A.L. Swindlehurst

Bio: A.L. Swindlehurst is an academic researcher from Brigham Young University. The author has contributed to research in topics: MIMO & Estimation theory. The author has an hindex of 21, co-authored 49 publications receiving 8145 citations.

Zero-forcing methods for downlink spatial multiplexing in multiuser MIMO channels

Abstract: The use of space-division multiple access (SDMA) in the downlink of a multiuser multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications network can provide a substantial gain in system throughput. The challenge in such multiuser systems is designing transmit vectors while considering the co-channel interference of other users. Typical optimization problems of interest include the capacity problem - maximizing the sum information rate subject to a power constraint-or the power control problem-minimizing transmitted power such that a certain quality-of-service metric for each user is met. Neither of these problems possess closed-form solutions for the general multiuser MIMO channel, but the imposition of certain constraints can lead to closed-form solutions. This paper presents two such constrained solutions. The first, referred to as "block-diagonalization," is a generalization of channel inversion when there are multiple antennas at each receiver. It is easily adapted to optimize for either maximum transmission rate or minimum power and approaches the optimal solution at high SNR. The second, known as "successive optimization," is an alternative method for solving the power minimization problem one user at a time, and it yields superior results in some (e.g., low SNR) situations. Both of these algorithms are limited to cases where the transmitter has more antennas than all receive antennas combined. In order to accommodate more general scenarios, we also propose a framework for coordinated transmitter-receiver processing that generalizes the two algorithms to cases involving more receive than transmit antennas. While the proposed algorithms are suboptimal, they lead to simpler transmitter and receiver structures and allow for a reasonable tradeoff between performance and complexity.

A vector-perturbation technique for near-capacity multiantenna multiuser communication-part I: channel inversion and regularization

Abstract: Recent theoretical results describing the sum capacity when using multiple antennas to communicate with multiple users in a known rich scattering environment have not yet been followed with practical transmission schemes that achieve this capacity. We introduce a simple encoding algorithm that achieves near-capacity at sum rates of tens of bits/channel use. The algorithm is a variation on channel inversion that regularizes the inverse and uses a "sphere encoder" to perturb the data to reduce the power of the transmitted signal. This work is comprised of two parts. In this first part, we show that while the sum capacity grows linearly with the minimum of the number of antennas and users, the sum rate of channel inversion does not. This poor performance is due to the large spread in the singular values of the channel matrix. We introduce regularization to improve the condition of the inverse and maximize the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio at the receivers. Regularization enables linear growth and works especially well at low signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), but as we show in the second part, an additional step is needed to achieve near-capacity performance at all SNRs.

A vector-perturbation technique for near-capacity multiantenna multiuser communication-part II: perturbation

Abstract: Recent theoretical results describing the sum-capacity when using multiple antennas to communicate with multiple users in a known rich scattering environment have not yet been followed with practical transmission schemes that achieve this capacity. We introduce a simple encoding algorithm that achieves near-capacity at sum-rates of tens of bits/channel use. The algorithm is a variation on channel inversion that regularizes the inverse and uses a "sphere encoder" to perturb the data to reduce the energy of the transmitted signal. The paper is comprised of two parts. In this second part, we show that, after the regularization of the channel inverse introduced in the first part, a certain perturbation of the data using a "sphere encoder" can be chosen to further reduce the energy of the transmitted signal. The performance difference with and without this perturbation is shown to be dramatic. With the perturbation, we achieve excellent performance at all signal-to-noise ratios. The results of both uncoded and turbo-coded simulations are presented.

An introduction to the multi-user MIMO downlink

Abstract: Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication techniques have been an important area of focus for next-generation wireless systems because of their potential for high capacity, increased diversity, and interference suppression. For applications such as wireless LANs and cellular telephony, MIMO systems will likely be deployed in environments where a single base must communicate with many users simultaneously. As a result, the study of multi-user MIMO systems has emerged recently as an important research topic. Such systems have the potential to combine the high capacity achievable with MIMO processing with the benefits of space-division multiple access. In this article we review several algorithms that have been proposed with this goal in mind. We describe two classes of solutions. The first uses a signal processing approach with various types of transmitter beamforming. The second uses "dirty paper" coding to overcome the interference a user sees from signals intended for other users. We conclude by describing future areas of research in multi-user MIMO communications.

A performance analysis of subspace-based methods in the presence of model errors. I. The MUSIC algorithm

Abstract: Application of subspace-based algorithms to narrowband direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation requires that both the array response in all directions of interest and the spatial covariance of the noise must be known. In practice, however, neither of these quantities is known precisely. Depending on the degree to which they deviate from their nominal values, serious performance degradation can result. The performance of the MUSIC algorithm is examined for situations in which the noise covariance and array response are perturbed from their assumed values. Theoretical expressions for the error in the MUSIC DOA estimates are derived and compared with simulations performed for several representative cases, and with the appropriate Cramer-Rao bound. An optimally weighted version of MUSIC is proposed for a particular class of array errors. >

