Search

Without being necessary to pack multiple antennas per terminal, cooperation among distributed single-antenna nodes offers resilience to shadowing and can, in principle, enhance the performance of wireless communication networks by exploiting the available space diversity. Enabling the latter however, calls for practically implementable protocols to cope with errors at relay nodes so that simple receiver processing can collect the diversity at the destination. To this end, we derive in this paper a class of strategies whereby decoded bits at relay nodes are scaled in power before being forwarded to the destination. The scale is adapted to the signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) of the source-relay and the intended relay-destination links. With maximum ratio combining (MRC) at the destination, we prove that such link-adaptive regeneration (LAR) strategies effect the maximum possible diversity while requiring simple channel state information that can be pragmatically acquired at the relay. In addition, LAR exhibits robustness to quantization and feedback errors and leads to efficient use of power both at relay as well as destination nodes. Analysis and corroborating simulations demonstrate that LAR relays are attractive across the practical SNR range; they are universally applicable to multi-branch and multi-hop uncoded or coded settings regardless of the underlying constellation; and outperform existing alternatives in terms of error performance, complexity and bandwidth efficiency. Index Terms--Cooperative communications, adaptive transmissions, diversity order, relay strategies, regenerative relay, maximum-ratio-combining.

In communication systems employing a serially concatenated cyclic redundancy check (CRC) code along with a convolutional code (CC), erroneous packets after CC decoding are usually discarded. The list Viterbi algorithm (LVA) and the iterative Viterbi algorithm (IVA) are two existing approaches capable of recovering erroneously decoded packets. We here employ a soft decoding algorithm for CC decoding, and introduce several schemes to identify error patterns using the posterior information from the CC soft decoding module. The resultant iterative decoding-detecting (IDD) algorithm improves error performance by iteratively updating the extrinsic information based on the CRC parity check matrix. Assuming errors only happen in unreliable bits characterized by small absolute values of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR), we also develop a partial IDD (P-IDD) alternative which exhibits comparable performance to IDD by updating only a subset of unreliable bits. We further derive a soft-decision syndrome decoding (SDSD) algorithm, which identifies error patterns from a set of binary linear equations derived from CRC syndrome equations. Being non-iterative, SDSD is able to estimate error patterns directly from the decoder output. The packet error rate (PER) performance of SDSD is analyzed following the union bound approach on pairwise errors. Simulations indicate that both IDD and IVA are better tailored for single parity check (PC) codes than for CRC codes. SDSD outperforms both IDD and LVA with weak CC and strong CRC. Applicable to AWGN and flat fading channels, our algorithms can also be extended to turbo coded systems. Index Terms--Convolutional codes, CRC, error correction, list Viterbi decoding, iterative Viterbi decoding.

A novel random access protocol combining a tree algorithm (TA) with successive interference cancellation (SIC) has been introduced recently. To mitigate the deadlock problem of SICTA arising in error-prone wireless networks, we put forth a SICTA with first success (SICTA/FS) protocol, which is capable of high throughput while requiring limited-sensing and gaining robustness to errors relative to SICTA. Index Terms--Random access, successive interference cancellation (SIC), tree algorithm.

Cooperative communication systems using various relay strategies can achieve spatial diversity gains, enhance coverage, and potentially increase capacity. For the practically attractive decode-and-forward (DF) relay strategy, we derive a high-performance low-complexity coherent demodulator at the destination in the form of a weighted combiner. The weights are selected adaptively to account for the quality of both source-relay-destination and source-destination links. Analysis proves that the novel coherent demodulator can achieve the maximum possible diversity, regardless of the underlying constellation. Its error performance tightly bounds that of maximum-likelihood (ML) demodulation, which provably quantifies the diversity gain of ML detection with DF relaying. Simulations corroborate the analysis and compare the performance of the novel decoder with existing diversity-achieving strategies including analog amplify-and-forward and selective-relaying. Index Terms--Diversity gain, decode-and-forward (DF), full diversity, relay channel, relaying protocol, user cooperation.

