In this letter, an equivalent uplink problem formulation is developed in the multi-cell environment such that the downlink beamforming throughput is maximized under the assumption that base station (BS) can only use the estimated receive signal to interference plus noise power ratio (SINR) of mobile station (MS) in computing beam vectors because of channel estimation error and delay feedback. Numerical results show that the proposed downlink beamforming throughput maximization offers noticeable improvement of 5% outage and average throughput over conventional minimum mean squared error (MMSE) beamforming in the presence of channel uncertainties whereas the performance degradation in the environment of the nominal channel uncertainty is significant compared to the case of no uncertainty.

Body Area Network (BAN) is considered as a promising technology in supporting medical and healthcare services by combining with various biological sensors. In this paper, we look at wearable BAN, which provides communication links among sensors on body surface. In order to design a BAN that manages biological information with high efficiency and high reliability, the propagation characteristics of BAN must be thoroughly investigated. As a preliminary effort, we measured the propagation characteristics of BAN at frequency bands of 400 MHz, 600 MHz, 900 MHz and 2400 MHz respectively. Channel models for wearable BAN based on the measurement were derived. Our results show that the channel model can be described by using a path loss model for all frequency bands investigated.

Multiple-input multiple- output (MIMO) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) are two key techniques for broadband wireless mobile communications and channel state information (CSI) is critical for the realization and performance of MIMO-OFDM systems in doubly-selective fading channels. Channel estimation based on two-dimensional discrete-time Fourier transform interpolation (2D-DFTI) is a promising solution to obtain accurate CSI for MIMO-OFDM systems in theory because of both its robustness and high computational efficiency, however, its performance will degrade significantly in practical MIMO-OFDM systems due to the two-dimensional Gibbs phenomenon caused by virtual subcarriers and burst transmission. In this paper, we propose a novel channel estimation method based on the two-dimensional enhanced DFT interpolation (2D-EDFTI), i.e., the frequency-domain EDFTI (FD-EDFTI) concatenated with the time-domain EDFTI (TD-EDFTI), for practical burst-mode MIMO-OFDM systems with virtual subcarriers, which can increase the channel estimation accuracy effectively by mitigating the Gibbs phenomenon in frequency-domain and time-domain, respectively, while keeping good robustness and high computational efficiency. In addition to computer simulations, we further implement the 2D-EDFTI channel estimator into our real-time FPGA testbed of 44 MIMO-OFDM transmission via spatial multiplexing, together with different MIMO detectors. Both computer simulations and RF experiments demonstrate the superior performance of 2D-EDFTI channel estimation in doubly-selective fading channels, therefore, high-throughput MIMO-OFDM transmission based on different MIMO detection algorithms can always be well supported. Also, it can be applied to other MIMO-OFDM transmission schemes straightforwardly.

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), which uses a number of narrowband orthogonal sub-carriers, is a promising transmission technique. Also multi-carrier code division multi-access (MC-CDMA), which combines OFDM and frequency-domain spreading, has been attracting much attention as a future broadband wireless access. It was shown that MC-CDMA has lower channel capacity than OFDM, due to inter-code interference (ICI) resulting from orthogonality distortion caused by frequency-selective fading. Recently, many ICI cancellers have been proposed to mitigate the effect of ICI. In this paper, we derive a channel capacity expression for MC-CDMA assuming perfect ICI cancellation taking into account both frequency diversity gain and space diversity gain and compare it to that of OFDM. Furthermore, we derive a channel capacity expression for the case of imperfect ICI cancellation to discuss the impact of the residual ICI.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) is the technique for the next generation wireless networks, whose enhanced capacity is to serve a combination of traffic with diverse QoS requirements. To realize this, the resource allocation scheme has to be carefully designed so that the instantaneous channel condition, QoS provision, and the network utilization are integrated. In this paper, we propose the resource allocation scheme for downlink traffic of 2 classes; guaranteed and non-guaranteed, having different traffic contracts. We provide guaranteed throughput for the guaranteed class by considering the cost incurred from serving this class. Then, we formulate the assignment problem with the objective of minimizing this cost. For the non-guaranteed class, we aim to maximize network utilization and to maintain throughput fairness, by employing Proportional Fairness (PF) utility function and emphasizing on the portion of network resource that the user received and the individual user's queue length. We use a heuristic approach to schedule users' data into the downlink subframe by exploiting multi-user multi-channel diversity to utilize system's bandwidth efficiently. Intensive simulation shows that our scheme differentiates classes of traffic and provides satisfied throughput, lower packet drop rate, and lower queuing delay to the guaranteed class, comparing with those of the non-guaranteed class. Furthermore, the results also show that the scheme is fair to users in the same class in both throughput and service time.

