Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Input/Output Ratio'

Multi-user MIMO (MIMO-MU) communication techniques make use of available channel state information at the transmitter to mitigate the inter-user interference. The goal of these techniques is to provide the least interference at the mobile stations by applying a precoding operation. In this thesis a comparison of available techniques in the literature such as Channel Decomposition, SINR Balancing, Joint-MMSE optimization is presented. Novel techniques for the MIMO multi-user downlink communication systems, where a single stream is transmitted to each user are proposed. The proposed methods, different from the other methods in the literature, use a simple receiver to combat the interference. It has been shown that MRC based receivers are as good as more complicated joint MMSE receivers.

Thesis (M.S. in Electrical Engineering)--Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2004.
Thesis advisor(s): Murali Tummala, Roberto Cristi. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71). Also available online.

In recent years, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO)systems appear to be very promising since they can provide highdata rates in environments with sucient scattering byexploiting the spatial domain. To design a real MIMO wirelesssystem and predict its performance under certain circumstances,it is necessary to have accurate MIMO wireless channel modelsfor dierent scenarios. This thesis presents dierent models forindoor MIMO radio propagation channels based on 5.2 GHz indoorMIMO channel measurements.The recent research on MIMO radio channel modeling isbriey reviewed in this thesis. The models are categorized intonon-physical and physical models. The non-physical modelsprimarily rely on the statistical characteristics of MIMOchannels obtained from the measured data while the physicalmodels describe the MIMO channel (or its distribution) via somephysical parameters. The relationships between dierent modelsare also discussed.For the narrowband case, a non line-of-sight (NLOS)indoor MIMO channel model is presented. The model is based on aKronecker structure of the channel covariance matrix and thefact that the channel is complex Gaussian. It is extended tothe line-of-sight (LOS) scenario by estimating and modeling thedominant component separately.As for the wideband case, two NLOS MIMO channel modelsare proposed. The rst model uses the power delay prole and theKronecker structure of the second order moments of each channeltap to model the wideband MIMO channel while the second modelcombines a simple single-input single-output (SISO) model withthe same Kronecker structure of the second order moments.Monte-Carlo simulations are used to generate indoor MIMOchannel realizations according to the above models. The resultsare compared with the measured data and good agreement has beenobserved.

This doctoral thesis aims at developing and implementing a computational framework for performing virtual testing of composite structures using a High-Performance Computing (HPC) environment. In this sense, this thesis presents several novel constitutive models based on the continuum damage mechanics theory and their implementation in the HPC-base Finite Element (FE) simulation code called Alya. The verification and validation of the models are performed comparing the numerical predictions with analytical formulations and experimental data. The comparisons demonstrate not only the reliability of the damage models but also the potential of an HPC-based environment for Virtual Testing of COmposite STructures. Therefore, the outcome of this thesis is both the formulation of new fracture models and the numerical framework named Alya-VITECOST.
L’objectiu d’aquesta tesis doctoral és el desenvolupament i implementació d’un marc computacional d’alt rendiment (HPC, de les sigles en anglès de High Performance Computing) amb el fi de realitzar proves virtuals d’estructures fetes de materials compòsits. En aquest sentit, aquesta tesis presenta la formulació de diversos models constitutius basats en la teoria de la mecànica de danys continus així com la seva implementació en el codi de simulació HPC anomenat Alya. La verificació i validació dels models i la seva implementació es realitza comparant les prediccions numèriques amb solucions analítiques i dades experimentals. Els resultats demostren la fiabilitat dels models formulats així com el potencial i avantatges oferts pels codis de simulació HPC. Per tant, el resultat d’aquesta tesis és tant la formulació dels models de dany progressiu com el marc numèric de simulació anomenat Alya-VITECOST.

Backgounding beef cattle is an inherently risky venture. Producers faceproduction risks as well as marketing risks. If a backgrounding operation is to be viable,these risks should be addressed and effectively managed. While some effective riskmanagement tools are currently available to livestock producers, some other potentiallyuseful risk management tools, for various reasons, have been previously unavailable.Two such tools which could help livestock producers achieve the overall goal ofmanaging net income risk are a program for managing feed ingredient nutrient and pricevariability in the selection of minimum cost feed rations and government subsidizedlivestock price insurance.Due to lack of data and limited computational power of solvers, risk has seldombeen introduced into the feed ration selection process. Presently, both feed ingredientnutritional data and appropriate solvers are available, allowing for risk to be fullyconsidered in this decision-making process. Only recently has there been policy effortsto establish subsidized price or revenue insurance for livestock producers. Theintroduction of such insurance to livestock producers offers potential risk managementbenefit but also has the potential to introduce improper incentives to livestock producers.This study will evaluate both of the aforementioned livestock risk managementtools. In addition to evaluating their effectiveness, the policy concerns of subsidizedlivestock insurance will also be addressed. Results will be relevant to a broad range ofentities. In addition to livestock producers wishing to manage the risks associated withtheir operations, agribusinesses that provide service to these producers such as feed salesor financial lending will benefit from knowing how these risk management strategiesperform. Furthermore, policy makers who will structure livestock insurance products canhopefully do so more efficiently based on the results of the livestock insurance analysis.

The aim of this work is to create an automated workplace for measuring the basic parameters of audio amplifiers using a graphical programming environment LabVIEW. Subsequently, the functionality will be verified in practical measurements on the real amplifier.

Abstract Advanced multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transceiver structures which utilize the knowledge of channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter side to optimize certain link parameters (e.g., throughput, fairness, spectral efficiency, etc.) under different constraints (e.g., maximum transmitted power, minimum quality of services (QoS), etc.) are considered in this thesis. Adaptive transmission schemes for point-to-point MIMO systems are considered first. A robust link adaptation method for time-division duplex systems employing MIMO-OFDM channel eigenmode based transmission is developed. A low complexity bit and power loading algorithm which requires low signaling overhead is proposed. Two algorithms for computing the sum-capacity of MIMO downlink channels with full CSI knowledge are derived. The first one is based on the iterative waterfilling method. The convergence of the algorithm is proved analytically and the computer simulations show that the algorithm converges faster than the earlier variants of sum power constrained iterative waterfilling algorithms. The second algorithm is based on the dual decomposition method. By tracking the instantaneous error in the inner loop, a faster version is developed. The problem of linear transceiver design in MIMO downlink channels is considered for a case when the full CSI of scheduled users only is available at the transmitter. General methods for joint power control and linear transmit and receive beamformers design are provided. The proposed algorithms can handle multiple antennas at the base station and at the mobile terminals with an arbitrary number of data streams per scheduled user. The optimization criteria are fairly general and include sum power minimization under the minimum signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) constraint per data stream, the balancing of SINR values among data streams, minimum SINR maximization, weighted sum-rate maximization, and weighted sum mean square error minimization. Besides the traditional sum power constraint on the transmit beamformers, multiple sum power constraints can be imposed on arbitrary subsets of the transmit antennas.This extends the applicability of the results to novel system architectures, such as cooperative base station transmission using distributed MIMO antennas. By imposing per antenna power constraints, issues related to the linearity of the power amplifiers can be handled as well. The original linear transceiver design problems are decomposed as a series of remarkably simpler optimization problems which can be efficiently solved by using standard convex optimization techniques. The advantage of this approach is that it can be easily extended to accommodate various supplementary constraints such as upper and/or lower bounds for the SINR values and guaranteed QoS for different subsets of users. The ability to handle transceiver optimization problems where a network-centric objective (e.g., aggregate throughput or transmitted power) is optimized subject to user-centric constraints (e.g., minimum QoS requirements) is an important feature which must be supported by future broadband communication systems.

As resources are limited, radio spectrum becomes congested due to the growth of wireless applications. However, measurements address the fact that most of the licensed spectrums experience low utilization even in intensively teeming areas. In the exertion to improve the utilization of the limited spectrum resources, cognitive radio networks have emerged as a powerful technique to resolve this problem. There are two types of user in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) named as primary user (PU) and secondary user (SU). Therein, the CRN enables the SU to utilize the unused licensed frequency of the PU if it possibly finds the vacant spectrum or white space (known as opportunistic spectrum access). Alternatively, SU can transmit simultaneously with the PU provided that transmission power of SU does not cause any harmful interference to the PU (known as spectrum sharing systems). In this thesis work, we study fundamental knowledge of the CRNs and focus on the performance analysis of the single input multiple output (SIMO) system for spectrum sharing approach. We assume that a secondary transmitter (SU-Tx) has full channel state information (CSI). The SU-Tx can adjust its transmit power not to cause harmful interference to the PU and obtain an optimal transmit rate. In particular, we derive the closed-form expressions for the cumulative distribution function (CDF), outage probability and an analytical expression for symbol error probability (SEP).
As resources are limited, radio spectrum becomes congested due to the growth of wireless applications. However, measurements address the fact that most of the licensed spectrums experience low utilization even in intensively teeming areas. In the exertion to improve the utilization of the limited spectrum resources, cognitive radio networks have emerged as a powerful technique to resolve this problem. There are two types of user in cognitive radio networks (CRNs) named as primary user (PU) and secondary user (SU). Therein, the CRN enables the SU to utilize the unused licensed frequency of the PU if it possibly finds the vacant spectrum or white space (known as opportunistic spectrum access). Alternatively, SU can transmit simultaneously with the PU provided that transmission power of SU does not cause any harmful interference to the PU (known as spectrum sharing systems). In this thesis work, we study fundamental knowledge of the CRNs and focus on the performance analysis of the single input multiple output (SIMO) system for spectrum sharing approach. We assume that a secondary transmitter (SU-Tx) has full channel state information (CSI). The SU-Tx can adjust its transmit power not to cause harmful interference to the PU and obtain an optimal transmit rate. In particular, we derive the closed-form expressions for the cumulative distribution function (CDF), outage probability and an analytical expression for symbol error probability (SEP).
Iqbal Hasan Haider, cell: +46704571807 MD. Fazla Rabby, cell: +46734965477

