IEICE Transactions on Communications - recent issues

Special Section on Brain Communication

Sagara, K. — 2008-07-12

Mechanisms of Human Sensorimotor-Learning and Their Implications for Brain Communication

IMAMIZU, H. — 2008-07-12

Humans have a remarkable ability to flexibly control various objects such as tools. Much evidence suggests that the internal models acquired in the central nervous system (CNS) support flexible control. Internal models are neural mechanisms that mimic the input-output properties of controlled objects. In a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, we demonstrate how the CNS acquires and switches internal models for dexterous use of many tools. In the first study, we investigated human cerebellar activity when human subjects learned how to use a novel tool (a rotated computer mouse, where the cursor appears in a rotated position) and found that activity reflecting an internal model of the novel tool increases in the lateral cerebellum after learning how to use the tool. In the second study, we investigated the internal-model activity after sufficient training in the use of two types of novel tools (the rotated mouse and a velocity mouse, where the cursor's velocity is proportional to mouse's position) and found that the cerebellar activities for the two tools were spatially segregated. In the third study, we investigated brain activity associated with the flexible switching of tools. We found that the activity related to switching internal models was in the prefrontal lobe (area 46 and the insula), the parietal lobe, and the cerebellum. These results suggest that internal models in the cerebellum represent input-output properties of the tools as modulators of continuous signals. The cerebellar abilities in adaptive modulation of signals can be used to enhance the control signals in communications between the brain and computers.

Development of Mentalizing and Communication: From Viewpoint of Developmental Cybernetics and Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

ITAKURA, S. — 2008-07-12

The ability to mentalize is essential for human socialization. Such ability is strongly related to communication. In this paper, I discuss the development of mentalizing and communication from the perspectives of a new idea, Developmental Cybernetics, and developmental cognitive neuroscience. Children only attributed intention to a robot when they saw it behaving as a human and displaying social signals such as eye gaze. The emergence of powerful new methods and tools, such as neuroimaging, now allows questions about mentalizing to resolved more directly than before.

Neural Prediction of Multidimensional Decisions in Monkey Superior Colliculus

HASEGAWA, R. P., HASEGAWA, Y. T., SEGRAVES, M. A. — 2008-07-12

To examine the function of the superior colliculus (SC) in decision-making processes and the application of its single trial activity for "neural mind reading," we recorded from SC deep layers while two monkeys performed oculomotor go/no-go tasks. We have recently focused on monitoring single trial activities in single SC neurons, and designed a virtual decision function (VDF) to provide a good estimation of single-dimensional decisions (go/no-go decisions for a cue presented at a specific visual field, a response field of each neuron). In this study, we used two VDFs for multidimensional decisions (go/no-go decisions at two cue locations) with the ensemble activity which was simultaneously recorded from a small group (4 to 6) of neurons at both sides of the SC. VDFs predicted cue locations as well as go/no-go decisions. These results suggest that monitoring of ensemble SC activity had sufficient capacity to predict multidimensional decisions on a trial-by-trial basis, which is an ideal candidate to serve for cognitive brain-machine interfaces (BMI) such as two-dimensional word spellers.

The Development of BCI Using Alpha Waves for Controlling the Robot Arm

INOUE, S., AKIYAMA, Y., IZUMI, Y., NISHIJIMA, S. — 2008-07-12

The highly accurate BCI using alpha waves was developed for controlling the robot arm, and real-time operation was succeeded by using noninvasive electrodes. The significant components of the alpha wave were identified by spectral analysis and confirmation of the amplitude of the alpha wave. When the alpha wave was observed in the subject, the subjects were instructed to select the multiple decision branches, concerning 7 motions (including "STOP") of a robot arm. As a result, high accuracy (70–95%) was obtained, and the subject succeeded in transferring a small box by controlling the robot arm. Since high accuracy was obtained by use of this method, it can be applied to control equipments such as a robot arm. Since the alpha wave can be easily generated, the BCI using alpha waves does not need more training than that using other signals. Moreover, we tried to reduce the false positive errors by effectively detecting artifacts using spectral analysis and detecting signals of 50µV or more. As a result, the false positive errors could be reduced from 25% to 0%. Therefore, this technique shows great promise in the area of communication and the control of other external equipments, and will make great contribution in the improvement of Quality of Life (QOL) of mobility disabled.

GO-STOP Control Using Optical Brain-Computer Interface during Calculation Task

2008-07-12

We have developed a prototype optical brain-computer interface (BCI) system that can be used by an operator to manipulate external, electrically controlled equipment. Our optical BCI uses near-infrared spectroscopy and functions as a compact, practical, unrestrictive, non-invasive brain-switch. The optical BCI system measured spatiotemporal changes in the hemoglobin concentrations in the blood flow of a subject's prefrontal cortex at 22 measurement points. An exponential moving average (EMA) filter was applied to the data, and then their weighted sum with a task-related parameter derived from a pretest is utilized for time-indicated control (GO-STOP) of an external object. In experiments using untrained subjects, the system achieved control patterns within an accuracy of ± 6 sec for more than 80% control.

Computational Model-Based Prediction of Human Episodic Memory Performance Based on Eye Movements

SATO, N., YAMAGUCHI, Y. — 2008-07-12

Subjects' episodic memory performance is not simply reflected by eye movements. We use a ‘theta phase coding’ model of the hippocampus to predict subjects' memory performance from their eye movements. Results demonstrate the ability of the model to predict subjects' memory performance. These studies provide a novel approach to computational modeling in the human-machine interface.

Joint Special Section on Opto-electronics and Communications toward NGN and beyond

Shikada, M. — 2008-07-12

FWM-Aware Dynamic Routing and Wavelength Assignment for Wavelength-Routed Optical Networks

MARSDEN, A., MARUTA, A., KITAYAMA, K.-i. — 2008-07-12

A dynamic routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) algorithm encompassing physical impairment due to Four-Wave Mixing (FWM) is proposed, assuming conventional On-Off-Keying (OOK) modulation format. The FWM effect is one of the most severe physical impairments to be considered for the future photonic networks since the accumulation of FWM crosstalk causes a fatal degradation in the wavelength-routed optical network performance. A novel cost function is introduced based upon an impairment-constraint-based routing (ICBR) approach, taking into account the network utilization resources and the physical impairment due to FWM crosstalk. Simulations results show that the proposed algorithm leads to a more realistic system performance compared to those of related approaches of dynamic RWA that fail to consider physical impairments into the routing scheme.

