Over the last few decades, we have been witnessing a tremendous evolution in mobile computing, wireless networking and hand-held devices. In the future communication networks, users are anticipated to become even more mobile demanding for ubiquitous connectivity to different applications which will be preferably aware of their context. Admittedly, location information as part of their context is of paramount importance from both application and network perspectives. From application or user point of view, service provision can upgrade if adaptation to the user's context is enabled. From network point of view, functionalities such as routing, handoff management, resource allocation and others can also benefit if user's location can be tracked or even predicted. Within this context, we focus our attention on indoor localization and handoff prediction which are indispensable components towards the ultimate success of the envisioned pervasive communication era. While outdoor positioning systems have already proven their potential in a wide range of commercial applications, the path towards a successful indoor location system is recognized to be much more difficult, mainly due to the harsh indoor characteristics and requirement for higher accuracy. Similarly, handoff management in the future heterogeneous wireless networks is much more challenging than in traditional homogeneous networks. Handoff schemes must be seamless for meeting strict Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of the future applications and functional despite the diversity of operation features of the different technologies. In addition, handoff decisions should be flexible enough to accommodate user preferences from a wide range of criteria offered by all technologies. The main objective of this thesis is to devise accurate, time and power efficient location and handoff management systems in order to satisfy better context-aware and mobile applications. For indoor localization, the potential of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies as standalone location sensing technologies are first studied by testing several algorithms and metrics in a real experimental testbed or by extensive simulations, while their shortcomings are also identified. Their integration in a common architecture is then proposed in order to combine their key benefits and overcome their limitations. The performance superiority of the synergetic system over the stand alone counterparts is validated via extensive analysis. Regarding the handoff management task, we pinpoint that context awareness can also enhance the network functionality. Consequently, two such schemes which utilize information obtained from localization systems are proposed. The first scheme relies on a RFID tag deployment, alike our RFID positioning architecture, and by following the WLAN scene analysis positioning concept, predicts the next network layer location, i.e. the next point of attachment to the network. The second scheme relies on an integrated RFID and Wireless Sensor/Actuator Network (WSAN) deployment for tracking the users' physical location and subsequently for predicting next their handoff point at both link and network layers. Being independent of the underlying principle wireless access technology, both schemes can be easily implemented in heterogeneous networks. Performance evaluation results demonstrate the advantages of the proposed schemes over the standard protocols regarding prediction accuracy, time latency and energy savings

Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη, ότι η αποδοτική σχεδίαση, αξιολόγηση και εγκατάσταση ενός ασύρματου δικτύου επικοινωνιών, απαιτούν τον ακριβή χαρακτηρισμό του καναλιού διάδοσης και ειδικότερα των διαλείψεων μικρής και μεγάλης κλίμακας, το αντικείμενο μελέτης της παρούσας Διδακτορικής Διατριβής (ΔΔ) εστιάζεται στη μοντελοποίηση των διαλείψεων με νέα γενικότερα στατιστικά μοντέλα και απαρτίζεται από τρεις θεματικές ενότητες που αφορούν α) μοντέλα παρουσία συνιστώσας Οπτικής Επαφής (ΟΕ), β) μοντέλα που χαρακτηρίζονται από απουσία συνιστώσας ΟΕ καθώς και γ) χρήσιμες στατιστικές εκφράσεις για τη περιγραφή του τυχαίου θορύβου FM και της μέσης χωρητικότητας του καναλιού για μερικά από τα νέα κανάλια (α-μ, α-η-μ, α-κ-μ και α-λ-η-μ). Με βάση την υφιστάμενη διεθνή βιβλιογραφία, οι κατανομές που περιγράφουν κανάλια διαλείψεων δεν είναι αρκετά ευέλικτες και πολλές φορές είναι ανεπαρκείς για τη προσαρμογή αυτών σε δεδομένα προερχόμενα από πειραματικές μετρήσεις της έντασης ανά μονάδα επιφάνειας του ηλεκτρομαγνητικού πεδίου, τόσο για κανάλια εσωτερικών, όσο και για κανάλια υπαίθριων (εξωτερικών) χώρων. Έτσι, αρχικά δίδεται ο φυσικός μηχανισμός για την ερμηνεία κάθε νέου παρουσιαζόμενου μοντέλου. Χρησιμοποιώντας το μαθηματικό φορμαλισμό που προκύπτει από την μοντελοποίηση του ασύρματου καναλιού μέσω διαφόρων μιγαδικών Gaussian διεργασιών με διαφορετικές ιδιότητες, παρέχονται χρήσιμες εκφράσεις για την περιγραφή και αξιολόγηση των ψηφιακών συστημάτων επικοινωνιών που λειτουργούν σε περιβάλλοντα διαλείψεων. Στη συνέχεια, παρουσιάζεται η μελέτη που αφορά μοντέλα που υποθέτουν ότι η συνιστώσα πολυδιόδευσης συνυπάρχει με συνιστώσα. Έπειτα, πραγματοποιείται μελέτη μοντέλων που λειτουργούν σε συνθήκες διαλείψεων, όπου δεν υφίσταται συνιστώσα ΟΕ. Στη συνέχεια της ΔΔ, αναφορικά με κάποια από τα μοντέλα που παρουσιάστηκαν, πραγματοποιείται μελέτη και διερεύνηση του τυχαίου θορύβου FM και της Μέσης Χωρητικότητας του Καναλιού (ΜΧΚ). / The effective design, assessment, and installation of a wireless radio network require an accurate characterization of the propagation channel and, in particular, the small and large scale fading. By taking this into consideration, the subject of this Philosophy Diploma (PhD) dissertation is summarized in the characterization of fading with new more general statistical models and it is composed from three thematic units that concern: a) models under LOS conditions, v) models that are characterized by lack of a LOS component as well as c) useful statistical expressions for the description of random noise FM and average channel capacity for some of the new channels. A important amount of scientific work shows that the existing distributions are not enough flexible and many times are insufficient for the adaptation in data coming from experimental measurements of intensity per unit of surface of the electromagnetic field for both indoor and outdoor channels. Based on this fact, the objective of the Thesis was the production of new more general models with always natural background. Thus, initially, the natural mechanism is given for the interpretation of each new presented model. Using the mathematic formalism that results from the modelling of wireless channel via various complex Gaussian processes with different attributes, useful expressions are provided for the description and evaluation of digital communication systems that operate in fading environments. Consequently, initially, the basic theoretical background is presented that is rendered useful and essential for the study of fading channels. Next, a study is presented that concerns models that assume that the mulitpath part coexists with a LOS component. Then, a study of models, which assume NLOS conditions, takes place. In the next part of the PhD, in regard to some of the presented models, a study of random noise FM and ACC takes place.

