This paper proposes a dual-band dual-rectangular-loop circular polarization antenna for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs). The proposed antenna combines two large outer rectangular loops with two small inner loops. Each large outer loop is connected to its corresponding small inner rectangular loop. Each loop has gaps located symmetrically with respect to a feed point to produce Right Handed Circular Polarization (RHCP). The gap position and the shape of the rectangular loops are very important to adjust both the impedance matching and circular polarization characteristics. The proposed antenna offers dual-band Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) and Axial Ratio (AR) frequency characteristics that include the L1 (1575.42 MHz) and L2 (1227.60 MHz) bands. The antenna gains exceed 8.7 dBi. Broad AR elevation patterns are obtained. These antenna characteristics are well suited to precise positioning.

The monocone antenna is a type of monopole antenna that has wideband characteristics. This paper proposes a low-profile monocone antenna with a planar inverted-F structure. The characteristics of the proposed antenna are analyzed through a simulation. The results demonstrate that the low-profile antenna offers wideband performance, and the relative bandwidth of VSWR ≤ 2 is found to be more than 190%. In addition, miniaturization of the monocone antenna is elucidated. The proposed antenna is prototyped, and the validity of the simulation is verified through measurements.

Adaptive Volterra filters (AVFs) are usually used to identify nonlinear systems, such as loudspeaker systems, and ordinary adaptive algorithms can be used to update the filter coefficients of AVFs. However, AVFs require huge computational complexity even if the order of the AVF is constrained to the second order. Improving calculation efficiency is therefore an important issue for the real-time implementation of AVFs. In this paper, we propose a novel sub-band AVF with high calculation efficiency for second-order AVFs. The proposed sub-band AVF consists of four parts: input signal transformation for a single sub-band AVF, tap length determination to improve calculation efficiency, switching the number of sub-bands while maintaining the estimation accuracy, and an automatic search for an appropriate number of sub-bands. The proposed sub-band AVF can improve calculation efficiency for which the dominant nonlinear components are concentrated in any frequency band, such as loudspeakers. A simulation result demonstrates that the proposed sub-band AVF can realize higher estimation accuracy than conventional efficient AVFs.

Continuous phase modulation (CPM) is a very attractive digital modulation scheme, with constant envelope feature and high efficiency in meeting the power and bandwidth requirements. CPM signals with pairs of input sequences that differ in an infinite number of positions and map into pairs of transmitted signals with finite Euclidean distance (ED) are called catastrophic. In the CPM scheme, data sequences that have the catastrophic property are called the catastrophic sequences; they are periodic difference data patterns. The catastrophic sequences are usually with shorter length of the merger. The corresponding minimum normalized squared ED (MNSED) is smaller and below the distance bound. Two important CPM schemes, viz., LREC and LRC schemes, are known to be catastrophic for most cases; they have poor overall power and bandwidth performance. In the literatures, it has been shown that the probability of generating such catastrophic sequences are negligible, therefore, the asymptotic error performance (AEP) of those well-known catastrophic CPM schemes evaluated with the corresponding MNSED, over AWGN channels, might be too negative or pessimistic. To deal with this problem in AWGN channel, this paper presents a new split-merged MNSED and provide criteria to explore which conventional catastrophic CPM scheme could increase the length of mergers with split-merged non-periodic events, effectively. For comparison, we investigate the exact power and bandwidth performance for LREC and LRC CPM for the same bandwidth occupancy. Computer simulation results verify that the AEP evaluating with the split-merged MNSED could achieve up to 3dB gain over the conventional approach.

This paper presents an efficient wideband two-dimensional direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation for an L-shaped microphone array. We propose a way to construct a wideband sample cross-correlation matrix without any process of DOA preliminary estimation, such as beamforming technique, by exploiting sample cross-correlation matrices of two different frequencies for all frequency bins. Subsequently, wideband DOAs can be estimated by using this wideband matrix along with a scheme of estimating DOA in a narrowband subspace method. Therefore, a contribution of our study is providing an alternative framework for recent narrowband subspace methods to estimating the DOA of wideband sources directly. It means that this framework enables cutting-edge techniques in the existing narrowband subspace methods to implement the wideband direction estimation for reducing the computational complexity and facilitating the estimation algorithm. Theoretical analysis and effectiveness of the proposed method are substantiated through numerical simulations and experiments, which are performed in reverberating environments. The results show that performance of the proposed method performs better than others over a range of signal-to-noise ratio with just a few microphones. All these advantages make the proposed method a powerful tool for navigation systems based on acoustic signal processing.

