Understanding the software communications architecture - [topics in radio communications]

The Software Communications Architecture is an open architecture developed by the U.S. Department of Defense to standardize the development of software-defined radio, improve communication systems interoperability, and reduce development and deployment costs. The SCA facilitates software reuse and technology insertion by abstracting radio applications from the supporting platform and defining a common operational environment across platforms. The SCA relies on commercial standards, classic software engineering principles, and software design patterns. While some SCA design choices are controversial and tightly tied to the specific needs for which it was developed, the basic design principles of software reuse and abstraction are sound and necessary if SDR is to achieve its full potential. Some of the techniques and concepts used in the SCA may be foreign to a communications engineer, and can result in confusion and long learning curves. The understanding of these concepts is of great relevance for communications engineers independent of any opinion about the SCA itself. This tutorial is aimed at educating communication engineers on these software engineering principles and describing how the SCA applies them to achieve its goals. We describe the different interfaces of the SCA that provide a framework for the implementation of SDR. The tutorial provides introductory material to understand the basic operation of the SCA as implemented in the Open-Source SCA Implementation::Embedded developed by Wireless @ Virginia Tech.     

Interference-aware scheduling in the multiuser MIMO-OFDM downlink - [topics in radio communications]

With the introduction of orthogonal frequency- division multiplexing and multiple antennas in cellular networks, there are new opportunities to adapt the transmission to propagation and interference conditions. In this article we describe a practical approach using space-frequency-selective multiuser MIMO scheduling. Frequency-selective feedback is provided on achievable data rates for preferred single- and multistream transmission modes. The base station selects the best mode while providing instantaneous fairness. We observe that multiuser transmission increases the probability of using multistream transmission. Besides the benefits from optimal combining at the physical layer, there is an additional gain at the MAC layer since the estimation of achievable rates becomes more precise. Altogether, 93 percent of the theoretical throughput can be realized by synchronizing the base stations and providing cell-specific reference signals. We have implemented essential functions of the approach in real time on an experimental 3GPP LTE prototype in 20 MHz bandwidth. Feasibility of the key features is proven in laboratory and field trials.     

OFDMA femtocells: a roadmap on interference avoidance - [topics in radio communications]

OFDMA femtocells have been pointed out by the industry as a good solution not only to overcome the indoor coverage problem but also to deal with the growth of traffic within macrocells. However, the deployment of a new femtocell layer may have an undesired impact on the performance of the macrocell layer. The allocation of spectrum resources and the avoidance of electromagnetic interference are some of the more urgent challenges that operators face before femtocells become widely deployed. In this article a coverage and interference analysis based on a realistic OFDMA macro/femtocell scenario is provided, as well as some guidelines on how the spectrum allocation and interference mitigation problems can be approached in these networks. Special attention is paid to the use of self-configuration and self-optimization techniques for the avoidance of interference.     

DRX mechanism for power saving in lte - [topics in radio communications]

Enhanced discontinuous reception mode is supported in long term evolution of 3GPP standards to conserve the mobile terminal?s battery power. Furthermore, there are additional advantages in using DRX, such as over-the-air resource saving on both the uplink and downlink to increase overall system capacity. One of the enhancements over 3G wireless systems is that in LTE DRX mode can be enabled even when the user equipment is registered with the evolved node-B. However, there is a need to optimize the DRX parameters, so as to maximize power saving without incurring network re-entry and packet delay. In particular, care should be exercised for real-time services. In this article the power saving methods in both network attached and network idle modes as outlined in LTE are explained. The optimum criteria to select the DRX mode are defined for different applications. Analytical/simulation results are presented to show the power saving/connection reestablishment and packet delay.     

Catching resource-devouring worms in next-generation wireless relay systems: two-way relay and full-duplex relay - [topics in radio communications]

In spite of their potential to improve the performance of wireless communication systems, relay-based communication systems face significant challenges, resource wastage. In this article we discuss resource efficiency in relay systems, particularly in two-way and full-duplex relay systems that utilize multiple antennas and improved duplexing to enhance system efficiency. We compare in detail the features, frame structures, performances, advantages and disadvantages, and technical challenges associated with TWRs and FDRs. Using illustrations of quantitative performance, we demonstrate that both of these approaches can efficiently reduce resource wastage in relay-based communication systems.     

