Recently, Gan and Luo have proposed a direction-of-arrival estimation method for uncorrelated and coherent signals in the presence of multipath propagation [3]. In their method, uncorrelated and coherent signals are distinguished by rotational invariance techniques and the property of the moduli of eigenvalues. However, due to the limitation of finite number of sensors, the pseudo-inverse matrix derived in this method is an approximate one. When the number of sensors is small, the approximation error is large, which adversely affects the property of the moduli of eigenvalues. Consequently, the method in [3] performs poorly in identifying uncorrelated signals under such circumstance. Moreover, in cases of small number of snapshots and low signal to noise ratio, the performance of their method is poor as well. Therefore, in this letter we first study the approximation in [3] and then propose an improved method that performs better in distinguishing between uncorrelated signals and coherent signals and in the aforementioned two cases. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method.

We propose a novel propagation measurement scheme for terrestrial TV signal indoor reception based on a virtual array technique. The system proposed in this paper carries out two-branch recording of target signals and the reference signal. By using the signal phase reference in the reference signal, we clarify the spatial propagation characteristics obtained from the two-dimensional virtual array outputs. Outdoor measurements were performed first to investigate the validity of the proposed measurement system. The results confirm its effectiveness in accurately determining the direction-of-arrival (DOA). We then investigated the propagation characteristics in an indoor environment. The angular spectrum obtained showed clear wave propagation structure. Thus, our proposed system is promising as a very accurate measurement tool for indoor propagation analysis.

This paper surveys and introduces propagation studies and models that are expected to contribute to the development of broadband wireless systems. The survey focused on theory-based propagation models, experimental measurement data useful for modeling, and transmission characteristic evaluations using propagation models. The survey did not attempt to cover all papers in the research fields, but rather took key papers for various relevant subjects and described them in some detail. The basic characteristics of multipath propagation are summarized from the viewpoints of narrow-band (NB), wide-band (WB), and ultra wide-band (UWB). Recent studies on spatio-temporal propagation models and the relationship between models and systems are introduced. To clarify the relationship between OFDM, which is a representative of wideband data transmission schemes, and wave propagation factors, problems due to large delay spread and large Doppler spread are highlighted. Finally, studies on UWB propagation measurement and propagation models are introduced.

An ultra wide band channel sounder has been developed and has attained the time delay resolution of 0.5 ns which enables the propagation path discrimination in indoor wireless propagation environments as well as the direction-of-arrival measurements by power delay profile measurements.

A performance comparison is developed between a chaotic communication system and a spread spectrum system with similar features in terms of bandwidth and transceiver structure but based on more conventional Gold sequences. Comparison is made in the presence of noise and multipath contributions which degrade the channel quality. It is shown that, because of its more favourable correlation properties, the chaotic scheme exhibits lower error rates, at a parity of the bandwidth expansion factor. The same favourable correlation properties are also used to explain and show, through a numerical example, the benefits of chaotic segments in a multi-user environment.

Frequency-selective fading due to multipath propagation is serious hindrance in high-speed TDMA mobile communications. An adaptive antenna has been proposed to reduce the frequency-selective fading and realize path-diversity. This paper presents a criterion which selects multipath signals and weighting factors for combining them. First, we describe a selection criterion which chooses the multipath signals for the path-diversity. We propose a ratio of signal power to error power for the criterion. Furthermore, we propose weighting factors which realize approximately the maximal ratio combining. Computer simulation results show that the proposed selection criterion and weighting factors reveal excellent performance.

This paper describes a method of predicting transmission performance to be obtained by applying RAKE reception and parallel transmission in realistic urban multipath environments. Delay profiles measured in metropolitan Tokyo at microwave frequencies were used to obtain the impulse responses of radio channels, and the closed-form equations corresponding to the performance of these anti-multipath techniques were derived, by means of the characteristic function method, under the assumption that the phases of the impulse responses are uniformly distributed. Results show that RAKE reception provides bit error rates 100 times lower than bare transmission does, whereas the improvement obtained by using parallel transmission should be especially valuable in broadband communication systems, such as those operating at data rates above 10 Mb/s.