An Adaptive Loss-Aware Flow Control Scheme for Delay-Sensitive Applications in OBS Networks

JEONG, H., CHOI, J., MO, J., KANG, M. — 2008-07-12

Optical Burst Switching (OBS) is one of the most promising switching technologies for next generation optical networks. As delay-sensitive applications such as Voice-over-IP (VoIP) have recently become popular, OBS networks should guarantee stringent Quality of Service (QoS) requirements for such applications. Thus, this paper proposes an Adaptive Loss-aware Flow Control (ALFC) scheme, which adaptively decides on the burst offset time based on loss-rate information delivered from core nodes for assigning a high priority to delay-sensitive application traffic. The proposed ALFC scheme also controls the upper-bounds of the factors inducing delay and jitter for guaranteeing the delay and jitter requirements of delay-sensitive application traffic. Moreover, a piggybacking method used in the proposed scheme accelerates the guarantee of the loss, delay, and jitter requirements because the response time for flow control can be extremely reduced up to a quarter of the Round Trip Time (RTT) on average while minimizing the signaling overhead. Simulation results show that our mechanism can guarantee a 10^–3 loss-rate under any traffic load while offering satisfactory levels of delay and jitter for delay-sensitive applications.

Wavelength Conversion Characteristics of SOA-MZI Based All-Optical NRZ-OOK/RZ-BPSK Modulation Format Converter

2008-07-12

All-optical wavelength conversion and modulation format conversion will be needed in the next generation high-speed optical communication networks. We have proposed and successfully demonstrated the error free operation of all-optical modulation format conversion from NRZ-OOK to RZ-BPSK using SOA based MZI wavelength converter. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the wavelength conversion characteristics of the proposed NRZ-OOK/RZ-BPSK modulation format converter. The results show that error free modulation format conversion is possible over the entire C band.

Numerical Study of APSK Format for Long-Haul Transmission and Its Performance Improvement by Zero-Nulling Method

TAGA, H., WU, J.-Y., SHIH, W.-T., SHU, S.-S. — 2008-07-12

Transmission performance of amplitude and phase shift keying (APSK) format is studied theoretically. The extinction ratio of the amplitude shift keying (ASK) signal of the APSK format causes a trade-off of the performance between the ASK and the phase shift keying (PSK) signal of the APSK format. Then, zero-nulling method is proposed to improve the performance of the APSK format, and its effectiveness is confirmed by the numerical simulation.

Physical Configuration of the Next Generation Home Network

TERADA, S., KAKISHIMA, Y., HANAWA, D., OGUCHI, K. — 2008-07-12

The number of broadband users is rapidly increasing worldwide. Japan already has over 10 million FTTH users. Another trend is the rapid digitalization of home electrical equipment e.g. digital cameras and hard disc recorders. These trends will encourage the emergence of the next generation home network. In this paper, we introduce the next generation home network image and describe the five domains into which home devices can be classified. We then clarify the optimum medium with which to configure the network given the requirements imposed by the home environment. Wiring cable lengths for three network topologies are calculated. The results gained from the next generation home network implemented on the first phase testbed are shown. Finally, our conclusions are given.

IEICE Transaction on Communications: Editor's Message

Morikawa, H. — 2008-07-12

History of Antenna Technology for Mobile Communications in Korea

MIN, K.-S., PARK, C.-K., KANG, S.-Y. — 2008-07-12

In this paper, we discuss the development of wireless and mobile communications in Korea, current technological trends, and the future outlook on technological developments. Since the introduction of the telegraph and the telephone in September 1885, Korea's wired and wireless communications industry has consistently developed for over 100 years. Since 1984, upon the provision of the mobile telecommunications service, the industry has seen drastic qualitative and quantitative growth in terms of both technical and economic aspects, which played a crucial role in the rapid growth of the digital industry in Korea. After the era of the analog cellular service based on the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), a precursor to the modern mobile service, Korea became the world's first country to commercialize Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) in 1996 and succeeded in commercializing CDMA 2000 1x (IMT-2000) in 2001. With further developments in the mobile communication technology, the technology for antennas also saw drastic advancements. As the mobile antennas moved from the second to the third generation, they grew from external models to very small internal models. At the same time, they evolved into highly functional and high performance multiple band and wide band antennas. Furthermore, Korea was the first country to commercialize and offer the Wireless Broadband Internet (WiBro) service in 2006. By leading the wireless communications standardization and exerting remarkable efforts in research and development, Korea is consolidating its status as an Information Technology (IT) leader in the global market. The antenna's inherent importance will be further emphasized in the near future as it satisfies the performance and structural needs of portable terminals necessary for realizing the projected establishment of the ubiquitous world. It is thought that antenna technologies will not be limited to simple concepts as previously experienced but will utilize various kinds of materials that build the terminals' structure and framework. Moreover, studies will be performed with an emphasis on multiple band, multiple directivity, and ultra-wide band. Accordingly, antenna technologies to which new concepts are applied, such as SMART antenna and MIMO antenna technologies and meta-materials, will surely be effective alternatives.