Coexistence of VoIP and TCP in wireless multihop networks - [topics in radio communications]

When supporting both voice and TCP in a wireless multihop network, there are two conflicting goals: to protect the VoIP traffic and to completely utilize the remaining capacity for TCP. We investigate the interaction between these two popular categories of traffic and find that many solution approaches, such as enhanced TCP variants, priority queues, bandwidth limitation, and traffic shaping, do not always achieve the coexistence goals. Enhanced TCP variants (Reno, Vegas, C-TCP, CUBIC, Westwood) generally fail to protect VoIP in wired-wireless multihop scenarios. Priority schemes, including those built into the 802.11 MAC such as RTS/CTS or 802.11e, do not account for the interference nature of wireless multihop. Finally, bandwidth shaping and window control are valid tools to control TCP, but come with their own trade-offs.     

Frequency-domain precoding for single carrier frequency-division multiple access - [topics in radio communications]

At present there is considerable interest in the use of single carrier frequency-division multiple access. This interest is justified by the inherent single carrier structure of the SC-FDMA scheme, which is more robust against phase noise and has a lower peak-to-average power ratio than orthogonal frequency-division multiple access. This consequently makes it more attractive for uplink transmission from low-cost devices with limited transmit power. SC-FDMA commonly makes use of frequency domain linear equalization in order to combat the frequency selectivity of the transmission channel. Frequency domain decision feedback equalization, composed of a frequency domain feed forward filter and a time domain feedback filter, outperforms LE due to its ability to cancel precursor echoes. Although these solutions suffer from error propagation, results show that DFE still offers a significant performance gain over conventional LE for uncoded SC-FDMA. In this article we show how precoding can be used on the uplink of the LTE standard to overcome the frequency selective nature of the radio channel. We propose a frequency domain implementation of Tomlinson- Harashima precoding and investigate the bit error rate and the PAPR performance for SCFDMA using ZF and MMSE THP.     

The road to carrier-grade ethernet - [Topics in optical communications]

Carrier-grade Ethernet is the latest step in the three-decade development of Ethernet. This work describes the evolution of Ethernet technology from LAN toward a carrier-grade operation through an overview of recent enhancements. After reviewing native Ethernet and its transport shortcomings, we introduce the major carrier-grade upgrades. We first discuss the evolution of layer-2 architectures. Then, we detail the service specifications and their QoS and traffic engineering requirements. Finally, we describe the new OAM and resilience mechanisms.     

Multicarrier communication techniques for spectrum sensing and communication in cognitive radios [cognitive radio communications]

In this tutorial article we review different multicarrier communication methods for the physical layer of cognitive radio systems. There, secondary users need to dynamically and reliably determine spectral holes, and transmit data in these resources without interfering with other parts of the frequency band. To satisfy the first, each SU has to be equipped with a spectrum analyzer. To satisfy the second, it is widely accepted that a multicarrier modulation technique should be adopted. Moreover, to maximize efficiency, it has been recognized that the side-lobes of each subcarrier band must be minimized. Much of the attention in the present literature emphasizes on the use of conventional OFDM, exploiting the fact that fast Fourier transform (FFT) as part of the OFDM modulator can also be used for channel sensing. Herein, we discuss the performance of OFDM, and also introduce filterbanks for multicarrier communication and spectral analysis in a CR setting. Moreover, the multitaper method has been proposed as an effective method for spectrum analysis. Our article provides an insight into the pros and cons of these technologies.     

Cognitive radio as a mechanism to manage front-end linearity and dynamic range - [Topics in radio communications]

Most of the consideration of the benefits and applicability of dynamic spectrum access has been focused on opportunities associated with spectrum availability. This article describes the use of DSA to resolve challenges in achieving wireless and cognitive radio operation in dense or energetic spectrum. It also demonstrates that the use of DSA can significantly reduce requirements for linearity and dynamic range in the radio front-end, and reduce the intermodulation induced noise floor through integration of DSA with the selection of front-end filter settings. This approach could enable DSA and cognitive radios to be more affordable than conventional radios, and addresses spectrum issues that are not practically manageable through manual approaches.     

Radio communications: components, systems and networks - [guest editorial]

The five articles in this issue address topics that complement and further extend LTE technical issues.     

Radio communications: components, systems, and networks - [Series editorial]

This issue of the Radio Communications Series focuses on a rapidly evolving area in radio communications, that of dynamic spectrum access. This field has seen amazing progress in the past few years, and promises to revolutionize the way in which radio systems are designed, deployed, and operated. There are five articles in this issue.     