This thesis aims to contribute to the developments of wireless communication systems. The work generally consists of three parts: the first part is a discussion on general digital communication systems, the second part focuses on wireless channel modelling and fading mitigation techniques, and in the third part we discuss the possible application of advanced digital signal processing, especially time-frequency representation and blind source separation, to wireless communication systems. The first part considers general digital communication systems which will be incorporated in later parts. Today's wireless communication system is a subbranch of a general digital communication system that employs various techniques of A/D (Analog to Digital) conversion, source coding, error correction, coding, modulation, and synchronization, signal detection in noise, channel estimation, and equalization. We study and develop the digital communication algorithms to enhance the performance of wireless communication systems. In the Second Part we focus on wireless channel modelling and fading mitigation techniques. A modified Jakes' method is developed for Rayleigh fading channels. We investigate the level-crossing rate (LCR), the average duration of fades (ADF), the probability density function (PDF), the cumulative distribution function (CDF) and the autocorrelation functions (ACF) of this model. The simulated results are verified against the analytical Clarke's channel model. We also construct frequency-selective geometrical-based hyperbolically distributed scatterers (GBHDS) for a macro-cell mobile environment with the proper statistical characteristics. The modified Clarke's model and the GBHDS model may be readily expanded to a MIMO channel model thus we study the MIMO fading channel, specifically we model the MIMO channel in the angular domain. A detailed analysis of Gauss-Markov approximation of the fading channel is also given. Two fading mitigation techniques are investigated: Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and spatial diversity. In the Third Part, we devote ourselves to the exciting fields of Time-Frequency Analysis and Blind Source Separation and investigate the application of these powerful Digital Signal Processing (DSP) tools to improve the performance of wireless communication systems.

Due to the rapid development of wireless communications together with the inflexibility of the current spectrum allocation policy, radio spectrum becomes more and more exhausted. One of the critical challenges of wireless communication systems is to efficiently utilize the limited frequency resources to be able to support the growing demand of high data rate wireless services. As a promising solution, cognitive radios have been suggested to deal with the scarcity and under-utilization of radio spectrum. The basic idea behind cognitive radios is to allow unlicensed users, also called secondary users (SUs), to access the licensed spectrum of primary users (PUs) which improves spectrum utilization. In order to not degrade the performance of the primary networks, SUs have to deploy interference control, interference mitigating, or interference avoidance techniques to minimize the interference incurred at the PUs. Cognitive radio networks (CRNs) have stimulated a variety of studies on improving spectrum utilization. In this context, this thesis has two main objectives. Firstly, it investigates the performance of single hop CRNs with spectrum sharing and opportunistic spectrum access. Secondly, the thesis analyzes the performance improvements of two hop cognitive radio networks when incorporating advanced radio transmission techniques. The thesis is divided into three parts consisting of an introduction part and two research parts based on peer-reviewed publications. Fundamental background on radio propagation channels, cognitive radios, and advanced radio transmission techniques are discussed in the introduction. In the first research part, the performance of single hop CRNs is analyzed. Specifically, underlay spectrum access using M/G/1/K queueing approaches is presented in Part I-A while dynamic spectrum access with prioritized traffics is studied in Part I-B. In the second research part, the performance benefits of integrating advanced radio transmission techniques into cognitive cooperative radio networks (CCRNs) are investigated. In particular, opportunistic spectrum access for amplify-and-forward CCRNs is presented in Part II-A where collaborative spectrum sensing is deployed among the SUs to enhance the accuracy of spectrum sensing. In Part II-B, the effect of channel estimation error and feedback delay on the outage probability and symbol error rate (SER) of multiple-input multiple-output CCRNs is investigated. In Part II-C, adaptive modulation and coding is employed for decode-and-forward CCRNs to improve the spectrum efficiency and to avoid buffer overflow at the relay. Finally, a hybrid interweave-underlay spectrum access scheme for a CCRN is proposed in Part II-D. In this work, the dynamic spectrum access of the PUs and SUs is modeled as a Markov chain which then is utilized to evaluate the outage probability, SER, and outage capacity of the CCRN.

Les principaux objectifs des opérateurs ferroviaires visent à accroître la sécurité, réduire les coûts d’exploitation et de maintenance et augmenter l’attractivité et les bénéfices du transport ferroviaire en offrant de nouveaux services aux passagers. Ceci ne pourra être atteint que grâce à la multiplication des échanges de données entre les différents acteurs du monde ferroviaire. L’interopérabilité, l’efficacité spectrale, l’optimisation de l’usage des ressources radio et l’amélioration de la fiabilité des communications sont des exigences fortes pour les applications de télécommunication ferroviaires. Les recherches dans le domaine de la radio cognitive ont vu le jour afin de répondre aux besoins de communication de l’armée ainsi qu’aux besoins dans les secteurs de la sécurité publique. Ces domaines partagent souvent les mêmes exigences que les chemins de fers. Ainsi, la radio cognitive a montré un potentiel prometteur pour répondre aux besoins listés précédemment. Une des principales fonctionnalités d’un dispositif de radio cognitive est de prendre conscience de son environnement radioélectrique et de détecter les bandes disponibles. Trois principaux éléments définissent l’environnement de la radio cognitive : l’utilisateur, les règles d’accès au spectre radio et les domaines radio. Cette thèse met en avant plusieurs contributions relatives à la reconnaissance de l’environnement radiofréquence et la détection de bandes libres. Plus spécifiquement, ces contributions portent sur la reconnaissance par la radio cognitive de l’occupation du spectre et de la modulation des signaux présents dans les bandes analysées. Ces fonctions ont été conçues pour le contexte ferroviaire, c’est-à-dire la grande vitesse et un environnement électromagnétique difficile en présence de bruit impulsif
An essential goal of railway operators is to increase safety, reduce operation and maintenance costs, and increase attraction and profit by offering new services to passengers. These objectives will be reached thanks to a huge increase of data fluxes exchanges between railways stakeholders and infrastructures.Interoperability, spectral efficiency, optimization of radio resource usages, and improvement of communications reliability are of significant interest for railway applications. The Cognitive Radio (CR) research has been successfully applied to meet the communication needs of the military as well as the public-safety sectors, which share many of the same needs as railway. CRs have shown significant promise to answer all of the previously listed requirements. One of the main capabilities of a CR device is to sense and finally become aware of its environment. Three major domains define the environment of the CR, namely, the user, policy, and radio domains. This thesis highlights several contributions to radio environment awareness of a CR device. More specifically, these contributions lie in the spectrum awareness and waveform awareness functions of the CR. We designed these functions for the railways context, that is, a high speed vehicular context, besides difficult electromagnetic environments resulting a heavy-tailed impulsive noise

RF and acoustic communications are widely used in terrestrial and underwater environments, respectively. This thesis examines the use of ultrasonic communication alternately in terrestrial applications. We first investigate the ultrasonic channel in order to observe whether reliable communication is possible among the ultrasonic nodes as an alternative to RF-based communications. Some key characteristics of the single-input-single-output (SISO) and single-inputmultiple- output (SIMO) ultrasonic channel are inspected with extensive experiments utilizing ultrasonic transmitters and receivers. Well known receiver diversity techniques are employed to combine the observations of multiple receiving ultrasonic transducers in a SIMO scheme and receiver diversity gain is attained. The thesis also covers the implementation of a receiver node by using a low-cost microcontroller.

This work concentrates on the application of diversity techniques and space time block coding for future mobile wireless communications. The initial system analysis employs a space-time coded OFDM transmitter over a multipath Rayleigh channel, and a receiver which uses a selection combining diversity technique. The performance of this combined scenario is characterised in terms of the bit error rate and throughput. A novel four element QOSTBC scheme is introduced, it is created by reforming the detection matrix of the original QOSTBC scheme, for which an orthogonal channel matrix is derived. This results in a computationally less complex linear decoding scheme as compared with the original QOSTBC. Space time coding schemes for three, four and eight transmitters were also derived using a Hadamard matrix. The practical optimization of multi-antenna networks is studied for realistic indoor and mixed propagation scenarios. The starting point is a detailed analysis of the throughput and field strength distributions for a commercial dual band 802.11n MIMO radio operating indoors in a variety of line of sight and non-line of sight scenarios. The physical model of the space is based on architectural schematics, and realistic propagation data for the construction materials. The modelling is then extended and generalized to a multi-storey indoor environment, and a large mixed site for indoor and outdoor channels based on the Bradford University campus. The implications for the physical layer are also explored through the specification of antenna envelope correlation coefficients. Initially this is for an antenna module configuration with two independent antennas in close proximity. An operational method is proposed using the scattering parameters of the system and which incorporates the intrinsic power losses of the radiating elements. The method is extended to estimate the envelope correlation coefficient for any two elements in a general (N,N) MIMO antenna array. Three examples are presented to validate this technique, and very close agreement is shown to exist between this method and the full electromagnetic analysis using the far field antenna radiation patterns.

