Multicarrier Spread Spectrum Communications with Noncontiguous Subcarrier Bands for HF Skywave Links

Growing traffic over the high-frequency (HF) band poses significant challenges to establishing robust communication links. While existing spread-spectrum HF transceivers are, to some degree, robust against harsh HF channel conditions, their performance significantly degrades in the presence of strong co-channel interference. To improve performance in congested channel conditions, we propose a filter-bank based multicarrier spread-spectrum waveform with noncontiguous subcarrier bands. The use of noncontiguous subcarriers allows the system to at once leverage the robustness of a wideband system while retaining the frequency agility of a narrowband system. In this study, we explore differences between contiguous and noncontiguous systems by considering their respective peak-to-average power ratios (PAPRs) and matched-filter responses. Additionally, we develop a modified filter-bank receiver structure to facilitate both efficient signal processing and noncontiguous channel estimation. We conclude by presenting simulated and over-the-air results of the noncontiguous waveform, demonstrating both its robustness in harsh HF channels and its enhanced performance in congested spectral conditions.

Downlink Transmission in FBMC-based Massive MIMO with Co-located and Distributed Antennas

This paper introduces a practical precoding method for the downlink of Filter Bank Multicarrier-based (FBMC-based) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. The proposed method comprises a two-stage precoder, consisting of a fractionally spaced prefilter (FSP) per subcarrier to equalize the channel across each subcarrier band. This is followed by a conventional precoder that concentrates the signals of different users at their spatial locations, ensuring each user receives only the intended information. In practical scenarios, a perfect channel reciprocity may not hold due to radio chain mismatches in the uplink and downlink. Moreover, the channel state information (CSI) may not be perfectly known at the base station. To address these issues, we theoretically analyze the performance of the proposed precoder in presence of imperfect CSI and channel reciprocity calibration errors. Our investigation covers both co-located (cell-based) and cell-free massive MIMO cases. In the cell-free massive MIMO setup, we propose an access point selection method based on the received SINRs of different users in the uplink. Finally, we conduct numerical evaluations to assess the performance of the proposed precoder. Our results demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed precoder when compared with the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) method as a benchmark.

Resource Allocation for Single Carrier Massive MIMO Systems

Resource allocation in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems is performed through allocating blocks of subcarriers to each user. Even though OFDM is the primary waveform for 5G NR systems, research reports have noted that single carrier modulation (SCM) offers several advantages over OFDM in massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems, making it a preferred candidate for some future applications such as massive machine type communications (mMTC). This paper presents a method for SCM resource allocation and the relevant information recovery algorithms at the receiver. Our emphasis is on cyclic prefixed SCM, where highly flexible and efficient frequency domain detection algorithms enable the operation of many simultaneous users in a massive MIMO uplink scenario. The proposed resource allocation method allows the number of users to exceed the number of antennas at the base station (BS). Each single carrier transmission is partitioned into $L$ interleaved streams, and each user is allocated a number of such streams. One major benefit of SCM is that each data symbol is spread over the entire bandwidth. As such, the receiver performance is dictated by the average channel gain across the transmission band rather than the channel gain at a given frequency bin or a small group of frequencies. In the proposed setup, each stream may be thought of as a resource block in SCM, analogous to resource blocks in OFDM. Hence, in the context of this paper, the terms resource blocks and streams may be used interchangeably.

Downlink Precoding for FBMC-based Massive MIMO with Imperfect Channel Reciprocity

In this paper, a practical precoding method for the downlink of filter bank multicarrier-based (FBMC-based) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is developed. The proposed method includes a two-stage precoder consisting of a fractionally spaced prefilter (FSP) per subcarrier for flattening/equalizing the channel across the subcarrier band, followed by a conventional precoder whose goal is to concentrate the signals of different users at their spatial locations. This way, each user receives only the intended information. In this paper, we take note that channel reciprocity may not hold perfectly in practical scenarios due to the mismatch of radio chains in uplink and downlink. Additionally, channel state information (CSI) at the base station may not be perfectly known. This, together with imperfect channel reciprocity can lead to detrimental effects on the downlink precoder performance. We theoretically analyze the performance of the proposed precoder in the presence of imperfect CSI and channel reciprocity calibration errors. This leads to an effective method for compensating these effects. Finally, we numerically evaluate the performance of the proposed precoder. Our results show that the proposed precoder leads to an excellent performance when benchmarked against OFDM.

FBMC Receiver Design and Analysis for Medium and Large Scale Antenna Systems

In this paper, we design receivers for filter bank multicarrier-based (FBMC-based) massive MIMO considering practical aspects such as channel estimation and equalization. In particular, we propose a spectrally efficient pilot structure and a channel estimation technique in the uplink to jointly estimate all the users' channel impulse responses. We mathematically analyze our proposed channel estimator and find the statistics of the channel estimation errors. These statistics are incorporated into our proposed equalizers to deal with the imperfect channel state information (CSI) effect. We revisit the channel equalization problem for FBMC-based massive MIMO, address the shortcomings of the existing equalizers in the literature, and make them more applicable to practical scenarios. The proposed receiver in this paper consists of two stages. In the first stage, a linear combining of the received signals at the base station (BS) antennas provides a coarse channel equalization and removes any multiuser interference. In the second stage, a per subcarrier fractionally spaced equalizer (FSE) takes care of any residual distortion of the channel for the user of interest. We propose an FSE design based on the equivalent channel at the linear combiner output. This enables the applicability of our proposed technique to small and/or distributed antenna setups such as cell-free massive MIMO. Finally, the efficacy of the proposed techniques is corroborated through numerical analysis.

Efficient Precoding for Single Carrier Modulation in Multi-User Massive MIMO Networks

By processing in the frequency domain (FD), massive MIMO systems can approach the theoretical per-user capacity using a single carrier modulation (SCM) waveform with a cyclic prefix. Minimum mean squared error (MMSE) detection and zero forcing (ZF) precoding have been shown to effectively cancel multi-user interference while compensating for inter-symbol interference. In this paper, we present a modified downlink precoding approach in the FD based on regularized zero forcing (RZF), which reuses the matrix inverses calculated as part of the FD MMSE uplink detection. By reusing these calculations, the computational complexity of the RZF precoder is drastically lowered, compared to the ZF precoder. Introduction of the regularization in RZF leads to a bias in the detected data symbols at the user terminals. We show this bias can be removed by incorporating a scaling factor at the receiver. Furthermore, it is noted that user powers have to be optimized to strike a balance between noise and interference seen at each user terminal. The resulting performance of the RZF precoder exceeds that of the ZF precoder for low and moderate input signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions, and performance is equal for high input SNR. These results are established and confirmed by analysis and simulation.