Performance control in wireless sensor networks: the ginseng project - [Global communications news letter]

Research on wireless sensor networks (WSNs) has mainly been focused on protocols and architectures for applications in which network performance assurances are not considered essential, such as agriculture and environmental monitoring. However, for many important areas, such as plant automation and health monitoring, performance assurances are crucial, especially for metrics such as delay and reliability.     

Enhanced estimation of configuration capabilities in cognitive radio [cognitive radio communications and networks]

Cognitive radio is a highly promising answer to the complexity and heterogeneity characterizing the beyond 3G wireless scenario. In this context, this article advances from the field of interference sensing to the fields of (basic) reasoning and robust reasoning. Interference sensing is concerned with the acquisition of interference related measurements for frequency bands of interest. The article describes how a cognitive radio system can reason on these measurements to obtain estimations for the capabilities of alternate configurations, especially in terms of achievable transmission capacity and coverage. Subsequently, it focuses on robust reasoning, namely, on enhancing these estimations by employing machine learning, which constitutes an important aspect of cognitive radio. Several relevant solutions are sketched and explained, with a view to providing a complete picture.     

Spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks: requirements, challenges and design trade-offs [cognitive radio communications]

Opportunistic unlicensed access to the (temporarily) unused frequency bands across the licensed radio spectrum is currently being investigated as a means to increase the efficiency of spectrum usage. Such opportunistic access calls for implementation of safeguards so that ongoing licensed operations are not compromised. Among different candidates, sensing-based access, where the unlicensed users transmit if they sense the licensed band to be free, is particularly appealing due to its low deployment cost and its compatibility with the legacy licensed systems. The ability to reliably and autonomously identify unused frequency bands is envisaged as one of the main functionalities of cognitive radios. In this article we provide an overview of the regulatory requirements and major challenges associated with the practical implementation of spectrum sensing functionality in cognitive radio systems. Furthermore, we outline different design trade-offs that have to be made in order to enhance various aspects of the system's performance.     

Bridging dream and reality: programmable baseband processors for software-defined radio - [integrated circuits for communications]

A programmable radio baseband signal processor is one of the essential enablers of software- defined radio. As wireless standards evolve, the processing power needed for baseband processing increases dramatically and the underlying hardware needs to cope with various standards or even simultaneously maintaining several radio links. Meanwhile, the maximum power consumption allowed by mobile terminals is still strictly limited. These challenges require both system and architecture level innovations. This article introduces a design methodology for radio baseband processors discussing the challenges and solutions of radio baseband signal processing. The LeoCore architecture is presented here as an example of a baseband processor design aimed at reducing power and silicon cost while maintaining sufficient flexibility.     

The design and implementation of an extensible, user-management service for communications applications - [topics in design & implentation]

Many network administration organizations, including communication service providers, are faced with the problem of managing a growing number of applications with fewer administrators. Administrators are required to provision and administer application-specific data in order for users (e.g., subscribers) to access and use communication applications. Although there are several approaches for solving the problem of sharing identity data across applications, a general solution for provisioning and sharing the complete user or subscriber profile has not been defined. This article describes the design and implementation of an extensible, user-management service that solves the problem of the redundant data entry required in provisioning and maintaining multiple communication applications. An important aspect of the design is the capability of the user-management service to be extended at run time without requiring an upgrade of the service and without impacting already deployed applications. Key lessons that can be applied to reduce the time and cost for other organizations faced with implementing user- or subscriber-management projects also are described.     

Primary user behavior in cellular networks and implications for dynamic spectrum access - [Topics in radio communications]

Dynamic spectrum access approaches, which propose to opportunistically use underutilized portions of licensed wireless spectrum such as cellular bands, are increasingly being seen as a way to alleviate spectrum scarcity. However, before DSA approaches can be enabled, it is important that we understand the dynamics of spectrum usage in licensed bands. Our focus in this article is the cellular band. Using a unique dataset collected inside a cellular network operator, we analyze the usage in cellular bands and discuss the implications of our results on enabling DSA in these bands. One of the key aspects of our dataset is its scale-it consists of data collected over three weeks at hundreds of base stations. We dissect this data along different dimensions to characterize if and when spectrum is available, develop models of primary usage, and understand the implications of these results on DSA techniques such as sensing.