namely fixed decoding order and time sharing. Furthermore, we propose an efficient greedy algorithm, which is suitable for the practical implementation of the time-sharing strategy. The simulation results illustrate that the proposed scheme outperforms the baseline orthogonal multiple access scheme. More specifically, it is shown that the NOMA offers a considerable improvement in throughput, fairness, and energy efficiency. Also, the dependence among system throughput, minimum individual data rate, and harvested energy is revealed, as well as an interesting tradeoff between rates and energy efficiency. Finally, the convergence speed of the proposed greedy algorithm is evaluated, and it is shown that the required number of iterations is linear with respect to the number of users.

θ-QAM: A parametric quadrature amplitude modulation family and its performance in AWGN and fading channels

We study a parametric quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) family, called θ-QAM, which includes other known constellations, such as square QAM (SQAM) and triangular QAM (TQAM), as special cases. The versatile structure of the θ-QAM signal constellation, which occurs from the varying angle between the signal points, results in achieving the minimum symbol error rate (SER) or bit error rate (BER), under an average power constraint. The theoretical study aims at providing insight into the trade-off between error performance and complexity of this parametric modulation scheme. Exact analytical expressions are obtained for the SER in additive white Gaussian Noise (AWGN) and Nakagami-m fading channels, while highly accurate BER approximations are presented. Finally, we find the optimum angles, in a minimal SER or BER sense, for a specific signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and modulation order, M. This serves as an indicator for the appropriate constellation with respect to channel conditions and SER or BER requirements. The presented theoretical analysis is validated via extensive computer simulations.

Optimal design of non-orthogonal multiple access with wireless power transfer

We study a wireless-powered uplink communication system with non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), consisting of one base station and multiple energy harvesting users. We focus on data rates optimization and fairness increase. We show that the formulated optimization problems can be optimally and efficiently solved by either linear programming methods or convex optimization, which means that the proposed scheme can be easily implemented in practical applications. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed scheme outperforms the baseline orthogonal multiple access scheme, while they reveal the dependence between sum-throughput, minimum data rate, and harvested energy.

Throughput Maximization in Multicarrier Wireless Powered Relaying Networks

Dynamic power allocation and power splitting, in a multicarrier two-hop link with a wireless powered relay, is investigated. We first formulate the corresponding optimization problem, which consists of the joint optimization -in terms of achievable rate- of, 1) the dynamic power allocation among multiple channels and, 2) the selection of the power splitting ratio between information processing and energy harvesting at the relay, when amplify-and-forward is applied. This is a non-convex optimization problem, which is mapped to a convex one and optimally solved using one-dimensional search and dual decomposition, while a suboptimal efficient iterative method is also proposed. Simulations reveal a significant increase in the throughput, when comparing the proposed approach with two alternative power allocation schemes, while they verify the effectiveness of the fast-converging iterative solution.

How sensitive is compute-and-forward to channel estimation errors?

We investigate the sensitivity of Compute-and-Forward (C&F) to channel estimation errors. More specifically, a general formula for the computation rate region of a C&F relay, suffering from imperfect channel estimation, is derived, which is then tightly approximated for Gaussian distributed channel estimation errors. Furthermore, a closed-form expression for the distribution of the C&F rate loss is presented, which can be efficiently used to compute relevant statistical parameters, such as the mean rate loss. Numerical and simulation results highlight the high sensitivity of the overall network performance to channel estimation errors.

Carrier Aggregation for Cooperative Cognitive Radio Networks

The ever-increasing demand for mobile Internet and high-data-rate applications poses unique challenging requirements for 5G mobile networks, including spectrum limitations and massive connectivity. Cognitive radio and carrier aggregation (CA) have recently been proposed as promising technologies to overcome these challenges. In this paper, we investigate joint relay selection and optimal power allocation in an underlay cooperative cognitive radio with CA, taking into account the availability of multiple carrier components in two frequency bands, subject to outage probability requirements for primary users (PUs). The secondary user network employs relay selection, where the relay that maximizes the end-to-end sum rate is selected, assuming both decode-and-forward and amplify-and-forward relaying. The resulting optimization problems are optimally solved using convex optimization tools, i.e., dual decomposition and an efficient iterative method, allowing their application in practical implementations. Simulation results illustrate that the proposed configuration exploits the available degrees of freedom efficiently to maximize the SU rate, while meeting the PU average outage probability constraints.

