This thesis presents simulation data on array operation in wideband communication systems. It is shown that array structures with closer inter-element spacing outperform structures with much larger inter-element spacing. It is also shown that circular structures outperform linear structures. This performance difference between the classifications of arrays is due largely to the circular array's ability to handle high levels of interference. Even though a diversity combining scheme (MRC) was used in the simulator, the arrays provided interference rejection capabilities due to the closely spaced antenna elements. Though diversity does provide a gain in received signal, relative to the faded signal, realized diversity gain only comes about once interference has been mitigated. This thesis work showed that in an environment with a lot of interferers, the rejection of those interferers by an array is of utmost importance, even more than fading mitigation. / Master of Science

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) has recently gained a lot of attention and is a potential candidate for Fourth Generation (4G) wireless systems because it promises data rates up to 10Mbps. A variation of OFDM is Multi-Carrier CDMA (MC-CDMA) which is an OFDM technique where the individual data symbols are spread using a spreading code in the frequency domain. The spreading code associated with MC-CDMA provides multiple access technique as well as interference suppression. Often times in cellular and military environments the desired signal can be buried below interference. In such conditions, the processing gain associated with the spreading cannot provide the needed interference suppression. This research work investigates multi-antenna receivers for OFDM and MC-CDMA systems; specifically this works investigates adaptive antenna algorithms for MC-CDMA for very different channel conditions. Frequency domain beamforming is studied in this research predominantly through simulation. As an alternative a time domain beamforming is also studied. Time variations in the channel can disrupt the orthogonality between subcarriers. Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) detection coupled with MMSE beamforming is proposed for time varying channels. Semi-analytic results are derived to study the Bit Error Rate (BER) performance. These results show significant performance improvement in the presence of interference. Joint MMSE weights in space and frequency is also investigated and semi-analytic results are derived to study their BER performance. / Master of Science

This thesis describes the design and implementation of a 4-channel microphone array that is an adaptive beamformer used for hands-free telephony in a noisy environment. The microphone signals are amplified, then sent to an A/D converter. The microprocessor board takes the data from the 4 channels and utilizes digital signal processing to determine the direction-of-arrival of the sources and create an output which 'steers' the microphone array to the desired look direction while trying to minimize the energy of interference sources and noise. All of the processing for this thesis will be done on a computer using MATLAB. The MUSIC algorithm is used for direction finding in this thesis. It is shown to be effective in estimating direction-of-arrival for 1 speech source and 2 speech sources that are spaced fairly apart, with significant results down to a -5 dB SNR even. The MUSIC algorithm requires knowledge of the number of sources a priori, requiring an estimator for the number of sources. Though proposed estimators for the number of sources were examined, an effective estimator was not encountered for the case where there are multiple speech sources. Beamforming methods are examined which utilize knowledge of the source direction-of-arrival from the MUSIC algorithm. The input is split into 6 subbands such that phase-steered beamforming would be possible. Two methods of phase-steered beamforming are compared in both narrowband and wideband scenarios, and it is shown that phase-steering the array to the desired source direction-of-arrival has about 0.3 dB better beamforming performance than the simple time-delay steered beamformer using no subbands. As the beamforming solution is inadequate to achieve desired results, a generalized sidelobe canceler (GSC) is developed which incorporates a beamformer. The sidelobe canceler is evaluated using both NLMS and RLS adaptation. The RLS algorithm inherently gives better results than the NLMS algorithm, though the computational complexity renders the solution impractical for implementation with today's technology. A testing setup is presented which involves a linear 4-microphone array connected to a DSP chip that collects the data. Tests were done using 1 speech source and a model of the car noise environment. The sidelobe canceler's performance using 6 subbands (phase-delay GSC) and using 1 band (time-delay GSC) with NLMS updating are compared. The overall SNR improvement is determined from the signal and noise input and output powers, with signal-only as the input and noise-only as the input to the GSC. The phase-delay GSC gives on average 7.4 dB SNR improvement while the time-delay GSC gives on average 6.2 dB SNR improvement. / Master of Science

