In order to meet the ever-growing demand for mobile data, a number of different technologies have been adopted by the fourth generation standardization bodies. These include multiple access schemes such as spatial division multiple access (SDMA), and efficient modulation techniques such as orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based modulation. The specific objectives of this theses are to develop an effective feedback method for interference management in smart antenna SDMA systems and to design an efficient OFDM-based modulation technique, where an additional dimension is added to the conventional two-dimensional modulation techniques such as quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). In SDMA time division duplex (TDD) systems, where channel reciprocity is maintained, uplink (UL) channel sounding method is considered as one of the most promising feedback methods due to its bandwidth and delay efficiency. Conventional channel sounding (CCS) only conveys the channel state information (CSI) of each active user to the base station (BS). Due to the limitation in system performance because of co-channel interference (CCI) from adjacent cells in interference-limited scenarios, CSI is only a suboptimal metric for multiuser spatial multiplexing optimization. The first major contribution of this theses is a novel interference feedback method proposed to provide the BS with implicit knowledge about the interference level received by each mobile station (MS). More specifically, it is proposed to weight the conventional channel sounding pilots by the level of the experienced interference at the user’s side. Interference-weighted channel sounding (IWCS) acts as a spectrally efficient feedback technique that provides the BS with implicit knowledge about CCI experienced by each MS, and significantly improves the downlink (DL) sum capacity for both greedy and fair scheduling policies. For the sake of completeness, a novel procedure is developed to make the IWCS pilots usable for UL optimization. It is proposed to divide the optimization metric obtained from the IWCS pilots by the interference experienced at the BS’s antennas. The resultant new metric, the channel gain divided by the multiplication of DL and UL interference, provides link-protection awareness and is used to optimize both UL and DL. Using maximum capacity scheduling criterion, the link-protection aware metric results in a gain in the median system sum capacity of 26.7% and 12.5% in DL and UL respectively compared to the case when conventional channel sounding techniques are used. Moreover, heuristic algorithm has been proposed in order to facilitate a practical optimization and to reduce the computational complexity. The second major contribution of this theses is an innovative transmission approach, referred to as subcarrier-index modulation (SIM), which is proposed to be integrated with OFDM. The key idea of SIM is to employ the subcarrier-index to convey information to the receiver. Furthermore, a closed-form analytical bit error ratio (BER) of SIM OFDM in Rayleigh channel is derived. Simulation results show BER performance gain of 4 dB over 4-QAM OFDM for both coded and uncoded data without power saving policy. Alternatively, power saving policy maintains an average gain of 1 dB while only using half OFDM symbol transmit power.

The continuous advancement in wireless communications technology demands new approaches to improving the capacity of existing radio links. The high data throughput required can be achieved by the complete utilization of space, time and polarization diversities inherent in any propagation environment. Among the different propagation scenarios, the indoor channels represent a particularly challenging problem given the number and complexity of interactions between the transmitted signal and the environment. This dissertation explores the interrelation between propagation physics and space-time-polarization diversity based on a novel high resolution channel sounding and reconstruction technique. First, a method to reconstruct the indoor complex channel response based on a limited set of samples and the elimination of the interference using deconvolution techniques is presented. Then, the results for the joint angle-of-arrival, delay characterization and depolarization of electromagnetic waves are presented. Finally, a novel approach to using depolarized multipath signals to boost the receiver signal-to-noise performance is presented. The current study shows that full utilization of the diversities of channel novel wireless systems can be proposed with significant improvement in capacity.

