Zugl.: Zürich, Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2009

The aim of the thesis is to find out the most suitable channel estimation algorithms for the existing MIMO-OFDM SDR platform. Starting with the analysis of several prevalent channel estimation algorithms, MSE performance are compared under different scenarios. As a result of the hardware independent analysis, the complexvalued matrix computations involved in the algorithms are decomposed to real FLoating-point OPerations (FLOPs). Four feasible algorithms are selected for hardware dependent discussion based on the proposed hardware architecture. The computational latency is exposed as a manner of case study.

Abstract The multiple–input multiple–output (MIMO) technique, applying several transmit and receive antennas in wireless communications, has emerged as one of the most prominent technical breakthroughs of the last decade. Wideband MIMO parameter estimation and its applications to the MIMO orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO–OFDM) channel estimation and mobile positioning are studied in this thesis. Two practical MIMO channel models, i.e., correlated-receive independent-transmit channel and correlated-transmit-receive channel, and associated space-time parameter estimation algorithms are considered. Thanks to the specified structure of the proposed training signals for multiple transmit antennas, the iterative quadrature maximum likelihood (IQML) algorithm is applied to estimate the time delay and spatial signature for the correlated-receive independent-transmit MIMO channels. For the correlated-transmit-receive MIMO channels, the spatial signature matrix corresponding to a time delay can be further decomposed in such a way that the angle of arrival (AOA) and the angle of departure (AOD) can be estimated simultaneously by the 2-D unitary ESPRIT algorithm. Therefore, the combination of the IQML algorithm and the 2-D unitary ESPRIT algorithm provides a novel solution to jointly estimate the time delay, the AOA and the AOD for the correlated-transmit-receive MIMO channels. It is demonstrated from the numerical examples that the proposed algorithms can obtain good performance at a reasonable cost. Considering the correlated-receive independent-transmit MIMO channels, channel coefficient estimation for the MIMO–OFDM system is studied. Based on the parameters of the correlated-receive independent-transmit MIMO channels, the channel statistics in terms of the correlation matrix are developed. By virtue of the derived channel statistics, a joint spatial-temporal (JST) filtering based MMSE channel estimator is proposed which takes full advantage of the channel correlation properties. The mean square error (MSE) of the proposed channel estimator is analyzed, and its performance is also demonstrated by Monte Carlo computer simulations. It is shown that the proposed JST minimum mean square error (MMSE) channel estimator outperforms the more conventional temporal MMSE channel estimator in terms of the MSE when the signals in the receive antenna array elements are significantly correlated. The closed form bit error probability of the space-time block coded OFDM system with correlation at the receiver is also developed by taking the channel estimation errors and channel statistics, i.e., correlation at the receiver, into account. Mobile positioning in the non-line of sight (NLOS) scenarios is studied. With the knowledge of the time delay, the AOA and the AOD associated with each NLOS propagation path, a novel geometric approach is proposed to calculate the MS's position by only exploiting two NLOS paths. On top of this, the least squares and the maximum likelihood (ML) algorithms are developed to utilize multiple NLOS paths to improve the positioning accuracy. Moreover, the ML algorithm is able to estimate the scatterers' positions as well as those of the MSs. The Cramer-Rao lower bound related to the position estimation in the NLOS scenarios is derived. It is shown both analytically and through computer simulations that the proposed algorithms are able to estimate the mobile position only by employing the NLOS paths.