Ultra-wideband (UWB) radios have received increasing attention recently for their potential to overlay legacy systems, their low-power consumption and low-complexity implementation. Because of the pulsed or duty-cycled nature of the ultra-short transmitted waveforms, timing synchronization and channel estimation pose major, and often conflicting, challenges and requirements. In order to address (or in fact bypass) both tasks, we design and test noncoherent UWB (de)modulation schemes, which remain operational even without timing and channel information. Relying on integrate-and-dump operations of what we term "dirty templates" we first derive a maximum likelihood (ML) optimal noncoherent UWB demodulator. We further establish a conditional ML demodulator with lower complexity. Analysis and simulations show that both can also be applied after (possibly imperfect) timing acquisition. Under the assumption of perfect timing, our noncoherent UWB scheme reduces to a differential UWB system. Our approach can also be adapted to a transmitted reference (TR) UWB system. We show that the resultant robust-to-timing TR (RTTR) approach considerably improves performance of the original TR system in the presence of timing offsets or residual timing acquisition errors. Index Terms--Channel estimation, differential modulation, noncoherent detection, timing synchronization, transmitted reference (TR), ultra-wideband (UWB).

Emerging indoor technologies including wireless multimedia and personal area networks (WPANs) entail high-rate systems capable of supporting multiple users (piconets) with variable rates. These requirements motivate the design of multiband (MB) ultra-wideband (UWB) radios for their simplicity in handling pronounced frequency selectivity, agility in coping with interference, scalability in providing multirate operation, and their potentially low cost. Relative to baseband UWB radios, MB-UWB systems have gained popularity in the IEEE standards for short-range wireless links. However, multiple-access (MA) schemes must be designed carefully to harness the diversity benefits provided by the MB-UWB propagation, in a spectrally efficient manner. To this end, we introduce a crossband flexible UWB MA scheme for multipiconet WPANs. The resultant design that we term FLEX-UWB offers resilience to multiuser interference, can conveniently accommodate various spreading alternatives, enables full multipath diversity, and can effect scalable spectral efficiency (from low to medium and high data rates). Simulations confirm the merits of FLEX-UWB radios in comparison with various alternatives. Index Terms--Multiband (MB), multicarrier (MC), multiple access (MA), ultra-wideband (UWB), wireless personal area networks (WPANs).

In this letter, we study the achievable rates of practical ultra-wideband (UWB) systems using pulse position modulation (PPM) and transmitted-reference (TR) transceivers. TR obviates the need for complex channel estimation, which is particularly challenging in the context of UWB communications. Based on an upper bound we derive for the error probability with random coding, we establish that for signal-to-noise ratio values of practical interest, PPM-UWB with TR can achieve rates on the order of C([infinity]) = P/[N.sub.o] (nats/s), where C([infinity]) denotes the capacity of an additive white Gaussian noise channel in the UWB regime for average received power P and noise power spectrum density [N.sub.o]. Index Terms--Achievable rates, transmitted-reference (TR), ultra-wideband (UWB).

Hard sphere decoding (HSD) has well-appreciated merits for near-optimal demodulation of multiuser, block single-antenna or multi-antenna transmissions over multi-input multi-output (MIMO) channels. At increased complexity, a soft version of sphere decoding (SD), so-termed list SD (LSD), has been recently applied to coded layered space-time (LST) systems enabling them to approach the capacity of MIMO channels. By introducing a novel bit-level multi-stream coded LST transmitter along with a soft-to-hard conversion at the decoder, we show how to achieve the near-capacity performance of LSD, and even outperform it as the size of the block to be decoded (M) increases. Specifically, for binary real LST codes, we develop exact max-log-based SD schemes with M + 1 HSD steps, and an approximate alternative with only one HSD step to trade off performance for average complexity. These schemes apply directly to the real and imaginary parts of quaternary phase-shift keying signaling, and also to quadrature amplitude modulation signaling after incorporating an appropriate interference estimation and cancellation module. We corroborate our near-optimal soft detection (SOD) algorithms based on HSD (SoD-HSD) with simulations. Index Terms--Multi-input multi-output (MIMO) detection, soft decoding, sphere decoding, turbo decoding.