Τα σύγχρονα τηλεπικοινωνιακά συστήματα, καθώς επίσης και οι επόμενες γενιές τους, πρέπει να προσαρμόζονται για να υποστηρίζουν ένα μεγάλο αριθμό από υπηρεσίες με διαφορετικές απαιτήσεις ποιότητας. Για παράδειγμα, στα κυψελικά συστήματα, οι κυψέλες μικραίνουν σε μέγεθος και αυξάνονται σε πλήθος για να υποστηρίζουν ένα συνεχώς αυξανόμενο πλήθος χρηστών. Επίσης, σε μια άλλη κατεύθυνση, τα δίκτυα αισθητήρων αποτελούνται από μικρές συσκευές που εισάγουν περιορισμούς μεγέϑους, ενέργειας και επεξεργαστικής ισχύος. Αυτά τα δυο παραδείγματα επιδεικνύου τόσο την αυξανόμενη πολυπλοκότητα των τηλεπικοινωνιακών συστημάτων όσο και τις ιδιαίτερες απαιτήσεις που υπάρχουν στους μεμονωμένους κόμβους τους. Τα τηλεπικοινωνιακά συστήματα πολλαπλών εισόδων και εξόδων έχουν την δυνατότητα να προσφέρουν αυξημένη χωρητικότητα και αξιοπιστία στην μετάδοση δεδομένων μέσω της έννοιας της χωρικής ποικιλομορφίας (space diversity). Συγκεκριμένα, αυτό επιτυγχάνεται με την μετάδοση της ζητούμενης πληροφορίας μέσω ενός αριθμού από διαφορετικά χωρικά μονοπάτια τα οποία δημιουργούνται από την ύπαρξη πολλαπλών κεραιών στον πομπό ή/και στον δέκτη. Ωστόσο, η προαναφερόμενη πολυπλοκότητα στα τηλεπικοινωνιακά συστήματα και οι ιδιαίτερες απαιτήσεις των κόμβων έχουν ως αποτέλεσμα να μην επαρκούν οι τεχνικές που έχουν αναπτυχθεί. Μια πιθανή διέξοδο έρχεται να δώσει η ιδέα της συνεργασίας. Η έννοια της συνεργασίας έχει διάφορες οπτικές γωνίες σε ένα τηλεπικοινωνιακό σύστημα. Πρώτον, αν οι συσκευές δεν μπορούν να υποστηρίξουν πολλαπλές κεραίες (π.χ. λόγω μεγέϑους όπως στα δίκτυα αισθητήρων και στα κινητά τηλέφωνα), σίγουρα μπορούν να συνεργαστούν ώστε με έναν κατανεμημένο τρόπο να προσφέρουν σε επίπεδο συστήματος τα απαραίτητα διαφορετικά χωρικά μονοπάτια. Δεύτερον, ακόμη και αν είναι δυνατή η χρήση πολλαπλών κεραιών σε κάποιον κόμβο ενός δικτύου, π.χ. σε σταθμούς ϐάσης κυψελικών συστημάτων, ο αριθμός τους μπορεί απλώς να μην αρκεί λόγω της αυξημένης πολυπλοκότητας και του μεγέθους του δικτύου. Η κατάλληλη χρήση συνεργατικών κόμβων μπορεί να δώσει επίσης λύση στον εν λόγω περιορισμό.Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή ϑα ϐασιστεί πάνω σε συνεργατικά συστήματα υπό την πρώτη οπτική γωνία που παρουσιάστηκε παραπάνω. Συγκεκριμένα, ϑα ϑεωϱηθεί ένα συνεργατικό δίκτυο με τρεις κόμβους, δηλαδή μια πηγή, έναν αναμεταδότη και έναν προορισμό. ϑα μελετηθούν τεχνικές εκτίμησης των καναλιών που συμμετέχουν στην μετάδοση της πληροφορίας αναδεικνύοντας τα ϐασικά χαρακτηριστικά που εισάγει η έννοια της συνεργασίας στις εν λόγω τεχνικές. Επίσης, ϑα παρουσιαστούν υλοποιήσεις διαφόρων συνεργατικών πρωτοκόλλων μετάδοσης σε ένα πραγματικό τηλεπικοινωνιακό σύστημα προσφέροντας έτσι την απαραίτητη πρακτική διαίσθηση πίσω από αυτά τα συστήματα. Συγκεκριμένα, αφού παρουσιαστούν κάποιες ϐασικές έννοιες για τις συνεργατικές επικοινωνίες και την λειτουργία της εκτίμησης καναλιών, ϑα μελετηθεί το πρόβλημα εκτίμησης με μερική επίβλεψη σε σχέση με το μοντέλο του συνεργατικού συστήματος που ϑεωρήθηκε. Προτείνονται εναλλακτικά σχήματα για την υλοποίηση του εκτιμητή καθώς επίσης και ένας απλός σχεδιασμός της ακολουθίας συμβόλων που υποβοηθάει το εφαρμοζόμενο κριτήριο ετεροσυσχέτισης. ΄Ολες οι έννοιες που παρουσιάζονται σε αυτό το κεφάλαιο υποστηρίζονται με πειραματικά και ημιαναλυτικά επιχειρήματα. Στην συνέχεια, παρουσιάζεται το πρόβλημα σχεδιασμού της κατανομής ενέργειας σε σύμβολα εκμάθησης για την εκτίμηση συσχετισμένων καναλιών. Αφού περιγραφεί το προς μελέτη πρόβλημα, ϑα επικεντρωθούμε στο κριτήριο ελαχίστων τετραγώνων για το οποίο παρουσιάζονται η ϐέλτιστη και τρεις υποβέλτιστες λύσεις που συνοδεύονται από χρήσιμα συμπεράσματα και παρατηρήσεις. ΄Επειτα, μελετάται το κριτήριο ελάχιστου μέσου τετραγωνικού σφάλματος για δυο περιπτώσεις. Στην πρώτη, παρουσιάζεται μια ανάλυση χειρότερης περίπτωσης και γίνεται η σύνδεση των λύσεων του προβλήματος με τις λύσεις του προηγούμενου κριτηρίου. Επίσης, υπό την υπόθεση των καναλιών χωρίς συσχέτιση, παρουσιάζεται η ϐέλτιστη λύση για τον σχεδιασμό της ακολουθίας των συμβόλων εκμάθησης. Στην τρίτη κατεύθυνση, ϑα παρουσιαστεί αρχικά το σύστημα στο οποίο ϑα υλοποιηθούν και εκτελεστούν τα πρωτόκολλα συνεργατικής επικοινωνίας. Στην συνέχεια, παρουσιάζονται τα εν λόγω σχήματα και το κεφάλαιο καταλήγει με την πειραματική διαδικασία, την παρουσίαση και αξιολόγηση των αποτελεσμάτων καθώς και την εξαγωγή χρήσιμων συμπερασμάτων. Στο τέλος της διατριβής περιγράφονται συνοπτικά τα ϐασικά συμπεράσματα που έχουν προκύψει και παρουσιάζονται κάποιες ενδιαφέρουσες νέες κατευθύνσεις. / Contemporary communication systems, as well as their next generations, are expected