This paper investigates an adaptive movable access point (AMAP) system and explores its feasibility in a static indoor classroom environment with an applied wireless local area network (WLAN) system. In the AMAP system, the positions of multiple access points (APs) are adaptively moved in accordance with clustered user groups, which ensures effective coverage for non-uniform user distributions over the target area. This enhances the signal to interference and noise power ratio (SINR) performance. In order to derive the appropriate AP positions, we utilize the k-means method in the AMAP system. To accurately estimate the position of each user within the target area for user clustering, we use the general methods of received signal strength indicator (RSSI) or time of arrival (ToA), measured by the WLAN systems. To clarify the basic effectiveness of the AMAP system, we first evaluate the SINR performance of the AMAP system and a conventional fixed-position AP system with equal intervals using computer simulations. Moreover, we demonstrate the quantitative improvement of the SINR performance by analyzing the ToA and RSSI data measured in an indoor classroom environment in order to clarify the feasibility of the AMAP system.

This paper proposes a path loss model for crowded outdoor environments that can consider the density of people. Measurement results in an anechoic chamber with three blocking persons showed that multiple human body shadowing can be calculated by using finite width screens. As a result, path loss in crowded environments can be calculated by using the path losses of the multipath and the multiple human body shadowing on those paths. The path losses of the multipath are derived from a ray tracing simulation, and the simulation results are then used to predict the path loss in crowded environments. The predicted path loss of the proposed model was examined through measurements in the crowded outdoor station square in front of Shibuya Station in Tokyo, and results showed that it can accurately predict the path loss in crowded environments at the frequencies of 4.7GHz and 26.4GHz under two different conditions of antenna height and density of people. The RMS error of the proposed model was less than 4dB.

Low-latency and highly reliable communication on wireless LAN (WLAN) is difficult due to interference from the surroundings. To overcome this problem, we have developed a scheme called Clear to Send-to-Station (CTS-STA) frame transmission control that enables stable latency communication in environments with strong interference from surrounding WLAN systems. This scheme uses the basic functions of WLAN standards and is effective for both the latest and legacy standard devices. It operates when latency-strict transmission is required for an STA and there is interference from surrounding WLAN devices while minimizing the control signal overhead. Experimental evaluations with prototype systems demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

In this paper, we use frequency-domain equalization (FDE) to create coherent optical single-carrier (CO-SC) transmission systems that are very tolerant of chromatic dispersion (CD) and polarization mode dispersion (PMD). The efficient transmission of a 25-Gb/s NRZ-QPSK signal by using the proposed FDE is demonstrated under severe CD and PMD conditions. We also discuss the principle of FDE and some techniques suitable for implementing CO-SC-FDE. The results show that a CO-SC-FDE system is very tolerant of CD and PMD and can achieve high transmission rates over single mode fiber without optical dispersion compensation.

Multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) systems have attracted much attention as a technology that enhances the total system capacity by generating a virtual MIMO channel between a base station and multiple terminal stations. Extensive evaluations are still needed because there are many more system parameters in MU-MIMO than in single user (SU)-MIMO and the MU-MIMO performance in actual environments is still not well understood. This paper describes the features and effectiveness of a 1616 MU-MIMO testbed in an actual indoor environment. Moreover, we propose a simple adaptive modulation scheme for MU-MIMO-OFDM transmission that employs a bit interleaver in the frequency and space domains. We evaluate the frequency efficiency by obtaining the bit error rate of this testbed in an actual indoor environment. We show that 1644-user MU-MIMO transmission using the proposed modulation scheme achieves the frequency utilization of 870 Mbps and 1 Gbps (respective SNRs: 31 and 36 dB) with a 20-MHz bandwidth.

Efficient use of heterogeneous wireless access networks is necessary to maximize the capacity of the 5G mobile communications system. The wireless local area networks (WLANs) are considered to be one of the key wireless access networks because of the proliferation of WLAN-capable mobile devices. However, throughput starvation can occur due to the well-known exposed/hidden terminal problem in carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) based channel access mechanism, and this problem is a critical issue with wireless LAN systems. This paper proposes two novel schemes to identify starved access points (APs) and user equipments (UEs) which throughputs are relatively low. One scheme identifies starved APs by observing the transmission delay of beacon signals periodically transmitted by APs. The other identifies starved UEs by using the miscaptured beacon signals ratio at UEs. Numerous computer simulations verify that that the schemes can identify starved APs and UEs having quite low throughput and are superior to the conventional graph-based identification scheme. In addition, AP and UE management with the proposed schemes has the potential to improve system throughput and reduce the number of low throughput UEs.

This paper proposes an antenna selection method for terminal antennas employing orthogonal polarizations and patterns, which is suitable for outdoor MultiUser Multi-Input Multi-Output (MU-MIMO) systems. In addition, this paper introduces and verifies two other antenna selection methods for comparison. For the sake of simplicity, three orthogonal dipoles are considered, and this antenna configuration using the proposed selection method is compared to an antenna configuration with three vertical or horizontal dipoles. In the proposed antenna selection method, we always choose the vertical dipole, and choose one of two horizontal dipoles, which are orthogonal to each other, based on the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). We measured the MU-MIMO transmission properties and found that the proposed selection method employing the antenna with orthogonal polarizations and patterns can offer fairly high channel capacity in a multiuser scenario.