Differential encoding is known to simplify receiver implementation because it by-passes channel estimation. However, over rapidly fading wireless channels, extra transceiver modules are necessary to enable differential transmission. Relying on a basis expansion model for time and frequency selective (doubly selective) channels, we derive such a generalized block-differential (BD) codec and prove that it achieves maximum Doppler and multipath diversity gains, while affording low-complexity maximum-likelihood decoding. We further show that existing BD systems over frequency-selective or time-selective channels follow as special cases of our novel system. Simulations using the widely accepted Jakes' model corroborate our theoretical analysis. Index Terms--Differential encoding, diversity, Doppler, doubly selective channels, multipath.

Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology for indoor wireless communications promises high data rates with low-complexity transceivers. Rapid timing synchronization constitutes a major challenge in realizing these promises. In this paper, we establish a novel synchronization criterion that we term "timing with dirty templates" (TDT), based on which we develop and test tinting algorithms in both data-aided (DA) and nondata-aided modes. For the DA mode, we design a training pattern, which turns out to not only speed up synchronization, but also enable timing in a multiuser environment. Based on simple integrate-and-dump operations over the symbol duration, our TDT algorithms remain operational in practical UWB settings. They are also readily applicable to narrowband systems when intersymbol interference is avoided. Simulations confirm performance improvement of TDT relative to existing alternatives in terms of mean square error and bit-error rate. Index Terms--Direct sequence (DS), estimation and detection, multipath, synchronization, time-hopping (TH), timing acquisition, tracking, ultra-wideband (UWB).

We consider the problem of minimizing the energy needed for data fusion in a sensor network by varying the transmission times assigned to different sensor nodes. The optimal scheduling protocol is derived, based on which we develop a low-complexity inverse-log scheduling (ILS) algorithm that achieves near-optimal energy efficiency. To eliminate the communication overhead required by centralized scheduling protocols, we further derive a distributed inverse-log protocol that is applicable to networks with a large number of nodes. Focusing on large-scale networks with high total data rates, we analyze the energy consumption of the ILS. Our analysis reveals how its energy gain over traditional time-division multiple access depends on the channel and the data-length variations among different nodes. Index Terms--Energy efficiency, fading channels, packet scheduling, power-delay tradeoff, wireless networks.

We start by identifying a relatively efficient version of sphere decoding algorithm (SDA) that performs exact maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding. We develop novel algorithms based on an improved increasing radius search (IIRS), which offer error performance and decoding complexity between two extremes: the ML receiver and the nulling-canceling (NC) receiver with detection ordering. With appropriate choices of parameters, our IIRS offers the flexibility to trade error performance for complexity. We provide design intuitions and guidelines, analytical parameter specifications, and a semianalytical error-performance analysis. Simulations illustrate that IIRS achieves considerable complexity reduction, while maintaining performance close to ML. Index Terms--Closest-point algorithm, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) decoding, sphere decoding.

We consider point-to-point wireless links with multiple antennas in the presence of interference, and exploit channel's spatial correlation and the temporal covariance of the interference to design multiantenna transmitters. We develop a space-time spreading scheme that maximizes average signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio, and an optimally power-loaded space-time beamforming (STBF) scheme which improves error-probability performance. In order to increase transmission rates, we combine orthogonal space-time block coding with STBF, optimize power loading across beams, and develop low-complexity receivers. Optimal training for least-squares error channel estimation, and STBF for minimum mean-square error channel estimation, are also studied. Our analytical and simulated results corroborate that STBF with optimal power loading can considerably reduce error probability and channel-estimation errors. Index Terms--Beamforming, covariance feedback, interference suppression, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), space-time coding (STC).