to adapt to a rapidly increasing number of desired applications and quality of service levels. For example, in cellular systems, the cells are getting smaller in size and larger in numbers in order to support the increasing number of users. Also, towards another direction, wireless sensor network consist of small devices that comply with stringent constraints such as size, consumed energy and computational power. These examples demonstrate both the high complexity of communication networks and the specific requirements that exist in individual communication nodes. Multiple input multiple output systems are capable of offering high capacity and reliable data communications utilizing the notion of spatial diversity. This is achieved by transmitting the desired information through different spatial paths that are created because of multiple antennas at the transmitter and/or the receiver side. However, the aforementioned complexity of communication networks and the specific requirements of the nodes have as a result that currently proposed techniques, for such systems, are inadequate. A possible solution to this dead end is the idea of cooperation. Cooperation has several aspects in a communication system. Firstly, if the nodes cannot support multiple antennas (e.g. due to size restriction as in sensor networks and mobile phones), they can cooperate in order to provide, in a distributed manner, the desired spatial paths. Secondly, even if multiple antennas can be used, as in base stations, their number might not be good enough because of the increased complexity and size of the network. The appropriate use of cooperative nodes can provide a solution to this problem, too. This dissertation has been focused on cooperative systems that are viewed according to the first aspect. Specifically, it has been assumed that the cooperative network consists of three nodes, a source, a relay and a destination. On this network, channel estimation techniques have been studied pointing out the main characteristics that are inherent to cooperation. Moreover, test-bed implementations have been provided for several well known cooperative schemes and protocols pointing out the practical aspects of such systems. In more detail, after the presentation of some introductory notions on cooperation and channel estimation, a semi-blind technique has been studied that is based on the so called cross-relation criterion. Two alternative schemes for constructing the channel estimator have been proposed as well as a simple training design procedure for improving the estimation performance has been devised. The results that have been produced are supported by semi analytic arguments and computer simulations. Then, a training design problem has been studied for a training based channel estimator. The design has been focused on the energy allocation of training symbols under the assumption that channel taps are correlated. After the description of the problem, the least squares criterion has been utilized and the optimal solution, along with three suboptimal ones, has been presented and useful conclusions have been drawn. Also, the problem has been studied under the minimum mean square error criterion for two cases. In the first one, a worst case analysis has been presented. There, a connection to the least squares solution was provided. In the second case, relaxing the assumption of correlated channel taps, the optimal solution has been presented. In the third direction, a number of well known protocols have been implemented in a test-bed system. A measurement campaign has been conducted to acquire the bit error performance and the computational complexity of the protocols. The protocols have been compared according to three different metrics and useful insights have been identified. The dissertation is concluded with a brief presentation of the main points that have been raised in the aforementioned directions. Moreover, new interesting research directions have been provided.