One of the promising wireless access techniques for the next generation mobile communications systems is multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA). MC-CDMA can provide good transmission performance owing to the frequency diversity effect in a severe frequency-selective fading channel. However, the bit error rate (BER) performance of coded MC-CDMA is inferior to that of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) due to the residual inter-code interference (ICI) after frequency-domain equalization (FDE). Recently, we proposed a frequency-domain soft interference cancellation (FDSIC) to reduce the residual ICI and confirmed by computer simulation that the MC-CDMA with FDSIC provides better BER performance than OFDM. However, ideal channel estimation was assumed. In this paper, we propose adaptive decision-feedback channel estimation (ADFCE) and evaluate by computer simulation the average BER and throughput performances of turbo-coded MC-CDMA with FDSIC. We show that even if a practical channel estimation is used, MC-CDMA with FDSIC can still provide better performance than OFDM.

This paper proposes Twin Turbo (T2) MIMO-OFDM (Multiple Input Multiple Output-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing). The advanced iterative decoder, called the T2 decoder, decreases the transmission error rate compared to conventional turbo decoders because it uses the correlation information among the bits mapped on an identical symbol of multi-level modulation and updates the channel reliability. When T2 is applied to a MIMO-OFDM, the required symbol energy to noise power density ratio (Es/N0) can be reduced more effectively than when T2 is applied to SISO (Single Input Single Output). This is because T2 can use the correlation among the bits not only mapped on an identical symbol but also transmitted from different antennas. Moreover, T2 achieves good performance in a correlated MIMO channel because the average minimum squared Euclidean distances between symbol replica candidates consisting of signals transmitted from multiple transmitter antennas are reduced. Computer simulations verify that the required Es/N0 of T2 MIMO-OFDM using 16QAM is 1.9 dB lower than that of a conventional turbo decoder when the correlation coefficients of transmitter and receiver antennas are 0.8. A computational complexity analysis clarifies the relation between the increase in computational complexity and the reduction in the required Es/N0.

In this letter, we derive a very accurate closed-form approximate formula for the average achievable rate of stacked orthogonal space-time block code (OSTBC) in Rayleigh fading channels. Some simulations are performed to demonstrate that the derived formula shows better agreement with Monte-Carlo simulation results than the existing closed-form approximate expressions.

A detector for space-time block coding is proposed to combat time-selective fading. To suppress both noise and interference, a minimum mean square error (MMSE) based detector is introduced for space-time block coding. It is shown by simulations that the proposed detector outperforms the conventional detectors when the channel is time-selective fading.

This paper proposes a method of improving reception of digital satellite broadcasting in a moving vehicle. According to some studies, the antennas used for mobile reception will be smaller in the next generation and reception will be more difficult because of a fading multipath channel with delays in a low carrier-to-noise ratio. Commonly used approaches to reduce the inter symbol interference caused by a fading multipath channel with delays are pilot sequences and diversity reception. Digital satellite broadcasting, however, does not transmit pilot sequences for channel estimation and it is not possible to install multiple antennas in a vehicle. This paper does not propose any change to the broadcasting standards but discusses how to process currently available digital satellite signals to obtain better results. Our method does not rely on the pilot sequences or diversity reception, but consists of channel estimation and stochastic inference methods. For each task, two methods are proposed. The maximum likelihood estimation and higher order statistics matching methods are proposed for the estimation, and the marginal with the joint probability inference methods are proposed for the stochastic inference. The improvements were confirmed through experiments with numerical simulations and real data. The computational costs are also discussed for future implementation.

In digital speech communication over noisy high packet loss rate wireless channels, improving the overall performance of the realtime speech coding and transmission system is of great importance. A novel joint speech coding and transmission algorithm is proposed by fully exploiting the correlation between speech coding, channel coding and the transmission process. The proposed algorithm requires no algorithm delay and less bandwidth expansion while greatly enhancing the error correcting performance and the reconstructed speech quality compared with conventional algorithms. Simulations show that the residual error rate is reduced by 84.36% and the MOS (Mean Opinion Score) is improved over 38.86%.

Improving the overall performance of reliable speech communication in ultrashort wave radios over very noisy channels is of great importance and practical use. An iterative joint source-channel (de-)coding and (de-)modulation (JSCCM) algorithm is proposed for ITU-T Rec.G.729EV by both exploiting the residual redundancy and passing soft information throughout the receiver while introducing a systematic global iteration process. Being fully compatible with existing transmitter structure, the proposed algorithm does not introduce additional bandwidth expansion and transmission delay. Simulations show substantial error correcting performance and synthesized speech quality improvement over conventional separate designed systems in delay and bandwidth constraint channels by using the JSCCM algorithm.

In this paper, we investigate the throughput efficiency of the Go-Back-N ARQ protocol on parallel multiple channels with burst errors. We assume that packet errors occur according to a two-state Markov chain on each channel. The effect of the decay factor of the Markov chain on throughput efficiency is evaluated based on the results of numerical analysis.

Transmission of correlated messages over interference channels with strong interference is considered. As a result, an achievable rate region is presented. It is shown that if the messages are correlated, the achievable rate region can be larger than the capacity region given by Costa and El Gamal. As an example, the Gaussian interference channel is considered.