This work concentrates on the application of diversity techniques and space time block coding for future mobile wireless communications. The initial system analysis employs a space-time coded OFDM transmitter over a multipath Rayleigh channel, and a receiver which uses a selection combining diversity technique. The performance of this combined scenario is characterised in terms of the bit error rate and throughput. A novel four element QOSTBC scheme is introduced, it is created by reforming the detection matrix of the original QOSTBC scheme, for which an orthogonal channel matrix is derived. This results in a computationally less complex linear decoding scheme as compared with the original QOSTBC. Space time coding schemes for three, four and eight transmitters were also derived using a Hadamard matrix. The practical optimization of multi-antenna networks is studied for realistic indoor and mixed propagation scenarios. The starting point is a detailed analysis of the throughput and field strength distributions for a commercial dual band 802.11n MIMO radio operating indoors in a variety of line of sight and non-line of sight scenarios. The physical model of the space is based on architectural schematics, and realistic propagation data for the construction materials. The modelling is then extended and generalized to a multi-storey indoor environment, and a large mixed site for indoor and outdoor channels based on the Bradford University campus. The implications for the physical layer are also explored through the specification of antenna envelope correlation coefficients. Initially this is for an antenna module configuration with two independent antennas in close proximity. An operational method is proposed using the scattering parameters of the system and which incorporates the intrinsic power losses of the radiating elements. The method is extended to estimate the envelope correlation coefficient for any two elements in a general (N,N) MIMO antenna array. Three examples are presented to validate this technique, and very close agreement is shown to exist between this method and the full electromagnetic analysis using the far field antenna radiation patterns.

Spectrum, environment and location awareness are key characteristics of cognitive radio (CR). Knowledge of a user’s location as well as the surrounding environment type may enhance various CR tasks, such as spectrum sensing, dynamic channel allocation and interference management. This dissertation deals with the optimisation of adaptive localisation techniques for CR. The first part entails the development and evaluation of an efficient bandwidth determination (BD) model, which is a key component of the cognitive positioning system. This bandwidth efficiency is achieved using the Cramer-Rao lower bound derivations for a single-input-multiple-output (SIMO) antenna scheme. The performances of the single-input-single-output (SISO) and SIMO BD models are compared using three different generalised environmental models, viz. rural, urban and suburban areas. In the case of all three scenarios, the results reveal a marked improvement in the bandwidth efficiency for a SIMO antenna positioning scheme, especially for the 1×3 urban case, where a 62% root mean square error (RMSE) improvement over the SISO system is observed. The second part of the dissertation involves the presentation of a multiband time-of arrival (TOA) positioning technique for CR. The RMSE positional accuracy is evaluated using a fixed and dynamic bandwidth availability model. In the case of the fixed bandwidth availability model, the multiband TOA positioning model is initially evaluated using the two-step maximum-likelihood (TSML) location estimation algorithm for a scenario where line-of-sight represents the dominant signal path. Thereafter, a more realistic dynamic bandwidth availability model has been proposed, which is based on data obtained from an ultra-high frequency spectrum occupancy measurement campaign. The RMSE performance is then verified using the non-linear least squares, linear least squares and TSML location estimation techniques, using five different bandwidths. The proposed multiband positioning model performs well in poor signal-to-noise ratio conditions (-10 dB to 0 dB) when compared to a single band TOA system. These results indicate the advantage of opportunistic TOA location estimation in a CR environment.
Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering
unrestricted

In the past decade, cooperative communications has been emerging as a pertinent technology for the current and upcoming generations of mobile communication infrastructure. The indispensable benefits of this technology have motivated numerous studies from both academia and industry on this area. In particular, cooperative communications has been developed as a means of alleviating the effect of fading and hence improve the reliability of wireless communications. The key idea behind this technique is that communication between the source and destination can be assisted by several intermediate nodes, so-called relay nodes. As a result, cooperative communication networks can enhance the reliability of wireless communications where the transmitted signals are severely impaired because of fading. In addition, through relaying transmission, communication range can be extended and transmit power of each radio terminal can be reduced as well. The objective of this thesis is to analyze the system performance of cooperative relay networks integrating advanced radio transmission techniques and using the two major relaying protocols, i.e., decode-and-forward (DF) and amplify-and-forward (AF). In particular, the radio transmission techniques that are considered in this thesis include multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems and orthogonal space-time block coding (OSTBC) transmission, adaptive transmission, beamforming transmission, coded cooperation, and cognitive radio transmission. The thesis is divided into an introduction section and six parts based on peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers. The introduction provides the readers with some fundamental background on cooperative communications along with several key concepts of cognitive radio systems. In the first part, performance analysis of cooperative single and multiple relay networks using MIMO and OSTBC transmission is presented wherein the diversity gain, coding gain, outage probability, symbol error rate, and channel capacity are assessed. It is shown that integrating MIMO and OSTBC transmission into cooperative relay networks provides full diversity gain. In the second part, the performance benefits of MIMO relay networks with OSTBC and adaptive transmission strategies are investigated. In the third part, the performance improvement with respect to outage probability of coded cooperation applied to opportunistic DF relay networks over conventional cooperative networks is shown. In the fourth part, the effects of delay of channel state information feedback from the destination to the source and co-channel interference on system performance is analyzed for beamforming AF relay networks. In the fifth part, cooperative diversity is investigated in the context of an underlay cognitive AF relay network with beamforming. In the sixth part, finally, the impact of the interference power constraint on the system performance of multi-hop cognitive AF relay networks is investigated.

Dans les réseaux mobiles du future, un déploiement plus dense des points d’accés radio est prévu pour satisfaire la demande accrue de débit, mais les terminaux utilisateurs peuvent être affectés par une interférence inter-cellulaire plus forte. Par chance, la centralisation des traitements de signal en bande de base dans l’achitecture Cloud RAN (C-RAN) offre la possibilité de la coordination et du traitement conjoint de plusieurs cellules. Pour réellement permettre de déployer ces techniques, une étude bout-à-bout du CRAN est nécessaire selon plusieurs aspects, notamment l’architecture fonctionnelle, la stratégie de coordination, l’implémentation du traitement de signal multiutilisateur et les optimisations possibles pour un fonctionnement plus efficace.Dans cette thèse, nous proposons en premier une architecture qui définit le placement des fonctions du traitement en bande de base entre les unités distribuées et le serveur central. Le but de ce design est de permettre la réalisation des fonctions multi-utilisateurs en transmettant avec la moins de débit possible sur les liens de fronthaul reliant les différentes entités. Dans un second temps, nous présentons comment il est possible de coordiner les différentes cellules servies par le C-RAN en utilisant le concept de réseaux définis par logiciels adapté pour les réseaux d’accès radio. Nous avons mis en place un prototype démontrant la faisabilité de la méthode de contrôle proposée. Finalement, nous étudions l’allocation adaptative du débit sur les liens de fronthaul transportant les symboles numériques quantifiés des utilisateurs en besoin de traitement multi-cellulaire sur la voie montante pour exploiter l’interférence entre eux. Nous proposons un modèle d’optimisation qui inclut le coût des transmissions fronthaul pour maximiser ainsi le gain obtenu par l’opérateur du réseau où la communication multiutilisateur a lieu. Nous réalisons l’optimisation pour différents modèles de coût et en utilisants deux types de données: d’abord les estimations de canal supposées parfaites et disponibles en temps réel, puis seulement les statistiques du canal. Nous montrons que la méthode d’optimisation proposée permet d’exploiter plus efficacement les liens de fronthaul dans l’architecture précedemment définie
In future mobile networks denser deployment of radio access points is planned to satisfy demand of higher throughput, but an increased number of mobile users can suffer from inter-cell interference. Fortunately, the centralization of base-band processing offered by Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture enables coordination and joint physical layer processing between cells. To make practical deployment of these techniques possible, we have to study C-RAN in an end-to-end view regarding several aspects: the functional architecture of a deployment, the multi-cell coordination strategy, the implementation of multi-user signal processing and possibilities for optimization to increase operational efficiency.In this thesis, first, we propose an architecture defining the placement of base-band processing functions between the distributed remote units and the central processing unit. The aim of this design is to enable multi-cell processing both on the uplink and the downlink while requiring low data rate between the involved entities. Secondly, we study how low latency coordination can be realized inside the central unit using software defined networking adapted to radio access networks. Our demonstration through a real-time prototype deployment shows the feasibility of the proposed control framework. Finally, we investigate adaptive allocation of fronthaul rate that is used for transferring quantized base-band symbols for users participating in uplink multi-cell reception in order to exploit interference between them. We propose an optimization model that includes the cost of fronthaul tranmissions and aims to maximize the gain of network operators from multi-user transmissions in C-RAN. We solve the optimization problem for different fronthaul pricing models, in a scenario where real-time and accurate channel estimates are available and in another where only channel statistics are exploited. Using our method - fitting in the architecture that we have defined - cost efficiency of fronthaul usage can be significantly improved