En els darrers quinze anys la velocitat de bit dels sistemes de comunicació ionosfèrica s'ha incrementat significativament, passant dels 75 bps als 14400 bps en un ample de banda de 3 KHz. Les millores experimentades en el modelatge i simulació de canal, el desenvolupament dels sistemes ALE i l'aplicació de tècniques digitals (software radio, modulacions de banda ampla, etc.) són, entre altres, alguns dels motius que han permès aquest increment en les prestacions dels equips, fent-los aptes per comunicacions de llarga distància amb requeriments de velocitat de bit moderada.En particular, la propagació ionosfèrica és una tècnica especialment interessant per enllaços des de l'Antàrtida, on la comunicació amb satèl·lits geostacionaris no és sempre possible.El Departament de Comunicacions i Teoria del Senyal de l'Escola d'Enginyeria La Salle (Universitat Ramon Llull) està involucrat, juntament amb l'Observatori de L'Ebre, en un projecte de recerca que té per objectiu l'estudi de l'enllaç ionosfèric que s'estableix entre la Base Antàrtica Espanyola i Roquetes. L'enllaç, que té una longitud de més de 12700 quilòmetres, ha de servir per transmetre les dades procedents d'un sensor geomagnètic situat a la Base, cap a l'Observatori.Aquesta tesi estudia diversos aspectes d'aquest projecte, principalment pel que fa a la caracterització de canal i al disseny de la capa física adaptada per transmissió eficient de dades.En referència a la caracterització de canal es mostren els resultats d'una campanya de 60 dies de sondeig duta a terme durant l'estiu austral 2006/07 en la que s'han realitzat proves de banda estreta i banda ampla per tal d'obtenir, entre altres, la disponibilitat de l'enllaç, relació senyal a soroll i dispersió temporal i freqüencial.En l'àmbit de la transmissió de dades es proposa, justifica i verifica experimentalment una part d'una capa física basada en espectre eixamplat per seqüència directa especialment adaptada a enllaços a llocs remots: (i) Sense atribució de freqüències; (ii) Amb potència de transmissió relativament baixa; (iii) Infraestructura de radiació limitada. La proposta contempla el funcionament amb relacions SNR negatives, dispersió temporal i freqüencial moderada, robustesa a la interferència i baixa densitat espectral de potència. / En los últimos quince años la velocidad de bit de los sistemas de comunicación ionosférica se ha incrementado significativamente, pasando de los 75 bps a los 14400 bps en un ancho de banda de 3 kHz. Las mejoras experimentadas en el modelado y simulación del canal, el desarrollo de los sistemas ALE y la aplicación de técnicas digitales (software radio, modulaciones de banda ancha, etc.) son, entre otros, algunos de los motivos que han permitido este incremento en las prestaciones de los equipos, haciéndolos aptos para comunicaciones de larga distancia con requerimientos de velocidad de bit moderada.En particular, la propagación ionosférica es una técnica especialmente interesante para enlaces desde la Antártida, donde la comunicación con satélites geostacionarios no es siempre posible.El Departamento de Comunicaciones y Teoría de la Señal de la Escuela de Ingeniería La Salle (Universidad Ramon Llull) está involucrado, junto al Observatorio del Ebro, en un proyecto de investigación que tiene por objetivo el estudio del enlace ionosférico que se establece entre la Base Antártica Española y Roquetes. El enlace, que tiene una longitud de más de 12700 kilómetros, debe servir para transmitir los datos procedentes de un sensor geomagnético situado en la Base, hacia el Observatorio.Esta tesis estudia varios aspectos de este proyecto, principalmente por lo que respecta a la caracterización del canal y al diseño de la capa física adaptada para la transmisión eficiente de datos.En lo referente a la caracterización del canal se muestran los resultados de una campaña de 60 días de sondeo llevada a cabo durante el verano austral 2006/07 en la que se han realizado pruebas de banda estrecha y banda ancha para obtener, entre otros, la disponibilidad del enlace, relación señal a ruido y dispersión temporal y frecuencial.En el ámbito de la transmisión de datos se propone, justifica y verifica experimentalmente una parte de una capa física basada en espectro ensanchado por secuencia directa especialmente adaptada a enlaces a lugares remotos: (i) Sin atribución de