Panayotis G. Cottis

Satellite communications at KU, KA, and V bands: Propagation impairments and mitigation techniques

This article surveys the alternative fade mitigation techniques for satellite communication systems operating at Ku, Ka and V frequency bands. The specific phenomena influencing the propagation of radiowaves on Earth-space links are also overviewed. Emphasis is placed on modeling, experimental work carried out in the past, and practical implementations related to each mitigation technique.

MIMO over Satellite: A Review

The present article carries out a review of MIMO-based techniques that have been recently proposed for satellite communications. Due to the plethora of MIMO interpretations in terrestrial systems and the particularities of satellite communications, this review is built on two pillars, namely fixed satellite and mobile satellite. Special attention is given to the characteristics of the satellite channel, which will ultimately determine the viability of MIMO over satellite. Finally, some future research directions are identified.

Hybrid wireless-broadband over power lines: A promising broadband solution in rural areas

In rural areas, due to the low population density and the poor familiarization with new technologies, new projects related to broadband access are less profitable. In this article a hybrid wireless-broadband over power lines network, suitable for rural and remote areas is presented, offering smart grid applications and broadband access along a 107 km medium voltage power grid in Larissa, a rural area in central Greece. This hybrid solution exploits the ubiquitous presence of the power grid along with the adaptability and accessibility of wireless technology. Through the design and implementation of this hybrid network many aspects of BPL technology were successfully dealt with demonstrating that, in addition to enhancing the power grid performance, W-BPL technology may be considered as an alternative broadband solution in rural and/or sparsely populated areas.

Long-term rain attenuation probability and site diversity gain prediction formulas

Simple models for long-term induced rain attenuation on a slant path and site diversity gain are presented in this work. As verified by numerous tests against the ITU-R databank and other data from the literature, the proposed models exhibit a very good performance. The novel slant path rain attenuation prediction model compared to the ITU-R one exhibits a similar behavior at low time percentages and a better root-mean-square error performance for probability levels above 0.02%. Moreover, comparing the proposed site diversity gain model with other widely accepted models from the literature, an improved performance is observed for distances less than 15 km, while the model performs equally well for greater distances. Furthermore, a sensitivity test between the proposed and Hodges formula with respect to the separation distance D is also carried out. While the lower limit of the proposed model is found to be D=1.7 km, its extension covering large-scale site diversity is successfully compared with experimental data coming from Japan. The set of presented models exhibits the advantage of easy implementation with little complexity and is considered useful for educational and back of the envelope computations.

Multi-satellite MIMO communications at Ku-band and above: investigations on spatial multiplexing for capacity improvement and selection diversity for interference mitigation

This paper investigates the applicability of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology to satellite communications at the Ku-band and above. After introducing the possible diversity sources to form a MIMO matrix channel in a satellite environment, particular emphasis is put on satellite diversity. Two specific different topics from the field of MIMO technology applications to satellite communications at these frequencies are further analyzed: (i) capacity improvement achieved by MIMO spatial multiplexing systems and (ii) interference mitigation achieved by MIMO diversity systems employing receive antenna selection. In the first case, a single-user capacity analysis of a satellite MIMO spatial multiplexing system is presented and a useful analytical closed form expression is derived for the outage capacity achieved. In the second case, a satellite MIMO diversity system with receive antenna selection is considered, adjacent satellite cochannel interference on its forward link is studied and an analytical model predicting the interference mitigation achieved is presented. In both cases, an appropriate physical MIMO channel model is assumed which takes into account the propagation phenomena related to the frequencies of interest, such as clear line-of-sight operation, high antenna directivity, the effect of rain fading, and the slant path lengths difference. Useful numerical results obtained through the analytical expressions derived are presented to compare the performance of multi-satellite MIMO systems to relevant single-input single-output (SISO) ones.