Echo state network (ESN) is a specific neural network structure composed of high dimensional nonlinear dynamics and learned readout weights. This thesis considers applying ESN for symbol detection in multiple-input, multiple-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) systems. A new ESN structure, namely, windowed echo state networks (WESN) is introduced to further improve the symbol detection performance. Theoretical analysis justifies WESN has an enhanced short-term memory (STM) compared with the standard ESN such that WESN can offer better computing ability. Additionally, the bandwidth spent as the training set is the same as the demodulation reference signals defined in 3GPP LTE/LTE-Advanced systems for the ESN/WESN based symbol detection. Meanwhile, a unified training framework is developed for both comb and scattered pilot patterns. Complexity analysis demonstrates the advantages of ESN/WESN based symbol detector compared to conventional symbol detectors such as linear minimum mean square error (LMMSE) and sphere decoder when the system is employed with a large number of OFDM sub-carriers. Numerical evaluations show that ESN/WESN has an improvement of symbol detection performance as opposed to conventional methods in both low SNR regime and power amplifier (PA) nonlinear regime. Finally, it demonstrates that WESN can generate a better symbol detection result over ESN. / Artificial neural networks (ANN) are widely used in recognition tasks such as recommendation systems, robotics path planning, self-driving, video tracking, image classifications, etc. To further explore the applications of ANN, this thesis considers using a specific ANN, echo state network (ESN) for a wireless communications task: MIMO-OFDM symbol detection. Furthermore, it proposed an enhanced version of the standard ESN, namely, windowed echo state network (WESN). Theoretical analyses on the short term memory (STM) of ESN and WESN show that the later one has a longer STM. Besides, the training set size of this ESN/WESN based method is chosen the same as the pilot symbols used in conventional communications systems. The algorithm complexity analysis demonstrates the ESN/WESN based method performs with lower complexity compared with conventional methods, such as linear mean square error (LMMSE) and sphere decoding. Comprehensive simulations examine how the symbol detection performance can be improved by using ESN and its variant WESN when the transmission link is non-ideal.

Abstract Uplink resource allocation strategies in modern cellular networks are studied in this thesis. With the presence of multiple antenna transmission, multiple base station (BS) coordination and multicarrier techniques, the resource allocation problem is reformulated and jointly optimized over a large set of variables. The focus is on the sum power minimization with per user rate constraints. A centralized multicarrier coordinated cellular network with multiple antennas implemented at the BS side is considered, where BSs can be adaptively clustered to detect signals from one mobile station (MS). The power, subcarrier, beamforming vector and BS cluster (BSC) are the design variables to be jointly optimized to satisfy the rate constraint per user. The first considered scenario is a simple single carrier multicell system. The power control problem with per user rate constraint can be optimally solved by the proposed algorithm, where power vector, BSC and beamforming vectors are separately updated until the sum power converges. The scenario is extended to more complicated multicarrier systems. The resource allocation problem is non-deterministic polynomial-time hard (NP-hard). Suboptimal algorithms are proposed to tackle the problem. To get more insights to the performance gap between the proposed algorithms and the capacity achieving bound, the scenario is specified to a single cell system with nonlinear receiver so that the