frecuencias; (ii) Con potencia de transmisión relativamente baja; (iii) Infraestructura de radiación limitada. La propuesta contempla el funcionamiento con relaciones SNR negativas, dispersión temporal y frecuencial moderada, robustez a la interferencia y baja densidad espectral de potencia. / In the last fifteen years the data rate of the ionospheric communication systems has increased significantly from 75 bps to 14400 bps in a 3 KHz bandwidth. The improvements achieved in the field of channel modeling and simulation, ALE systems and the application of digital techniques (e.g. software radio, wideband modulations, etc.) have permitted the design of new equipment with better performance. As a result, the establishment of low power, very long radio links with moderate data rate has become feasible.In special, the ionospheric propagation technique is very appropriate for radio links from the Antarctica, where the communication to geostationary satellites is not always possible.The Communications and Signal Theory Department of La Salle School of Engineering (Universitat Ramon Llull) and the Observatori de l'Ebre are involved in a research project dealing with the study of an ionospheric radio link between the Spanish Antarctic Base and Roquetes. The link is 12700 Km. long and is going to be used to transmit the low data rate information from a geomagnetic sensor installed in the Spanish Antarctic Base.This thesis has been carried out in the framework of this project, and its goals are related to the channel characterization and the partial design of a physical layer adapted to an efficient transmission of information over that link.Regarding the channel characterization, the results of a 60-days sounding survey corresponding to the 2006/07 southern summer are shown. These results include, among others, link availability, signal to noise ratio and delay and Doppler spread.In the field of data transmission a new physical layer is proposed and experimentally verified, on the basis of the channel measurements and adapted to the requirements and the special conditions in the Antarctica. This physical layer is based on direct sequence spread spectrum and his main characteristics are: (i) Intended for an HF communication without a fixed frequency allocation; (ii) Low emitted power; (iii) Simple radiation infrastructure. The proposal takes into account the operation with negative signal to noise ratios, moderate delay and Doppler spreads, robustness against interference and low power spectral density.

Abstract This thesis concentrates on the design and evaluation of spatial user multiplexing methods via linear transmit-receive processing for wireless cellular multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication systems operating in the time-division duplexing (TDD) mode. The main focus is on the acquisition of effective channel state information (CSI) that facilitates decentralized processing so that the network nodes – base stations (BS) and user terminals (UT), each employing an arbitrary number of antenna elements – are able to locally participate in the network adaptation. The proposed methods rely on the uplink-downlink channel reciprocity and spatially precoded over-the-air pilot signaling. Considering (single-cell) multi-user MIMO systems, coordinated zero-forcing transmit-receive processing schemes for the uplink (UL) are proposed. The BS computes the transmission parameters in a centralized manner and employs downlink (DL) pilot signals to convey the information of the beamformers to be used by the UTs. When coexisting with the DL zero-forcing, the precoded DL demodulation pilots can be reused for UL beam allocation, and the precoded UL demodulation pilots are reused in turn for partial channel sounding (CS). As a result, only the precoded pilot symbols are needed in both UL and DL. Moreover, a concept for reducing the number of the required orthogonal UL CS pilot resources is presented. Based on their DL channel knowledge, the multi-antenna UTs form fewer pilot beams by spatial precoding than conventionally needed when transmitting antenna-specific pilots. In the context of DL zero-forcing, when taking into account the CSI estimation error at the BS, the overhead reduction turns out to improve robustness and increase the average system capacity. Considering multi-cell multi-user MIMO