This paper proposes a new digital beamforming adaptive array antenna (DBFAAA) that is effective in severe multipath environments in which timing and carrier synchronization circuits cannot function ideally resulting in the DBFAAA losing control. The proposed DBFAAA has two stages. In the first, the DBFAAA captures the desired signal and establishes synchronization. In the second, the DBFAAA optimizes the beam pattern of the signal. The proposed configuration employs an eigenvector beam of the maximum eigenvalue in the first stage beam-forming. In addition, a fractionally-spaced-tapped-delay-line (FS-TDL) with real tap weights, which is placed after the beam-former, is applied to achieve timing synchronization. The behavior of the proposed DBFAAA for asynchronous sampling data is investigated and the results indicate that the proposed configuration enables asynchronous sampling at the A/D converter. A prototype of the proposed DBFAAA achieving 38-Mbps real-time data communication is introduced and the transmission performance is shown.

In this paper, we propose a novel multiuser detection (MUD) method that is robust against timing offset between wireless terminals (WTs) for the multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) uplink. In the proposed method, MUD is carried out in the frequency-domain using overlapping fast Fourier transform (FFT) windows. After the inverse FFT (IFFT) operation, the samples obtained at both ends of each FFT window are discarded to suppress the effect of inter-block interference (IBI). Thus, it realizes an MUD regardless of the arrival timing differences of the signals from the WTs. The achievable bit error rate (BER) performance of the proposed MUD method is evaluated by computer simulations in a frequency selective fading channel.

In this paper, we examine techniques for improving the throughput of unlicensed radio systems such as wireless LANs (WLANs) to take advantage of multi-radio access to mobile broadband, which will be important in 5G evolution and beyond. In WLANs, throughput is reduced due to mixed standards and the degraded quality of certain frequency channels, and thus control techniques and an architecture that provide efficient control over WLANs are needed to solve the problem. We have proposed a technique to control the terminal connection dynamically by using the multi-radio of the AP. Furthermore, we have proposed a new control architecture called WiSMA for efficient control of WLANs. Experiments show that the proposed method can solve those problems and improve the WLAN throughput.

This paper proposes a novel adaptive array configuration that reduces high-power co-channel interference (CCI) by utilizing the difference in arrival times between CCI and the desired signal in asynchronous TDD systems. The proposed adaptive array extracts only the CCI and employs pre-null steering for only the CCI by utilizing the fact that only the CCI arrives during the guard time in asynchronous TDD systems. Since the proposed adaptive array enables us to apply the Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) algorithm through synchronization with the desired signal using the output signal obtained by pre-null steering, high quality transmission can be achieved even in the presence of high-power CCI. Moreover, based on measurements using a fading simulator and field data, an adaptive array testbed exemplifying the proposed configuration is presented to show the reduction in the high-power CCI.

To achieve a very high data rate within a limited frequency band in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, multi-input multi-output (MIMO) techniques are very promising. Moreover, if a transmitter has the channel state information (CSI), the achievable spectrum efficiency can be maximized using the eigenbeam-space division multiplexing (E-SDM). However, this scheme demands accurate channel estimation. Therefore, in a closed-loop transmission scheme, an increase in the amount of feedback is absolutely necessary for the E-SDM. This paper describes a downlink beamforming method that significantly reduces the amount of feedback needed by using the common transmission weight vectors in all sub-carriers, compared to the amount required for E-SDM. The proposed method also applies transmission diversity to compensate for the quality. The effectiveness of the proposed method was confirmed using computer simulations in both Ricean and Rayleigh fading environments.

A method is presented for increasing wireless LAN (WLAN) capacity in high-density environments with IEEE 802.11ax systems. We propose using coordinated scheduling of trigger frames based on our mobile cooperative control concept. High-density WLAN systems are managed by a management server, which gathers wireless environmental information from user equipment through cellular access. Hierarchical clustering of basic service sets is used to form synchronized clusters to reduce interference and increase throughput of high-density WLAN systems based on mobile cooperative control. This method increases uplink capacity by up to 19.4% and by up to 11.3% in total when WLAN access points are deployed close together. This control method is potentially effective for IEEE 802.11ax WLAN systems utilized as 5G mobile network components.

This paper proposes a hardware configuration using only single pole dual throw (SPDT) switches to realize the previously proposed automatic calibration method using transmitting signals (ACT) for the adaptive array in TDD communication systems. The proposed configuration obtains the same calibration values as the conventional ACT does while reducing the number of switch branches. The transmission pattern using the proposed calibration method is also presented based on an experimental adaptive array testbed in an actual microcell environment. The experimental results show that the ideal radiation pattern formation is achieved by employing the proposed calibration method in an environment with a moving terminal station and where arriving co-channel interference exists.

