Thomas G. Pratt

Broadband MIMO-OFDM wireless communications

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a popular method for high data rate wireless transmission. OFDM may be combined with antenna arrays at the transmitter and receiver to increase the diversity gain and/or to enhance the system capacity on time-varying and frequency-selective channels, resulting in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration. The paper explores various physical layer research challenges in MIMO-OFDM system design, including physical channel measurements and modeling, analog beam forming techniques using adaptive antenna arrays, space-time techniques for MIMO-OFDM, error control coding techniques, OFDM preamble and packet design, and signal processing algorithms used to perform time and frequency synchronization, channel estimation, and channel tracking in MIMO-OFDM systems. Finally, the paper considers a software radio implementation of MIMO-OFDM.

Wideband MIMO Mobile-to-Mobile Channels: Geometry-Based Statistical Modeling With Experimental Verification

A 3-D reference model for wideband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) mobile-to-mobile (M-to-M) channels is reviewed along with its corresponding first- and second-order channel statistics. To validate the reference model, an experimental MIMO M-to-M channel-sounding campaign was conducted for M-to-M vehicular communication with vehicles that travel along surface streets and expressways in a metropolitan area. To compare the first- and second-order channel statistics that were obtained from the reference model with those obtained from the empirical measurements, a new maximum-likelihood-based stochastic estimator is derived to extract the relevant model parameters from the measured data. The measured data is processed and compared with the analytical results. The close agreement between the analytically and empirically obtained channel statistics confirms the utility of the proposed reference model and the method for estimating the model parameters.

OFDM link performance with companding for PAPR reduction in the presence of non-linear amplification

Use of companding for peak-to-average-power ratio (PAPR) control is explored for a link involving a nonlinear transmit power amplifier with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). Specifically, the objective of the study was to determine if companding using u-law compression/expansion at the transmitter/receiver, respectively, provides end-to-end performance gains relative to a system without companding. We consider the use of companding to ameliorate the impact of nonlinearities in the transmit amplifier. In the absence of companding, transmitter operation near saturation raises the signal level at the receiver but, because of the nonlinearities in the amplifier response, also results in distortion that impacts overall link performance. As the transmit power is backed-off from saturation, amplifier distortion is reduced, but error components due to lower SNR at the receiver become more significant. When companding is introduced in the system, the system is able to operate closer to saturation without substantial transmit distortion. However, requisite expansion of the compressed signal at the receiver yields noise amplification which can counteract any of the performance gains that would otherwise accrue from the increased SNR at the receiver. At issue is whether or not operating conditions exist (e.g., backoff, SNR, amplifier linearity model, etc) for which companding enhances the end-to-end performance relative to the link performance without companding. System simulation models were employed using Rapps nonlinear power amplification models, where average symbol distance errors were used as performance metrics. We found that companding can provide very modest performance gains in comparison to systems that do not employ companding. Performance trends were corroborated in a hardware testbed with an amplifier chain, where average bit error rates were experimentally determined.

Implementation and experimental results of a three-transmitter three-receiver OFDM/BLAST testbed

A three-transmitter three-receiver orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing Bell Laboratories layered space-time testbed is set up, which achieves a peak data rate of 281.25 Mb/s and a spectral efficiency of 14.4 b/Hz/s. The transmitter of the testbed consists of three signal generators transmitting three independent OFDM signals at 25 Msamples/s synchronously. Three synchronized receiving links are used, each of which includes an RF receiver, an analog-to-digital converter, a digital downconverter, and a PowerPC processor for baseband processing. The performance and complexity of three typical BLAST detection techniques (linear detection, ordered decision feedback detection, and partial decision detection) are evaluated and compared using the data from the experiments conducted in both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight indoor environments.

A software radio testbed for two-transmitter two-receiver space-time coding OFDM wireless LAN

A real-time testbed based on the technology of software radio is adopted to efficiently evaluate cutting-edge technologies in wireless communications, and thus becomes a valuable tool for both academic research and system prototyping. In this article we describe a software radio testbed, established in the software radio laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology, used to implement a physical layer similar to IEEE 802.11a space-time coded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing. The testbed consists of a 2 x 2 multiple-input multiple-output configuration with powerful digital signal processor chains, high-speed data exchange interfaces, and many advanced subsystem modules, such as high-speed high-resolution analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, digital up/downconverters, and wideband RF transmit and receive front-ends with synchronous channels and programmable settings. The design methodology and implementation for key algorithms, such as time, sampling, and frequency synchronization, and channel estimation and compensation are discussed. The experimental data obtained from a typical indoor environment demonstrates that the prototype is capable of providing 30 Mb/s peak data rate, operating at the central frequency of 2.435 GHz with a spectral occupancy of 6.25 MHz. Spatial-temporal diversity gain associated with space-time coding is verified by the experimental results.