calculation of the lower bound is possible. Efficient geometric aided fast converging power minimization algorithms are proposed to calculate the power bound of the multiple access channel (MAC) with per user rate constraint. By comparing the capacity achieving lower bound with the proposed algorithm, the BSW that starts from full rate allocation looks promising to have a good tradeoff between the convergence speed and the sum power consumption. Besides the resource allocation algorithms in the cellular network, the physical modeling and corresponding design of the network itself are also considered. The radio propagation in the elevation domain is modeled and considered. The diversity gain from the elevation domain is achieved by extra degree of freedom of beamforming in elevation domain. The antenna array can be either a uniform linear array or a uniform planar array with elements placed horizontally. The proposed power control algorithms are simulated in the 3D network scenarios. The effects of antenna array design in different propagation scenarios are compared. / Tiivistelmä Työssä tutkitaan ylälinkin resurssien kohdentamisstrategioita matkapuhelinverkoissa. Olettaen koordinointi useiden monikantoaaltotekniikoita käyttävien moniantennitukiasemien (BS) välillä, resurssien kohdentamisongelma muotoillaan uudelleen ja optimoidaan yli suuren joukon optimointimuuttujia. Erityisesti keskitytään yhteenlasketun tehon minimointiongelmaan käyttäjäkohtaisien siirtonopeusrajoitteiden kanssa. Työssä oletetaan keskitetty koordinointi useiden monikantoaaltotekniikoita käyttävien moniantennitukiasemien välillä, joten tukiasemat voidaan adaptiivisesti ryhmitellä yhden matkaviestimen signaalin havannointia varten. Lähetysteho, kantoaaltoallokaatio, keilanmuodostus ja tukiasemaklusterointi ovat ongelman muuttujia, jotka optimoidaan yhdessä siten, että käyttäjäkohtaiset siirtonopeusrajoitteet täyttyvät. Ensimmäinen käsitelty tapaus on yksinkertainen yhden operaattorin monisolujärjestelmä. Tehonsäätöongelma käyttäjäkohtaisten siirtonopeusrajoitusten kanssa voidaan optimaalisesti ratkaista ehdotetulla algoritmilla, jossa lähetysteho, keilanmuodostusvektorit ja tukiasemaklusterointi päivitetään erikseen, kunnes yhteenlaskettu teho suppenee. Tarkastelu laajennetaan monimutkaisempaan monikantoaaltojärjestelmään. Kun käyttäjäkohtainen siirtonopeustavoite kiinnitetään, ongelma voidaan vastaavasti hajottaa osittaisiksi alikantoaaltokohtaisiksi osaongelmiksi, jossa kukin osaongelma voidaan optimaalisesti ratkaista. Jos alikantoaaltokohtaista siirtonopeustavoitetta ei ole kiinnitetty, tehonsäätöongelmasta tulee ei-polynomisesti monimutkainen. Optimaalisia algoritmeja ehdotetaan ongelman ratkaisemiseksi. Jotta voitaisiin saada tietoa todellisesta suorituskykyerosta ehdotettujen algoritmien ja kapasiteettioptimaalisen rajan välillä, vertailu tehdään yhden solun simulointimallissa epälineaarisen vastaanottimen kanssa siten, että kapasiteettioptimaalisen alarajan laskeminen on mahdollista. Tätä varten kehitetään tehokas geometria-avusteinen ja nopeasti konvergoituva algoritmi tehon minimointia varten käyttäjäkohtaisten siirtonopeusrajoitusten kanssa. Vertaamalla kapasiteettioptimaalista alarajaa ehdotettujen algoritmien suorituskykyyn huomataan, että ehdotettu BSW algoritmi on hyvä kompromissi konvergoitumisnopeuden ja tehonkulutuksen välillä. Matkapuhelinverkkojen resurssienkohdentamisalgoritmien lisäksi työssä huomioidaan myös verkon fyysinen mallintaminen ja vastaava suunnittelu. Työssä mallinnetaan radiokanavan ominaisuudet myös korkeustasossa, joka mahdollistaa diversiteetin hyödyntämisen korkeustason keilanmuodostuksessa. Antenniryhmä voi olla joko yhtenäinen lineaarinen ryhmä tai yhtenäinen tasoryhmä, jossa antennielementit on sijoitettu tasoon. Ehdotettuja tehonsäätöalgoritmeja simuloidaan kolmiulotteisessa verkkoskenaarioissa, jossa verrataan antenniryhmäsuunnittelun vaikutuksia eri radiokanavaskenaarioissa.

FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / Atualmente a internet à uma ferramenta largamente utilizada e o grande desenvolvimentoe popularidade de tecnologias de acesso sem-fio (wireless) nos levam a um futuro no qual uma conexÃo caracterizada por estar disponÃvel âanytime, anywhereâ, ou seja, a qualquer hora e em qualquer lugar, serà essencial. Tal caracterÃstica à considerada obrigatÃria em sistemas4G (quarta geraÃÃo), mas para uma experiÃncia satisfatÃria para o usuÃrio à necessÃrio que uma conexÃo segura e eficiente esteja disponÃvel. A fim de obter tal eficiÃncia, a comunidade de pesquisa tem gerado algumas soluÃÃes promissoras que obtÃm ganhos significativos no desempenho do sistema, tais como modulaÃÃo e codificaÃÃo adaptativas, codificaÃÃo espaÃo-temporal, mÃltiplas antenas e canais MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output ), modulaÃÃo multiportadora, detecÃÃo multiusuÃrio, etc. [1]. Dentre essas soluÃÃes, destaca-se a adaptaÃÃo do sistema, ou seja, o sistema deve estar em constante adaptaÃÃo para obter sempre o melhor desempenho possÃvel para cada situaÃÃo em que se encontra. No entanto, uma importante premissa para a adaptaÃÃo do sistema consiste em conhecer o estado atual em que o sistema se encontra (informaÃÃo sobre o canal de comunicaÃÃo). Para isso diversas tÃcnicas de estimaÃÃo de canal sÃo propostas na literatura, cada uma possuindo vantagens e desvantagens. Nesse trabalho o impacto da estimaÃÃo de canal na adaptaÃÃo de enlace à analisado atravÃs de simulaÃÃes computacionais1. Em particular, duas tÃcnicas de estimaÃÃo de canal com caracterÃsticas diferentes sÃo analisadas, para alguns cenÃrios especÃficos em um sistema MIMO-OFDM (Multiple Input Multiple Output - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ), atravÃs de uma mÃtrica que considera tanto a redundÃncia introduzida para estimar o canal quanto o erro de estimaÃÃo de canal de cada tÃcnica. Os resultados encontrados constituem curvas que podem ser utilizadas para efetuar a adaptaÃÃo de enlace do sistema de maneira mais realista, ou seja, considerando o efeito da estimaÃÃo de canal, alÃm de incluir a prÃpria tÃcnica de estimaÃÃo de canal como um parÃmetro a ser adaptado. / Atualmente a internet à uma ferramenta largamente utilizada e o grande desenvolvimentoe popularidade de tecnologias de acesso sem-fio (wireless) nos levam a um futuro no qual uma conexÃo caracterizada por estar disponÃvel âanytime, anywhereâ, ou seja, a qualquer hora e em qualquer lugar, serà essencial. Tal caracterÃstica à considerada obrigatÃria em sistemas4G (quarta geraÃÃo), mas para uma experiÃncia satisfatÃria para o usuÃrio à necessÃrio que uma conexÃo segura e eficiente esteja disponÃvel. A fim de obter tal eficiÃncia, a comunidade de pesquisa tem gerado algumas soluÃÃes promissoras que obtÃm ganhos significativos no desempenho do sistema, tais como modulaÃÃo e codificaÃÃo adaptativas, codificaÃÃo espaÃo-temporal, mÃltiplas antenas e canais MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output ), modulaÃÃo multiportadora, detecÃÃo multiusuÃrio, etc. [1]. Dentre essas soluÃÃes, destaca-se a adaptaÃÃo do sistema, ou seja, o sistema deve estar em constante adaptaÃÃo para obter sempre o melhor desempenho possÃvel para cada situaÃÃo em que se encontra. No entanto, uma importante premissa para a adaptaÃÃo do sistema consiste em conhecer o estado atual em que o sistema se encontra (informaÃÃo sobre o canal de comunicaÃÃo). Para isso diversas tÃcnicas de estimaÃÃo de canal sÃo propostas na literatura, cada uma possuindo vantagens e desvantagens. Nesse trabalho o impacto da estimaÃÃo de canal na adaptaÃÃo de enlace à analisado atravÃs de simulaÃÃes computacionais1. Em particular, duas tÃcnicas de estimaÃÃo de canal com caracterÃsticas diferentes sÃo analisadas, para alguns cenÃrios especÃficos em um sistema MIMO-OFDM (Multiple Input Multiple Output - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ), atravÃs de uma mÃtrica que considera tanto a redundÃncia introduzida para estimar o canal quanto o erro de estimaÃÃo de canal de cada tÃcnica. Os resultados encontrados constituem curvas que podem ser utilizadas para efetuar a adaptaÃÃo de enlace do sistema de maneira mais realista, ou seja, considerando o efeito da estimaÃÃo de canal, alÃm de incluir a prÃpria tÃcnica de estimaÃÃo de canal como um parÃmetro a ser adaptado. / Nowadays the internet is a widely used tool and the great development and popularity of wireless technologies leads us to a future where the connectivity will be characterized as âanywhere, anytimeâ. Such characteristic is considered essential in 4G systems. However, for a satisfactory user experience a secure and efficient connectivity has to be always available. To obtain such efficiency, the research community has generated a number of promising solutions that achieve significative improvements in system performance, such