Adaptive modulation has the potential to increase system throughput considerably by adapting transmission parameters to the time-varying channel characteristics. Crucial to adaptive systems is the requirement of a feedback channel, that is often capable of carrying only a limited number of bits. Under such a bandwidth-constrained feedback link, we aim to optimize a multiantenna system based on transmit beamforming and adaptive modulation, where the transmit power, the signal constellation, the beamforming direction, and the feedback strategy, are designed jointly. Our proposed nested iterative approach leads to an approximate, yet practical, solution. Simulation results demonstrate considerable improvement in transmission rate, as the number of feedback bits increases. Index Term--Adaptive modulation, beamforming, feedback, vector quantization.

Relayed transmissions enable low-power communications among nodes (possibly separated by a large distance) in wireless networks. Since the capacity of general relay channels is unknown, we investigate the achievable rates of relayed transmissions over fading channels for two transmission schemes: the block Markov coded and the time-division multiplexed (TDM) transmissions. The normalized achievable minimum energy per bit required for reliable communications is derived, which also enables optimal power allocation between the source and the relay. The time-sharing factor in TDM transmissions is optimized to improve achievable rates. The region where relayed transmission can provide a lower minimum energy per bit than direct transmission, as well as the optimal relay placement for these two transmission schemes, are also investigated. Numerical results delineate the advantages of relayed, relative to direct, transmissions. Index Terms--Fading channels, low-power transmissions, minimum energy per bit, relay channels, spectral efficiency.

We design pilot-symbol-assisted modulation for carrier frequency offset (CFO) and channel estimation in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing transmissions over multi-input multi-output frequency-selective fading channels. The CFO and channel-estimation tasks rely on null-subcarrier and nonzero pilot symbols that we insert and hop from block to block. Because we separate CFO and channel estimation from symbol detection, the novel training patterns lead to further decoupled CFO and channel estimators. The performance of our algorithms is investigated analytically, and then compared with an existing approach by simulations. Index Terms--Carrier frequency offset (CFO), Cramer-Rao lower bound, frequency-selective channel, multi-input multi-output (MIMO)-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), null subcarriers, pilot symbols.

Relying on a kurtosis-type criterion, we develop a low-complexity blind carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimator for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. We demonstrate analytically how identifiability and performance of this blind CFO estimator depend on the channel's frequency selectivity and the input distribution. We show that this approach can be applied to blind CFO estimation in multi-input multi-output and multiuser OFDM systems. The issues of channel nulls, multiuser interference, and effects of multiple antennas are addressed analytically, and tested via simulations. Index Terms--Carrier frequency offset (CFO), kurtosis, Multi-input multi-output orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM), multiuser OFDM, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM).

Frequency-selective channels can be converted to a set of flat-fading subchannels by employing orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). Conventional differential encoding on each subchannel, however, suffers from loss of multipath diversity, and a very high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), which causes undesirable nonlinear effects. To mitigate these effects, we design a block differential encoding scheme over the subchannels that preserves multipath diversity, and in addition, results in constant modulus transmitted symbols. This property is shown to ensure that the PAPR of the continuous-time transmitted waveform is reduced by a large factor. The maximum-likelihood decoder for the proposed scheme, conditioned on the current and previous received block, is shown to have linear complexity in the number of subcarriers. The constant modulus scheme will yield good bit-error rate performance with full rate only if short blocks are used. However, one may mitigate this problem by relaxing the constant modulus requirement. We show that in a practical OFDM system, we can group the subcarriers into shorter subblocks in a certain manner, and apply the constant modulus technique to each subblock. Thus, we improve diversity at a very low decoder complexity, and at the same time, we introduce an upper bound on the discrete-time PAPR, which, in tam, may lead to appreciable reduction in continuous-time PAPR, depending on the system parameters. Finally, in situations where we can sacrifice rate, additional complex field coding may be used to exploit the multipath diversity provided by channels longer than those the simple scheme can handle. Index Terms--Block differential encoding, frequency-selective channels, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR).