With usable spectrum becoming increasingly more congested, the need for robust, adaptive communications to take advantage of spatially-separated signal sources is apparent. Traditional phased array beamforming techniques used for interference removal rely on perfect calibration between elements and precise knowledge of the array configuration; however, if the exact array configuration is not known (unknown or imperfect assumption of element locations, unknown mutual coupling between elements, etc.), these traditional beamforming techniques are not viable, so a blind beamforming approach is required. A novel blind beamforming approach is proposed to address complex narrow-band interference environments where the precise array configuration is unknown. The received signal is decomposed into orthogonal narrow-band partitions using a polyphase filter-bank channelizer, and a rank-reduced version of the received matrix on each sub-channel is computed through reconstruction by retaining a subset of its singular values. The wideband spectrum is synthesized through a near-perfect polyphase reconstruction filter, and a composite wideband spectrum is obtained from the maximum eigenvector of the resulting covariance matrix.The resulting process is shown to suppress numerous interference sources (in special cases even with more than the degrees of freedom of the array), all without any knowledge of the primary signal of interest. Results are validated with both simulation and wireless laboratory over-the-air experimentation. / M.S. / As the number of devices using wireless communications increase, the amount of usable radio frequency spectrum becomes increasingly congested. As a result, the need for robust, adaptive communications to improve spectral efficiency and ensure reliable communication in the presence of interference is apparent. One solution is using beamforming techniques on digital phased array receivers to maximize the energy in a desired direction and steer nulls to remove interference. However, traditional phased array beamforming techniques used for interference removal rely on perfect calibration between antenna elements and precise knowledge of the array configuration. Consequently, if the exact array configuration is not known (unknown or imperfect assumption of element locations, unknown mutual coupling between elements, etc.), these traditional beamforming techniques are not viable, so a beamforming approach with relaxed requirements (blind beamforming) is required. This thesis proposes a novel blind beamforming approach to address complex narrow-band interference in spectrally congested environments where the precise array configuration is unknown. The resulting process is shown to suppress numerous interference sources, all without any knowledge of the primary signal of interest. Results are validated with both simulation and wireless laboratory experimentation conducted with a two-element array, verifying that proposed beamforming approach achieves a similar performance to the theoretical performance bound of receiving packets in AWGN with no interference present.

This master thesis aimed to gain knowledge about the field of "adaptive array antenna systems for mobile satellite communication" and develop algorithms to control hardware equipment. We were able to set up and configure a beamformer to receive radio frequency (RF) signals using an array antenna. To do this we tested several development environments before settling on Python script programming using the Thonny editor. We created several plots of antenna patterns using both rectangular and polar coordinate systems, and developed Python code to generate animations and vector figures of the results. We also used different algorithms to control the pointing direction of the array antenna and examine the RF signal strength under various conditions. The results of our work can be used in future research to increase the robustness and flexibility of satellite communication and help provide redundancy against communication disruptions. To apply the findings of this master thesis more closely to a real-life application, we suggest using an field-programmable gate array (FPGA) to calculate and control beamforming, as the Raspberry Pi 4 computer used in this project is too slow for real-time processing. We also recommend using 2D-arrays instead of the 1D-array used in this project, which would allow for control of the beam lobe in both azimuth and elevation. Another suggestion is to build smaller blocks of 2D-array antennas connected with synchronized clocks into larger antenna arrays, which would result in improved performance. This was a challenging and rewarding project that provided valuable insights into a topic with many potential future applications within e.g. satellite communications, radar technology and mobile telephony.