[EN] Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology in Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) networks has the potential to increase the spectral efficiency and improve network coverage to cope with the competition of limited spectrum use (e.g., assignment of digital dividend and spectrum demands of mobile broadband), the appearance of new high data rate services (e.g., ultra-high definition TV - UHDTV), and the ubiquity of the content (e.g., fixed, portable, and mobile). It is widely recognised that MIMO can provide multiple benefits such as additional receive power due to array gain, higher resilience against signal outages due to spatial diversity, and higher data rates due to the spatial multiplexing gain of the MIMO channel. These benefits can be achieved without additional transmit power nor additional bandwidth, but normally come at the expense of a higher system complexity at the transmitter and receiver ends. The final system performance gains due to the use of MIMO directly depend on physical characteristics of the propagation environment such as spatial correlation, antenna orientation, and/or power imbalances experienced at the transmit aerials. Additionally, due to complexity constraints and finite-precision arithmetic at the receivers, it is crucial for the overall system performance to carefully design specific signal processing algorithms. This dissertation focuses on transmit and received signal processing for DTT systems using MIMO-BICM (Bit-Interleaved Coded Modulation) without feedback channel to the transmitter from the receiver terminals. At the transmitter side, this thesis presents investigations on MIMO precoding in DTT systems to overcome system degradations due to different channel conditions. At the receiver side, the focus is given on design and evaluation of practical MIMO-BICM receivers based on quantized information and its impact in both the in-chip memory size and system performance. These investigations are carried within the standardization process of DVB-NGH (Digital Video Broadcasting - Next Generation Handheld) the handheld evolution of DVB-T2 (Terrestrial - Second Generation), and ATSC 3.0 (Advanced Television Systems Committee - Third Generation), which incorporate MIMO-BICM as key technology to overcome the Shannon limit of single antenna communications. Nonetheless, this dissertation employs a generic approach in the design, analysis and evaluations, hence, the results and ideas can be applied to other wireless broadcast communication systems using MIMO-BICM.
[ES] La tecnología de múltiples entradas y múltiples salidas (MIMO) en redes de Televisión Digital Terrestre (TDT) tiene el potencial de incrementar la eficiencia espectral y mejorar la cobertura de red para afrontar las demandas de uso del escaso espectro electromagnético (e.g., designación del dividendo digital y la demanda de espectro por parte de las redes de comunicaciones móviles), la aparición de nuevos contenidos de alta tasa de datos (e.g., ultra-high definition TV - UHDTV) y la ubicuidad del contenido (e.g., fijo, portable y móvil). Es ampliamente reconocido que MIMO puede proporcionar múltiples beneficios como: potencia recibida adicional gracias a las ganancias de array, mayor robustez contra desvanecimientos de la señal gracias a la diversidad espacial y mayores tasas de transmisión gracias a la ganancia por multiplexado del canal MIMO. Estos beneficios se pueden conseguir sin incrementar la potencia transmitida ni el ancho de banda, pero normalmente se obtienen a expensas de una mayor complejidad del sistema tanto en el transmisor como en el receptor. Las ganancias de rendimiento finales debido al uso de MIMO dependen directamente de las características físicas del entorno de propagación como: la correlación entre los canales espaciales, la orientación de las antenas y/o los desbalances de potencia sufridos en las antenas transmisoras. Adicionalmente, debido a restricciones en la complejidad y aritmética de precisión finita en los receptores, es fundamental para el rendimiento global del sistema un diseño cuidadoso de algoritmos específicos de procesado de señal. Esta tesis doctoral se centra en el procesado de señal, tanto en el transmisor como en el receptor, para sistemas TDT que implementan MIMO-BICM (Bit-Interleaved Coded Modulation) sin canal de retorno hacia el transmisor desde los receptores. En el transmisor esta tesis presenta investigaciones en precoding MIMO en sistemas TDT para superar las degradaciones del sistema debidas a diferentes condiciones del canal. En el receptor se presta especial atención al diseño y evaluación de receptores prácticos MIMO-BICM basados en información cuantificada y a su impacto tanto en la memoria del chip como en el rendimiento del sistema. Estas investigaciones se llevan a cabo en el contexto de estandarización de DVB-NGH (Digital Video Broadcasting - Next Generation Handheld), la evolución portátil de DVB-T2 (Second Generation Terrestrial), y ATSC 3.0 (Advanced Television Systems Commitee - Third Generation) que incorporan MIMO-BICM como clave tecnológica para superar el límite de Shannon para comunicaciones con una única antena. No obstante, esta tesis doctoral emplea un método genérico tanto para el diseño, análisis y evaluación, por lo que los resultados e ideas pueden ser aplicados a otros sistemas de comunicación inalámbricos que empleen MIMO-BICM.
[CAT] La tecnologia de múltiples entrades i múltiples eixides (MIMO) en xarxes de Televisió Digital Terrestre (TDT) té el potencial d'incrementar l'eficiència espectral i millorar la cobertura de xarxa per a afrontar les demandes d'ús de l'escàs espectre electromagnètic (e.g., designació del dividend digital i la demanda d'espectre per part de les xarxes de comunicacions mòbils), l'aparició de nous continguts d'alta taxa de dades (e.g., ultra-high deffinition TV - UHDTV) i la ubiqüitat del contingut (e.g., fix, portàtil i mòbil). És àmpliament reconegut que MIMO pot proporcionar múltiples beneficis com: potència rebuda addicional gràcies als guanys de array, major robustesa contra esvaïments del senyal gràcies a la diversitat espacial i majors taxes de transmissió gràcies al guany per multiplexat del canal MIMO. Aquests beneficis es poden aconseguir sense incrementar la potència transmesa ni l'ample de banda, però normalment s'obtenen a costa d'una major complexitat del sistema tant en el transmissor com en el receptor. Els guanys de rendiment finals a causa de l'ús de MIMO depenen directament de les característiques físiques de l'entorn de propagació com: la correlació entre els canals espacials, l'orientació de les antenes, i/o els desequilibris de potència patits en les antenes transmissores. Addicionalment, a causa de restriccions en la complexitat i aritmètica de precisió finita en els receptors, és fonamental per al rendiment global del sistema un disseny acurat d'algorismes específics de processament de senyal. Aquesta tesi doctoral se centra en el processament de senyal tant en el transmissor com en el receptor per a sistemes TDT que implementen MIMO-BICM (Bit-Interleaved Coded Modulation) sense canal de tornada cap al transmissor des dels receptors. En el transmissor aquesta tesi presenta recerques en precoding MIMO en sistemes TDT per a superar les degradacions del sistema degudes a diferents condicions del canal. En el receptor es presta especial atenció al disseny i avaluació de receptors pràctics MIMO-BICM basats en informació quantificada i al seu impacte tant en la memòria del xip com en el rendiment del sistema. Aquestes recerques es duen a terme en el context d'estandardització de DVB-NGH (Digital Video Broadcasting - Next Generation Handheld), l'evolució portàtil de DVB-T2 (Second Generation Terrestrial), i ATSC 3.0 (Advanced Television Systems Commitee - Third Generation) que incorporen MIMO-BICM com a clau tecnològica per a superar el límit de Shannon per a comunicacions amb una única antena. No obstant açò, aquesta tesi doctoral empra un mètode genèric tant per al disseny, anàlisi i avaluació, per la qual cosa els resultats i idees poden ser aplicats a altres sistemes de comunicació sense fils que empren MIMO-BICM.
Vargas Paredero, DE. (2016). Transmit and Receive Signal Processing for MIMO Terrestrial Broadcast Systems [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/66081
TESIS
Premiado

In this thesis study, an overview of MIMO radar is presented. The differences in radar cross section, channel and received signal models in different MIMO radar configurations are examined. The performance improvements that can be achieved by the use of waveform diversity in coherent MIMO radar and by the use of angular diversity in statistical MIMO radar are investigated. The optimal detector under Neyman-Pearson criterion for Coherent MIMO radar when the interfering signal is white Gaussian noise is developed. Detection performance of phased array radar, coherent MIMO radar and Statistical MIMO radar are compared through numerical simulations. A detector for MIMO radar that contains the space time codes explicitly is also examined.