A high-speed four-transmitter four-receiver MIMO OFDM testbed: experimental results and analyses

By adopting multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) technologies, indoor wireless systems could reach data rates up to several hundreds of Mbits/s and achieve spectral efficiencies of several tens of bits/Hz/s, which are unattainable for conventional single-input single-output systems. The enhancements of data rate and spectral efficiency come from the fact that MIMO and OFDM schemes are indeed parallel transmission technologies in the space and frequency domains, respectively. To validate the functionality and feasibility of MIMO and OFDM technologies, we set up a four-transmitter four-receiver OFDM testbed in a typical indoor environment, which achieves a peak data rate of 525 Mbits/s and a spectral efficiency of 19.2 bits/Hz/s. The performances including MIMO channel characteristics, bit-error rate against signal-to-noise ratio curves, the impairments of carrier frequency offset and channel estimation inaccuracy, and an asymmetric MIMO scheme are reported and analyzed in this paper.

Statistical modelling and experimental verification for wideband MIMO mobile-to-mobile channels in urban environments

A three-dimensional reference model for wideband multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) mobile-to-mobile (M-to-M) channels is reviewed. To validate the reference model, an experimental MIMO M-to-M channel-sounding campaign was conducted for M-to-M vehicular communication with vehicles travelling along surface streets of a metropolitan area. The measured data is processed and the first- and second-order channel statistics obtained from the reference model and from the empirical measurements are compared. The close agreement between the analytically and empirically obtained channel statistics confirms the utility of the proposed reference model.

Analysis of OFDM/MC-CDMA under channel estimation and jamming

The BER degradation caused by imperfect channel estimation as well as the adverse effect of jamming on pilot symbols, which are used for the channel estimation (CE), is often neglected while analyzing OFDM und MC-CDMA systems leading to over-optimistic results. Therefore, to provide a more realistic analysis, we analyze the vulnerability of pilot symbol aided CE schemes for OFDM/MC-CDMA systems to narrowband and partial band jamming. We derive closed form BER expressions for studying the effect of imperfect CE for OFDMA/MC-CDMA in the absence of jamming in a frequency selective Rayleigh fading environment. We extend these results via simulations and theory (wherever permitted by mathematical tractability) to account for jamming. Some possible solutions such as the use of boosted pilots and the use of jamming side information, whenever available, to excise the jammed pilots or provide MMSE equalization are proposed to reduce the impact of jamming on the CE.

Polarization-based interference mitigation for OFDM signals in channels with polarization mode dispersion

A dual-polarized antenna architecture is used in channels exhibiting polarization mode dispersion to investigate polarization-based interference suppression. In a wireless experiment, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals are transmitted from a slant-45deg polarized antenna and received with a dual-polarized antenna. The vertical (V) and horizontal (H) received complex baseband samples are corrupted by synthesized broadband interference with arbitrary polarization. Channel estimates are formed for each subcarrier of the received OFDM signal and minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) weights are computed to maximize the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) with a single interferer. We find that this sub-band processing approach improves the performance relative to full-band processing because of the polarization mode dispersion found in a typical wireless channel.

Analytical Framework for Optimal Combining With Arbitrary-Power Interferers and Thermal Noise

The performance of multiple-input-multiple-output systems with optimum combining (OC) is studied in a Rayleigh fading environment with arbitrary-power cochannel interference and thermal noise. Based on the joint eigenvalue distributions of quadratic functions of complex Gaussian matrices, a closed-form expression for the exact distribution of the output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) is derived. A closed-form expression for the exact moment-generating function (MGF) of the output SINR of single-input-multiple-output (SIMO) systems is also derived. From the exact MGF, the moments of the output SINR and the symbol error rate of various M-ary modulation schemes are obtained. We verify the accuracy of our analytical results with numerical examples. The new analytical framework provides a simple and accurate way to assess the effects of equal- and unequal-power cochannel interferers and thermal noise on the performance of OC.