Mapping for Iterative MMSE-SIC with Belief Propagation

GOUNAI, S., OHTSUKI, T., KANEKO, T. — 2008-07-12

Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless systems offer both high data rates and high capacity. Since different signals are transmitted by different antennas simultaneously, interference occurs between the transmitted signals. Each receive antenna receives all the signals transmitted by each transmit antenna simultaneously. The receiver has to detect each signal from the multiplexed signal. A Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) algorithm is used for spatial filtering. MMSE filtering can realize low complexity signal detection, but the signal output by MMSE filtering suffers from interference by the other signals. MMSE-SIC combines MMSE filtering and Soft Interference Cancellation (SIC) with soft replicas and can achieve good Bit Error Rate (BER) performance. If an irregular LDPC code or a turbo code is used, the reliability and BER of the information bits output by the decoder are likely to be higher and better than the parity bits. In MMSE-SIC, bits with poor reliability lower the accuracy of soft replica estimation. When the soft replica is inaccurate, the gain obtained by SIC is small. M-ary Phase Shift Keying (PSK) and M-ary Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) also achieve high data rates. Larger constellations such as 8PSK and 16QAM transfer more bits per symbol, and the number of bits per symbol impacts the accuracy of SIC. Unfortunately, increasing the number of bits per symbol is likely to lower the accuracy of soft replica estimation. In this paper, we evaluate three mapping schemes for MMSE-SIC with an LDPC code and a turbo code with the goal of effectively increasing the SIC gain. The first scheme is information reliable mapping. In this scheme, information bits are assigned to strongly protected bits. In the second scheme, parity reliable mapping, parity bits are assigned to strongly protected bits. The last one is random mapping. Computer simulations show that in MMSE-SIC with an irregular LDPC code and a turbo code, information reliable mapping offers the highest SIC gain. We also show that in MMSE-SIC with the regular LDPC code, the gains offered by the mapping schemes are very small.

Symbol Timing Synchronization Algorithms for Wireless LAN Systems in Multipath Channels

YANG, J., CHEUN, K., KIM, J. — 2008-07-12

In this paper, efficient symbol timing synchronization algorithms for IEEE 802.11a/g wireless LAN systems in multipath channels are proposed. For improved accuracy, the algorithms utilize an effectively elongated training symbol together with nonlinear soft-limiting of the correlator output. The algorithms allow efficient utilization of the guard interval in multipath channels. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithms significantly outperform conventional algorithms.

A Low-Complexity Frequency Offset Insensitive Detection for 2.45 GHz LR-WPAN

HAN, J.-S., CHOI, H.-J. — 2008-07-12

In this paper, we propose a low-complexity frequency offset insensitive detection method for the 2.45 GHz LR-WPAN demodulator. In IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN (Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Network) specification, the frequency offset as highest ±80 ppm in the 2.45 GHz band is recommended for low-complexity, low-cost, and low-power implementation. The proposed detection method is verified such that the performance is within 2 dB of the optimal coherent detection with low complexity, which is less than half in comparison with conventional detection methods.

Frequency Interleaved Multicarrier CDMA Systems with Two Kinds of Spreading Codes

YOU, C., CHOI, S. — 2008-07-12

We design a unified multicarrier (UMC) system for wideband communication. The proposed scheme can provide an effective and unified method that can implement a wideband CDMA system with high spectrum efficiency and flexibility because of the free selection of system parameters and a double spreading in the time and frequency domains. Also, separation of the spectrums carrying the same data to further ensure the independent fading between subcarriers is performed, that is, subcarriers are interleaved in the frequency domain. This frequency interleaving mitigates the effect of ISI and ICI. We also theoretically analyze the performance of the UMC system by deriving the closed-form solution for probability of bit error in a frequency selective Rayleigh fading channel. The analysis has proved that the UMC system has outperformed the conventional single carrier CDMA system under given conditions.

General Ripple Mobility Model: A Novel Mobility Model of Uniform Spatial Distribution and Diverse Average Speed

CHEN, C.-H., WU, H.-T., KE, K.-W. — 2008-07-12

Simulations are often deployed to evaluate proposed mechanisms or algorithms in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANET). In MANET, the impacts of some simulation parameters are noticeable, such as transmission range, data rate etc. However, the effect of mobility model is not clear until recently. Random Waypoint (RWP) is one of the most applied nodal mobility models in many simulations due to its clear procedures and easy employments. However, it exhibits the two major problems: decaying average speed and border effect. Both problems will overestimate the performance of the employed protocols and applications. Although many recently proposed mobility models are able to reduce or eliminate the above-mentioned problems, the concept of Diverse Average Speed (DAS) has not been introduced. DAS aims to provide different average speeds within the same speed range. In most mobility models, the average speed is decided when the minimum and maximum speeds are set. In this paper, we propose a novel mobility model, named General Ripple Mobility Model (GRMM). GRMM targets to provide a uniform nodal spatial distribution and DAS without decaying average speed. The simulations and analytic results have demonstrated the merits of the outstanding properties of the GRMM model.

Analysis of Divisible Load Scheduling with Result Collection on Heterogeneous Systems

GHATPANDE, A., NAKAZATO, H., BEAUMONT, O., WATANABE, H. — 2008-07-12

Divisible Load Theory (DLT) is an established framework to study Divisible Load Scheduling (DLS). Traditional DLT ignores the result collection phase, and specifies no solution to the general case where both the network speed and computing capacity of the nodes are heterogeneous. In this paper, the DLS with Result Collection on HETerogeneous Systems (DLSRCHETS) problem is formulated as a linear program and analyzed. The papers to date that have dealt with result collection, proposed simplistic LIFO (Last In, First Out) and FIFO (First In, First Out) type of schedules as solutions. The main contributions of this paper are: (a) A proof of the Allocation Precedence Condition, which is inconsequential in LIFO or FIFO, but is important in a general schedule. (b) A proof of the Idle Time Theorem, which states that irrespective of whether load is allocated to all available processors, in the optimal solution to the DLSRCHETS problem, at the most one processor that is allocated load has idle time, and that the idle time exists only when the result collection begins immediately after the completion of load distribution.

Packet Size Based Routing for Stable Data Delivery in Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

KHAN, A., SUZUKI, T., KOBAYASHI, M., TAKITA, W., YAMAZAKI, K. — 2008-07-12

In Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANET), transportation capability of wireless links' varies according to the size of the packets they transport. This instability, which is more acute in long links, has received little attention in the stabilizing schemes proposed so far for MANET. A lot of research has been carried out to utilize more reliable links in making end-to-end routes to avoid frequent route failures and realize higher packet delivery ratio. However, these approaches mainly consider the availability of a link over time and depend on link history which is difficult to acquire in highly dynamic systems. In this paper, we present an easy-to-implement but efficient method to find suitable end-to-end routes that are capable of transporting different sizes of the application data packets. Our scheme is stateless and does not rely on the underlying data link and physical layers. An extensive simulation shows the validity of our concept and highlights the improvement achieved by our proposal.

