Mustafa Ergen

Channel estimation techniques based on pilot arrangement in OFDM systems

Channel estimation techniques for OFDM systems based on a pilot arrangement are investigated. Channel estimation based on a comb type pilot arrangement is studied through different algorithms for both estimating the channel at pilot frequencies and interpolating the channel. Channel estimation at pilot frequencies is based on LS and LMS methods while channel interpolation is done using linear interpolation, second order interpolation, low-pass interpolation, spline cubic interpolation, and time domain interpolation. Time-domain interpolation is obtained by passing to the time domain by means of IDFT (inverse discrete Fourier transform), zero padding and going back to the frequency domain by DFT (discrete Fourier transform). In addition, channel estimation based on a block type pilot arrangement is performed by sending pilots in every sub-channel and using this estimation for a specific number of following symbols. We have also implemented a decision feedback equalizer for all sub-channels followed by periodic block-type pilots. We have compared the performances of all schemes by measuring bit error rates with 16QAM, QPSK, DQPSK and BPSK as modulation schemes, and multipath Rayleigh fading and AR based fading channels as channel models.

Performance Analysis of Slotted Carrier Sense IEEE 802.15.4 Medium Access Layer

Advances in low-power and low-cost sensor networks have led to solutions mature enough for use in a broad range of applications varying from health monitoring to building surveillance. The development of those applications has been stimulated by the finalization of the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, which defines the medium access control (MAC) and physical layer for sensor networks. One of the MAC schemes proposed is slotted carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA), and this paper analyzes whether this scheme meets the design constraints of those low-power and low-cost sensor networks. The paper provides a detailed analytical evaluation of its performance in a star topology network, for uplink and acknowledged uplink traffic. Both saturated and unsaturated periodic traffic scenarios are considered. The form of the analysis is similar to that of Bianchi for IEEE 802.11 DCF only in the use of a per user Markov model to capture the state of each user at each moment in time. The key assumptions to enable this important simplification and the coupling of the per user Markov models are however different, as a result of the very different designs of the 802.15.4 and 802.11 carrier sensing mechanisms. The performance predicted by the analytical model is very close to that obtained by simulation. Throughput and energy consumption analysis is then performed by using the model for a range of scenarios. Some design guidelines are derived to set the 802.15.4 parameters as function of the network requirements.

QoS aware adaptive resource allocation techniques for fair scheduling in OFDMA based broadband wireless access systems

A system based on orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) has been developed to deliver mobile broadband data service at data rates comparable to those of wired services, such as DSL and cable modems. We consider the resource allocation problem of assigning a set of subcarriers and determining the number of bits to be transmitted for each subcarrier in OFDMA systems. We compare simplicity, fairness and efficiency of our algorithm with the optimal and proposed suboptimal algorithms for varying values of delay spread, number of users and total power constraint. The results show that the performance of our approach is appealing and can be close to optimal. We also consider another resource allocation scheme in which there is no fixed QoS requirements per symbol but capacity is maximized.

A study of channel estimation in OFDM systems

The channel estimation techniques for OFDM systems based on pilot arrangement are investigated. The channel estimation based on comb type pilot arrangement is studied through different algorithms for both estimating channel at pilot frequencies and interpolating the channel. The estimation of channel at pilot frequencies is based on LS and LMS while the channel interpolation is done using linear interpolation, second order interpolation, low-pass interpolation, spline cubic interpolation, and time domain interpolation. Furthermore, the channel estimation based on block type pilot arrangement is performed by sending pilots at every sub-channel and using this estimation for a specific number of following symbols. We have also implemented a decision feedback equalizer for all sub-channels followed by periodic block-type pilots. We have compared the performances of all schemes by measuring bit error rate with 16QAM, QPSK and DQPSK as modulation schemes, and multipath Rayleigh fading and AR based fading channels as channel models.

WTRP - wireless token ring protocol

The wireless token ring protocol (WTRP) is a novel medium access control (MAC) protocol for wireless local area networks (WLANs). In contrast with IEEE 802.11 networks, WTRP guarantees quality of service (QoS) in terms of bounded latency and reserved bandwidth, which are critical in many real-time applications. Compared to 802.11, WTRP improves efficiency by reducing the number of retransmissions due to collisions, and it is more fair as all stations use the channel for the same amount of time. Stations take turns transmitting and give up the right to transmit after a specified amount of time. WTRP is a distributed protocol that supports many topologies, as not all stations need to be connected to each other or to a central station. WTRP is robust against single node failures, and recovers gracefully from multiple simultaneous faults. WTRP is suitable for interaccess point coordination in ITS DSRC, safety-critical vehicle-to-vehicle communications, and home networking, and provides extensions to other networks and Mobile IP.