Doutoramento em Engenharia Electrotécnica
Systems equipped with multiple antennas at the transmitter and at the receiver, known as MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) systems, offer higher capacities, allowing an efficient exploitation of the available spectrum and/or the employment of more demanding applications. It is well known that the radio channel is characterized by multipath propagation, a phenomenon deemed problematic and whose mitigation has been achieved through techniques such as diversity, beamforming or adaptive antennas. By exploring conveniently the spatial domain MIMO systems turn the characteristics of the multipath channel into an advantage and allow creating multiple parallel and independent virtual channels. However, the achievable benefits are constrained by the propagation channel’s characteristics, which may not always be ideal. This work focuses on the characterization of the MIMO radio channel. It begins with the presentation of the fundamental results from information theory that triggered the interest on these systems, including the discussion of some of their potential benefits and a review of the existing channel models for MIMO systems. The characterization of the MIMO channel developed in this work is based on experimental measurements of the double-directional channel. The measurement system is based on a vector network analyzer and a two-dimensional positioning platform, both controlled by a computer, allowing the measurement of the channel’s frequency response at the locations of a synthetic array. Data is then processed using the SAGE (Space-Alternating Expectation-Maximization) algorithm to obtain the parameters (delay, direction of arrival and complex amplitude) of the channel’s most relevant multipath components. Afterwards, using a clustering algorithm these data are grouped into clusters. Finally, statistical information is extracted allowing the characterization of the channel’s multipath components. The information about the multipath characteristics of the channel, induced by existing scatterers in the propagation scenario, enables the characterization of MIMO channel and thus to evaluate its performance. The method was finally validated using MIMO measurements.
Os sistemas equipados com múltiplas antenas no emissor e no recetor, conhecidos como sistemas MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output), oferecem capacidades mais elevadas, permitindo melhor rentabilização do espectro e/ou utilização de aplicações mais exigentes. É sobejamente sabido que o canal rádio é caracterizado por propagação multipercurso, fenómeno considerado problemático e cuja mitigação tem sido conseguida através de técnicas como diversidade, formatação de feixe ou antenas adaptativas. Explorando convenientemente o domínio espacial os sistemas MIMO transformam as características multipercurso do canal numa mais-valia e permitem criar vários canais virtuais, paralelos e independentes. Contudo, os benefícios atingíveis são condicionados pelas características do canal de propagação, que poderão não ser sempre as ideais. Este trabalho centra-se na caracterização do canal rádio para sistemas MIMO. Inicia-se com a apresentação dos resultados fundamentais da teoria da informação que despoletaram todo o entusiamo em torno deste tipo de sistemas, sendo discutidas algumas das suas potencialidades e uma revisão dos modelos existentes para sistemas MIMO. A caracterização do canal MIMO desenvolvida neste trabalho assenta em medidas experimentais do canal direcional adquiridas em dupla via. O sistema de medida é baseado num analisador de redes vetorial e numa plataforma de posicionamento bidimensional, ambos controlados por um computador, permitindo obter a resposta em frequência do canal rádio nos vários pontos correspondentes à localização dos elementos de um agregado virtual. As medidas são posteriormente processadas com o algoritmo SAGE (Space-Alternating Expectation-Maximization), de forma a obter os parâmetros (atraso, direção de chegada e amplitude complexa) das componentes multipercurso mais significativas. Seguidamente, estes dados são tratados com um algoritmo de classificação (clustering) e organizados em grupos. Finalmente é extraída informação estatística que permite caracterizar o comportamento das componentes multipercurso do canal. A informação acerca das características multipercurso do canal, induzidas pelos espalhadores (scatterers) existentes no cenário de propagação, possibilita a caracterização do canal MIMO e assim avaliar o seu desempenho. O método foi por fim validado com medidas MIMO.

Dans ce travail de thèse, on s'intéresse é l'emploi de techniques de traitement de signal de systèmes de communication MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) pour des applications aux réseaux de capteurs sans fil. Les contraintes énergétiques de cette classe de réseau font appel à des topologies particulières et le réseau peut être perçu comme étant un ensemble de grappes de nœuds capteurs. Ceci ouvre la porte à des techniques avancées de communication de type MIMO. Dans un premier temps, les différents aspects caractérisant les réseaux de capteurs sans fil sont introduits. Puis, les efforts engagés pour optimiser la conservation de l'énergie dans ces réseaux sont résumés. Les concepts de base de systèmes MIMOs sont abordés dans le deuxième chapitre et l'exploration par voie numérique de différentes pistes de la technologie MIMO sont exposées. Nous nous intéressons à des techniques de diversité de polarisation dans le cadre de milieux de communication riches en diffuseurs. Par la suite, des méthodes de type beamforming sont proposées pour la localisation dans les réseaux de capteurs sans fil. Le nouvel algorithme de localisation est présenté et les performances sont évaluées. Nous identifions la configuration pour la communication inter-grappes qui permet pour les meilleurs compromis entre énergie et efficacité spectrale dans les réseaux de capteurs sans fil. Finalement, nous envisageons la technique de sélection de nœuds capteurs afin de réduire la consommation de l'énergie dans le réseau de capteur sans fil
The aim of this work is to study from a signal processing point of view the use of MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) communication systems for algorithms dedicated to wireless sensor networks. We investigate energy-constrained wireless sensor networks and we focus on cluster topology of the network. This topology permits for the use of MIMO communication system model. First, we review different aspects that characterize the wireless sensor network. Then, we introduce the existing strategies for energy conservation in the network. The basic concepts of MIMO systems are presented in the second chapter and numerical results are provided for evaluating the performances of MIMO techniques. Of particular interest, polarization diversity over rich scattering environment is studied. Thereafter, beamforming approach is proposed for the development of an original localization algorithm in wireless sensor network. The novel algorithm is described and performances are evaluated by simulation. We determine the optimal system configuration between a pair of clusters that permits for the highest capacity to energy ratio in the fourth chapter. The final chapter is devoted to sensor nodes selection in wireless sensor network. The aim of using such technique is to make energy conservation in the network

The thesis examines the problem of joint receive and transmit beamforming for a wireless network which consists of one relay node equipped with multiple antennas. The transmitter and the receiver are single antenna systems. The communication system consists of two phases. In the first phase the transmitter sends the information symbol to the relay while in the second phase, the relay re-transmits a linearly transformed version of the vector of its received signals. The concept of general-rank beamforming is applied to this communication scheme for the case of the uplink (transmitter-relay) and downlink (relay-receiver) channel vectors being statistically independent and statistically dependent. In the general-rank beamforming approach, the multi-antenna relay multiplies the received signal vector with a general-rank complex weight matrix and re-transmits each entry of the output vector on the corresponding antenna. The thesis presents a closed form solution to the general-rank beamforming power minimization problem with proof that for statistically independent uplink and downlink channels, the general-rank beamforming approach results in a rank-one solution for the beamforming matrix. The simulation results have shown that when the generalrank beamformer is applied to the case of statistically dependent uplink and downlink channels, the general-rank beamforming technique significantly outperforms the separable receive and transmit beamforming method.
UOIT

碩士
國立交通大學
光電系統研究所
101
With the rapid growth of interactive multimedia services, the speed of data transmission must improve and the demand for the wireless bandwidth is increasing. For increasing data transmission, we raise the carrier frequency to 60 GHz which can offer 7 GHz unlicensed band. However, because of the serious propagation loss of 60GHz RF signal, the radio-over-fiber system is proposed to reduce the overall cost. In the past years, our group have done a lot of research on the 60GHz system. With MIMO technology, the system can promise candidate to provide broadband service, wide coverage, and mobility In this thesis, 2x2 MIMO technique is realized. With equalizer and training symbol design, we can solve the I/Q imbalance problem. Moreover, we also focus on the problems from spatial distribution. We experimentally demonstrate 81.54Gbps OFDM signal transmission within 7GHz license-free bandwidth at 60GHz band. The power penalty is negligible after transmission over 50km single mode fiber and 3.5m wireless distance.

碩士
大同大學
電機工程學系(所)
102
Recently, the investigation of the cognitive radio (CR) system is actively progressed as one of the methods for using the frequency resources more efficiently. It is necessary to devise efficient FFT processor which can reduce computational load and improve power consumption for NC-OFDM based Cognitive Radio systems. This thesis presents the design of 64-point FFT processor with input/output pruning for NC-OFDM based cognitive radio systems. By devising efficient control circuit for the input/output pruning matrix and extending the input data with one bit used for the input pruning matrix, we propose an improved FFT architecture with input/output pruning which selects the multiplication branch corresponding to nonzero inputs/outputs. Finally, our proposed FFT processor with input/output pruning is implemented to demonstrate the high performance with low power consumption.

碩士
國立交通大學
顯示科技研究所
100
The rapid growth of data rates of new wireless applications led by interactive multimedia services is driving the need for multi-Gbps wireless communication technologies in the near future. However, the bandwidth of the license free spectrum at 60 GHz is limit to 7 GHz and 60-GHz millimeter-waves have very high propagation losses rendering them more suitable for short-range wireless links (~10m). Therefore, 60-GHz radio-over-fiber (RoF) system with spatial-multiplexing MIMO technology is a promising candidate to provide broadband service, wide coverage, and mobility. In this these, 2 x 2 MIMO technique is realized by frequency domain equalizer (FDE) to improve spectrum efficiency doubling the data throughput. We experimentally demonstrate 2 x 13.575 Gb/s 16-QAM MIMO single carrier signal transmission within 7-GHz license-free bandwidth at 60-GHz band. The power penalty is negligible after transmission over 25-km single mode fiber and 3m wireless distance.

Yes
A feasibility study of a novel configuration for a super-wide impedance planar antenna is presented based on a 2 × 2 microstrip patch antenna (MPA) using CST Microwave Studio. The antenna comprises a symmetrical arrangement of four-square patches that are interconnected to each other with cross-shaped high impedance microstrip lines. The antenna array is excited through a single feedline connected to one of the patches. The proposed antenna array configuration overcomes the main drawback of conventional MPA with a narrow bandwidth that is typically <5%. The antenna exhibits a super-wide frequency bandwidth from 20 GHz to 120 GHz for S11 < −15 dB, which corresponds to a fractional bandwidth of 142.85%. The antenna’s performance of bandwidth, impedance match, and radiation gain were enhanced by etching slots on the patches. With the inclusion of the slot, the maximum radiation gain and efficiency of the MPA increased to 15.11 dBi and 85.79% at 80 GHz, which showed an improvement of 2.58 dBi and 12.54%, respectively. The dimension of each patch antenna was 4.3 × 5.3 mm2 . The results showed that the proposed MPA is useful for various existing and emerging communication systems such as ultra-wideband (UWB) communications, RFID systems, massive multiple-output multiple-input (MIMO) for 5G, and radar systems.
This work was partially supported by the Innovation Program under grant agreement H2020-MSCA-ITN-2016 SECRET-722424 and financial support from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under grant EP/E022936/1.