A New Security Architecture for Personal Networks and Its Performance Evaluation

SHIN, S., FATHI, H., KOBARA, K., PRASAD, N. R., IMAI, H. — 2008-07-12

The concept of personal networks is very user-centric and representative for the next generation networks. However, the present security mechanism does not consider at all what happens whenever a mobile node (device) is compromised, lost or stolen. Of course, a compromised, lost or stolen mobile node (device) is a main factor to leak stored secrets. This kind of leakage of stored secrets remains a great danger in the field of communication security since it can lead to the complete breakdown of the intended security level. In order to solve this problem, we propose a 3-way Leakage-Resilient and Forward-Secure Authenticated Key Exchange (3LRFS-AKE) protocol and its security architecture suitable for personal networks. The 3LRFS-AKE protocol guarantees not only forward secrecy of the shared key between device and its server as well as providing a new additional layer of security against the leakage of stored secrets. The proposed security architecture includes two different types of communications: PN wide communication and communication between P-PANs of two different users. In addition, we give a performance evaluation and numerical results of the delay generated by the proposed security architecture.

Enhancement of Beaconless Location-Based Routing with Signal Strength Assistance for Ad-Hoc Networks

CHEN, G., ITOH, K., SATO, T. — 2008-07-12

Routing in Ad-hoc networks is unreliable due to the mobility of the nodes. Location-based routing protocols, unlike other protocols which rely on flooding, excel in network scalability. Furthermore, new location-based routing protocols, like, e.g. BLR [1], IGF [2], & CBF [3] have been proposed, with the feature of not requiring beacons in MAC-layer, which improve more in terms of scalability. Such beaconless routing protocols can work efficiently in dense network areas. However, these protocols' algorithms have no ability to avoid from routing into sparse areas. In this article, historical signal strength has been added as a factor into the BLR algorithm, which avoids routing into sparse area, and consequently improves the global routing efficiency.

A Distributed Network Mobility Management Scheme for Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 Networks

KAWANO, K., KINOSHITA, K., YAMAI, N. — 2008-07-12

Route optimization for network mobility is a key technique for providing a node in a mobile network (Mobile Network Node or MNN) with high quality broadband communications. Many schemes adding route optimization function to Network Mobility (NEMO) Basic Support protocol, the standardized network mobility management protocol from the IETF nemo working group, have already been proposed in recent years. One such scheme, a scheme using Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6) aims to overcome micromobility management issues as well by applying a mechanism based on HMIPv6. The traditional scheme, however, suffers from a significant number of signaling messages as the number of MNNs and/or the number of their Correspondent Nodes (CNs) increase, because many messages notifying the MNNs' Home Agents (HA_MNNs) and the CNs of the mobile network's movement are generated simultaneously each time the mobile network moves to the domain of another micromobility management router (Mobility Anchor Point or MAP). This paper proposes a scheme to overcome this problem. Our scheme reduces the number of signaling messages generated at the same time by managing the mobility of MNNs using multiple MAPs distributed within a network for load sharing. The results of simulation experiments show that our scheme works efficiently compared to the traditional scheme when a mobile network has many MNNs and/or these MNNs communicate with many CNs.

Enhanced TCP Congestion Control Realizing Higher Throughput and Inter-Session Fairness in Multihop Wireless Networks

YAMAMOTO, T., TODE, H., MURAKAMI, K. — 2008-07-12

It is known that TCP data transfer in a wireless multihop network experiences a degradation in inter-connection fairness and throughput. This is because TCP is designed for use in wired networks, and the wireless multihop network has characteristics of sharing of the medium resources among nodes, which wired networks do not have. In particular, in wireless multihop networks where wireless nodes widely exist, hidden/exposed terminal problems are caused even if an RTS/CTS handshake is used. In this paper, two methods are proposed to improve fairness and throughput, without any feedback information from the intermediate nodes or cross-layer information. One method restricts the transfer period, while the other restrains the TCP congestion window. We evaluated these methods using computer simulations.

MIMO-OFDM Precoding Technique for Minimizing BER Upper Bound of MLD

PITAKDUMRONGKIJA, B., FUKAWA, K., SUZUKI, H., HAGIWARA, T. — 2008-07-12

This paper proposes a new MIMO-OFDM precoding technique that aims to minimize a bit error rate (BER) upper bound of the maximum likelihood detection (MLD) in mobile radio communications. Using a steepest descent algorithm, the proposed method estimates linear precoding matrices that can minimize the upper bound of BER under power constraints. Since the upper bound is derived from all the pairwise error probabilities, this method can effectively optimize overall Euclidean distances between signals received by multiple antennas and their replicas. Computer simulations evaluate the BER performance and channel capacity of the proposed scheme for 2 x 2 and 4 x 4 MIMO-OFDM systems with BPSK, QPSK, and 16QAM. It is demonstrated that the proposed precoding technique is superior in terms of average BER to conventional precoding methods including a precoder which maximizes only the minimum Euclidean distance as the worst case.

Orthogonal Pilot Channel Using Combination of FDMA and CDMA in Single-Carrier FDMA-Based Evolved UTRA Uplink

KAWAMURA, T., KISHIYAMA, Y., HIGUCHI, K., SAWAHASHI, M. — 2008-07-12

In the Evolved UTRA (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access) uplink, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) radio access was adopted owing to its advantageous low peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) feature, which leads to wide coverage area provisioning with limited peak transmission power of user equipments. This paper proposes orthogonal pilot channel generation using the combination of FDMA and CDMA in the SC-FDMA-based Evolved UTRA uplink. In the proposed method, we employ distributed FDMA transmission for simultaneous accessing users with different transmission bandwidths, and employ CDMA transmission for simultaneous accessing users with identical transmission bandwidth. Moreover, we apply a code sequence with a good auto-correlation property such as a Constant Amplitude Zero Auto-Correlation (CAZAC) sequence employing a cyclic shift to increase the number of sequences. Simulation results show that the average packet error rate performance using an orthogonal pilot channel with the combination of FDMA and CDMA in a six-user environment, i.e., four users each with a 1.25-MHz transmission bandwidth and two users each with a 5-MHz transmission bandwidth, employing turbo coding with the coding rate of R = 1/2 and QPSK and 16QAM data modulation coincides well with that in a single-user environment with the same transmission bandwidth. We show that the proposed orthogonal pilot channel structure using the combination of distributed FDMA and CDMA transmissions and the application of the CAZAC sequence is effective in the SC-FDMA-based Evolved UTRA uplink.

