This paper is motivated by the need for fundamental understanding of ultimate limits of bandwidth efficient delivery of higher bit-rates in digital wireless communications and to also begin to look into how these limits might be approached. We examine exploitation of multi-element array (MEA) technology, that is processing the spatial dimension (not just the time dimension) to improve wireless capacities in certain applications. Specifically, we present some basic information theory results that promise great advantages of using MEAs in wireless LANs and building to building wireless communication links. We explore the important case when the channel characteristic is not available at the transmitter but the receiver knows (tracks) the characteristic which is subject to Rayleigh fading. Fixing the overall transmitted power, we express the capacity offered by MEA technology and we see how the capacity scales with increasing SNR for a large but practical number, n, of antenna elements at both transmitter and receiver.

We investigate the case of independent Rayleigh faded paths between antenna elements and find that with high probability extraordinary capacity is available. Compared to the baseline n = 1 case, which by Shannon‘s classical formula scales as one more bit/cycle for every 3 dB of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) increase, remarkably with MEAs, the scaling is almost like n more bits/cycle for each 3 dB increase in SNR. To illustrate how great this capacity is, even for small n, take the cases n = 2, 4 and 16 at an average received SNR of 21 dB. For over 99% of the channels the capacity is about 7, 19 and 88 bits/cycle respectively, while if n = 1 there is only about 1.2 bit/cycle at the 99% level. For say a symbol rate equal to the channel bandwith, since it is the bits/symbol/dimension that is relevant for signal constellations, these higher capacities are not unreasonable. The 19 bits/cycle for n = 4 amounts to 4.75 bits/symbol/dimension while 88 bits/cycle for n = 16 amounts to 5.5 bits/symbol/dimension. Standard approaches such as selection and optimum combining are seen to be deficient when compared to what will ultimately be possible. New codecs need to be invented to realize a hefty portion of the great capacity promised.

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On Limits of Wireless Communications in a Fading Environment when UsingMultiple Antennas

Wireless Communications

Statistics for Spatial Data.

The surest way to increase the system capacity of a wireless link is by getting the transmitter and receiver closer to each other, which creates the dual benefits of higher-quality links and more spatial reuse. In a network with nomadic users, this inevitably involves deploying more infrastructure, typically in the form of microcells, hot spots, distributed antennas, or relays. A less expensive alternative is the recent concept of femtocells - also called home base stations - which are data access points installed by home users to get better indoor voice and data coverage. In this article we overview the technical and business arguments for femtocells and describe the state of the art on each front. We also describe the technical challenges facing femtocell networks and give some preliminary ideas for how to overcome them.

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Femtocell networks: a survey

It is shown that, particularly for terrestrial cellular telephony, the interference-suppression feature of CDMA (code division multiple access) can result in a many-fold increase in capacity over analog and even over competing digital techniques. A single-cell system, such as a hubbed satellite network, is addressed, and the basic expression for capacity is developed. The corresponding expressions for a multiple-cell system are derived. and the distribution on the number of users supportable per cell is determined. It is concluded that properly augmented and power-controlled multiple-cell CDMA promises a quantum increase in current cellular capacity. >

On the capacity of a cellular CDMA system

The wireless medium contains domain-specific information that can be used to complement and enhance traditional security mechanisms. In this paper we propose ways to exploit the spatial variability of the radio channel response in a rich scattering environment, as is typical of indoor environments. Specifically, we describe a physical-layer authentication algorithm that utilizes channel probing and hypothesis testing to determine whether current and prior communication attempts are made by the same transmit terminal. In this way, legitimate users can be reliably authenticated and false users can be reliably detected. We analyze the ability of a receiver to discriminate between transmitters (users) according to their channel frequency responses. This work is based on a generalized channel response with both spatial and temporal variability, and considers correlations among the time, frequency and spatial domains. Simulation results, using the ray-tracing tool WiSE to generate the time-averaged response, verify the efficacy of the approach under realistic channel conditions, as well as its capability to work under unknown channel variations.