This work concentrates on the application of diversity techniques and space time block coding for future high speed mobile wireless communications on multicarrier systems. At first, alternative multicarrier kernels robust for high speed doubly-selective fading channel are sought. They include the comparisons of discrete Fourier transform (DFT), fractional Fourier transform (FrFT) and wavelet transform (WT) multicarrier kernels. Different wavelet types, including the raised-cosine spectrum wavelets are implemented, evaluated and compared. From different wavelet families, orthogonal wavelets are isolated from detailed evaluations and comparisons as suitable for multicarrier applications. The three transforms are compared over a doubly-selective channel with the WT significantly outperforming all for high speed conditions up to 300 km/hr. Then, a new wavelet is constructed from an ideal filter approximation using established wavelet design algorithms to match any signal of interest; in this case under bandlimited criteria. The new wavelet showed better performance than other traditional orthogonal wavelets. To achieve MIMO communication, orthogonal space-time block coding, OSTBC, is evaluated next. First, the OSTBC is extended to assess the performance of the scheme over extended receiver diversity order. Again, with the extended diversity conditions, the OSTBC is implemented for a multicarrier system over a doubly-selective fading channel. The MIMO-OFDM systems (implemented using DFT and WT kernels) are evaluated for different operating frequencies, typical of LTE standard, with Doppler effects. It was found that, during high mobile speed, it is better to transmit OFDM signals using lower operating frequencies. The information theory for the 2-transmit antenna OSTBC does not support higher order implementation of multi-antenna systems, which is required for the future generation wireless communications systems. Instead of the OSTBC, the QO-STBC is usually deployed to support the design of higher order multi-antenna systems other than the 2-transmit antenna scheme. The performances of traditional QO-STBC methods are diminished by some off-diagonal (interference) terms such that the resulting system does not attain full diversity. Some methods for eliminating the interference terms have earlier been discussed. This work follows the construction of cyclic matrices with Hadamard matrix to derive QO-STBC codes construction which are N-times better than interference free QO-STBC, where N is the number of transmit antenna branches.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:55:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FlaviaCC_Capa_ate_pag15.pdf: 8751469 bytes, checksum: df79b8a134d4a6869e65f7ed508775af (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-11-17 / ln this work, planar quasi- Y agi antennas are investigated based on the concept of the classic Y agi_Uda antennas. These antennas represent improvements on the topologies of the antennas existing printed because they present characteristics of broad bandwidth, excellent radiation diagrams and simple construction. New configurations are adapted for the driver of the antennas, introducing patches elements into the driver. These new configurations are named Patches Elements Anteonas (PEA). This adaptation is obtained from simulations that are executed usiog the software C8T Microwave 8tudio 5. After doing the optimizations, procedures for construction and measurement ofthe prototypes are executed in order to improve the performance of the antennas in such way that they could be used in wireless communication applications, such as Bluetooth, WLAN' s and Wi-Fi. Next, the quasi- Y agi antennas are studied in order to implement them in arrangements. The arrangements construction is based 00 the best driver configuration of the antenna developed in this work. First, a linear arrangement composed by two elements of quasi?Yagi antennas is constructed in such way that the radiation characteristics and the mutual coupling effects could be analyzed. After that, a 90? angle arrangement composed by two elements is studied to observe the effect of circular polarization. Experiments are executed in order to evaluate the arrangements performance. The experimental results show that the analysis made in this work is efficient and accurate. The numerical values obtained for the analyzed parameters of each structure developed are compared with the experimental values. 80, it is possible to observe a good concordance between them. Finally, some future works proposals are presented / Neste trabalho, antenas planares quasi-Yagi s?o estudadas com base no conceito das antenas Yagi-Uda cl?ssicas. Estas antenas representam melhorias sobre as topologias das antenas impressas existentes por apresentarem caracter?sticas de banda larga, excelentes diagramas de irradia??o e constru??o simples. Novas configura??es s?o adaptadas para o driver das antenas, introduzindo elementos patches sobre o driver. Essas novas configura??es s?o chamadas de Antenas de Elementos Patches (AEP). Esta adapta??o ? obtida realizando simula??es de otimiza??o com o aux?lio do software CST Microwave Studio 5. Ap?s as otimiza??es, procedimentos para constru??o e medi??o dos prot?tipos s?o realizados com o objetivo de melhorar o desempenho das antenas para aplica??es de comunica??es sem fio, tais como Bluetooth, WLAN's e Wi-Fi. Posteriormente, as antenas quasi- Yagi s?o estudadas com o intuito de implement?