CQI Feedback Overhead Reduction for Multicarrier MIMO Transmission

ZENG, E., ZHU, S., XU, M. — 2008-07-12

For wideband MIMO-OFDM systems, scheduling and link adaptation are key techniques to improve the throughput performance. However, in systems without reciprocity between the uplink and the downlink channels, these techniques require a high feedback overhead of the channel quality indication (CQI) information. In this paper, we propose a novel CQI feedback reduction method, which is based on the conventional compression techniques exploiting the discrete cosine transformation (DCT). The basic idea is to adaptively permute the CQI sequences of different MIMO streams according to one of the possible patterns before the DCT compression so that the amount of feedback bits is minimized. The possible patterns used are carefully designed according to our analysis of the two types of correlations (the inter-stream correlation and the inter-subband correlation) that exist in MIMO-OFDM transmission, as well as their impact on the compression efficiency. Simulation results verify that the proposed method can effectively reduce the CQI feedback overhead under varying channel conditions.

An Efficient Radio Resource Allocation Scheme for Minimum Outage Probability Using Cooperation in OFDMA Systems

JUNG, J., PARK, H., LIM, J.-S. — 2008-07-12

Cooperation can increase the system performance by obtaining the spatial diversity. While most of the present works concentrate on the analysis of the cooperation based on the inter-user channel response and developing a scheme for higher cooperative diversity, in this paper, we focus on practical resource allocation in OFDMA systems. Since the user who uses the same center frequency can not receive the signal when transmitting, this constraint should be considered to apply the cooperation to OFDMA systems. In this paper, we propose the pair-based OFDMA frame structure that overcomes this constraint. Also in this frame structure to achieve the minimum outage probability of system, we select the best partner among the candidate neighbors and allocate the suitable subchannels to bandwidth requested users through a cooperative subchannel allocation (CSA) algorithm. In order to evaluate the proposed resource allocation scheme, we carry out simulations based on IEEE 802.16e. The simulation results show that our proposed algorithm offers smaller outage probability than one based on non-cooperative communications and we get the minimum outage probability when a threshold for selection of candidate neighbors is 10 dB. We analyze that these results can be achieved by helping users located around the edge of the cell.

A Nonlinear Distortion Compensation Method with Adaptive Predistorter and Negative Feed-Back for a Narrow-Band Signal

ZHANG, Y., MUTA, O., AKAIWA, Y. — 2008-07-12

The adaptive predistorter and the negative feedback system are known as methods to compensate for the nonlinear distortion of a power amplifier. Although the feedback method is a simple technique, its instability impedes the capability of high-feedback gain to achieve a high-compensation effect. On the other hand, the predistorter requires a long time for convergence of the adaptive predistorters. In this paper, we propose a nonlinear distortion compensation method for a narrow-band signal. In this method, an adaptive predistorter and negative feedback are combined. In addition, to shorten the convergence time to minimize nonlinear distortion, a variable step-size (VS) method is also applied to the algorithm to determine the parameters of the adaptive predistorter. Using computer simulations, we show that the proposed scheme achieves both five times faster convergence speed than that of the predistorter and three times higher permissible delay time in the feedback amplifier than that of a negative feedback only amplifier.

Efficient Management of Multiple Piconets in an MC-CDMA-Based UWB System

GONG, P., XUE, P., PIAO, C. J., KIM, D. K. — 2008-07-12

With multiple overlapped piconets, the IEEE 802.15.3 Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol uses a Parent/Child (P/C) or Parent/Neighbor (P/N) configuration to avoid inter-piconet interference. However, the throughput of a P/N or P/C configuration cannot exceed that of a single piconet. In the present paper we propose an efficient means of managing multiple piconets to cooperate with a Multi-Carrier Code Division Multiple Access (MC-CDMA) based UWB system. The proposed management approach uses an Intermediate Device (IDEV) to connect Piconet Coordinators (PNCs). A senior PNC adaptively arranges two simultaneous data transmission links with the proposed spreading matrices in each Channel Time Allocation (CTA) instead of a P/C or P/N configuration, which supports only a single link in each CTA. Simulation results demonstrate the proposed scheme can achieve a higher throughput with an acceptable compromise of link success probability in multiple overlapped piconets.

Adaptive MIMO-MLSE Blind Detection in Heterogeneous Stream Transmission for Mobile Radio Communications

KANNO, I., SUZUKI, H., FUKAWA, K. — 2008-07-12

This paper proposes a novel MIMO system that introduces a heterogeneous stream (HTS) scheme and a blind signal detection method for mobile radio communications. The HTS scheme utilizes different modulation or coding methods for different MIMO streams, and the blind detection method requires no training sequences for signal separation, detection, and channel estimation. The HTS scheme can remove the ambiguity in identifying separated streams without unique words that are necessary in conventional MIMO blind detection. More specifically, two examples of HTS are considered: modulation type HTS (MHTS) and timing-offset type HTS (THTS). MHTS, which utilizes different modulation constellations with the same bandwidth for different streams, has been previously investigated. This paper proposes THTS which utilizes different transmission timing with the same modulation. THTS can make the blind detection more robust and effective with fractional sampling. The blind joint processing of detection and channel estimation performs adaptive blind MIMO-MLSE and is derived from an adaptive blind MLSE equalizer that employs the recursive channel estimation with the Moore-Penrose generalized inverse. Computer simulations show that the proposed system can achieve superior BER performance with E_b/N₀ degradation of 1 dB in THTS and 2.5 dB in MHTS compared with the ideal maximum likelihood detection.

Frequency Spectrum Rotation in Interleaved Frequency Division Multiplexing

TAKYU, O., NAKAGAWA, M. — 2008-07-12

Interleaved Frequency Division Multiplexing (IFDM) can achieve high diversity gain as well as establishing orthogonal frequency multiplexing by using a comb-shaped frequency spectrum. In IFDM, as the number of repeat transmissions of a modulated symbol is increased, the comb-shaped frequency spectrum should be narrowed, so that the frequency diversity gain is decreased. In addition, IFDM suffers from inter-path interference imposed on the transmitted signal by multipath fading channel. In this paper, a novel frequency spectrum construction is proposed. In the proposed frequency spectrum construction, the comb-shaped frequency spectrum is frequency-shifted for every modulated symbol. As a result, the frequency spectrum of the frame composed of many modulated symbols is widely spread. In addition, the inter-path interference can be suppressed because the modulated symbol is orthogonal, in the frequency domain, to the following symbol. From the computer simulation, the frequency spectrum rotation can achieve better error rate performance thanks to the increase in frequency diversity gain and suppressing inter-path interference.