A monocone antenna is a type of monopole antenna with wideband characteristics. In this paper, a low-profile and small monocone antenna is proposed, by loading a circular plate and three oblique short elements. The characteristics of the proposed antenna are analyzed via simulation. Consequently, a low-profile and small monocone antenna can be obtained while maintaining the wideband characteristics. The relative bandwidth of the proposed antenna (voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) ≤ 2) is greater than 158.9%. The frequency band of digital terrestrial television broadcasting and the mobile communication systems (from 470 to 3600MHz) in Japan can be completely covered with VSWR ≤ 2. In addition, the radiation patterns of the proposed antenna are omni-directional. The proposed antenna is prototyped, and the validity of the simulation is verified through measurement.

A methodology for obtaining semi-custom high-power amplifiers (HPAs) is described. The semi-custom concept pertains to the notion that a selectable output power is attainable by replacing only transistors. To compensate for the mismatch loss, a new output matching network that can be easily tuned by wiring is proposed. Design equations were derived to determine the circuit parameters and specify the bandwidth limitations. To verify this methodology, a semi-custom HPA with GaN HEMTs was fabricated in the S-band. A selectable output power from 240 to 150 W was successfully achieved while maintaining a PAE of over 50% in a 19% relative bandwidth.

Satellite broadcasting of 4K/8K ultra-high definition television (UHDTV) was launched in Japan in December 2018. Because this system uses the amplitude and phase shift keying (APSK) modulation scheme, there is a need to improve the non-linear characteristics of the satellite transponders. To meet this requirement, we have been developing a 120-W-class Ku-band solid state power amplifier (SSPA) as a replacement for the currently used traveling wave tube amplifier (TWTA). In this study, we developed a gallium-nitride (GaN) SSPA and linearizer (LNZ). The SSPA achieved an output power of 120W while maintaining a power added efficiency (PAE) of 31%. We evaluated the transmission performance of 16APSK in this SSPA channel in comparison with that in the TWTA channel.

Due to the rapid development of small satellite technology and the advantages of LEO satellite with low delay and low propagation loss as compared with the traditional GEO satellite, the broadband LEO constellation satellite communication system has gradually become one of the most important hot spots in the field of satellite communications. Many countries and satellite communication companies in the world are formulating the project of broadband satellite communication system. The broadband satellite communication system is different from the traditional satellite communication system. The former requires a higher transmission rate. In the case of high-speed transmission, if the low elevation constellation is adopted, the satellite beam will be too much, which will increase the complexity of the satellite. It is difficult to realize the low-cost satellite. By comparing the complexity of satellite realization under different elevation angles to meet the requirement of terminal speed through link computation, this paper puts forward the conception of building broadband LEO constellation satellite communication system with high elevation angle. The constraint relation between satellite orbit altitude and user edge communication elevation angle is proposed by theoretical Eq. deduction. And the simulation is carried out for the satellite orbit altitude and edge communication elevation angle.

This letter presents the safety confirmation system based on Near Field Communication (NFC) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) band Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) tags. Because these RFID tags can operate without the need for internal batteries, the proposed safety confirmation system is effective during large-scale disasters that cause loss of electricity and communication infrastructures. Sharing safety confirmation data between the NFC and UHF band RFID tags was studied to confirm the feasibility of the data sharing. The prototype of the proposed system was fabricated, confirming the feasibility of the proposed safety confirmation system.

In recent years, MIMO technology which uses multiple antennas has been introduced to the mobile terminal to increase communication capacity per unit frequency. However, if MIMO antennas are put closely, a strong mutual coupling occurred. Moreover, CA which uses multiple frequencies is also utilized to improve communication speed. Therefore, reducing mutual coupling in multiple frequencies is required. In this paper, we propose a dual-band decoupling method by using a short stub and a branch element and confirmed that the proposed model performed decoupling, increased radiation efficiency.

In order to cope with recent growth of mobile data traffic and emerging various services, world-wide system trials for the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system that dramatically extends capability of the fourth-generation mobile communication system are being performed to launch its commercial service in 2020. In addition, research and development of new radio access technologies for 5G evolution and beyond 5G systems are beginning to be made all over the world. This paper introduces our recent activities on 5G transmission experiments that aim to validate Massive MIMO technologies using higher frequency bands such as SHF/EHF bands, that is, 5G experimental trials. Recent results of 5G system trials to create new services and applications in 5G era in cooperation with partners in vertical industries are also introduced.