Throughput analysis and admission control for IEEE 802.11a

We propose a new Markov model for the distributed coordination function (DCF) of IEEE 802.11. The model incorporates carrier sense, non-saturated traffic and SNR, for both basic and RTS/CTS access mechanisms. Analysis of the model shows that the throughput first increases, and then decreases with the number of active stations, suggesting the need for an admission control mechanism.We introduce such a mechanism, which tries to maximize the throughput while maintaining a fair allocation. The maximum achievable throughput is tracked by the mechanism as the number of active stations increases. An extensive performance analysis shows that the mechanism provides significant improvements.

Distributed cognitive coexistence of 802.15.4 with 802.11

Thanks to recent advances in wireless technology, a broad range of standards are currently emerging. Interoperability and coexistence between these heterogeneous networks are becoming key issues, which require new adaptation strategies to avoid harmful interference. In this paper, we focus on the coexistence of 802.11 Wireless LAN and 802.15.4 sensor networks in the ISM band. Those networks have very different transmission characteristics that result in asymmetric interference patterns. We propose distributed adaptation strategies for 802.15.4 nodes, to minimize the impact of the 802.11 interference. This interference varies in time, frequency and space and the sensor nodes adapt by changing their frequency channel selection over time. Different distributed techniques are proposed, based on scanning (with increasing power cost) on the one hand, and based on increased cognition through learning on the other hand. These techniques are evaluated both for performance and energy cost. We show that it is possible to achieve distributed frequency allocation approaches that result only in an increase of 20% of the delay performance compared to ideal frequency allocation. Moreover, it is shown that a factor of two in energy consumption can be saved by adding learning to the system

Lifetime analysis of a sensor network with hybrid automata modelling

In this paper, we focus on TinyOS, an event-based operating system for networked sensor motes. We show how to model TinyOS as a hybrid automata with HyTech and verify the correct operation of the system by using safety verification feature of HyTech. Since lifetime is an important metric for sensor nodes that are planned to be deployed once and unattended for long periods of time without maintenance, we perform power analysis of a sensor node by using trace generation feature of HyTech. Furthermore, we simulate a tree sensor network of TinyOS motes by using the programming language SHIFT to determine the lifetime of the network as a function of the distance from the central data collector.

Multichannel Medium Access Control for Dedicated Short-Range Communications

This paper describes a medium access control (MAC) protocol to enable multichannel operation for dedicated short-range communications (DSRCs). In particular, we focus on the challenge of supporting potentially high-bandwidth commercial or infotainment communications between vehicles and the roadside in hotspots over several service channels, while concurrently enabling time-critical vehicle-vehicle communications for safety in a separate channel. In our architecture, within hotspots, the communication is aided by one of the access points in the hotspot. This access point is designated as the coordinating access point (CAP). Outside the hotspots, the communication is for safety only and is conducted in an ad hoc fashion. The CAP protocol design leverages IEEE 802.11 point coordination function (PCF) and distributed coordination function (DCF), which are modified for multichannel operation. The design objective is to maximize the utilization of the service channel that is used for nonsafety communications while meeting the quality-of-service (QoS) constraints of the safety communications. The performance of the IEEE 802.11 DCF and PCF and the CAP extension is quantified by simulation in NS-2. The mobility model represents a four-lane freeway at maximum vehicular traffic flow that is derived from the SHIFT traffic simulator. The CAP design is shown to significantly enhance the performance of safety and nonsafety communications.

Decomposition of Energy Consumption in IEEE 802.11

We derive formulas for the energy J(n) that a stations radio consumes when it transmits 1 MB of data in an IEEE 802.11 network with n stations. Calculations show that J(ra) grows approximately linearly with n, for n ges 4. The useful energy consumed in successful transmission and reception of data is constant; the remaining energy is wasted. When n = 15, the waste amounts to 80 percent of total energy, and this proportion grows with n. More than 60 percent of the waste is due to overhearing - reception of packets intended for another station. Overhearing can be eliminated by using information in RTS/CTS packets.