Multi-path propagation structure in the urban mobile communication environment of 25 GHz band has been measured by means of newly developed "multi-path propagation parameter measurement equipment," which is capable of estimating coupled DOA (Direction Of Arrival), TOA (Time Of Arrival) and relative field strength by super resolution techniques. Before measurement, basic performance of the equipment has been evaluated in the anechoic chamber in order to ascertain limitation on measurement. For practice and verification of outdoor propagation characteristics, basic data have been collected in a works where accurate buildings and road layout is known. Sub-sequently, data have been collected in the urban mobile communication environment and following characteristics have been confirmed. 1) DOA and TOA of wave reflected by the side of building almost follow the ray-trace. 2) Street trees make 25 GHz band wave attenuate. 3) There are such unusual cases that it is possible to communicate in spite of out of line-of-sight by multi-path propagation. 4) Narrow streets have very complicated propagation structures. Finally, technologies that should be developed for the high-speed digital mobile communication are proposed based on the measurement results.

The transfer function or impulse response of propagation path is one of the most fundamental and most important quantities for equalizing the distortions cased by multipath propagation. In this paper, precise identification of the transfer function of the propagation path under multipath condition is presented. By use of the least-square method, uncertainty due to white noise is sufficiently eliminated.

In future mobile radio, high-speed transmission and efficient spectrum utilization will be important. However, multipath propagation with large delay difference and cochannel interference are obstacles to the advanced mobile communication system. An adaptive antenna can suppress multipath signals and cochannel interference signals. This paper reviews basic performance of multipath fading reduction and cochannel interference suppression using the adaptive antenna. After a brief explanation of adaptive antenna concepts, we show simulation and experimental results of the fading reduction. It is pointed out that the adaptive antenna cancels multipath signals with large delay difference strongly. This feature is very important for high-speed TDMA systems. Moreover, it is shown from simulation results that the adaptive antenna improves the spectrum efficiency by suppressing the cochannel interference signals.

Analyzing multipath propagation structure is important to develop anti-fading techniques for high-speed digital radio systems. Several techniques have been employed to measure delay profiles and/or arrival angles. This paper presents a simultaneous estimation method of delay times and arrival angles of indoor multipath waves. We obtain frequency-domain data at different receiving antenna positions using a network analyzer. We estimate the propagation parameters by means of a two-dimensional MUSIC algorithm. In order to obtain reliable results, a two-dimensional discrete inverse Fourier transform and a gating technique are employed before the MUSIC algorithm. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method can estimate the propagation parameters properly.

Stored channel simulation for mobile radio channel can be the common base of the development of future world wide personal radio communication systems, especially for high bit-rate digital system. This paper proposes a mobile radio channel database which is suitable for the laboratory channel simulation using a simple stored channel simulator, also proposed by the author. The database enables the establishment of a mobile radio channel database containing worldwide channel data in a few discs of compact disc.

A receiving system suitable for multipath fading channels with co-channel interference is described. This system is equipped with both an M-sectored directional antenna and an adaptive equalizer to mitigate the influence due to multipath propagation and co-channel interference. By using directional antennas, this receiving system can separate desirable signals from undesirable signals, such as multipath signals with longer delay time and co-channel interference. It accepts multipath signals which can be equalized by maximum likelihood sequence estimation, and rejects both multipath signals with longer delay time and co-channel interference. Based on computer simulation results, the performance of the proposed receiving system is analyzed assuming simple propagation models with Rayleigh-distributed multipath signals and co-channel interference.

A stored channel simulator for digital mobile radio enviroments is proposed, which enables the field tests in the laboratory under identical conditions, since it can reproduce the actual multipath radio channels by using the channel impulse responses (CIR's) measured in the field. Linear interpolation of CIR is introduced to simplify the structure of the proposed simulator. The performance of the proposed simulator is confirmed by the laboratory tests.

In this paper, some misconceptions about "multipath propagation" are discussed for those propagation engineers, who are not familiar with the close relationship between multipath propagation and a communication system in a mobile/portable radio communication environment. It is shown that believed facts about multipath propagation are not always true. Namely, it is well-known that multipath propagation is undesirable if a conventional sample-and-decision receiver is assumed. It is not well-recognized that it can be a desirable phenomenon if a sophisticated communication system uses adaptive equalization, anti-multipath modulation, or spread spectrum communication, for example. On the other hand, it is widely accepted that root mean square (rms) multipath delay spread is a good measure of bit-error-rate performance, i.e., as rms delay spread gets larger, bit-error-rate generally gets worse. However, it is pointed out that this is not always true, especially in propagation conditions with very long-delayed multipath signals. In short, it is the purpose of this paper to show examples that the facts believed to be true sometimes turn out to be false, unless we pay attention to both aspects of propagation and system design in the field of mobile/portable radio communications. In fact, for highly efficient communication systems design, propagation, antenna and system factors should be taken into account simultaneously.