On Cellular MIMO Channel Capacity

ADACHI, K., ADACHI, F., NAKAGAWA, M. — 2008-07-12

To increase the transmission rate without bandwidth expansion, the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technique has recently been attracting much attention. The MIMO channel capacity in a cellular system is affected by the interference from neighboring co-channel cells. In this paper, we introduce the cellular channel capacity and evaluate its outage capacity, taking into account the frequency-reuse factor, path loss exponent, standard deviation of shadowing loss, and transmission power of a base station (BS). Furthermore, we compare the cellular MIMO downlink channel capacity with those of other multi-antenna transmission techniques such as single-input multiple-output (SIMO) and space-time block coded multiple-input single-output (STBC-MISO). We show that the optimum frequency-reuse factor F that maximizes 10%-outage capacity is 3 and both 50%- and 90%-outage capacities is 1 irrespective of the type of multi-antenna transmission technique, where q%-outage capacity is defined as the channel capacity that gives an outage probability of q%. We also show that the cellular MIMO channel capacity is always higher than those of SIMO and STBC-MISO.

Coherent Decomposition of Fully Polarimetric FM-CW Radar Data

NAKAMURA, J., AOYAMA, K., IKARASHI, M., YAMAGUCHI, Y., YAMADA, H. — 2008-07-12

This paper presents a coherent decomposition scheme for polarimetric SAR data. Coherent decomposition means the decomposition is applied to a single or a few scattering matrix data. Based on the scattering matrix acquired with an FM-CW polarimetric SAR system, we have devised a simple decomposition technique using the coherency matrix for the purpose of identifying scatterers. This paper presents the decomposition technique and some decomposition results obtained by a fully polarimetric FM-CW radar. It is shown the scattering mechanisms are well recovered and the orientation angles of wire scatterer are precisely measured.

Fuzzy Controlled Individual Cell Equalizers for Lithium-Ion Batteries

LEE, Y.-S., CHENG, M.-W., YANG, S.-C. — 2008-07-12

A fuzzy logic control battery equalizing controller (FLC-BEC) is adopted to control the cell voltage balancing process for a series connected Li-ion battery string. The proposed individual cell equalizer (ICE) is based on the bidirectional Cûk converter operated in the discontinuous capacitor voltage mode (DCVM) to reduce the switching loss and improve equalization efficiency. The ICE with the proposed FLC-BEC can reduce the equalizing time, maintain safe operations during the charge/discharge state and increase the battery string capacity.

Priority and Negotiation Based Dynamic Spectrum Allocation Scheme for Multiple Radio Access Network Operators

KIM, H., HYON, T., LEE, Y. — 2008-07-12

Most of previous works have presented the dynamic spectrum allocation (DSA) gain achieved by utilizing the time or regional variations in traffic demand between multi-network operators (NOs). In this paper, we introduce the functionalities required for the entities related with the spectrum sharing and allocation and propose a spectrum allocation algorithm while considering the long-term priority between NOs, the priority between multiple class services, and the urgent bandwidth request. To take into account the priorities among the NOs and the priorities of multiple class services, a spectrum sharing metric (SSM) is proposed, while a negotiation procedure is proposed to treat the urgent bandwidth request.

On Throughput Improvement of Wireless Ad Hoc Networks with Hidden Nodes

CHOI, H.-S., LIM, J.-T. — 2008-07-12

In this letter, we present the throughput analysis of the wireless ad hoc networks based on the IEEE 802.11 MAC (Medium Access Control). Especially, our analysis includes the case with the hidden node problem so that it can be applied to the multi-hop networks. In addition, we suggest a new channel access control algorithm to maximize the network throughput and show the usefulness of the proposed algorithm through simulations.

Energy Efficient Online Routing Algorithm for QoS-Sensitive Sensor Networks

KIM, S., PARK, S., PARK, S., KIM, S. — 2008-07-12

In this letter, we propose a new energy efficient online routing algorithm for QoS-sensitive sensor networks. An important design principle underlying our algorithm is online decision making based on real time network estimation. This on-line approach gives adaptability and flexibility to solve a wide range of control tasks for efficient network performance. In addition, our distributed control paradigm is practical for real sensor network management. Simulation results indicate the superior performance of our algorithm between energy efficiency and QoS provisioning.

Multiple-Antenna Receiving and Frequency Domain Equalization in Transmitted-Reference UWB Systems

LIAO, X., ZHU, S., ZENG, E. — 2008-07-12

A multiple-antenna receiving and combining scheme is proposed for high-data-rate transmitted-reference (TR) Ultra-Wideband (UWB) systems. The nonlinearity of the inter-symbol interference (ISI) model is alleviated via simple antenna combining. Under the simplified ISI model, frequency domain equalization (FDE) is adopted and greatly reduces the complexity of the equalizer. A simple estimation algorithm for the simplified ISI model is presented. Simulation results demonstrate that compared to the single receive antenna scheme, the proposed method can obtain a significant diversity gain and eliminate the BER floor effect. Moreover, compared to the complex second-order time domain equalizer, FDE showed better performance robustness in the case of imperfect model estimation.

Channel Estimation Technique for MIMO-OFDM over Fast Fading Channels

KIM, J.-G., LIM, J.-T. — 2008-07-12

A channel estimation method for multiple input multiple output (MIMO)-OFDM with fast fading channels is proposed to increase estimation quality and reduce the computational complexity. Specifically, we use a space-time correlation between channel coefficients, and compensate the ICI term. Since ICI compensation can be obtained without any pilot symbols for target OFDM block, our proposal is practical for real-time systems. The computational complexity is reduced by considering only dominant data symbols.