Rapidly fading channels provide Doppler-induced diversity, but are also challenging to estimate. To bypass channel estimation, we derive two novel block differential (BD) codecs. Relying on a basis expansion model for time-varying channels, our differential designs are easy to implement, and can achieve the maximum possible Doppler diversity. The first design (BD-I) relies on a time-frequency duality, based on which we convert a time-varying channel into multiple frequency-selective channels, and subsequently into multiple flat-fading channels using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing. Combined with a group partitioning scheme, BD-I offers flexibility to trade off decoding complexity with performance. Our second block differential design (BD-II) improves the bandwidth efficiency of BD-I at the price of increased complexity at the receiver, which relies on decision-feedback decoding. Simulation results corroborate our theoretical analysis, and compare with competing alternatives. Index Terms--Decision feedback, differential encoding, diversity, fading, interleaving.

Ultra-wideband (UWB) transmissions have well-documented advantages for low-power, peer-to-peer, and multiple-access communications. Space-time coding (STC), on the other hand, has gained popularity as an effective means of boosting rates and performance. Existing UWB transmitters rely on a single antenna, while ST coders have mostly focused on digital linearly modulated transmissions. In this paper, we develop ST codes for analog (and possibly nonlinearly) modulated multiantenna UWB systems. We show that the resulting analog system is able to collect not only the spatial diversity, but also the multipath diversity inherited by the dense multipath channel, with either coherent or noncoherent reception. Simulations confirm a considerable increase in both bit-error rate performance and immunity against timing jitter, when wedding STC with UWB transmissions. Index Terms--Diversity, multipath, noncoherent detection, pulse-position modulation (PPM), Rake, space-time coding (STC), timing jitter, ultra-wideband (UWB).

We compare two block transmission systems over frequency-selective fading channels: orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) versus single-carrier modulated blocks with zero padding (ZP). We first compare their peak-to-average power ratio (PAR) and the corresponding power amplifier backoff for phase-shift keying or quadrature amplitude modulation. Then, we study the effects of carrier frequency offset on their performance and throughput. We further compare the performance and complexity of uncoded and coded transmissions over random dispersive channels, including Rayleigh fading channels, as well as practical HIPERLAN/2 indoor and outdoor channels. We establish that unlike OFDM, uncoded block transmissions with ZP enjoy maximum diversity and coding gains within the class of linearly precoded block transmissions. Analysis and computer simulations confirm the considerable edge of ZP-only in terms of PAR, robustness to carrier frequency offset, and uncoded performance, at the price of slightly increased complexity. In the coded case, ZP is preferable when the code rate is high (e.g., 3/4), while coded OFDM is to be preferred in terms of both performance and complexity when the code rate is low (e.g., 1/2) and the error-correcting capability is enhanced. As ZP block transmissions can approximate serial single-carrier systems as well, the scope of the present comparison is broader. Index Terms--Capacity, coding, diversity, frequency-selective fading, HIPERLAN, multicarrier, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), peak-to-average ratio (PAR), single carrier, synchronization.

Frequency-shift keying (FSK) is a popular modulation scheme in power-limited communication links. This paper introduces space-time FSK (ST-FSK), which does not require any channel state information at the transmitter and the receiver, as in conventional noncoherent FSK. ST-FSK can be viewed as a special unitary ST modulation design. However, ST-FSK has a number of advantages over existing unitary ST modulation designs. ST-FSK is easier to design, and enjoys lower decoding complexity. Furthermore, ST-FSK guarantees full diversity. Finally, ST-FSK can be adopted in the digital as well as in the analog domain, and merges very naturally with frequency-hopping multiple access. As expected, all these advantages come at the cost of a decrease in spectral efficiency. Index Terms--Frequency-shift keying (FSK), orthogonal design, space-time (ST) coding, unitary modulation.