Τα μελλοντικά ασύρματα δίκτυα και συστήματα επικοινωνιών αναμένεται να παρέχουν αξιόπιστα υπηρεσίες δεδομένων με απαιτήσεις ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων οι οποίες κυμαίνονται από λίγα kbps μέχρι μερικά Mbps και εξαιτίας του υψηλού κόστους του φάσματος συχνοτήτων, αυτά τα συστήματα χρειάζεται να είναι εξαιρετικά αποτελεσματικά όσον αφορά στη χρησιμοποίηση του φάσματος. Συγκεκριμένα, η εφαρμογή τεχνικών μετάδοσης δεδομένων οι οποίες βασίζονται σε MIMO και OFDMA θεωρείται ως μια πολλά υποσχόμενη λύση για να ικανοποιήσει αυτές τις απαιτήσεις. Από την άλλη μεριά, τα συστήματα MIMO-OFDMA είναι εύκαμπτα και φασματικά αποτελεσματικά αλλά ο αξιοσημείωτα μεγάλος αριθμός υποφορέων και ο συνυπολογισμός της διάστασης χώρου καθιστούν την κατανομή ραδιοπόρων πολύ πολύπλοκη. Στην πραγματικότητα, η βέλτιστη κατανομή ραδιοπόρων η οποία μεγιστοποιεί το συνολικό ρυθμό μετάδοσης δεδομένων των χρηστών είναι συχνά πάρα πολύ πολύπλοκη για πρακτικές εφαρμογές. Συνεπώς, απαιτούνται υποβέλτιστες σχετικά αποτελεσματικές και χαμηλής πολυπλοκότητας στρατηγικές κατανομής ραδιοπόρων ώστε να κατανείμουν τους ραδιοπόρους συχνότητας, ισχύος και χώρου του συστήματος στους χρήστες του συστήματος. Η παρούσα ΔΔ διαπραγματεύεται στρατηγικές κατανομής ραδιοπόρων στην κατερχόμενη και στην ανερχόμενη ζεύξη συστημάτων OFDMA, στην κατερχόμενη ζεύξη συστημάτων MISO-OFDMA και στην κατερχόμενη ζεύξη συστημάτων MIMO-OFDMA στοχεύοντας στη μεγιστοποίηση του συνολικού ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων των χρηστών εγγυώντας οι ρυθμοί μετάδοσης δεδομένων των χρηστών να τηρούν μια προκαθορισμένη αναλογία μεταξύ τους ή να ξεπερνούν προκαθορισμένους ελάχιστους ρυθμούς μετάδοσης δεδομένων. Στο πλαίσιο της επίλυσης του προβλήματος της μεγιστοποίησης του συνολικού ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων των χρηστών με ανεκτή πολυπλοκότητα για κάθε μία από τις προαναφερθείσες περιπτώσεις, προτείνονται νέοι υποβέλτιστοι αλγόριθμοι. Στην κατερχόμενη ζεύξη των συστημάτων SISO, στόχος είναι η μεγιστοποίση του συνολικού ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων των χρηστών με περιορισμό στη συνολική διαθέσιμη ισχύ και με αναλογικούς ρυθμούς μετάδοσης δεδομένων μεταξύ των χρηστών. Η προτεινόμενη μέθοδος, η οποία είναι αποτελεσματική όσον αφορά στην πολυπλοκότητα, αποτελείται από τρεις αλγόριθμους: έναν αλγόριθμο ο οποίος προσδιορίζει τον αριθμό των υποφορέων για κάθε χρήστη, έναν αλγόριθμο κατανομής υποφορέων διαιρώντας τους χρήστες σε δύο ομάδες και τον αλγόριθμο water-filling. Οι πρώτοι δύο αλγόριθμοι αναθέτουν τους διαθέσιμους υποφορείς στους χρήστες του συστήματος και ο τρίτος αλγόριθμος κατανέμει τη διαθέσιμη ισχύ με βέλτιστο τρόπο για μεγιστοποίηση του συνολικού ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων. Στην ανερχόμενη ζεύξη των συστημάτων SISO, στόχος είναι η μεγιστοποίηση του συνολικού ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων των χρηστών με περιορισμό στην ισχύ κάθε χρήστη και σε ελάχιστους ρυθμούς μετάδοσης δεδομένων μεταξύ των χρηστών. Η προτεινόμενη τεχνική, η οποία είναι αποτελεσματική όσον αφορά στην πολυπλοκότητα, αποτελείται από τρεις αλγόριθμους: έναν αλγόριθμο ο οποίος προσδιορίζει τον αριθμό των υποφορέων για κάθε χρήστη, έναν αλγόριθμο κατανομής υποφορέων διαιρώντας τους χρήστες σε δύο ομάδες και τον αλγόριθμο water-filling. Οι πρώτοι δύο αλγόριθμοι αναθέτουν τους διαθέσιμους υποφορείς στους χρήστες του συστήματος και ο τρίτος αλγόριθμος κατανέμει τη διαθέσιμη ισχύ. Στην κατερχόμενη ζεύξη των συστημάτων MISO αναπτύσσονται τρεις αλγόριθμοι επιλογής χρηστών και κατανομής πόρων για πολυχρηστικά συστήματα κατερχόμενης ζεύξης οι οποίοι είναι λιγότερο πολύπλοκοι από άλλες προσεγγίσεις και ενσωματώνουν τη δικαιοσύνη. Στους πρώτους δύο αλγόριθμους επιβάλλονται αναλογικοί περιορισμοί μεταξύ των ρυθμών μετάδοσης δεδομένων των χρηστών και στον τρίτο αλγόριθμο περιορισμοί στους ελάχιστους ρυθμούς μετάδοσης δεδομένων λαμβάνονται υπόψη. Επίσης, πραγματοποιείται επέκταση του αλγόριθμου μεγιστοποίησης του συνολικού ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων με αναλογικούς περιορισμούς δικαιοσύνης σε ΣΚΚ και για μείωση της πολυπλοκότητας οι υποφορείς ομαδοποιούνται σε τεμάχια. Τα αποτελέσματα της προσομοίωσης επιβεβαιώνουν την αποτελεσματικότητα τους στη διανομή του συνολικού ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων δίκαια μεταξύ των χρηστών αλλά και ότι σε ΣΚΚ επιτυγχάνονται μεγαλύτεροι συνολικοί ρυθμοί μετάδοσης δεδομένων. Τέλος, στην κατερχόμενη ζεύξη των συστημάτων MIMO, το πρόβλημα διατυπώνεται με στόχο τη μεγιστοποίηση του συνολικού ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων των χρηστών με περιορισμό στη συνολική διαθέσιμη ισχύ και ελέγξιμο εύρος ζώνης στο σύστημα εισάγοντας την παράμετρο α. Αφού αυτό το πρόβλημα βελτιστοποίησης πρέπει να εκτελεστεί σε πραγματικό χρόνο, προτείνεται ένας αλγόριθμος αποδοτικός, υποβέλτιστος και αποτελεματικός όσον αφορά στην πολυπλοκότητα ο οποίος παρουσιάζει λογική απώλεια όσον αφορά στην περίπτωση χωρίς περιορισμούς όπου ο μόνος στόχος είναι η μεγιστοποίηση του συνολικού ρυθμού μετάδοσης δεδομένων και εντυπωσιακό όφελος συγκρινόμενος με τη στατική τεχνική TDMA. Πέραν της θεωρητικής ανάλυσης των παραπάνω αλγόριθμων, ο προσομοιωτικός κώδικας που δημιουργήθηκε βασισμένος σε ρεαλιστικές υποθέσεις και απλουστεύσεις, μάς έδωσε τα αποτελέσματα εκείνα τα οποία μετρούν το συνολικό ρυθμό μετάδοσης δεδομένων των χρηστών ο οποίος παρέχεται από κάθε έναν από τους προαναφερθέντες αλγόριθμους και εξετάζουν την πιθανή καταλληλότητα για χρήση τους σε συγκεκριμένα περιβάλλοντα. Τα τελικά συμπεράσματα είναι ότι τα συστήματα MIMO-OFDMA είναι ικανά να προσφέρουν πραγματικές ευρυζωνικές υπηρεσίες πάνω από το ασύρματο κανάλι επικοινωνίας.
Future wireless communication networks and systems are expected to reliably provide data services with data rate requirements ranging from a few kbps up to some Mbps and, due to the high costs of frequency spectrum, these systems also need to be extremely efficient in terms of the spectrum usage. In particular, the application of transmission schemes based on OFDMA and on MIMO is considered as a promising solution to meet these requirements. On the one hand, MIMO-OFDMA systems are flexible and spectrally efficient but the considerably large number of subcarriers and the inclusion of the space dimension make the RRA in such systems very complex. In fact, the optimum RRA that maximizes the sum of the users' data rates is often too complex for practical application. Consequently, suboptimal rather efficient and low-complexity RRA strategies are required in order to allocate the frequency, power, and space radio resources of the system to the users of the system. This doctoral thesis deals with RRA strategies in the downlink and uplink of OFDMA systems, the downlink of MISO-OFDMA systems, and the downlink of MIMO-OFDMA systems aiming at the maximization of the sum of the users' data rates guaranteeing proportional data rates or minimum data rates among users. In order to solve the problem of maximizing the sum of the users' data rates with affordable complexity in each one of the aforementioned cases, new suboptimal algorithms are proposed. In the SISO downlink the objective is to maximize the sum of the users' data rates subject to constraints on the total available power and proportional data rates among users. The proposed method, which is also complexity effective, consists of three algorithms; an algorithm that determines the number of subcarriers for each user, a subcarrier allocation algorithm by dividing the users in two groups and the water-filling algorithm. The first two algorithms assign the available subcarriers to the users of the system and the third one allocates the available power optimally in order to maximize the sum of the users' data rates. In the SISO uplink the objective is to maximize the sum of the users' data rates subject to constraints on per user power and minimum data rates among users. The proposed scheme, which is also complexity effective, consists of three algorithms; an algorithm that determines the number of subcarriers for each user, a subcarrier allocation algorithm by dividing the users in two groups and the water-filling algorithm. The first two algorithms assign the available subcarriers to the users of the system and the third one allocates the available power. In the MISO downlink three user selection and resource allocation algorithms for multiuser downlink systems are developed that are less complex than other approaches and incorporate fairness. In the first two algorithms proportional constraints among the users' data rates are imposed and in the third algorithm minimum data rate constraints are taken into account. The proposed algorithm that maximizes the sum of the users' data rates with proportional data rate constraints is also applied to DAS and subcarriers are grouped to chunks. Simulation results sustain their effectiveness in distributing the sum data rate fairly and flexibly among users and that in DAS higher sum of the users' data rates are obtained. Finally, in the MIMO downlink the problem is formulated in order to maximize the sum of the users' data rates subject to total available power constraint with controllable bandwidth introducing system parameter α. Since this optimization should be performed in real time, an efficient, suboptimal and complexity effective algorithm is proposed which shows reasonable loss with respect to the unconstrained case where the only target is the maximization of the sum data rate and impressive profit compared to static TDMA scheme. Apart from the theoretical analysis of the above algorithms, simulation code, which was created based on realistic assumptions and simplifications, gave us results which measure the sum of the users' data rates that provide each one of the aforementioned algorithms and examine the possible appropriateness for use in specific environments. The final concluding results are that MIMO-OFDMA systems are able to offer real broadband services over the wireless communication channel.