Scaling Up MIMO: Opportunities and Challenges with Very Large Arrays

Abstract: Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology is maturing and is being incorporated into emerging wireless broadband standards like long-term evolution (LTE) [1]. For example, the LTE standard allows for up to eight antenna ports at the base station. Basically, the more antennas the transmitter/receiver is equipped with, and the more degrees of freedom that the propagation channel can provide, the better the performance in terms of data rate or link reliability. More precisely, on a quasi static channel where a code word spans across only one time and frequency coherence interval, the reliability of a point-to-point MIMO link scales according to Prob(link outage) ` SNR-ntnr where nt and nr are the numbers of transmit and receive antennas, respectively, and signal-to-noise ratio is denoted by SNR. On a channel that varies rapidly as a function of time and frequency, and where circumstances permit coding across many channel coherence intervals, the achievable rate scales as min(nt, nr) log(1 + SNR). The gains in multiuser systems are even more impressive, because such systems offer the possibility to transmit simultaneously to several users and the flexibility to select what users to schedule for reception at any given point in time [2].

Two decades of array signal processing research: the parametric approach

Abstract: The quintessential goal of sensor array signal processing is the estimation of parameters by fusing temporal and spatial information, captured via sampling a wavefield with a set of judiciously placed antenna sensors. The wavefield is assumed to be generated by a finite number of emitters, and contains information about signal parameters characterizing the emitters. A review of the area of array processing is given. The focus is on parameter estimation methods, and many relevant problems are only briefly mentioned. We emphasize the relatively more recent subspace-based methods in relation to beamforming. The article consists of background material and of the basic problem formulation. Then we introduce spectral-based algorithmic solutions to the signal parameter estimation problem. We contrast these suboptimal solutions to parametric methods. Techniques derived from maximum likelihood principles as well as geometric arguments are covered. Later, a number of more specialized research topics are briefly reviewed. Then, we look at a number of real-world problems for which sensor array processing methods have been applied. We also include an example with real experimental data involving closely spaced emitters and highly correlated signals, as well as a manufacturing application example.

Zero-forcing methods for downlink spatial multiplexing in multiuser MIMO channels

Abstract: The use of space-division multiple access (SDMA) in the downlink of a multiuser multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) wireless communications network can provide a substantial gain in system throughput. The challenge in such multiuser systems is designing transmit vectors while considering the co-channel interference of other users. Typical optimization problems of interest include the capacity problem - maximizing the sum information rate subject to a power constraint-or the power control problem-minimizing transmitted power such that a certain quality-of-service metric for each user is met. Neither of these problems possess closed-form solutions for the general multiuser MIMO channel, but the imposition of certain constraints can lead to closed-form solutions. This paper presents two such constrained solutions. The first, referred to as "block-diagonalization," is a generalization of channel inversion when there are multiple antennas at each receiver. It is easily adapted to optimize for either maximum transmission rate or minimum power and approaches the optimal solution at high SNR. The second, known as "successive optimization," is an alternative method for solving the power minimization problem one user at a time, and it yields superior results in some (e.g., low SNR) situations. Both of these algorithms are limited to cases where the transmitter has more antennas than all receive antennas combined. In order to accommodate more general scenarios, we also propose a framework for coordinated transmitter-receiver processing that generalizes the two algorithms to cases involving more receive than transmit antennas. While the proposed algorithms are suboptimal, they lead to simpler transmitter and receiver structures and allow for a reasonable tradeoff between performance and complexity.

Wireless Networks With RF Energy Harvesting: A Contemporary Survey

Abstract: Radio frequency (RF) energy transfer and harvesting techniques have recently become alternative methods to power the next-generation wireless networks As this emerging technology enables proactive energy replenishment of wireless devices, it is advantageous in supporting applications with quality-of-service requirements In this paper, we present a comprehensive literature review on the research progresses in wireless networks with RF energy harvesting capability, which is referred to as RF energy harvesting networks (RF-EHNs) First, we present an overview of the RF-EHNs including system architecture, RF energy harvesting techniques, and existing applications Then, we present the background in circuit design as well as the state-of-the-art circuitry implementations and review the communication protocols specially designed for RF-EHNs We also explore various key design issues in the development of RF-EHNs according to the network types, ie, single-hop networks, multiantenna networks, relay networks, and cognitive radio networks Finally, we envision some open research directions

A sparse signal reconstruction perspective for source localization with sensor arrays

Abstract: We present a source localization method based on a sparse representation of sensor measurements with an overcomplete basis composed of samples from the array manifold. We enforce sparsity by imposing penalties based on the /spl lscr//sub 1/-norm. A number of recent theoretical results on sparsifying properties of /spl lscr//sub 1/ penalties justify this choice. Explicitly enforcing the sparsity of the representation is motivated by a desire to obtain a sharp estimate of the spatial spectrum that exhibits super-resolution. We propose to use the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the data matrix to summarize multiple time or frequency samples. Our formulation leads to an optimization problem, which we solve efficiently in a second-order cone (SOC) programming framework by an interior point implementation. We propose a grid refinement method to mitigate the effects of limiting estimates to a grid of spatial locations and introduce an automatic selection criterion for the regularization parameter involved in our approach. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method on simulated data by plots of spatial spectra and by comparing the estimator variance to the Crame/spl acute/r-Rao bound (CRB). We observe that our approach has a number of advantages over other source localization techniques, including increased resolution, improved robustness to noise, limitations in data quantity, and correlation of the sources, as well as not requiring an accurate initialization.