systems, decentralized coordinated DL beamforming strategies based on weighted sum rate (WSR) maximization are proposed. An optimization framework where the WSR maximization is carried out via weighted sum mean-squared-error minimization is utilized, and the approach is generalized by employing antenna-specific transmit power constraints. The iterative processing consists of optimization steps that are run locally by the BSs. In one novel strategy, the coordinating cells update their transmit precoders and receivers one cell at a time, which guarantees monotonic convergence of the network-wide problem. The strategy employs separate uplink CS and busy burst pilot signaling to reveal the effective channels of the UTs to the neighboring BSs. In another novel strategy, the monotonic convergence is sacrificed to devise a faster scheme where the BSs are allowed to optimize their variables in parallel based on just the CS responses and additional low-rate backhaul information exchange. The numerical results demonstrate that WSR maximization has the desirable property that spatial user scheduling is carried out implicitly. Finally, methods for UL CS overhead reduction are presented, and the effect of CSI uncertainty is addressed. / Tiivistelmä Tämä väitöskirja keskittyy lineaarisella lähetys- ja vastaanottoprosessoinnilla toteutettavien tilajakomonikäyttömenetelmien suunnitteluun ja arviointiin langattomissa moniantennisissa solukkoverkoissa, jotka hyödyntävät aikajakodupleksointia (TDD). Erityisesti tarkastellaan efektiivisen kanavatiedon hankintaa, joka mahdollistaa hajautetun prosessoinnin siten että verkkoelementit – tukiasemat ja terminaalit, jotka kukin hyödyntävät useaa antennielementtiä – voivat osallistua paikallisesti verkon adaptaatioon. Esitetyt menetelmät perustuvat ylä- ja alalinkin kanavien resiprookkisuuteen ja tilatasossa esikoodattuun opetus- eli pilottisignalointiin ilmarajapinnan yli. Yksisoluisille monikäyttäjä- ja moniantennijärjestelmille esitetään ylälinkin koordinoituja nollaanpakottavia lähetys- ja vastaanottomenetelmiä. Tukiasema laskee lähetysparametrit keskitetysti ja käyttää pilottisignaaleja kertomaan millaista lähetyskeilanmuodostusta terminaalien tulee käyttää. Alalinkin nollaanpakotuksen yhteydessä esikoodattuja demodulaatiopilotteja voidaan uudelleenkäyttää ylälinkin lähetyskeilojen allokointiin, ja esikoodattuja ylälinkin demodulaatiopilotteja uudelleenkäytetään puolestaan osittaiseen kanavan luotaukseen (sounding). Näin ollen molempiin suuntiin tarvitaan vain esikoodatut pilotit. Lisäksi työssä esitetään menetelmä ylälinkin luotauspilottiresurssitarpeen vähentämiseksi. Kanavatietoon perustuen moniantenniset terminaalit muodostavat tilatasossa esikoodattuja pilottilähetyskeiloja, joita tarvitaan vähemmän kuin perinteisiä antennikohtaisia pilotteja. Kun otetaan huomioon kanavanestimointivirhe tukiasemassa, resurssiensäästömenetelmä parantaa häiriösietoisuutta ja nostaa järjestelmän keskimääräistä kapasiteettia alalinkin nollaanpakotuksen yhteydessä. Monisoluisille monikäyttäjä- ja moniantennijärjestelmille esitetään hajautettuja koordinoituja alalinkin keilanmuodostusstrategioita, jotka perustuvat painotetun summadatanopeuden (WSR) maksimointiin. Valitussa optimointikehyksessä WSR:n maksimointi toteutetaan painotetun summaneliövirheen minimoinnin kautta, ja työssä menettelytapa yleistetään antennikohtaisten lähetystehorajoitusten tapaukseen. Iteratiivinen prosessointi koostuu optimointiaskelista, jotka tukiasemat paikallisesti suorittavat. Yhdessä esitetyssä strategiassa yhteistoiminnalliset solut päivittävät lähettimensä ja vastaanottimensa yksi solu kerrallaan, mikä takaa verkonlaajuisen ongelmanratkaisun monotonisen konvergenssin. Tämä strategia käyttää erillisiä ylälinkin luotaussignaaleja sekä varattu-signaaleja ilmaistakseen terminaalien efektiiviset kanavat naapuritukiasemille. Toisessa strategiassa monotoninen konvergenssi uhrataan ja kehitetään nopeammin adaptoituva menetelmä, jossa tukiasemat saavat optimoida muuttujansa rinnakkain, perustuen vain luotaussignaaleihin ja tukiasemien väliseen informaationvaihtoon. Numeeriset tulokset osoittavat, että WSR:n maksimointi toteuttaa aktiivisten käyttäjien valinnan tilatasossa implisiittisesti. Lopuksi esitetään menetelmiä luotauspilottiresurssitarpeen vähentämiseksi ja käsitellään kanavatiedon epävarmuuden vaikutusta.