Towards furthering the industrial revolution, the concept of a new cellular network began to be drawn up around 2010 as the fifth generation (5G) mobile wireless communication system. One of the main differences between the fourth generation (4G) mobile communication system Long Term Evolution (LTE) and 5G new radio (NR) is the frequency bands utilized. 5G NR assumes higher frequency bands. Effective utilization of the higher frequency bands needs to resolve the technical issue of the larger path-loss. Massive multiple-input multiple-output (Massive MIMO) beamforming (BF) technology contributes to overcome this problem, hence further study of Massive MIMO BF for each frequency band is necessary toward high-performance and easy implementation. In this paper, then, we propose a Massive MIMO method with fully-digital BF based on two-tap precoding for low super high frequency (SHF) band downlink (DL) transmissions (called as Digital FBCP). Additionally, three intersite coordination algorithms for Digital FBCP are presented for multi-site environments and one of the three algorithms is enhanced. It is shown that Digital FBCP achieves better throughput performance than a conventional algorithm with one-tap precoding. Considering performance of intersite coordination as well, it is concluded that Digital FBCP can achieve around 5 Gbps in various practical environments.

A W-band corporate-feed 16×16-slot array antenna with low sidelobe level is designed and fabricated. The basic unit of the array is a 2×2-circular-slot subarray with step square cavities and uses an E-plane waveguide as the feeding line. An efficient method to design an unequal power-splitting ratio but equal phase (UPEP) E-plane waveguide T-junction (E-T) is proposed for constructing a 1-to-64 power-tapering feed network, which is the critical part to realize low sidelobe level. The whole array is fabricated with aluminum by milling and bonded by the vacuum brazing process. The measured results demonstrate that the array can achieve a 7.2% bandwidth with VSWR<1.5 and holistic sidelobe levels lower than -23.5dB in E-plane and H-plane from 89GHz ∼ 95.8GHz. The measured gain is higher than 31.7dBi over the working band with the antenna efficiency better than 67.5%.

This paper evaluates a variety of key 5G technologies such as base station (BS) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, beamforming and tracking, intra-baseband unit (BBU) hand over (HO), and coverage. This is done in different interesting 5G areas with a variety of radio conditions such as an indoor office building lobby, an outdoor parking area, and a realistic urban deployment of a 5G radio access system with BSs installed in buildings to deploy a 5G trial area in the Tokyo Odaiba waterfront area. Experimental results show that throughput exceeding 10Gbps is achieved in a 730MHz bandwidth using 8 component carriers, and distributed MIMO throughput gain is achieved in various transmission point deployments in the indoor office building lobby and outdoor parking area using two radio units (RUs). In particular, in the outdoor parking area, a distinct advantage from distributed MIMO is expected and the distributed MIMO gain in throughput of 60% is achieved. The experimental results also clarify the downlink performance in an urban deployment. The experimental results show that throughput exceeding 1.5Gbps is achieved in the area and approximately 200 Mbps is achieved at 500m away from the BS. We also confirm that the beam tracking and intra-BBU HO work well compensating for high path loss at 28-GHz, and achieve coverage 500m from the BS. On the other hand, line of sight (LoS) and non-line-of sight (N-LoS) conditions are critical to 5G performance in the 28-GHz band, and we observe that 5G connections are sometimes dropped behind trees, buildings, and under footbridges.

We present a seven-bit multilayer true-time delay (TTD) circuit operating from 1 to 7GHz for wideband phased array antennas. By stacking advanced substrates with low dielectric loss, the TTD with PCB process is miniaturized and has low insertion loss. The signal vias with surrounding ground vias are designed to provide impedance matching throughout the band, allowing the overall group delay to be flat. The standard deviation of the TTD for all states is below 19ps, which is 1.87% of the maximum group delay. The maximum delay is 1016ps with resolution of 8ps. The implemented TTD is 36.6×19.4mm2 and consumes 0.65mW at 3.3V supply for all the delay states. The measured input/output return loss is better than 12.1dB for the band of 1-7GHz.