A Study on Improving the System Performance for Wireless Personal Area Networks

KOO, B.-W., KIM, J.-H., SONG, H.-K. — 2008-07-12

An enormous amount of multimedia data will be transmitted by various devices connected to the wireless personal area network, and this network environment will require very high transmission capacity. In this letter, we apply multiple antennas to the MB-OFDM UWB system for high performance. With an emphasis on a preamble design for multi-channel separation, we address the channel estimation in the MB-OFDM system with multiple antennas. By properly designing each preamble so that the multiple antennas remain orthogonal in the time domain, the channel estimation can be applied to the MB-OFDM specification in the case of more than 2 transmit antennas. By using the multiple-antenna scheme and proposed channel estimation technique, the reliability and performance of the MB-OFDM system can be improved.

Bidirectional Gigabit Millimeter-Wave Wavelength Division Multiplexed-Radio over Fiber Link Using a Reflective Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

LEE, D.-W., WON, Y.-Y., HAN, S.-K. — 2008-07-12

We propose a new bidirectional gigabit mm-wave wavelength division multiplexed-radio over fiber link which shares the same wavelength. As the downlink, the central station transmits a 30 GHz single sideband wireless signal which is modulated 1.25 Gbps and also transmits a remote 32 GHz local oscillator for down-conversion of a uplink wireless signal by using a mach-zehnder modulator and a fiber bragg grating. As the uplink, the base station transmits a down-converted 1.25 Gbps wireless signal by using a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier. We achieve a BER < 10^–9 in the downlink at –14.05 dBm and uplink at –12.5 dBm after 20 km transmission.

Incremental Relaying, Fresh Signal Makes Better Decision

TIN, L. Q., KONG, H. Y. — 2008-07-12

In terms of outage behavior, it has been shown that incremental relaying achieves the best performance among cooperative diversity protocols such as: Amplify-And-Forward (AF), Decode-And-Forward (DF), and Selection Decode-And-Forward (SDF). Exploiting a limited feedback from the destination, incremental relaying lets the relay forward the signal received from the source whenever an error happens at the destination, then, the signals from both the source and the relay are combined to make a decision. Noticing that the signal from the source, indicated by the error, is detrimental, we propose a new scheme not using that signal but only making a decision based on the fresh signal from the relay. Large performance improvement and complexity reduction are attained as we show in the analysis and simulation results. Theoretical results are derived and shown to match with the simulation counterparts.

Channel Estimation Based on Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System in OFDM

NURI SEYMAN, M., TASPINAR, N. — 2008-07-12

In this letter we purpose adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) for channel estimation in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. To evaluate the performance of this estimator, we compare the ANFIS with least square (LS) algorithm, minimum mean square error (MMSE) algorithm by using bit error rate (BER) and mean square error (MSE) criterias. According to computer simulations the performance of ANFIS has better performance than LS algorithm and close to MMSE algorithm. Besides there is unnecessity to send pilot when used the ANFIS.

A High-Rate Space-Time Block Code with Full Diversity

GAO, Z., ZHU, S., ZHONG, Z. — 2008-07-12

A new high-rate space-time block code (STBC) with full transmit diversity gain for four transmit antennas based on a generalized Alamouti code structure is proposed. The proposed code has lower Maximum Likelihood (ML) decoding complexity than the Double ABBA scheme does. Constellation rotation is used to maximize the diversity product. With the optimal rotated constellations, the proposed code significantly outperforms some known high-rate STBCs in the literature with similar complexity and the same spectral efficiency.

Integrated Power and Rate Control with Power Rationing for CDMA Wireless Networks

WANG, J. T. — 2008-07-12

An integrated power and rate control algorithm is proposed to satisfy the requirements of both user's data rate and signal quality. This algorithm lets only one representative user in each cell participate in the distributed power control and assigns the power levels to other users according to some constant power ratios. In addition to reducing the computational complexity, the proposed algorithm also gains larger throughput for the same number of iterations and finds a feasible power set faster than the other algorithm does.

A Joint Method of Cell Searching and DoA Estimation for a Mobile Relay Station with Beamforming Antennas

KO, Y.-H., CHO, Y.-S. — 2008-07-12

In this letter, a mobile relay station (MRS) for vehicles with beamforming antennas is considered to increase the reliability of transmission link, especially for the MRS at cell boundary. Joint methods for cell searching and DoA estimation are proposed to form a beam in the direction of target BS while nulling interferences from adjacent BSs, especially for IP-based cellular systems employing break-before-make handover or make-before-break handover. The proposed cell searching and DoA estimation methods are evaluated by computer simulation under the environment of IEEE 802.16e (WiBro).

An Adaptive MIMO-OFDM with Channel Prediction Scheme for Mobile Fading Channels

KIM, H., CHOE, S. — 2008-07-12

We investigate a least squares (LS) based multi-step autoregressive (AR) prediction filter for delay compensation over MIMO channels. We describe the robustness of an adaptive MIMO-OFDM with that filter over mobile fading channels.

Optical Phase Estimation in an Urban Wireless Communications Enviroment

DE DIOS SANCHEZ LOPES, J., ARVIZU MONDRAGON, A., MENDIETA JIMENEZ, J. — 2008-07-12

We evaluate the performance of a sub-optimum optical phase estimator obtained using a state variable description of the optical channel and stochastic estimation techniques. We implement the estimator for an urban wireless communications network.

Special Section on 2007 International Symposium on Antennas and Propagation

Hori, T. — 2008-06-16

On-Body Antennas and Propagation: Recent Development

HAO, Y., HALL, P. S. — 2008-06-16

The paper reviews recent advances in on-body antennas and propagation under a joint UK EPSRC research project between Queen Mary College, University of London and University of Birmingham. The study of on-body radio propagation has been extended by using various small antennas. The effect of antenna size, gain and radiation patterns on on-body channel characteristics has been studied. A practical wearable sensor antenna design is presented and it is demonstrated that a global simulation including sensor environment and human body is needed for accurate antenna characterisation. A 3D animation design software, POSER 6 has been used together with XFDTD to predict the on-body path loss variation due to changes in human postures and human motion. Finally, a preliminary study on the feasibility of a diversity scheme in an on-body environment has been carried out.