Dans cette thèse, des méthodes de caractérisation acoustique passive et active de systèmes acoustiques à deux ports sont présentées, basées sur une décomposition d’ondes planes en entrée et sortie. Cette décomposition est réalisée par la méthode du beamforming. Ces méthodes mises en place et validées sur des géométries simples, sont ensuite employées pour caractériser l’étage compresseur d’un turbocompresseur de suralimentation automobile. La caractérisation acoustique active se fait par la mesure de la puissance et de l’intensité acoustique dans les conduits du compresseur, ceci pour des points de fonctionnement spécifiques, des cartographies compresseur complètes sont également élaborées. Les essais ont été menés sur banc turbo, banc moteur et sur véhicule complet. La caractérisation acoustique passive est abordée par le calcul de matrices du compresseur (matrice de transfert, matrice d’impédance et matrice de diffusion). Le calcul de la perte par transmission acoustique est déduit de ces matrices. Des essais ont été réalisés et comparés à des simulations éléments finis 3D sur un turbocompresseur statique comme sur un turbocompresseur opérationnel. / In this thesis, methodologies to perform the acoustic passive and active characterization of two port systems are presented. These methods are based on plane wave decomposition made at the inlet and at the outlet of the system. This decomposition is made according beamforming technique. Once these methods were validated on simple geometries, they were then applied to the compressor stage of an automotive turbocharger. The active acoustic characterization is made by the measurement of the acoustic power and acoustic intensity in the compressor ducts on given working points, but also on complete compressor maps. This was performed on turbocharger benches, engine benches and a complete vehicle. The passive acoustic characterization is made by the calculation of characteristic matrices (transfer matrix, impedance matrix and scattering matrix). These matrices are then used to compute the acoustic transmission loss. Experiments were performed on a static turbocharger and compared to 3D finite elements simulations, as well as experiments on an operating turbocharger.

Adaptive beamforming is a. powerful approach to receive or transmit signals of interest in a spatially selective way in the presence of interference and noise. Recently, there has been renewed interest in adaptive beamforming driven by applications in wireless communications, where multiple-input multiple-output (MEMO) techniques have emerged as one of the key technologies to accommodate the high number of users as well as the increasing demand for new high data rate services. Beamforming techniques promise to increase the spectral efficiency of next generation wireless systems and are currently being incorporated in future industry standards. Although a significant amount of research has focused on theoretical capacity analysis, little is known about the performance of such systems in practice. In thesis, I experimentally and analytically evaluate the performance of adaptive beamforming techniques on the downlink channel of a wireless LAN. To this end. I present the design and implementation of the first multi-user beam-forming system and experimental framework for wireless LANs. Next, I evaluate the benefits of such system in two applications. First, I investigate the potential of beamforming to increase the unicast throughput through spatial multiplexing. Using extensive measurements in an indoor environment, I evaluate the impact of user separation distance, user selection, and user population size on the multiplexing gains of multi-user beamforming. I also evaluate the impact of outdated channel information due to mobility and environmental variation on the multiplexing gains of multi-user beamforming. Further, I investigate the potential of beamforming to eliminate interference at unwanted locations and thus increase spatial reuse. Second, I investigate the potential of adaptive beamforming for efficient wireless multicasting. I address the joint problem of adaptive beamformer design at the PHY layer and client scheduling at the MAC layer by proposing efficient algorithms that are amenable to practical implementation. Next, I present the implementation of the beamforming based multicast system on the WARP platform and compare its performance against that of omni-directional and switched beamforming based multicast. Finally, I evaluate the performance of multicast beamforming under client mobility and infrequent channel feedback, and propose solutions that increase its robustness to channel dynamics.

The high amount of scientific and communications data produced by low earth orbiting satellites necessitates economical methods of communication with these satellites. A volumetric phased array for demonstrating horizon-to-horizon electronic tracking of the NASA satellite EO-1 was developed and demonstrated. As a part of this research, methods of optimizing the elemental antenna as well as the antenna on-board the satellite were investigated. Using these optimized antennas removes the variations in received signal strength that are due to the angularly dependent propagation loss exhibited by the communications link. An exhaustive study using genetic algorithms characterized two antenna architectures, and included optimizations for radiation pattern, bandwidth, impedance, and polarization. Eleven antennas were constructed and their measured characteristics were compared to those of the simulated antennas. Additional studies were conducted regarding the optimization of aperiodic arrays. A pattern-space representation of volumetric arrays was developed and used with a novel tracking algorithm for these arrays. This algorithm allows high-resolution direction finding using a small number of antennas while mitigating aliasing ambiguities. Finally, a method of efficiently applying multiple beam synthesis using the Fast Fourier Transform to aperiodic arrays was developed. This algorithm enables the operation of phased arrays combining the benefits of aperiodic element position with the efficiency of FFT multiple beam synthesis. Results of this research are presented along with the characteristics of the volumetric array used to track EO-1. Experimental data and the interpretations of that data are presented, and possible areas of future research are discussed.