Existing unified numerical electromagnetic methods are often unable to analyze electrically large structures due to the amount of memory and processing power required, necessitating approximate analyses with limited applicability. In this research a hybrid modeling methodology is adopted to solve these complex problems more efficiently than unified numerical methods and more accurately than analytical methods. Electromagnetic modeling problems are divided into two or more levels of scale. Each level analyzes a specific level of detail and only promotes the required information to the next level. The method is demonstrated by successful application to three important problems: (1) remote sensing of snow, (2) modeling an optical Bragg resonator, and (3) modeling the MIMO wireless channel. First, complex snow media is analyzed with a hybrid FDTD/radiative transfer model. FDTD is used to compute phase matrices and extinction coefficients required for radiative transfer. Comparison with exact analytical methods proves the validity of the FDTD method for modest domain sizes ([5λ^3]) and number of Monte Carlo realizations (32). The method is used to illustrate a penetrating sphere model, which is not possible with existing analysis techniques. Backscatter from the resulting model is about 3 times higher than that of existing dense-medium theories, underlying the importance of exact characterization of the media. Second, a hybrid FD/FDTD/S-parameter analysis is developed to model a large (10^4 section) optical Bragg resonator: a simple FD method computes propagation constants and field profiles, FDTD analysis provides reflection and transmission coefficients for the single section, and S-parameter analysis combines the sections to obtain the complete device response. A detailed study on error suggests that the method provides better than 2% accuracy in reflection and transmission response. Third, a hybrid electromagnetic/SVA model is developed to study the indoor MIMO wireless channel. A MIMO measurement platform is discussed for simultaneous probing of up to 16 transmit and receive antennas, which was required to assess the validity of later modeling. FDTD or MOM antenna analysis coupled with the SVA model gives capacity predictions which match measured data. The model is used to explore the impact of antenna spacing, directivity, and polarization on channel capacity. Closely spaced antennas lead to an approximate halving of receive power. Directivity effectively doubles receive power for aligned transmit and receive. Dual polarization increases system capacity anywhere from 10% to 70%, depending on the spacing of elements and the amount of multipath richness. This analysis of MIMO systems underlines the need for models that describe both multipath richness and average receive power.

La integración de tecnologías de ulta-wideband, radio-cognitiva y MIMO representa una herramienta podersoa para mejorar la eficiencia espectral de los sistemas de comunicación inalámbricos. En esta dirección, nuevas estrategias para el modelado de canales MIMO y su caracterización se hacen necesarias si se desea investigar cómo la frecuencia central y el acho de banda afectan el desempeño de los sistemas MIMO. Investigaciones preliminares han enfocado menos atención en cómo estos parámetros afectan las características del canal MIMO. Se presenta una caracterización del canal MIMO en función de la frecuencia, abondándose puntos de vista experimentales y teóricos. Los problemas indicados tratan cinco áreas principales: medidas, post-procesado de datos, generación sintética del canal, estadística multivariable para datos y modelado del canal. Se ha diseñado y validado un sistema de medida basado en un analizador vectorial de redes y se han ejecutado medidas entre 2 y 12 GHz en condiciones estáticas, tanto en línea de vista como no línea de vista. Se ha propuesto y validado un procedimiento confiable para post-procesado, generación sintética de canal y análisis experimental basado en medidas en el dominio de frecuencia. El procedimiento experimental se ha focalizado en matrices de transferencia del canal para casos no selectivos en frecuencia, estimándose además las matrices complejas de covarianza, aplicándose la factorización de Cholesky sobre ls CCM y obteniéndose finalmente matrices de coloreado del sistema. Se presenta un procedimiento de corrección para generación sintética del canal aplicado a casos MIMO de grandes dimensiones y cuando la CCM es indefinida. Este CP permite la factorización de Cholesky y de dichas CCM. Las características multivariables de los datos experimentales han sido investigadas, realizándose un test de normalidad compleja multivariable. / García Ariza, AP. (2009). Modelling and experimental analysis of frequency dependent MIMO channels [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/6563