-Ias em arranjos. A constru??o dos arranjos baseia-se na melhor configura??o do driver da antena desenvolvida por este trabalho. Primeiramente, um arranjo linear com dois elementos de antenas quasi-Yagi ? constru?do de tal forma que as caracter?sticas de irradia??o e o efeito do acoplamento m?tuo pudessem ser analisados. Em seguida, um arranjo composto por dois elementos dispostos sob um ?ngulo de 900 ? estudado para se observar o efeito da polariza??o circular. Experimentos s?o executados para avaliar o desempenho dos arranjos. Os resultados dos experimentos demonstram que a an?lise efetuada neste trabalho ? eficiente e precisa. Os valores num?ricos obtidos para os par?metros analisados em cada estrutura desenvolvida s?o comparados com os valores experimentais. Com isso, ? poss?vel observar uma boa concord?ncia entre eles. Por fim, algumas propostas para a realiza??o de trabalhos futuros s?o apresentadas

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:56:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LucasCPC_DISSERT.pdf: 1619300 bytes, checksum: 97bb04f66b84a1ed1935715460aa2c22 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-14 / Wavelet coding has emerged as an alternative coding technique to minimize the fading effects of wireless channels. This work evaluates the performance of wavelet coding, in terms of bit error probability, over time-varying, frequency-selective multipath Rayleigh fading channels. The adopted propagation model follows the COST207 norm, main international standards reference for GSM, UMTS, and EDGE applications. The results show the wavelet coding s efficiency against the inter symbolic interference which characterizes these communication scenarios. This robustness of the presented technique enables its usage in different environments, bringing it one step closer to be applied in practical wireless communication systems / A codifica??o wavelet surgiu como uma t?cnica de codifica??o de canal alternativa para minimizar os efeitos destrutivos dos canais de comunica??o sem fio caracterizados pelo desvanecimento. Esse trabalho avalia o desempenho de sistemas com codifica??o wavelet, em termos de probabilidade de erro de bit, sobre canais de comunica??o com desvanecimento Rayleigh variante no tempo e m?ltiplos percursos seletivos em frequ?ncia. O modelo de propaga??o adotado segue a norma COST207, principal refer?ncia dos padr?es internacionais para aplica??es GSM, UMTS e EDGE. Os resultados demonstram a efici?ncia da t?cnica no combate a interfer?ncia inter-simb?lica, caracter?stica desses cen?rios de comunica??o. Essa robustez habilita o uso da t?cnica em diferentes ambientes, trazendo-a um passo ainda mais pr?ximo de ser aplicada em sistemas pr?ticos de comunica??o sem fio

Um estudo comparativo entre os principais modelos empíricos e semi-empíricos de predição de nível de sinal para comunicações móveis celulares é descrito neste trabalho. Medidas de cobertura outdoor em ambiente urbano foram comparadas com os resultados simulados a partir dos modelos de Okumura-Hata e Lee, lkegami, Walfisch-Bertoni e Walfisch-Ikegami. As medidas de potência de sinal recebido foram realizadas na cidade de Conceição das Alagoas, MG, a partir da única estação rádio-base (ERB) da cidade, operando na banda A com tecnologia AMPS/TDMA. Foi utilizada como portadora de teste o canal de controle analógico 328. As informações foram coletadas em algumas ruas da cidade, por meio de equipamento instalado em veículo, em diferentes posicionamentos em relação a ERB, de forma a se obter amostras de cobertura em diferentes cenários, seja em visada direta, em obstrução parcial ou total. O modelo de Ikegami se mostrou apropriado para predição de níveis de sinal recebido no ambiente estudado, apresentando desvio médio 5,81 dB em relação às medidas realizadas. / A comparative study among the main empiric and semi-empiric models of prediction of signal leveI for cellular mobile communications is described in this work. Measurements of covering outdoor in an urban environment were compared to the simulated results from the models of Okumura-Hata, Lee, Ikegami, Walfisch-Bertoni and Walfisch-Ikegami. The measurements of received signal level were accomplished in some streets of the city of Conceição das Alagoas, MG, starting from the only radio base station of the city, operating in the A band with AMPS/TDMA technology. The 328-analog control channel was used as test carrier. The measurements were carried out using some equipment installed in a vehicle, in different positions in relation to the radio base station, in order to obtain covering profile in different circunstances such as line-of-sight, non line-of-sight, and partial obstruction. The model of Ikegami was shown appropriate for prediction of the received signal levels in the studied environment, exhibiting an average deviation of 5,81 dB in relation to the accomplished measurements.