Afin de répondre à la demande croissante du nombre d'objets connectés et de débits de données plus élevés, la cinquième génération de réseau mobile (5G) va être déployée.Pour répondre à ces défis, la 5G utilisera le beamforming pour améliorer la qualité de transmission et étendre la couverture du réseau. En raison du manque de spectre RF disponible en dessous de 6 GHz, l'industrie de la téléphonie mobile étudie actuellement les bandes de fréquences millimétriques en particulier autour de 28 GHz. L'utilisation de la technologie CMOS pour les applications 5G apparait prometteuse pour le marché de masse que vise la 5G, d'autant qu'aujourd'hui la miniaturisation des transistors CMOS permet un fonctionnement compétitif aux fréquences millimétriques. Pour répondre à toutes les attentes de la 5G notamment en termes de fiabilité, de nouvelles idées en rupture, avec le self-healing et le self-contained, permettent d’utiliser au maximum les avantages de la technologie CMOS tout en proposant un fonctionnement fiable pou rl’amplificateur. Dans le cadre du self-healing et du self-contained, plusieurs circuits son tintégrés sur silicium tel qu'un amplificateur intégrant un détecteur de puissance totalement non invasif pour le self-healing et un amplificateur équilibré pour le selfcontained. / In order to meet the growing demand for more connected objects and higher data rates,the fifth generation of mobile network (5G) will be deployed. To address thesechallenges, the 5G will use beamforming to improve the transmission quality and extendthe network coverage. Due to the lack of available RF spectrum below 6 GHz, the mobileindustry is studying millimeter wave frequency bands in particular around 28 GHz. Theuse of CMOS technology for 5G applications is promising for the 5G mass market,especially nowadays the miniaturization of CMOS transistors allows competitiveoperation at millimeter frequencies. To meet all the expectations of the 5G especially interms of reliability, new breakthrough ideas, with the self-healing and the selfcontained,allow to use all the benefits of CMOS technology to the maximum whileoffering reliable operation for the amplifier. Within the framework of self-healing andself-contained, several circuits are integrated on silicon such as an amplifier integratedwith a totally non-invasive power detector for self-healing and a balanced self-containedamplifier.