as adaptive modulation and coding, space-time coding, multiple antennas and MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output ) channels, multicarrier modulation, multiuser detection, etc. [1]. Among these solutions, the system adaptation is a particularly interesting one, there is, the system must constantly adapt itself to achieve the best performance for each situation. However, one important premise for the system adaptation is the knowledge of the channel state information (CSI). To obtain this knowledge, several channel estimation strategies were proposed in the literature, each one with advantages and disadvantages. In this work we analyze the impact of channel estimation in the link adaptation through computer simulations1. Two channel estimation techniques with different characteristics were analyzed for some specific scenarios in a MIMO-OFDM (Multiple Input Multiple Output - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ) system. To perform the analysis it was used a metric that consider the redundancy introduced to estimate the channel and the channel estimation error of each technique. The obtained results constitute curves that can be used to perform link adaptation in a more realistic way, that is, considering the effect of channel estimation. Besides, it is shown that even the choice of the channel estimation strategy can be an adaptable parameter so that the most adequate channel estimation strategy for each system state is used. / Nowadays the internet is a widely used tool and the great development and popularity of wireless technologies leads us to a future where the connectivity will be characterized as âanywhere, anytimeâ. Such characteristic is considered essential in 4G systems. However, for a satisfactory user experience a secure and efficient connectivity has to be always available. To obtain such efficiency, the research community has generated a number of promising solutions that achieve significative improvements in system performance, such as adaptive modulation and coding, space-time coding, multiple antennas and MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output ) channels, multicarrier modulation, multiuser detection, etc. [1]. Among these solutions, the system adaptation is a particularly interesting one, there is, the system must constantly adapt itself to achieve the best performance for each situation. However, one important premise for the system adaptation is the knowledge of the channel state information (CSI). To obtain this knowledge, several channel estimation strategies were proposed in the literature, each one with advantages and disadvantages. In this work we analyze the impact of channel estimation in the link adaptation through computer simulations1. Two channel estimation techniques with different characteristics were analyzed for some specific scenarios in a MIMO-OFDM (Multiple Input Multiple Output - Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ) system. To perform the analysis it was used a metric that consider the redundancy introduced to estimate the channel and the channel estimation error of each technique. The obtained results constitute curves that can be used to perform link adaptation in a more realistic way, that is, considering the effect of channel estimation. Besides, it is shown that even the choice of the channel estimation strategy can be an adaptable parameter so that the most adequate channel estimation strategy for each system state is used.

L’estimation de canal joue un rôle important dans les communications mobiles sans fil et en particulier dans les systèmes multi-antennes MIMO. Contrairement aux techniques classiques d’estimation de canal basées sur des séquences d’apprentissage ou des symboles pilotes, les techniques aveugles ne nécessitent aucune insertion de symboles d'apprentissage et permettent d'augmenter le débit utile. Les principales difficultés des techniques aveugles résident dans l’ambiguïté présente sur les estimées. Les techniques d’estimation semi-aveugles, basées sur les mêmes méthodes que l’estimation aveugle, sont plus robustes. Elles exploitent l’information aveugle ainsi que l’information provenant d’un nombre réduit de symboles d’apprentissage. Cette estimation du canal de communication est très utile dans les systèmes MIMO et permet de précoder le signal MIMO-OFDM en lui appliquant un pré-mélange permettant d'améliorer les performances. De nombreux types de précodeurs existent et leurs performances varient en fonction des critères d'optimisation retenus (Water-Filling, MMSE, Equal Error, max-SNR, max-d min …), mais aussi avec la qualité de l'estimation du canal de communication. Nous étudions dans cette thèse l’impact de l’utilisation de l’information du canal (CSI) provenant des méthodes d’estimation aveugle et semi-aveugle, dans l’application des précodeurs linéaires MIMO. Nous présentons