/pdf/using-the-physical-layer-for-wireless-authentication-in-time-52g9mgyajk.pdf

Using the physical layer for wireless authentication in time-variant channels

Energy harvesting from the working environment has received increasing attention in the research of wireless sensor networks. Recent developments in this area can be used to replenish the power supply of sensors. However, power management is still a crucial issue for such networks due to the uncertainty of stochastic replenishment. In this paper, we propose a generic mathematical framework to characterize the policy for single hop transmission over a replenishable sensor network. Firstly, we introduce a Markov chain model to describe different modes of energy renewal. Then, we derive the optimal transmission policy for sensors with different energy budgets. Depending on the energy status of a sensor and the reward for successfully transmitting a message, we prove the existence of optimal thresholds that maximize the average reward rate. Our results are quite general since the reward values can be made application-specific for different design objectives. Compared with the unconditional transmit-all policy, which transmits every message as long as the energy storage is positive, the proposed optimal transmission policy is shown to achieve significant gains in the average reward rate.

A generic model for optimizing single-hop transmission policy of replenishable sensors

We study power allocation for the decode-and-forward cooperative diversity protocol in a wireless network under the assumption that only mean channel gains are available at the transmitters. In a Rayleigh fading channel with uniformly distributed node locations, we aim to find the power allocation that minimizes the outage probability under a short-term power constraint, wherein the total power for all nodes is less than a prescribed value during each two-stage transmission. Due to the computational and implementation complexity of the optimal solution, we derived a simple near-optimal solution. In this near-optimal scheme, a fixed fraction of the total power is allocated to the source node in stage I. In stage II, the remaining power is split equally among a set of selected nodes if the selected set is not empty, and otherwise is allocated to the source node. A node is selected if it can decode the message from the source and its mean channel gain to the destination is above a threshold. In this scheme, each node only needs to know its own mean channel gain to the destination and the number of selected nodes. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves an outage probability close to that for the optimal scheme obtained by numerical search, and achieves significant performance gain over other schemes in the literature

Decode-and-Forward Cooperative Diversity with Power Allocation in Wireless Networks

Widely regarded as one of the most promising emerging technologies for driving the future development of wireless communications, cognitive radio has the potential to mitigate the problem of increasing radio spectrum scarcity through dynamic spectrum allocation. Drawing on fundamental elements of information theory, network theory, propagation, optimisation and signal processing, a team of leading experts present a systematic treatment of the core physical and networking principles of cognitive radio and explore key design considerations for the development of new cognitive radio systems. Containing all the underlying principles you need to develop practical applications in cognitive radio, this book is an essential reference for students, researchers and practitioners alike in the field of wireless communications and signal processing.

/pdf/principles-of-cognitive-radio-2cmaz71gzs.pdf

Principles Of Cognitive Radio

The wireless medium contains domain-specific information that can be used to complement and enhance traditional security mechanisms. In this paper we propose ways to exploit the fact that, in a typically rich scattering environment, the radio channel response decorrelates quite rapidly in space. Specifically, we describe a physical-layer algorithm that combines channel probing (M complex frequency response samples over a bandwidth W) with hypothesis testing to determine whether current and prior communication attempts are made by the same user (same channel response). In this way, legitimate users can be reliably authenticated and false users can be reliably detected. To evaluate the feasibility of our algorithm, we simulate spatially variable channel responses in real environments using the WiSE ray-tracing tool; and we analyze the ability of a receiver to discriminate between transmitters (users) based on their channel frequency responses in a given office environment. For several rooms in the extremities of the building we considered, we have confirmed the efficacy of our approach under static channel conditions. For example, measuring five frequency response samples over a bandwidth of 100 MHz and using a transmit power of 100 mW, valid users can be verified with 99% confidence while rejecting false users with greater than 95% confidence.

/pdf/fingerprints-in-the-ether-using-the-physical-layer-for-4t15ymaapg.pdf

Larry J. Greenstein

Papers

Using the physical layer for wireless authentication in time-variant channels

A generic model for optimizing single-hop transmission policy of replenishable sensors

Decode-and-Forward Cooperative Diversity with Power Allocation in Wireless Networks

Principles Of Cognitive Radio

Fingerprints in the Ether: Using the Physical Layer for Wireless Authentication