Due to the highly-varying wireless channels over time, frequency, and space domains, statistical QoS provisioning, instead of deterministic QoS guarantees, has become a recognized feature in the next-generation wireless networks. In this dissertation, we study the adaptive wireless resource allocation problems for statistical QoS provisioning, such as guaranteeing the specified delay-bound violation probability, upper-bounding the average loss-rate, optimizing the average goodput/throughput, etc., in several typical types of mobile wireless networks. In the first part of this dissertation, we study the statistical QoS provisioning for mobile multicast through the adaptive resource allocations, where different multicast receivers attempt to receive the common messages from a single base-station sender over broadcast fading channels. Because of the heterogeneous fading across different multicast receivers, both instantaneously and statistically, how to design the efficient adaptive rate control and resource allocation for wireless multicast is a widely cited open problem. We first study the time-sharing based goodput-optimization problem for non-realtime multicast services. Then, to more comprehensively characterize the QoS provisioning problems for mobile multicast with diverse QoS requirements, we further integrate the statistical delay-QoS control techniques — effective capacity theory, statistical loss-rate control, and information theory to propose a QoS-driven optimization framework. Applying this framework and solving for the corresponding optimization problem, we identify the optimal tradeoff among statistical delay-QoS requirements, sustainable traffic load, and the average loss rate through the adaptive resource allocations and queue management. Furthermore, we study the adaptive resource allocation problems for multi-layer video multicast to satisfy diverse statistical delay and loss QoS requirements over different video layers. In addition, we derive the efficient adaptive erasure-correction coding scheme for the packet-level multicast, where the erasure-correction code is dynamically constructed based on multicast receivers’ packet-loss statuses, to achieve high error-control efficiency in mobile multicast networks. In the second part of this dissertation, we design the adaptive resource allocation schemes for QoS provisioning in unicast based wireless networks, with emphasis on statistical delay-QoS guarantees. First, we develop the QoS-driven time-slot and power allocation schemes for multi-user downlink transmissions (with independent messages) in cellular networks to maximize the delay-QoS-constrained sum system throughput. Second, we propose the delay-QoS-aware base-station selection schemes in distributed multiple-input-multiple-output systems. Third, we study the queueaware spectrum sensing in cognitive radio networks for statistical delay-QoS provisioning. Analyses and simulations are presented to show the advantages of our proposed schemes and the impact of delay-QoS requirements on adaptive resource allocations in various environments.