In the presence of frequency-selective multipath fading channels, code-division multiple access (CDMA) suffers from multiuser interference (MUI) and intersymbol interference (ISI); but when properly designed, it enjoys multipath diversity. Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) is MUI-free, but it does not enable the available channel diversity without employing error-control coding. On the other hand, coded OFDMA may achieve lower diversity than a CDMA system employing the same error-control codes. In this paper, we merge the advantages of OFDMA and CDMA to minimize MUI effects, and also enable the maximum available diversity for every user. In our group orthogonal multicarrier CDMA (GO-MC-CDMA) scheme, groups of users share a set of subcarriers. By judiciously choosing group subcarriers, we guarantee that every user transmits with maximum diversity. MUI is only present among users in the same group, and is suppressed via multiuser detection, which becomes practically feasible because we assign a small number of users per group. Performance is analyzed, and simulations are carried out to illustrate the merits of GO-MC-CDMA relative to existing alternatives. Index Terms--Diversity, fading channels, multicarrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA), multiuser detection (MUD).

While rapid variations of the fading channel cause intercarrier interference (ICI) in orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), thereby degrading its performance considerably, they also introduce temporal diversity, which can be exploited to improve the performance. In this paper, we first derive a matched-filter bound (MFB) for OFDM transmissions over doubly selective Rayleigh fading channels, which benchmarks the best possible performance if ICI is completely canceled without noise enhancement. We then derive universal performance bounds which show that the time-varying channel causes most of the symbol energy to be distributed over a few subcarriers, and that the ICI power on a subcarrier mainly comes from several neighboring subcarriers. Based on this fact, we develop low-complexity minimum mean-square error and decision-feedback equalizer (DFE) receivers for ICI suppression. Simulations show that the DFE receiver can collect significant gains of ICI-impaired OFDM with affordable complexity. In the relatively low Doppler frequency region, bit-error rate of the DFE receiver is close to the MFB. Index Terms--Doubly selective Rayleigh fading, interference suppression, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM).

Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) gains increasing attention for broadband, high data rate wireless communications. In this paper, we develop a novel unitary precoded (UP) OFDMA scheme that is particularly appealing for the uplink, because it offers high bandwidth efficiency, and constant modulus transmissions for each user. Theoretical analysis of UP-OFDMA with channel coding shows the performance improvement introduced by unitary precoding. It provides useful guidelines for practical system designs, and also quantifies the performance of UP-OFDMA relative to the single-user bound. Simulations confirm that UP-OFDMA improves performance considerably relative to conventional OFDMA. Index Terms--Constant modulus, diversity, multiple access, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), unitary pre-coding (UP).

We quantify the performance of wireless transmissions over random fading channels at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The performance criteria we consider are average probability of error and outage probability. We show that as functions of the average SNR, they can both be characterized by two parameters: the diversity and coding gains. They both exhibit identical diversity orders, but their coding gains in decibels differ by a constant. The diversity and coding gains are found to depend on the behavior of the random SNR's probability density function only at the origin, or equivalently, on the decaying order of the corresponding moment generating function (i.e., how fast the moment generating function goes to zero as its argument goes to infinity). Diversity and coding gains for diversity combining systems are expressed in terms of the diversity branches' individual diversity and coding gains, where the branches can come from any diversity technique such as space, time, frequency, or, multipath. The proposed analysis offers a simple and unifying approach to evaluating the performance of uncoded and (possibly space-time) coded transmissions over fading channels, and the method applies to almost all digital modulation schemes, including M-ary phase-shift keying, quadrature amplitude modulation, and frequency-shift keying with coherent or noncoherent detection. Index Terms--Coding gain, diversity, diversity combining, fading channels, outage probability.

