M. de Courville

Cyclic prefixing or zero padding for wireless multicarrier transmissions

Zero padding (ZP) of multicarrier transmissions has been proposed as an appealing alternative to the traditional cyclic prefix (CP) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) to ensure symbol recovery regardless of the channel zero locations. In this paper, both systems are studied to delineate their relative merits in wireless systems where channel knowledge is not available at the transmitter. Two novel equalizers are developed for ZP-OFDM to tradeoff performance with implementation complexity. Both CP-OFDM and ZP-OFDM are then compared in terms of transmitter nonlinearities and required power backoff. Next, both systems are tested in terms of channel estimation and tracking capabilities. Simulations tailored to the realistic context of the standard for wireless local area network HIPERLAN/2 illustrate the pertinent tradeoffs.

Subspace-based blind and semi-blind channel estimation for OFDM systems

This paper proposes a new blind channel estimation method for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The algorithm makes use of the redundancy introduced by the cyclic prefix to identify the channel based on a subspace approach. Thus, the proposed method does not require any modification of the transmitter and applies to most existing OFDM systems. Semi-blind procedures taking advantage of training data are also proposed. These can be training symbols or pilot tones, the latter being used for solving the intrinsic indetermination of blind channel estimation. Identifiability results are provided, showing that in the (theoretical) situation where channel zeros are located on subcarriers, the algorithm does not ensure uniqueness of the channel estimation, unless the full noise subspace is considered. Simulations comparing the proposed method with a decision-directed channel estimator finally illustrates the performance of the proposed algorithm.

Orthogonal transmultiplexers in communication: a review

This paper presents conventional and emerging applications of orthogonal synthesis/analysis transform configurations (transmultiplexer) in communications. It emphasizes that orthogonality is the underlying concept in the design of many communication systems. It is shown that orthogonal filter banks (subband transforms) with proper time-frequency features can play a more important role in the design of new systems. The general concepts of filter bank theory are tied together with the application-specific requirements of several different communication systems. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to increase the visibility of emerging communication applications of orthogonal filter banks and to generate more research activity in the signal processing community on these topics.

MMSE analysis of certain large isometric random precoded systems

Linear precoding consists in multiplying by an N/spl times/K matrix a K-dimensional vector obtained by serial-to-parallel conversion of a symbol sequence to be transmitted. In this paper, new tools, borrowed from the so-called free probability theory, are introduced for the purpose of analyzing the performance of minimum mean-square error (MMSE) receivers for certain large random isometric precoded systems on fading channels. The isometric condition represents the case of precoding matrices with orthonormal columns. It is shown in this contribution that the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the equalizer output converges almost surely to a deterministic value depending on the probability distribution of the channel coefficients when N/spl rarr/+/spl infin/ and K/N/spl rarr//spl alpha//spl les/1. These asymptotic results are used to analyze the impact of orthogonal spreading as well as to optimally balance the redundancy introduced between linear precoding versus classical convolutional coding, while preserving a simple MMSE equalization scheme at the receiver.

A subspace based blind and semi-blind channel identification method for OFDM systems

A new subspace method performing the blind and semi-blind identification of the transmission channel suited to multicarrier systems with cyclic prefix (OFDM) is proposed in this paper. This technique has the advantage to preserve the classical OFDM emitter structure based on a cyclic prefix insertion. Therefore it applies to all existing standardized multicarrier systems (DAB, ADSL, etc.) and does not prevent the use of the classical very simple equalization scheme. Moreover the method detailed provides an unbiased channel estimation and is robust to channel order overdetermination provided that the channel frequency response has no zeroes located on a subcarrier.

Blind and semi-blind channel identification methods using second order statistics for OFDM systems

Two new blind channel identification methods suited to multicarrier system (OFDM) exploiting the redundancy introduced by the adjunction of a cyclic prefix at the emitter and relying on the evaluation of the received signal autocorrelation matrix are presented. The proposed algorithms are able to identify any channel without any constraint on their zeroes location (including non-minimum phase channels) and are robust to the addition of white noise. Moreover a further enhancement of the estimation accuracy can easily be achieved by taking advantage of already present training symbols in current systems operating in a semi-blind context. Furthermore one of the two identification strategies has a very low arithmetical complexity which makes it particularly attractive in practice. Notice that these methods are not restricted to classical DFT-type modulators and still apply with any perfect reconstruction modulator.

Reduced complexity equalizers for zero-padded OFDM transmissions

The widespread application of OFDM for local area mobile wireless broadband systems is strongly motivated by the simple equalization it affords. OFDMs bottleneck of channel-dependent performance was only previously addressed by replacing the cyclic prefix (CP) with trailing zeros (TZ). Such zero-padded OFDM transmissions enable FIR channel-irrespective symbol recovery which results in significant BER gains. The price paid is increased receiver complexity compared to the classical CP-OFDM. To reduce complexity, this paper proposes two novel equalizers for TZ-OFDM. One is based on an overlap and add approach and exhibits exactly the same performance and complexity as CP-OFDM. The second offers BER performance close to the TZ-OFDM MMSE equalizer and incurs a moderate complexity increase. An extension of an existing CP-OFDM pilot-based channel estimation method is also derived for the proposed equalization schemes. Simulations are conducted in a realistic HiperLAN/2 scenario comparing the various OFDM transceivers.

A pseudorandom postfix OFDM modulator - semi-blind channel estimation and equalization

This paper details a new orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) modulator based on the use of a pseudorandom postfix (PRP)-OFDM and discusses low-complexity equalization and channel estimation/tracking architectures. The main property of this new modulation scheme is the ability to estimate and track the channel variations semi-blindly using order-one statistics of the received signal. Compared with known cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) pilot-symbol-assisted modulation (PSAM) schemes, the pilot overhead is avoided: The channel estimation is performed based on the exploitation of pseudorandomly weighted postfix sequences replacing the guard interval contents of CP-OFDM. PRP-OFDM is shown to be of advantage if the target application requires 1) a minimum pilot overhead, 2) low-complexity channel tracking (e.g., high mobility context), and 3) adjustable receiver complexity/performance trade-offs (available due to the similarities of PRP-OFDM to the zero-padded OFDM (ZP-OFDM) modulation scheme) without requiring any feedback loop to the transmitter.

A pseudo random postfix OFDM modulator and inherent channel estimation techniques

The paper details a new OFDM modulator based on the use of a pseudo random postfix (PRP-OFDM) and low complexity equalization architectures. The main advantage of this new modulation scheme is the ability to estimate and track channel variations blindly using order one statistics of the received signal. This scheme is thus very well suited in the presence of large Doppler spreads where channel tracking becomes essential. Moreover, the proposal of various equalization structures, derived from the zero padded transmission schemes, allows implementations ranging from low-complexity/medium performance to increased-complexity/high performance.

OFDM with trailing zeros versus OFDM with cyclic prefix: links, comparisons and application to the HiperLAN/2 system

This paper proposes a simple equalizer for a multicarrier block transmission scheme which pads zeros (as opposed to a cyclic prefix) in each transmitted block. In the absence of high-power amplifier induced nonlinear effects, it is shown that the resulting scheme is simply the dual of the classical cyclic prefix OFDM transceiver. Comparison between the two systems that takes into account nonlinear distortions introduced by the clipper is also performed in the practical context of the wireless broadband 5 GHz HiperLAN/2 system. Both the classical pilot-based as well as novel (semi-) blind subspace algorithms are applied for channel estimation. The advantage of subspace methods in lowering the variation of channel tracking is corroborated with simulations which verify practically accurate channel estimates along the bursts.