également une étude statistique de l’erreur d’estimation provenant de ces méthodes. L’optimisation de ces précodeurs nous mène par la suite à exploiter un autre procédé permettant l’amélioration des performances : les codes correcteurs d’erreur. Nous nous intéressons particulièrement aux codes LDPC non-binaires et leur association avec les précodeurs linéaires MIMO. Nous montrons qu’une adaptation est possible et s’avère bénéfique dans certains cas. L’optimisation de cette association nous a permis de proposer un nouveau précodeur basé sur la maximisation de l’information mutuelle, robuste et plus performant. / Channel estimation plays an important role in wireless mobile communications, especially in MIMO systems. Unlike conventional channel estimation techniques based on training sequences or pilot symbols, blind techniques does not require the insertion of training symbols and allow higher throughput. The main problems of the blind lies in the ambiguity over the estimated channel. Based on the same methods as the blind estimation, the semi-blind estimation techniques are more robust. They exploit the blind information along with information provided by a small number of training symbols. The channel estimation is useful in MIMO systems and allows the precoding of the MIMO-OFDM signal by applying a pre-mixture in order to improve performance. Many types of precoders exist and their performance varies depending not only on the optimization criteria (Water-Filling, MMSE, Equal Error, max-SNR, max-d min ...), but also on the estimated channel. In this thesis we study the impact of using the channel information (CSI) from the blind and semi-blind estimation techniques to apply MIMO linear precoders. We also present a statistical study of the estimation error of these methods. The optimization of these precoders leads eventually to use another process allowing more performance improvement: the error correcting codes. We are particularly interested in non-binary LDPC codes and their association with linear MIMO precoders. We show that a matching is possible, and is beneficial in some cases. The optimization of this combination has allowed us to propose a new robust and more efficient precoder based on the maximization of mutual information.

[pt] Esta dissertação enfoca a combinação de duas conhecidas e eficazes tecnologias usadas em muitas redes de comunicação atuais, as técnicas de transmissão Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) e Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO). Sistemas MIMO-OFDM unem as vantagens conhecidas da comunicação MIMO, como altas taxas de dados e ampliação da confiabilidade do link, com as características marcantes da transmissão OFDM, como comunicação livre de interferência entre símbolos e a equalização simples no domínio da frequência. Este trabalho apresenta em detalhes a modelagem de sinais do sistema MIMO-OFDM e o processamento adequado no receptor para realizar detecções desacopladas dos sub-símbolos OFDM. Além disso, estratégias de seleção de antenas são propostas para aumentar o desempenho do sistema, explorando cenários em que o transmissor ou receptor está equipado com mais antenas do que o número de cadeias de radiofrequência (RF). Esses procedimentos são baseados em métricas específicas propostas para cada cenário. A avaliação de desempenho inclui sistemas equipados com técnicas de equalização linear e sistemas com pré-codificadores, como Zero-Forcing (ZF) e Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE). Os resultados de simulação evidenciam que as estratégias de seleção da antena resultam em uma melhoria significativa no desempenho do sistema. / [en] This thesis focuses on the combination of two well-known effective technologies used in many of today s communication networks, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and Multiple-Input Multiple- Output (MIMO). It unites the well-known advantages of MIMO communication, such as high data rates and improved link reliability to the characteristics of OFDM, known as intersymbol-interference-free communication and simple frequency-domain equalization. This work presents in detail the signal modelling of MIMO-OFDM system and the adequate processing at the receiver to perform decoupled detections per OFDM subsymbol. In addition, antenna selection strategies are proposed to increase system performance by exploiting some scenarios when the transmitter or receiver is equipped with more antennas than the number of radiofrequency (RF) chains. These procedures are based on the specific metric for the current scenario. The performance of the system is evaluated employing linear equalization or precoding techniques, such as Zero-Forcing (ZF) and Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE). Simulation results evidence that antenna selection strategies result in significant system performance improvement.