There is an ever increasing demand for higher spectral usage in wireless communication, radar and imaging systems. Higher spectral efficiency can be achieved using components that are aware of system environment and adapt suitably to the operating conditions. In this regard, radio frequency (RF) signal analysis is of paramount interest. Emergence of dispersive delay networks (DDN) has led to the significant development of microwave analogue-signal processing (ASP) and analysis. DDN causes displacement of spectral components in time domain, relative to the frequency dependant group delay response. The main challenge in the design of DDN in this context is in achieving broad bandwidth with high group delay dispersion (GDD). In this regard, all-pass networks (APN) have been explored as a potential wide-band DDN owing to the possibility of controlling the magnitude of loss characteristics without affecting the dispersion in group delay response. The synthesis procedure of lumped element APN using approximation methods is well known at audio frequencies. Most of these use operational amplifier and cannot be extended directly to RF. There is no generalised closed form analytical procedure at RF for the synthesis of APN with the required GDD. In this regard, this dissertation presents the design and implementation of all-pass networks as wide-band dispersive delay networks at radio frequencies. In this work, we begin by analysing the signal propagation through a DDN with a linear group delay response over a broad bandwidth. It is found that the signal experiences expansion of pulse width, reduction of its peak amplitude and a temporal displacement of the spectral components. Analytical expressions derived help initial synthesis of group delay response required for various ASP applications. As the first step towards implementation at RF, a single stage APN is designed using surface mount devices (SMD). This design approach takes into account practical issues such as parasitic due to mounting pads, available component values, physical dimensions, self-resonance frequency (SRF) and finite Q factor of the components used. Full wave simulation of the design with transmission line pads and components is carried out. This implementation is useful for frequencies up to the component SRF, generally about 5 GHz. This design approach makes the circuit footprint independent of frequency and the performance is limited only by the Q factor of the adopted technology. The Q factor affects the loss characteristics with a negligible effect on group delay response in the frequency band of interest. In order to extend the APN design for high group delay, a novel board level implementation is developed consisting of both lumped SMD components and distributed elements. The implementation results in a lower sensitivity of group delay performance to the commercially specified component value tolerances than the approach using all SMD components. It has been experimentally verified that the measured group delay is 2.4 ns at 1.85 GHz, which is thrice that reported in other approaches. The implementation has a reduced circuit footprint and is attractive in practical applications as it is a single layer micro strip realisation with less complex fabrication procedure and fewer components to assemble. As an extension of this towards wideband cascaded APN, an iterative design procedure is developed to achieve a monotonous group delay response over a broad bandwidth. The approach facilitates cascading of multiple stages of lumped APN with different resonance frequency and peak group delay to obtain linear and non-linear group delay responses with both positive and negative GDD. Circuits with both positive and negative GDD are required for various ASP applications such as compressive receivers and the present approach is unique in obtaining both the responses, not possible with many other RF dispersion techniques. Circuit models have been simulated by cascading transfer function responses of the individual APNs. The design is further extended for SMD implementation. To validate the above approach, a two stage APN is designed in the frequency range [0.5 - 1] GHz for a linear GDD of ±6 ns/GHz. Two negative GDD APNs are further cascaded to obtain a four stage implementation with an overall GDD of -12 ns/GHz. The experimental results are compared with full wave simulations for validation. The design using lumped SMD components has greatly improved the performance in terms of GDD with a reduced circuit footprint and lower insertion loss than previously reported approaches. As practical examples, the ASP modules are experimentally demonstrated using the fabricated APN. Frequency discrimination of two input frequencies with a frequency resolution of 500 MHz is demonstrated. Higher GDD results in higher separation of frequency components in time domain. Pulse compression and magnification is also demonstrated for different wideband LFM input signals. The dispersion effects of amplitude reduction, pulse width expansion and frequency chirping are thereby validated experimentally. In summary, the approaches presented in this dissertation enable the design of wideband all-pass networks to introduce dispersion delays over wide bandwidths, opening up the possibility for their use in analogue signal processing at radio frequencies. Some of these applications have been experimentally demonstrated and validated using time frequency analysis.