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) converts a frequency-selective fading channel into parallel flat-fading subchannels, thereby simplifying channel equalization and symbol decoding. However, OFDM's performance suffers from the loss of multipath diversity, and the inability to guarantee symbol detectability when channel nulls occur. In this paper, we introduce a linear constellation precoded OFDM for wireless transmissions over frequency-selective fading channels. Exploiting the correlation structure of subchannels and choosing system parameters properly, we first perform an optimal subcarrier grouping to divide the set of subchannels into subsets. Within each subset, a linear constellation-specific precoder is then designed to maximize both diversity and coding gains. While greatly reducing the decoding complexity and simplifying the precoder design, subcarrier grouping enables the maximum possible diversity and coding gains. In addition to reduced complexity, the proposed system guarantees symbol detectability regardless of channel nulls, and does not reduce transmission rate. Analytic evaluation and corroborating simulations reveal its performance merits. Index Terms--Diversity methods, linear constellation precoding, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM).

Zero padding (ZP) of multicarrier transmissions has recently been proposed as an appealing alternative to the traditional cyclic prefix (CP) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) to ensure symbol recovery regardless of the channel zero locations. In this paper, both systems are studied to delineate their relative merits in wireless systems where channel knowledge is not available at the transmitter. Two novel equalizers are developed for ZP-OFDM to tradeoff performance with implementation complexity. Both CP-OFDM and ZP-OFDM are then compared in terms of transmitter nonlinearities and required power backoff. Next, both systems are tested in terms of channel estimation and tracking capabilities. Simulations tailored to the realistic context of the standard for wireless local area network HIPERLAN/2 illustrate the pertinent tradeoffs. Index Terms--Channel estimation, cyclic prefix, equalization, HIPERLAN/2, IEEE 802.11a, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), zero padding.

The adoption of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing by wireless local area networks and audio/video broadcasting standards testifies to the importance of recovering block precoded transmissions propagating through frequency-selective finite-impulse response (FIR) channels. Existing block transmission standards invoke bandwidth-consuming error control codes to mitigate channel fades, and training sequences to identify the FIR channels. To enable block-by-block receiver processing, we design redundant precoders with cyclic prefix and superimposed training sequences for optimal channel estimation and guaranteed symbol detectability, regardless of the underlying frequency-selective FIR channels. Numerical results are presented to access the performance of the designed training and precoding schemes. Index Terms--Block transmissions, channel estimation, multipath, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), pilot tones.

This letter extends turbo-demodulation to the zero-padded OFDM (ZP-OFDM) system by accounting for the noise color and the symbols estimates correlation introduced by equalization. Resorting to realistic simulations, we show that turbo-demodulation used with set partitioning labeling can significantly outperform noniterative decoding with Gray labeling. We also show that it increases the performance gap between ZP-OFDM and OFDM with cyclic prefix (CP-OFDM) relative to noniterative decoding, because it amplifies the performance gain due to the guaranteed symbol recovery of ZP-OFDM. Index Terms--HIPERLAN/2, IEEE802.11a, iterative demodulation, OFDM, zero-padding, ZP-OFDM.

Impulse radio is an ultrawideband system with attractive features for baseband asynchronous multiple-access, multimedia services, and tactical wireless communications. Implemented with analog components, the continuous-time impulse radio multiple-access model utilizes pulse-position modulation and random time-hopping codes to alleviate multipath effects and suppress multiuser interference. We introduce a novel continuous-time impulse radio transmitter model and deduce from it an approximate one with lower complexity. We also develop a time-division duplex access protocol along with orthogonal user codes to enable impulse radio as a radio link for wireless cellular systems. Relying on this protocol, we then derive a multiple-input/multiple-output equivalent model for full continuous-time model and a single-input/single-output model, for the approximate one. Based on these models, we finally develop design composite linear/nonlinear receivers for the downlink. The linear step eliminates multiuser interference deterministically and accounts for frequency-selective multipath while a maximum-likelihood receiver performs symbol detection. Simulations are provided to compare performance of the different receivers. Index Terms--Impulse radio, multipath fading channels, time-division duplex, ultrawideband systems, wireless cellular systems.