The electrostatic force required for the driving of liquid droplet injected in a microchannel was studied to obtain the guiding principle to reduce the driving voltage of waveguide optical switch based on the movement of droplet. We analytically calculated the relation between the threshold voltage and velocity of droplet and the surface roughness of microchannel, and clarified some unconfirmed parameters by comparing experimental results and aeromechanical analysis. The driving of droplet in a microchannel was best analyzed using the Hagen-Poiseuille flow theory, taking into account the movement of both ends of the droplet. When the droplet is driven by some external force, a threshold of the external force occurs in the starting of movement, and hysteresis occurs in the contact angle of the droplet to the side wall of the microchannel. The hysteresis of contact angle is caused by the roughness of side wall. In our experiment, the threshold voltage ranged from 200 to 350 V and the switching time from 34 to 36 ms. The velocity of droplet was evaluated to be 0.3-0.4 mm/s from these experimental results. On the other hand, the measured angle distribution of side wall roughness ranged from 30 to 110 degrees, and the threshold voltage was evaluated to be 100-320 V, showing a good agreement with experimental results. The reduction of threshold voltage can be realized by smoothing the side wall roughness of microchannel. The switching time of 10 ms, which is required for the optical stream switch, can be obtained by shortening the horizontal spot size down to 1.5 µm.

Because of the fact that mobile communication channel changes by time, it is necessary to employ adaptive channel equalizers in order to combat the distorting effects of the channel. Least Mean Squares (LMS) algorithm is one of the most popular channel equalization algorithms and is preferred over other algorithms such as the Recursive Least Squares (RLS) and Maximum Likelihood Sequence Estimation (MLSE) when simplicity is the dominant decision factor. However, LMS algorithm suffers from poor performance and convergence speed within the training period specified by most of the standards. The aim of this study is to improve the convergence speed and performance of the LMS algorithm by adjusting the step size using fuzzy logic. The proposed method is compared with the Channel Matched Filter-Decision Feedback Equalizer (CMF-DFE) [1] which provides multi path propagation diversity by collecting the energy in the channel, Minimum Mean Square Error-Decision Feedback Equalizer (MMSE-DFE) [2] which is one of the most successful equalizers for the data packet transmission, normalized LMS-DFE (N-LMS-DFE) [3] , variable step size (VSS) LMS-DFE [4] , fuzzy LMS-DFE [5],[6] and RLS-DFE [7] . The obtained simulation results using HIPERLAN/1 standards have demonstrated that the proposed LMS-DFE algorithm based on fuzzy logic has considerably better performance than others.

The generalized Hamming weight played an important role in coding theory. In the study of the wiretap channel of type II, the generalized Hamming weight was extended to a two-code format. Two equivalent concepts of the generalized Hamming weight hierarchy and its two-code format, are the inverse dimension/length profile (IDLP) and the inverse relative dimension/length profile (IRDLP), respectively. In this paper, the Singleton upper bound on the IRDLP is improved by using a quotient subcode set and a subset with respect to a generator matrix, respectively. If these new upper bounds on the IRDLP are achieved, in the corresponding coordinated two-party wire-tap channel of type II, the adversary cannot learn more from the illegitimate party.

This letter studies the asymptotic bit error rate (BER) performance of multihop communication systems with amplify-and-forward relaying over Nakagami-m fading channels. Since it is difficult to find the exact probability density function (PDF) of the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the destination, we resort to the series expansion of this PDF in the neighborhood of zero. Building upon this result, a closed-form expression for the average BER in the high SNR region is derived. Numeric results show that the derived asymptotic BER expression is accurate at medium and high SNR for both independent identically distributed (i.i.d.) and independent non-identically distributed (i.n.i.d.) channels.

Combining transmission of ultra wideband pulses, organized in blocks, with the inclusion of cyclic prefixing pulses yields a pulsewidth periodic signal at the receiver. Although unknown, this signal fits perfectly the diversity exploitive architecture of a RAKE receiver. Aiming to profit from this signal arrangement, we propose a pulse shape modulation system employing a RAKE receiver that estimates this periodic signal during a training interval and uses the estimated values for detection of data symbols. Our proposal relies on the invariability of the multipath propagation channel during the transmission of a UWB packet, the adequate application of the cyclic prefix, and the fact that different transmitted pulses result in different periodic signals at the receiver. This system is equivalent to transforming the multipath nature of the UWB propagation channel into a multichannel digital communications affected solely by additive noise. Our proposal is important because it ameliorates the performance of a pulse shape modulation RAKE receiver. On the other hand, the cost of our proposed system resides in the inefficiencies product of the cyclic prefix inclusion.

A simple transmit diversity scheme based on cyclic-shift pseudo noise (PN) sequences for the time domain synchronous orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (TDS-OFDM) system is proposed and the corresponding channel estimation algorithms are also investigated. Simulation results are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.