Properties of the dyadic Green's function for an unbounded anisotropic medium

Radiation in an unbounded anisotropic medium is treated analytically by studying the dyadic Greens function of the problem, initially expressed as a triple Fourier integral which is next reduced to a double one. Under certain conditions, the existence of incoming waves is verified. It is also found that exponentially decaying waves are possible in such media. Finally, the existence of branch points in the remaining integrand function is investigated, and appropriate branch cuts are proposed. >

Intercell Radio Interference Studies in Broadband Wireless Access Networks

Capacity has become of primary importance in broadband wireless access (BWA) networks due to the ever-increasing demand for multimedia services and the possibility of providing wireless Internet, leading to their standardization by IEEE (802.16 WirelessMAN) and ETSI (BRAN HIPERACCESS). The major factor limiting capacity in such systems is interference originating from adjacent cells, namely intercell interference. This paper presents a general analysis of intercell interference for a spectrally efficient BWA cellular configuration. It examines the statistical properties of the carrier-to-interference ratio in both downstream and upstream channels. The focus is on the spatial inhomogeneity of rain attenuation over multiple paths, which is the dominant fading mechanism in the frequency range above 20 GHz, especially when two-layered [i.e., line-of-sight (LOS) and non-LOS] architectures are involved. Besides attenuation from precipitation, various architectural and propagation aspects of local multipoint distribution service systems are investigated through simulations, and worst-case interference scenarios are identified

Adaptive Routing Strategies in IEEE 802.16 Multi-Hop Wireless Backhaul Networks Based On Evolutionary Game Theory

The high frequency segment (10-66 GHz) of the IEEE 802.16 standard seems promising for the implementation of wireless backhaul networks carrying large volumes of Internet traffic. In contrast to wireline backbone networks, where channel errors seldom occur, routing decisions in IEEE 802.16 networks are conditioned by wireless channel impairments rather than by congestion, exclusively. This renders a cross-layer routing approach between the routing and the physical layers more appropriate during fading periods. In this paper, an adaptive cross-layer routing scheme is presented based on the selection of the most reliable path in terms of packet error ratio (unipath routing). The paper argues that routing Internet traffic through wireless backhaul networks is modeled more realistically employing evolutionary rather than conventional game theory. The stability of the proposed routing algorithm is proven and the dependence of the speed of convergence on various physical layer parameters is investigated. Is is also shown that convergence may be further accelerated by increasing the amount of information from the physical layer, specifically the physical separation between the alternative paths provided to the routing layer.

Dual polarization MIMO in LMS broadcasting systems: Possible benefits and challenges

The benefits of employing dual polarization in wireless multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems are only recently becoming apparent due to the continuous measurement and modeling efforts by the terrestrial research community. Land mobile satellite (LMS) broadcasting systems exhibit distinct channel, system and geometrical characteristics and are subjected to stringent spatial limitations compared to terrestrial wireless. Therefore, it remains to be investigated which operating conditions favor the joint instead of the independent encoding/decoding over the two polarizations of satellite beams. After outlining the relevant progress made in wireless dual polarization MIMO systems, the present work carries out a thorough comparison between the joint and independent encoding/decoding approaches in typical single-satellite LMS systems exploiting state-of-the-art building blocks. This comparative analysis investigates both the capacity and error performance under a fair framework between systems occupying the same resources. Since the same analytical tools are used for both terrestrial and satellite dual polarization systems, the present paper may also serve as an analytical bridge between the two. Copyright

Energy efficiency in wireless sensor networks: A game-theoretic approach based on coalition formation

A coalitional game theoretic scheme is proposed that aims at maximizing wireless sensor network lifetime under specified QoS. Employing a small number of nodes of increased computing power and lifetime called representatives, an adaptive clustering scheme is proposed where neighboring nodes form coalitions in order to increase energy efficiency at the cost of controllable data-accuracy reduction. The coalition formation is globally optimized by the representatives. The spatial correlation of the sensed phenomenon measurements is exploited to formulate a cooperation scheme that reduces drastically the number of node transmissions. The specifications regarding the accuracy of the collected data determine the extent of coalition formation. The efficiency and stability of the proposed coalitional scheme are studied through simulations.