This paper proposes a channel capacity maximization method for Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antennas with parasitic elements. Reactive terminations are connected to the parasitic elements, and the reactance values are determined to achieve stochastically high channel capacity for the environment targeted. This method treats the S-parameter and propagation channel of the antenna, including the parasitic elements, as a combined circuit. The idea of the 'parasitic channel,' which is observed at the parasitic antenna, is introduced to simplify the optimization procedure. This method can significantly reduce the number of necessary measurements of the channel for designing the antenna. As a design example, a bidirectional Yagi-Uda array, which has two driven antennas at both ends of the linear array, is measured in an indoor environment. The resulting design offers enhanced channel capacity mainly due to its improved signal-to-noise ratio compared to the antenna without the parasitic antennas.

Path loss in high frequency bands above 6GHz is the most fundamental and significant propagation characteristic of IMT-2020. To develop and evaluate such high frequency bands, ITU-R SG5 WP5D recently released channel models applicable up to 100GHz. The channel models include path loss models applicable to 0.5-100GHz. A path loss model is used for cell design and the evaluation of the radio technologies, which is the main purpose of WP5D. Prediction accuracy in various locations, Tx positions, frequency bands, and other parameters are significant in cell design. This article presents the prediction accuracy of UMa path loss models which are detailed in Report ITU-R M.2412 for IMT-2020. We also propose UMa_A' as an extension model of UMa_A. While UMa_A applies different equations to the bands below and above 6GHz to predict path loss, UMa_A' covers all bands by using the equations of UMa_A below 6GHz. By using the UMa_A' model, we can predict path loss by taking various parameters (such as BS antenna height) into account over a wide frequency range (0.5-100GHz). This is useful for considering the deployment of BS antennas at various positions with a wide frequency band. We verify model accuracy by extensive measurements in the frequency bands from 2 to 66GHz, distances up to 1600 m, and an UMa environment with three Tx antenna heights. The UMa_A' extension model can predict path loss with the low RMSE of about 7dB at 2-26.4GHz, which is more accurate than the UMa_A and UMa_B models. Although the applicability of the UMa_A' model at 66GHz is unclear and needs further verification, the evaluation results for 66GHz demonstrate that the antenna height may affect the prediction accuracy at 66GHz.

Multiuser multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO) systems are attracting attention due to their frequency efficiency. However, in uplink MU-MIMO systems, different frequency offsets among multiple mobile stations (MSs) significantly degrade the transmission quality, especially when orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is used. In this paper, the influence of these frequency offsets is first analyzed in a frequency selective fading environment. Numerical analysis shows that an error floor occurs in the bit error rate and the influence of the frequency offset becomes larger in short delay spread environments. To overcome this problem, a new beamforming method is proposed to compensate for the frequency offset by introducing an auto frequency controller after frequency-space equalization in each data stream. The effect of the proposed method is evaluated in a frequency selective fading environment by computer simulations and measured results.

Multiuser -- Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) techniques were proposed to increase spectrum efficiency; a key assumption was that the Mobile Terminals (MTs) were simple with only a few antennas. This paper focuses on the Block Diagonalization algorithm (BD) based on the equal power allocation strategy as a practical MU-MIMO technique. When there are many MTs inside the service area of the access point (AP), the AP must determine, at each time slot, the subset of the MTs to be spatially multiplexed. Since the transmission performance depends on the subsets of MTs, the user selection method needs to use the Channel State Information (CSI) obtained in the physical layer to maximize the Achievable Transmission Rate (ATR). In this paper, we clarify the relationship between ATR with SU-MIMO and that with MU-MIMO in a high eigenvalue channel. Based on the derived relationship, we propose a new measure for user selection. The new measure, the eigenvalue decay factor, represents the degradation of the eigenvalues in null space compared to those in SU-MIMO; it is obtained from the signal space vectors of the MTs. A user selection method based on the proposed measure identifies the combination of MTs that yields the highest ATR; our approach also reduces the computational load of user selection. We evaluate the effectiveness of user selection with the new measure using numerical formulations and computer simulations.

An OFDMA based channel access scheme is proposed for dynamic spectrum access to utilize frequency spectrum efficiently. Though the OFDMA based scheme is flexible enough to change the bandwidth and channel of the transmitted signals, the OFDMA signal has large PAPR (Peak to Average Power Ratio). In addition, if the OFDMA receiver does not use a filter to extract sub-carriers before FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) processing, the designated sub-carriers suffer large interference from the adjacent channel signals in the FFT processing on the receiving side. To solve the problems such as PAPR and adjacent channel interference encountered in the OFDMA based scheme, this paper proposes a novel dynamic channel access scheme using overlap FFT filter-bank based on single carrier modulation. It also shows performance evaluation results of the proposed scheme by computer simulation.

In this paper, we propose a novel centralized control method to handle multi-radio and terminal connections in an 802.11ax wireless LAN (802.11ax) mixed environment. The proposed control method can improve the throughput by applying 802.11ax Spatial Reuse in an environment hosting different terminal standards and mixed terminal communication quality. We evaluate the proposed control method by computer simulations assuming environments with mixed terminal standards, mixed communication quality, and both.