La recherche effectuée dans cette thèse a pour cadre les réseaux radio privés dédiés aux forces de sécurité civile. En effet, doté actuellement d’un service bande étroite, ils doivent évoluer pour faire face à de nouveaux besoins comme la vidéo ou le multimédia. L’objectif est donc d’adapter la technologie LTE aux contraintes et propriétés de ces réseaux particulier. Ainsi, le nombre d’utilisateurs est limité mais le service doit toujours être disponible et des priorités peuvent être mises en œuvre.Dans ce contexte, l’allocation des ressources de communication est un problème important avec des prérequis différents des réseaux d’opérateurs. Notre conception d’algorithmes d’allocation a donc été menée avec deux objectifs principaux : maximiser l'efficacité du spectre et servir équitablement les utilisateurs au lieu de maximiser le débit global du réseau.Cette thèse propose des nouvelles stratégies de l’allocation des blocs de ressources (RB) dans les systèmes LTE sur le lien descendant. Au contraire des algorithmes classiques d'allocation des ressources qui se basent sur la capacité de RB déjà estimée, nos stratégies d’allocation des RB cherchent à améliorer le débit utilisateur, en utilisant la coopération à base de Beamforming et les modèles de la théorie des jeux.1. L’interférence inter-cellulaire est le principal problème des systèmes OFDMA. Grâce aux antennes MIMO (Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output), la technique de Beamforming améliore le signal reçu afin d'augmenter le SINR (Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise-Ratio), mais le signal amélioré peut également influencer l’interférence inter-cellulaire dans les cellules voisines. Dans les méthodes traditionnelles, le contrôleur alloue les RBs aux UEs (User Equipement) en fonction de la capacité des RB et d'autres paramètres, le système applique alors la technique de Beamforming aux équipements utilisateurs choisis. Après la formation des faisceaux, la capacité des RB varie mais l'ordonnanceur conserve la même allocation. Au contraire, notre système alloue les RBs et choisit les vecteurs de Beamforming conjointement pour améliorer les performances de la technique de Beamforming. Il accroît le débit moyen en augmentant la capacité moyenne du RB. Comme plusieurs paramètres sont pris en compte, la complexité augmente exponentiellement aussi. Dans cette thèse, nous avons développé une méthode itérative pour réduire la complexité. Notamment, elle améliore de plus de 10% le débit des utilisateurs en bord de la cellule.2. Contrairement aux performances des algorithmes qui maximisent le débit global du réseau, les approches d’allocation de ressources à base de théorie des jeux maximisent la fonction d'utilité des UE du point de vue économique. Si le modèle a une solution NBS (Nash Bargaining Solution) il offre une solution optimale de Pareto de la fonction d'utilité. L’allocation traditionnelle est d'optimiser l'allocation de sous-porteuses à chaque intervalle de temps, mais dans le système OFDMA, les sous-porteuses sont formées de RBs dans le temps. Nous proposons une approche RB NBS, qui est plus efficace que les schémas existants. Nous analysons les canaux de fast-fading et les comparons sans l'influence de l’atténuation. En raison de la grande atténuation de signal en bordure de la cellule, l’utilisateur a toujours des RB de plus faible capacité que celui au centre de la cellule. Notre idée est d'ajouter un facteur de compensation pour combattre l'influence de la perte de propagation. Les facteurs de compensation sont soigneusement choisis afin de maximiser la fonction NBS. Cependant, le calcul de ces facteurs a une grande complexité et nous développons quatre solutions approchées qui donnent les mêmes performances avec une bonne précision. L'évaluation des performances de notre approche confirme que notre méthode et ses solutions approchées sont capables de partager équitablement les ressources sur toute la cellule. / This research takes place in the context of Private Mobile Radio networks evolution which aims at designing a new LTE based PMR technology dedicated to public security services. As the frequency bands dedicated to this service is scarce and the need of public safety forces is different, we have revisited the Resource Allocation problem in this thesis with two main objectives: designing new allocation algorithms which outperform the spectrum efficiency and serving fairly the users instead of maximizing the global network throughput.This thesis proposes new Resource Block (RB) allocation strategies in LTE downlink systems. Instead of the well-known resource allocation algorithms, which work on the condition that the RB capacity is already estimated, our RB allocation schemes can improve the potential of the channel capacity, using Beamforming cooperation and game-theoretical problems1. With the MIMO (Multiple-Input-Multiple-output) antennas, the Beamforming technique improves the received signal in order to increase the SINR (Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise-Ratio), but the improved signal may also influence the inter-cell interference in the neighbouring cells. As inter-cell interference is the main interference in the OFDMA system, a smart scheduling can choose UEs (User Equipment) in adjacent cells to control interference increment caused by Beamforming.In traditional methods, the scheduler allocates RBs to UEs depending on the RB capacities and other parameters, the system then applies the Beamforming technique to these chosen UEs. After the Beamforming, the RB capacity varies but the scheduler keeps the same allocation.Our scheme allocates the RBs and chooses Beamforming vectors at the same time to enhance the performance of the Beamforming technique. It increases the average throughput by increasing the RB’s average capacity. Because more parameters are taken into account, the complexity also increases exponentially. In the thesis we find an iterative method to reduce the complexity. From the simulations, our iterative method also has good performance and improves more than 10% of throughput on the cell edge.2. In contrast to the performance first algorithms, game theoretic allocation schemes maximize the UEs’ utility function from the economical point of view. The NBS (Nash Bargaining Solution) offers a Pareto optimal solution for the utility function.The traditional NBS allocation in an OFDMA system is to optimize the subcarrier allocation at each time slot, but in the OFDMA system, the subcarriers are composed of Resource Blocks (RB) in time series. We propose an RB NBS approach, which is more efficient than the existing subcarrier NBS allocation scheme.We analyze the fast-fading channels and compare them without the path-loss influence. Because of the great path-loss in cell edge, the edge UE always has lower RB capacity than the cell center UE. Our idea is to bring in a compensating factor to overcome this path-loss influence, and the compensating factors are carefully chosen to maximize the NBS function. However, the computation of these factors has a high complexity and we develop four approximated solutions which give same performance and accuracy. The performance evaluation confirms that our method and its approximated solutions are able to spread resources fairly over the entire cell.