Multimedia services provided through wireless networks, such as mobile television and video calls, have recently attracted great attention. These systems require higher data rates, better communication quality, and wider channel bandwidth compared with traditional wireless network services, such as voice calling and text messaging. In response to these demands, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) employing multiple antennas at both transmitter and receiver, has been investigated in recent years. Nevertheless, the major impediment in MIMO based wireless systems is the cost of the hardware due to the requirement of the complete radio frequency (RF) chain for each transmit and receive path. One technique named antenna subset selection has been proposed which can reduce the hardware complexity, for example, provide and smaller number of RF chains which are reconfigurable to serve multiple antennas, but retain good communication performance, such as increasing data rates and improving communication quality. On the other hand, network service providers have in recent years established wideband communication systems in order to provide more services and higher bandwidth to customers. However, this development lowers the communication link quality, since signals transmitted in wideband communication systems suffer frequency-selective fading. In order to reduce the fading, orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) as a potential infrastructure in the fourth generation mobile communication networks is developed. Referring to the cost-performance ratio, an attractive future wireless system named antenna selection based MIMO-OFDM is considered to be widely utilized in civil wireless communications in near future. The working theory of antenna selection based MIMO-OFDM systems can be simply represented as that a data stream at each selected transmit/receiver antenna is sent/receive over a number of narrow band orthogonal subcarriers. This thesis addresses analysis of wireless channel and performance investigation of future wireless communication systems, such as MIMO and OFDM structures. Moreover, a novel significantly low computational complexity algorithm is introduced in this thesis, which is proposed for antenna selection MIMO-OFDM systems on the basis of multiple selection criteria. It is shown that the proposed selection algorithm clearly reduces the computational complexity load of the selection process and efficiently selects the optimum antenna subset of antenna selection MIMO-OFDM systems. The thesis concludes by outlining the advantage of the proposed antenna selection technique and points out its potential role in future wireless communications.

En els sistemes de comunicacions on el transmissor disposa de certa informació sobre l'estat del canal (CSI), es possible dissenyar esquemes lineals de precodificació que assignin la potència de manera òptima induint guanys considerables, sigui en termes de capacitat, sigui en termes de la fiabilitat de l'enllaç de comunicacions. A la pràctica, aquest coneixement del canal mai és perfecte i, per tant, el senyal transmès es veurà degradat degut al desajust entre la informació que el transmissor disposi del canal i el seu estat real.En aquest context, aquesta tesi estudia dos problemes diferents però alhora estretament relacionats: el disseny d'un esquema pràctic de seguiment del canal en transmissió per canals variants en temps, i el disseny d'esquemes lineals de precodificació que siguin robustos a la incertesa del canal. La primera part de la tesi proposa el disseny d'un esquema de seguiment de canal que, mitjançant un enllaç de retorn de baixa capacitat, proporcioni al transmissor una informació acurada sobre el seu estat. Històricament, aquest tipus d'esquemes han rebut fortes crítiques degut a la gran quantitat d'informació que és necessari transmetre des del receptor cap el transmissor. Aquesta tesi, doncs, posa especial èmfasi en el disseny d'aquest canal de retorn. La solució que es proposa, basada en el filtre de Kalman, utilitza un esquema que recorda al transmissor DPCM. Les variacions del canal són tractades mitjançant dos predictors lineals idèntics situats en el transmissor i en el receptor, i un canal de retorn que assisteix el transmissor amb l'error de predicció. L'interès d'aquest esquema diferencial és que permet seguir les variacions del canal amb només dos o quatre bits per coeficient complex, fins i tot en canals ràpidament variants.La resta de la tesi cobreix el segon objectiu, l'estudi de diferents esquemes d'assignació de potències quan el coneixement del canal en transmissió no és perfecte. El problema es planteja per a un sistema MIMO OFDM com a formulació més general, incloent els casos d'una sola antena, de l'esquema beamforming i del canal multiplicatiu com a casos particulars.Primerament s'ha plantejat l'optimització dels criteris