Multiple users compete for a common resource like bandwidth to communicate data in interference networks. Existing approaches in dealing with interference limit the rate of communication due to paucity of shared resources. This limitation in the rate gets more glaring as the number of users in the network increases. For example, existing wireless systems either choose to orthogonalize the users (for example, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems) or treat interference as Gaussian noise at the receivers. It is well known that these approaches are sub-optimal in general. Orthogonalization of users limit the number of available interference-free channels (known as degrees of freedom, abbreviated as DoF) and treating interference as noise means that the receiver cannot make use of the structure in the interfering signals. This motivates the need to analyze alternate transmit and decoding schemes in interference networks. This thesis mainly analyzes transmit schemes that use linear precoding for various configurations of interference networks with some practical constraints imposed by the use of finite input constellations, propagation delays, and channel state availability at the transmitters. The main contributions of this thesis are listed below. Achievable rates using precoding with finite constellation inputs in Gaussian Interference Channels (GIC) is analyzed. A metric for finding the approximate angle of rotation to maximally enlarge the Constellation Constrained (CC) capacity of two-user Gaussian Strong Interference Channel (GSIC) is proposed. Even as the Gaussian alphabet FDMA rate curve touches the capacity curve of the GSIC, with both the users using the same finite constellation, we show that the CC FDMA rate curve lies strictly inside the CC capacity curve at high powers. For a K-user MIMO GIC, a set of necessary and sufficient conditions on the precoders under which the mutual information between between relevant transmit-receive pairs saturate like in the single user case is derived. Gradient-ascent based algorithms to optimize the sum-rate achieved by precoding with finite constellation inputs and treating interference as noise are proposed. For a class of Gaussian interference networks with general message demands, identified as symmetrically connected interference networks, the expected sumspectral efficiency (in bits/sec/Hz) is shown to grow linearly with the number of transmitters at finite SNR, using a time-domain Interference Alignment (IA) scheme in the presence of line of sight (LOS) channels. For a 2×2 MIMO X-Network with M antennas at each node, we identify spacetime block codes that could be coupled with an appropriate precoding scheme to achieve the maximum possible sum-DoF of 4M 3 , for M = 3, 4. The proposed schemes are shown to achieve a diversity gain of M with SNR-independent finite constellation inputs. The proposed schemes have lower CSIT requirements compared to existing schemes. This thesis also makes an attempt to guarantee a minimum throughput when the zero-interference conditions cannot be satisfied in a wireline network with three unicast sessions with delays, using Precoding Based Network Alignment (PBNA). Three different PBNA schemes namely PBNA with time-varying local encoding coefficients (LECs), PBNA using transform approach and time-invariant LECs, and PBNA using transform approach and block time-varying LECs are proposed and their feasibility conditions analyzed.

Cette thèse aborde les performances d’un réseau corporel utilisant la technologie optique sans fil, comme alternative aux radiofréquences. L’application visée concerne la télésurveillance de patients mobiles, en milieu hospitalier. Après avoir défini les principales caractéristiques des réseaux corporels radiofréquences, notamment dans le cas de l’ultra large bande, nous présentons les avantages à utiliser la technologie optique sans fil. Nous considérons ensuite cette technologie en infrarouge, avec une méthode de propagation dite diffuse, exploitant les réflexions des rayons optiques dans l’environnement du réseau corporel. Les différentes méthodes de modélisation d’un canal optique diffus sont introduites, et nous utilisons deux types de méthodes pour modéliser le canal entre deux noeuds portés : un modèle classique dit « à une réflexion », permettant d’évaluer rapidement des variations de performances, et une méthode de lancer de rayon pour considérer un grand nombre de réflexions. En utilisant différents scénarios, ainsi que la notion de probabilité de rupture, nous montrons que l’optique diffuse permet de réaliser un lien corporel, pour les débits et la qualité de service requise par une application de télésurveillance médicale, et pour une puissance de transmission très inférieure à la limite imposée par la sécurité oculaire. Finalement, nous étudions les performances théoriques d’un réseau corporel en optique diffuse en termes de probabilité d’erreur, avec une gestion de l’accès multiple réalisé par répartition de codes optiques. Nous concluons qu’un réseau de capteurs corporels en optique diffuse est théoriquement réalisable, pour une application médicale de surveillance de patients mobiles dans l’environnement. / This thesis deals with the performance of optical girelles communications for body area networks (BAN) as an alternative solution to the radiofrequency one, in the context of mobile healthcare monitoring. After presenting the main characteristics of a BAN using the radiofrequency technology, specifically in the UWB band, we explain the advantages of the optical wireless technology. Diffuse propagation based on infrared technology is then considered for BAN, exploiting optical reflections from environment surfaces. Several optical wireless channel modeling methods are introduced, and we consider two solutions for the link between two on-body nodes: a classical method named “one reflection model”, used to estimate performance variations, and a ray-launching method, used to take into account a great amount of optical reflections. Considering several scenarios, we determine the outage probability, and show that the diffuse optical wireless technology is able to achieve an on-body link, with the data rates and the quality of service required by health monitoring applications, for a transmitted power far lower than the limit defined in standards. Then, we evaluate the theoretical performance, in terms of error probability, of an optical wireless BAN, considering the optical code division multiple access technique. Finally, we show that a BAN using optical wireless technology is theoretically feasible, regarding a health monitoring application, and considering the mobility of the patient in indoor environment.