On the Practical Design of Small Terminal Antennas for Mobile Applications

SKRIVERVIK, A. K., MARTINEZ-VAZQUEZ, M., MOSIG, J. R. — 2008-06-16

Mobile communication have become an important part of telecommunications. Original applications like paging, mobile phones or GPS have shown a tremendous growth, and new applications are emerging every day: tagging, wireless computer links, wireless microphones, remote control, wireless multimedia links, satellite mobile phones, wireless internet. Mobile means light, small, with low energy consumption and appealing designs. Technology has evolved very fast to satisfy these needs in rapidly growing markeds: chips are becoming smaller, consume less current, are more efficient and perform more complex operations. The antennas however have not experienced the same evolution, as the size of an antenna is mainly dictated by the frequency band it has to transmit or receive. Thus, the art of antenna miniaturization is an art of compromise: one has to design the smallest possible antenna, which is still suitable for a given application regarding its radiation characteristics. Or in other words, one looks for the best compromise between volume, bandwidth and efficiency. In this paper, we will go through classical design techniques, starting from ultra small antennas and going UWB antennas over multiband designs.

Antennas for Ubiquitous Sensor Network

CHANG, K., YOON, Y. J. — 2008-06-16

Recent advancements in the ubiquitous sensor network field have brought considerable feasibility to the realization of a ubiquitous society. A ubiquitous sensor network will enable the cooperative gathering of environmental information or the detection of special events through a large number of spatially distributed sensor nodes. Thus far, radio frequency identification (RFID) as an application for realizing the ubiquitous environment has mainly been developed for public and industrial systems. To this end, the most existing applications have demanded low-end antennas. In recent years, interests of ubiquitous sensor network have been broadened to medical body area networks (BAN), wireless personal area networks (WPAN), along with ubiquitous smart worlds. This increasing attention toward in ubiquitous sensor network has great implications for antennas. The design of functional antennas has received much attention because they can provide various kinds of properties and operation modes. These high-end antennas have some functions besides radiation. Furthermore, smart sensor nodes equipped with cooperated high-end antennas would allow them to respond adaptively to environmental events. Therefore, some design approaches of functional antennas with sensing and reconfigurability as high-end solution for smart sensor node, as well as low-end antennas for mobile RFID (mRFID) and SAW transponder are presented in this paper.

Antenna Design for Mobile MIMO Systems

JENSEN, M., QUIST, B., BIKHAZI, N. — 2008-06-16

While significant work has been dedicated to analyzing the performance of antennas for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and diversity systems, little has appeared on synthesizing optimal antennas for these systems. This paper explores optimal antenna characteristics given understanding about the average structure of the propagation environment, making the results applicable for time-varying channels created by mobile nodes or scatterer motion. Specifically, it examines optimal antenna designs for the cases where 1) the antennas reside in a fixed aperture or 2) the number of antenna elements is fixed (under fast-fading conditions with spatially correlated signals).

Performance of MIMO E-SDM Systems Using Channel Prediction in Actual Time-Varying Indoor Fading Environments

BUI, H. P., NISHIMOTO, H., NISHIMURA, T., OHGANE, T., OGAWA, Y. — 2008-06-16

In time-varying fading environments, the performance of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems applying an eigenbeam-space division multiplexing (E-SDM) technique may be degraded due to a channel change during the time interval between the transmit weight matrix determination and the actual data transmission. To compensate for the channel change, we have proposed some channel prediction methods. Simulation results based on computer-generated channel data showed that better performance can be obtained when using the prediction methods in Rayleigh fading environments assuming the Jakes model with rich scatterers. However, actual MIMO systems may be used in line-of-sight (LOS) environments, and even in a non-LOS case, scatterers may not be uniformly distributed around a receiver and/or a transmitter. In addition, mutual coupling between antennas at both the transmitter and the receiver cannot be ignored as it affects the system performance in actual implementation. We conducted MIMO channel measurement campaigns at a 5.2 GHz frequency band to evaluate the channel prediction techniques. In this paper, we present the experiment and simulation results using the measured channel data. The results show that robust bit-error rate performance is obtained when using the channel prediction methods and that the methods can be used in both Rayleigh and Rician fading environments, and do not need to know the maximum Doppler frequency.

Throughput Performance Improvement Using Complexity-Reduced User Scheduling Algorithm in Uplink Multi-User MIMO/SDM Systems

MIKAMI, M., FUJII, T. — 2008-06-16

Multi-user MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) systems, in which multiple Mobile Stations (MSs) equipped with multiple antennas simultaneously communicate with a Base Station (BS) equipped with multiple antennas, at the same frequency, are attracting attention because of their potential for improved transmission performance in wireless communications. In the uplink of Space Division Multiplexing based multi-user MIMO (multi-user MIMO/SDM) systems that do not require full Channel State Information (CSI) at the transmitters, selecting active MS antennas, which corresponds to scheduling transmit antennas, is an effective technique. The Full search Selection Algorithm based on exhaustive search (FSA) has been studied as an optimal active MS antenna selection algorithm for multi-user MIMO systems. Unfortunately, FSA suffers from extreme computational complexity given large numbers of MSs. To solve this problem, this paper introduces the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization based Selection Algorithm (GSSA) to uplink multi-user MIMO/SDM systems. GSSA is a suboptimal active MS antenna selection algorithm that offers lower computational complexity than the optimal algorithm. This paper evaluates the transmission performance improvement of GSSA in uplink multi-user MIMO/SDM systems under realistic propagation conditions such as spatially correlated BS antennas and clarifies the effectiveness of GSSA.

Performance Comparison of Detection Methods for Combined STBC and SM Systems

TRAN, X. N., HO, H. C., FUJINO, T., KARASAWA, Y. — 2008-06-16

This paper considers detection schemes for the combined space-time block coding and spatial multiplexing (STBC-SM) transmission systems. We propose a symbol detection scheme which allows to extend the limit on the number of transmit antennas imposed by the previous group detection scheme. The proposed scheme allows to double multiplexing gain as well as provides better bit error rate (BER) performance over the group detection scheme. It is shown that the proposed QR-SIC (combined QR-decomposition and successive interference cancellation) symbol detector provides good trade-off between the BER and computational complexity performance and, thus, is the most suitable detector for the combined STBC-SM system.