de mínim error quadràtic mig (MMSE) i mínima BER sense codificar. La innovació en el treball presentat a la tesi, respecte a altres treballs que segueixen els mateixos criteris de disseny, ha estat la formulació Bayesiana del problema per al disseny dels algoritmes robustos.La tesi continua amb el plantejament d'estratègies robustes d'assignació de potència destinades a minimitzar la BER codificada. Per aquesta tasca s'han utilitzat criteris de teoria de la informació. Possiblement una de les principals contribucions d'aquesta tesi ha estat el plantejament del cut-off rate com a paràmetre de disseny. Aquest criteri s'introdueix com alternativa a la capacitat de canal o a la informació mutual per al disseny del transmissor quan s'inclou codificació de canal. La ultima part de la tesi proposa un interleaver adaptatiu de baixa complexitat que, utilitzant el coneixement del canal disponible en el transmissor, assigna estratègicament els bits no només per combatre les ràfegues d'errors, sinó també per lluitar contra els esvaïments que puguin presentar les diferents portadores del canal per a una realització concreta. El disseny d'aquest interleaver, anomenat "interleaver RCPC" està basat en els codis Rate-Compatible Punctured Convolutional Codes. Com s'il·lustra a partir del resultats numèrics, l'ús d'aquest interleaver millora les prestacions dels algoritmes quan es comparen amb les que s'obtindrien si s'utilitzes un interleaver de bloc o un interleaver pseudo-aleatori. / When the transmitter of a communication system disposes of some Channel State Information (CSI), it is possible to design linear precoders that optimally allocate the power inducing high gains either in terms of capacity or in terms of reliable communications. In practical scenarios, this channel knowledge is not perfect and thus the transmitted signal suffers from the mismatch between the CSI at the transmitter and the real channel.In that context, this thesis deals with two different, but related, topics: the design of a feasible transmitter channel tracker for time varying channels, and the design of optimal linear precoders robust to imperfect channel estimates.The first part of the thesis proposes the design of a channel tracker that provides an accurate CSI at the transmitter by means of a low capacity feedback link. Historically, those schemes have been criticized because of the large amount of information to be transmitted from the receiver to the transmitter. This thesis focuses, thus, the attention in an accurate design of the return link. The proposed solution is based on the Kalman filter and follows a scheme that reminds the well known DPCM transmitter. The channel variability is processed by two identical linear predictors located at the transmitter and at the receiver, and a feedback link that assists the transmitter with the prediction error. The interest of this differential scheme is that allows to track the channel variations with only two or four bits per complex channel coefficient even in fast time-varying channels.The rest of the thesis covers the second topic, studying different robust power allocation algorithms when the CSI is not perfectly known at the transmitter. For the sake of generality, the problem is formulated for the general MIMO OFDM case, encompassing the single antenna transmission, the beamforming schemes and the frequency-flat fading channels as particular cases. First, the minimum MSE and the minimum uncoded BER parameters are chosen to be optimized, evaluating the performance of the algorithms in terms of uncoded BER. The basic novelty with respect to previous works that considers the same strategies of design is the proposal of a Bayesian approach for the design of the robust algorithms.Next the study is extended by proposing robust power allocation strategies focused on the minimization of the coded BER. For this purpose, information-theoretic criteria are used. Probably, one of the main contributions in the thesis is the proposal of the cut-off rate as a parameter of design whose maximization is directly related to the coded BER. This criterion is introduced as an alternative to the channel capacity and the mutual information for the design of optimal transceivers in the presence of any channel coding stage. The last part of the thesis proposes a low complexity adaptive interleaver that, making use of the CSI available at the transmitter, reallocates the bits not only to combat the bursty channel errors but also to combat the specific distribution of the faded subcarriers as a function of the channel response. The design of this interleaver, named as "RCPC interleaver", is based on the Rate-Compatible Punctured Convolutional Codes. As shown by numerical results, the use of this interleaver improves the performance of the algorithms when they are compared with the classical block interleavers and pseudo-random interleavers.