A variety of all-new systems such as a massive machine type communication (mMTC) system will be supported in 5G and beyond. Although each mMTC device occupies quite narrow bandwidth, the massive number of devices expected will generate a vast array of traffic and consume enormous spectrum resources. Therefore, it is necessary to proactively gather up and exploit fractional spectrum resources including guard bands that are secured but unused by the existing Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems. The guard band is originally secured as a margin for high out-of-band emission (OOBE) caused by the discontinuity between successive symbols in the cyclic prefix-based orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM), and new-waveforms enabling high OOBE suppression have been widely researched to efficiently allocate narrowband communication to the frequency gap. Time-domain windowing is a well-known signal processing technique for reducing OOBE with low complexity and a universal time-domain windowed OFDM (UTW-OFDM) with a long transition duration exceeding the CP length has demonstrated its ability in WLAN-based systems. In this paper, we apply UTW-OFDM to the LTE downlink system and comprehensively evaluate its performance under the channel models defined by 3GPP. Specifically, we evaluate OOBE reduction and block error rate (BLER) by computer simulation and clarify how far OOBE can be reduced without degrading communication quality. Furthermore, we estimate the implementation complexity of the proposed UTW-OFDM, the conventional CP-OFDM, and the universal filtered-OFDM (UF-OFDM) by calculating the number of required multiplications. These evaluation and estimation results demonstrate that the proposed UTW-OFDM is a practical new-waveform applicable to the 5G and beyond.

In compressive sensing theory (CS), the restricted isometry property (RIP) is commonly used for the measurement matrix to guarantee the reliable recovery of sparse signals from linear measurements. Although many works have indicated that random matrices with excellent recovery performance satisfy the RIP with high probability, Toeplitz-structured matrices arise naturally in real scenarios, such as applications of linear time-invariant systems. Thus, the corresponding measurement matrix can be modeled as a Toeplitz (partial) structured matrix instead of a completely random matrix. The structure characteristics introduce coherence and cause the performance degradation of the measurement matrix. To enhance the recovery performance of the Toeplitz structured measurement matrix in multichannel convolution source separation, an efficient construction of measurement matrix is presented, referred to as sparse random block-banded Toeplitz matrix (SRBT). The sparse signal is pre-randomized by locally scrambling its sample locations. Then, the signal is subsampled using the sparse random banded matrix. Finally, the mixing measurements are obtained. Based on the analysis of eigenvalues, the theoretical results indicate that the SRBT matrix satisfies the RIP with high probability. Simulation results show that the SRBT matrix almost matches the recovery performance of random matrices. Compared with the existing banded block Toeplitz matrix, SRBT significantly improves the probability of successful recovery. Additionally, SRBT has the advantages of low storage requirements and fast computation in reconstruction.

A propagation experiment on an actual channel is conducted to confirm the effectiveness of the 1-tap time domain beamforming (TDBF) technique we proposed in previous work. This technique offers simple beamforming for the millimeter waveband massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) applied wireless backhaul and so supports the rapid deployment of fifth generation mobile communications (5G) small cells. This paper details propagation experiments in the 75GHz band and the characteristics evaluations of 1-tap TDBF as determined from actual channel measurements. The results show that 1-tap TDBF array gain nearly equals the frequency domain maximal ratio combining (MRC) value, which is ideal processing; the difference is within 0.5dB. In addition, 1-tap TDBF can improve on the signal-to-interference power ratio (SIR) by about 13% when space division multiplexing (SDM) is performed assuming existing levels of channel estimation error.

The beamforming (BF) provided by Massive MIMO is a promising technique for the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system. In low SHF bands such as 3-6GHz, fully digital Massive MIMO can be a feasible option. Previous works proposed eigenvector zero-forcing (E-ZF) as a digital precoding algorithm to lower the complexity of block diagonalization (BD). On the other hand, another previous work aiming to reduce complexity of BD due to the number of antenna elements proposed digital fixed BF and channel-state-information based precoding (Digital FBCP) with BD whose parameter is the number of beams. Moreover, in order to lower the complexity of the Digital FBCP with BD while retaining the transmission performance, this paper proposes Digital FBCP with E-ZF as a lower complexity digital BF algorithm. The pros and cons of these digital BF algorithms in terms of transmission performance and computational complexity are clarified to select the most appropriate algorithm for the fully digital Massive MIMO. Furthermore, E-ZF can be implemented to 4.5GHz-band fully digital Massive MIMO equipment only when the number of antenna elements is less than or equal to 64, and thus 5G experimental trial employing E-ZF was carried out in Tokyo, Japan where early 5G commercial services will launch. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first outdoor experiment on 4.5GHz-ban Massive MIMO in a dense urban area. An outdoor experiment in a rural area was also carried out. This paper shows both a coverage performance under the single user condition and system throughput performance under a densely deployed four-user condition in the outdoor experimental trials employing the E-ZF algorithm. We reveal that, in the MU-MIMO experiment, the measured system throughput is almost 80% of the maximum system throughput even if users are closely located in the dense urban area thanks to the E-ZF algorithm.