Joint Downlink/Uplink Design for Wireless Powered Networks With Interference

This paper jointly investigates the downlink/uplink of wireless powered networks (WPNs), which are exposed to the effect of the cascaded near-far problem, i.e., the asymmetric overall degradation of the users’ performance, due to different path-loss values. More specifically, assuming that the users are able to harvest energy both from interference and desired signals, higher path loss reduces the downlink rate of the far user, while it also negatively affects its uplink rate, since less energy can be harvested during downlink. Furthermore, if the far user is located at the cell edge, its performance is more severely impaired by interference, despite the potential gain due to energy harvesting from interference signals. To this end, we fairly maximize the downlink/uplink users’ rates, by utilizing corresponding priority weights. Two communication protocols are taken into account for the downlink, namely, time division multiple access and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), while NOMA with time sharing is considered for the uplink. The formulated multidimensional non-convex optimization problems are transformed into the equivalent convex ones and can be solved with low complexity. Simulations results illustrate that: 1) a relatively high downlink rate can be achieved, while the required energy is simultaneously harvested by the users for the uplink and 2) dowlink NOMA is a more appropriate option with respect to the network topology, especially when a high downlink rate is desired.

Error Performance of Multidimensional Lattice Constellations—Part I: A Parallelotope Geometry Based Approach for the AWGN Channel

Multidimensional lattice constellations which present signal space diversity (SSD) have been extensively studied for single-antenna transmission over fading channels, with focus on their optimal design for achieving high diversity gain. In this two-part series of papers we present a novel combinatorial geometrical approach based on parallelotope geometry, for the performance evaluation of multidimensional finite lattice constellations with arbitrary structure, dimension and rank. In Part I, we present an analytical expression for the exact symbol error probability (SEP) of multidimensional signal sets, and two novel closed-form bounds, named Multiple Sphere Lower Bound (MLSB) and Multiple Sphere Upper Bound (MSUB). Part II extends the analysis to the transmission over fading channels, where multidimensional signal sets are commonly used to combat fading degradation. Numerical and simulation results show that the proposed geometrical approach leads to bounds that can be used for the performance evaluation and the design of multidimensional lattice constellations, both in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) and fading channels.

Game Theoretic Approach to Demand Side Management in Smart Grid with User-Dependent Acceptance Prices

Efficient demand side management through dynamic power pricing is an important application in the smart grids. However, in the absence of a detailed user consumption model, it is difficult to set an optimal power price. In this paper, we propose to efficiently capture the user consumption behavior through a user-dependent acceptance price. Each rational user will decide its own acceptance price based on its desire to get served. Then, we model the selfish interaction between operator and users as a Stackelberg game, where the operator aims to maximize its profit, while the individual users try to pay the lowest price and be served in time. After each user selfishly declares its own acceptance price, the operator sets an optimal power price, based on the user feedback and taking into account the random output of the renewable power sources. Simulation results confirm that the operator can maximize its profit and the users get served in time, while the proposed scheme leads to the optimal usage of the renewable power production.

Error Performance of Multidimensional Lattice Constellations—Part II: Evaluation over Fading Channels

This is the second part of a two-part series of papers, where the error performance of multidimensional lattice constellations with signal space diversity (SSD) is investigated. In Part I, following a novel combinatorial geometrical approach which is based on parallelotope geometry, we have presented an exact analytical expression and two closed-form bounds for the symbol error probability (SEP) in Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN). In the present Part II, we extend the analysis and present a novel analytical expression for the Frame Error Probability (FEP) of multidimensional lattice constellations over Nakagami-m fading channels. As the FEP of infinite lattice constellations is lower bounded by the Sphere Lower Bound (SLB), we propose the Sphere Upper Bound (SUB) for block fading channels. Furthermore, two novel bounds for the FEP of multidimensional lattice constellations over block fading channels, named Multiple Sphere Lower Bound (MSLB) and Multiple Sphere Upper Bound (MSUB), are presented. The expressions for the SLB and SUB are given in closed form, while the corresponding ones for MSLB and MSUB are given in closed form for unitary block length. Numerical and simulation results illustrate the tightness of the proposed bounds which can be efficiently used to set the performance limits on the FEP of lattice constellations of arbitrary structure, dimension and rank.