We compare single user digital multi-carrier spread spectrum (MC-SS) modulation with direct sequence (DS) SS (with a modified implementation) in the presence of narrowband interference (NBI) and multipath fading. We derive closed-form expressions for the symbol error probability for both the linear MMSE receiver as well as the conventional matched-filter receiver under different scenarios: additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel with NBI, multipath channel with or without NBI. We show that DS-SS can achieve the same performance as MC-SS if the spreading code is carefully designed to have perfect periodic autocorrelation function (PACF). On the other hand, MC-SS is more robust to narrowband interference and multipath fading than is DS-SS with the widely used spreading codes that do not possess perfect PACF. Our analysis reveals that the performance improvement of MC-SS is precisely due to the implicit construction of an equivalent spreading code having nonconstant amplitude but possessing perfect periodic autocorrelation. Index Terms--Direct-sequence, frequency-selective fading, multi-carrier, multipath, narrowband interference, periodic autocorrelation function, spread spectrum.

A novel multiuser-interference (MUI)-free code division multiple access (CDMA) transceiver for frequency-selective multipath channels is developed in this paper. Relying on chip-interleaving and zero padded transmissions, orthogonality among different users' spreading codes is maintained at the receiver even after frequency-selective propagation. As a result, deterministic multiuser separation with low-complexity code-matched filtering becomes possible without loss of maximum likelihood optimality. In addition to MUI-free reception, the proposed system guarantees channel-irrespective symbol detection and achieves high bandwidth efficiency by increasing the symbol block size. Filling the zero-gaps with known symbols allows for perfectly constant modulus transmissions. Important variants of the proposed transceivers are derived to include cyclic prefixed transmissions and various redundant or nonredundant precoding alternatives. (Semi-) blind channel estimation algorithms are also discussed. Simulation results demonstrate improved performance of the proposed system relative to competing alternatives. Index Terms--Block spreading, channel estimation, chip interleaving, code division multiple access (CDMA), multipath, multiuser interference.

This letter proposes a novel decoding scheme for Alamouti's space-time (ST) coded transmissions over time-selective fading channels that arise due to Doppler shifts and carrier frequency offsets. Modeling the time-selective channels as random processes, we employ Kalman filtering for channel tracking in order to enable ST decoding with diversity gains. Computer simulations confirm that the proposed scheme exhibits robustness to time-selectivity with a few training symbols. Index Terms--Diversity methods, Kalman filtering, space-time codes, transmit antennas.

Potential increase in capacity along with the need to provide multimedia services and cope with multiuser interference (MUI) and intersymbol interference (ISI) arising due to wireless multipath propagation, motivate well multirate wideband code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems. Unlike most existing continuous-time symbol-periodic and multipath-free studies, the present paper develops an all-digital block-precoded filter-bank framework capable of encompassing single- or multirate transceivers for asynchronous or quasi-synchronous CDMA transmissions through multipath channels. Thanks to symbol blocking and through appropriate design of user codes, the resulting generalized multicarrier (GMC) CDMA system not only subsumes known multicarrier CDMA variants, but also equips them with flexible multirate capabilities. It is computationally simple, and guarantees symbol recovery regardless of the (possibly unknown) FIR multipath channels in both downlink and uplink setups. Simulations corroborate that the novel GMC-CDMA system outperforms existing multirate alternatives in the presence of asynchronism and multipath, and illustrate the feasibility of recovering blindly multirate transmissions received through unknown frequency-selective channels in the uplink. Performance of GMC-CDMA system in UMTS channels is also simulated and compared with existing multirate schemes. Index Terms--Blind equalization, multicarrier transmission, multicode, multipath fading channels, multirate CDMA, variable spreading length.