Ο ταχύτατα εξελισσόμενος τομέας των δικτύων κινητών επικοινωνιών έχει επιφέρει μία ιδιαίτερα αυξανόμενη απαίτηση για ασύρματη, πολυμεσική επικοινωνία. Στη ραγδαία εξέλιξη του τομέα αυτού συμβάλουν τα μέγιστα και οι απαιτήσεις της σύγχρονης αγοράς για ένα ενοποιημένο και λειτουργικό σύστημα κινητής τηλεφωνίας παρέχοντας παράλληλα πληθώρα ευρυζωνικών υπηρεσιών ψηφιακού περιεχομένου στους πελάτες - χρήστες του. Είναι γεγονός ότι τα τελευταία χρόνια τα δίκτυα επικοινωνιών τρίτης γενιάς (3G) - Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) γνωρίζουν μεγάλη άνθηση και η χρήση τους έχει επεκταθεί στις περισσότερες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες, όπως και στην Ελλάδα. Τα νέα αυτά κινητά δίκτυα αντικαθιστούν τα υπάρχοντα κινητά δίκτυα δεύτερης γενιάς και επιπλέον προσφέρουν προηγμένες υπηρεσίες στους κινητούς χρήστες. Ωστόσο, η αδήριτη ανάγκη για μεγαλύτερες (ευρυζωνικές) ταχύτητες πρόσβασης οδήγησε στην περαιτέρω ανάπτυξη των 3G δικτύων και στην υιοθέτηση νέων τεχνολογιών, με κυριότερο εκπρόσωπο τους την τεχνολογία High Speed Packet Access (HSPA). Η τεχνολογία HSPA αποτελεί τη φυσιολογική μετεξέλιξη του UMTS, η οποία πολλές φορές συναντάται και ως 3.5G ή 3G+, προκειμένου να δηλώσει την αναβάθμιση του 3G (UMTS) προτύπου. Ωστόσο, παρά το γεγονός ότι η τεχνολογία HSPA αναμένεται να προσφέρει τη δυνατότητα παροχής πληθώρας ευρυζωνικών υπηρεσιών, το 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), που αποτελεί τον οργανισμό που προτυποποιεί τις νέες τεχνολογίες και ορίζει τις προδιαγραφές τους, ήδη μελετά και επεξεργάζεται νέες τεχνολογίες που θα επικρατήσουν την αμέσως επόμενη δεκαετία στην αγορά των κινητών επικοινωνιών. Το νέο αυτό project αποκαλείται Long Term Evolution (LTE) και στοχεύει στην επίτευξη ακόμη υψηλότερων ρυθμών μετάδοσης σε συνδυασμό με την αξιοποίηση μεγαλύτερου εύρος ζώνης. Κύρια προοπτική του LTE αποτελεί η διασφάλιση της ανταγωνιστικότητας και η επικράτηση του προτύπου στο χρονικό ορίζοντα της επόμενης δεκαετίας. Κατά συνέπεια, η αγορά κινητών επικοινωνιών σταδιακά μεταλλάσσεται προς τη δημιουργία δικτύων κινητών επικοινωνιών επόμενης γενιάς, με απώτερο σκοπό την επίτευξη της αποκαλούμενης «Κινητής Ευρυζωνικότητας» (Mobile Broadband). Ταυτόχρονα με την εκτεταμένη εξάπλωση των δικτύων κινητών επικοινωνιών επόμενης γενιάς καθώς και τις αυξημένες δυνατότητες των κινητών συσκευών, οι πάροχοι πολυμεσικού περιεχομένου και υπηρεσιών ενδιαφέρονται όλο και περισσότερο για την υποστήριξη της πολυεκπομπής (multicasting) δεδομένων στα δίκτυα αυτά με σκοπό την αποτελεσματική διαχείριση και επαναχρησιμοποίηση των διαθέσιμων πόρων του δικτύου. Επιπρόσθετα, οι χρήστες των κινητών δικτύων έχουν πλέον την απαίτηση να προσπελαύνουν εφαρμογές και υπηρεσίες οι οποίες μέχρι σήμερα μπορούσαν να διατεθούν αποκλειστικά από τα συμβατικά ενσύρματα δίκτυα. Έτσι λοιπόν στις μέρες μας γίνεται λόγος για υπηρεσίες πραγματικού χρόνου όπως mobile TV, mobile gaming, mobile streaming κ.α. Ένα από τα σημαντικότερα βήματα των δικτύων κινητών επικοινωνιών προς την κατεύθυνση της παροχής νέων, προηγμένων πολυμεσικών υπηρεσιών είναι η εισαγωγή της υπηρεσίας Multimedia Broadcast / Multicast Service (MBMS). Η υπηρεσία MBMS έχει σαν κύριο σκοπό την υποστήριξη IP εφαρμογών πανεκπομπής (broadcact) και πολυεκπομπής (multicast), επιτρέποντας με αυτό τον τρόπο την παροχή υπηρεσιών υψηλού ρυθμού μετάδοσης σε πολλαπλούς χρήστες με οικονομικό τρόπο. Η multicast μετάδοση δεδομένων σε κινητά δίκτυα επικοινωνιών είναι μια σχετικά νέα λειτουργικότητα η οποία βρίσκεται ακόμη στο στάδιο των δοκιμών και της προτυποποίησης της. Ένας multicast μηχανισμός μεταδίδει τα δεδομένα μόνο μία φορά πάνω από κάθε ασύρματο σύνδεσμο που αποτελεί τμήμα των μονοπατιών προς τους προορισμούς-κινητούς χρήστες. Το κρισιμότερο σημείο που εντοπίζεται κατά τη multicast μετάδοση δεδομένων στα κινητά δίκτυα επικοινωνιών είναι ο αποτελεσματικός έλεγχος ισχύος. Οι σταθμοί βάσης των κυψελωτών αυτών δικτύων διαθέτουν περιορισμένους πόρους ισχύος, γεγονός που περιορίζει τη χωρητικότητα της κυψέλης (cell) και επιβάλλει τη χρήση μίας βέλτιστης στρατηγικής για την όσο το δυνατόν καλύτερη αξιοποίηση των διαθέσιμων πόρων ισχύος. Ο έλεγχος ισχύος στοχεύει στη μείωση της εκπεμπόμενης ισχύος, στην ελαχιστοποίηση του θορύβου στο κυψελωτό δίκτυο και κατά συνέπεια στη διασφάλιση μεγαλύτερης χωρητικότητας επιπλέον χρηστών. Ένα από τα βασικότερα στοιχεία του ελέγχου ισχύος στα δίκτυα κινητών επικοινωνιών επόμενης γενιάς κατά τη multicast μετάδοση πολυμεσικών δεδομένων αποτελεί η επιλογή του κατάλληλου καναλιού μεταφοράς για τη μετάδοση των δεδομένων στον κινητό χρήστη. Συγκεκριμένα, πρόκειται για ένα κρίσιμο ζήτημα το οποίο είναι ακόμα υπό εξέταση στο 3GPP. Προς την κατεύθυνση αυτή, στο MBMS πρότυπο έχουν αναπτυχθεί διάφοροι μηχανισμοί, με χαρακτηριστικό τον MBMS Counting Mechanism. Στόχος του μηχανισμού αυτού είναι η βελτιστοποίηση της ροής δεδομένων για την υπηρεσία MBMS, όταν αυτά διέρχονται από τις διεπαφές του UMTS/HSPA δικτύου. Ωστόσο, η υπάρχουσα μορφή του μηχανισμού αυτού, καθώς και των αρκετών άλλων μηχανισμών που έχουν προταθεί από το 3GPP, διακρίνεται από πολλές αδυναμίες που δεν επιτρέπουν την αποτελεσματική και μαζική μετάδοση πολυμεσικών δεδομένων. Τα σημαντικότερα προβλήματα των μηχανισμών αυτών είναι η απουσία ευρυζωνικών χαρακτηριστικών καθώς και η σπατάλη σημαντικού τμήματος των ούτως ή άλλως περιορισμένων πόρων ισχύος. Εν γένει, η επιλογή του κατάλληλου καναλιού μεταφοράς των πολυμεσικών δεδομένων στο ασύρματο μέσο είναι μια δύσκολη διαδικασία καθώς μια λανθασμένη επιλογή καναλιού μπορεί να οδηγήσει στην αστοχία μίας ολόκληρης κυψέλης. Γίνεται σαφές λοιπόν, ότι απαιτείται μία βελτιωμένη έκδοση των υπαρχόντων μηχανισμών για την αποτελεσματικότερη και οικονομικότερη μετάδοση πολυμεσικού περιεχομένου σε μεγάλο πλήθος χρηστών. Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τα παραπάνω, στόχος της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι η μελέτη του ελέγχου ισχύος στα δίκτυα κινητών επικοινωνιών επόμενης γενιάς καθώς και η ανάπτυξη νέων μεθόδων/μηχανισμών για τη βελτιστοποίηση του. Ιδιαίτερο χαρακτηριστικό της διατριβής αυτής είναι η ενσωμάτωση και η «εκμετάλλευση» όλων των ιδιαίτερων χαρακτηριστικών της HSPA τεχνολογίας στην MBMS υπηρεσία. Προς αυτή την κατεύθυνση, στην παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή αναλύονται και αξιολογούνται όλα τα υπάρχοντα κανάλια μεταφοράς του UMTS και της τεχνολογίας HSPA τα οποία μπορούν να χρησιμοποιηθούν για τη multicast μετάδοση MBMS υπηρεσιών. Η αξιολόγηση γίνεται με βάση την απαιτούμενη ισχύ που πρέπει να ανατεθεί από το σταθμό βάσης για καθένα από αυτά, και κατά συνέπεια με βάση το ρυθμό μετάδοσης τους, τον αριθμό των χρηστών που μπορούν να εξυπηρετήσουν, την ποιότητα υπηρεσιών για κάθε χρήστη, τη μέγιστη δυνατή κάλυψη της κυψέλης κ.α. Οι ιδιαίτερα αυξημένες απαιτήσεις των MBMS υπηρεσιών μας οδήγησαν στη συνέχεια στη διερεύνηση και αξιολόγηση ορισμένων τεχνικών μείωσης της εκπεμπόμενης ισχύος, με απώτερο σκοπό την αποδοτικότερη χρήση των πόρων του συστήματος κατά τη μετάδοση MBMS υπηρεσιών. Ενδεικτικά αναφέρουμε πως μία MBMS υπηρεσία με ρυθμό μετάδοσης 128 Kbps μπορεί να καταναλώσει έως και το 80% των πόρων ισχύος ενός σταθμού βάσης. Επομένως, γίνεται κατανοητό ότι η μετάδοση MBMS υπηρεσιών με τόσο υψηλούς ρυθμούς μετάδοσης καθίσταται δύσκολη έως και αδύνατη. Για την αντιμετώπιση αυτού του προβλήματος έχουν αναπτυχθεί τεχνικές, όπως η FACH Dynamic Power Setting, η Macro Diversity Combining και το Rate Splitting, ικανές να μειώσουν τα επίπεδα ισχύος κατά τη μετάδοση multicast δεδομένων στους MBMS χρήστες. Η διδακτορική αυτή διατριβή εξετάζει την αποδοτικότητα της χρήσης αυτών των τεχνικών εξοικονόμησης ισχύος και παρουσιάζει πειραματικά αποτελέσματα που αποκαλύπτουν το ποσό ισχύος που εξοικονομείται από κάθε μία τεχνική. Η αξιολόγηση τόσο των καναλιών μεταφοράς όσο και των τεχνικών μείωσης ισχύος θα οδηγήσει στην εύρεση ενός κατάλληλου σχήματος/μηχανισμού, ο οποίος θα εξασφαλίζει την αποδοτική εναλλαγή μεταξύ των διάφορων τύπων καναλιών κατά τη μετάδοση MBMS υπηρεσιών. Ο μηχανισμός αυτός, τον οποίο καλούμε MBMS Channel Assignment Mechanism (ή χάριν συντομίας «MCAM»), αναμένεται να εξασφαλίσει βελτιωμένη απόδοση σε σχέση με τους αντίστοιχους μηχανισμούς που έχουν προταθεί από το 3GPP, μείωση της καταναλισκόμενης ισχύος και κατά συνέπεια αύξηση της χωρητικότητας των κινητών δικτύων επόμενης γενιάς. Ωστόσο, το πιο αξιοπρόσεκτο πλεονέκτημα του προτεινόμενου μηχανισμού, που ουσιαστικά τον διαφοροποιεί από τις άλλες προσεγγίσεις, είναι ότι προσαρμόζεται στις αυξημένες απαιτήσεις των κινητών δικτύων επόμενης γενιάς για ταυτόχρονη παροχή πολλαπλών πολυμεσικών συνόδων. Το γεγονός αυτό μπορεί να επιτρέψει τη μαζική μετάδοση πολυμεσικών δεδομένων σε πληθώρα κινητών χρηστών, θέτοντας κατά τον τρόπο αυτό τον MCAM σαν έναν ισχυρό υποψήφιο για τα δίκτυα επόμενης γενιάς.
The rapid growth of mobile communications networks has involved an increasing demand for wireless, multimedia communication. The fast development of this area was mainly motivated by the requirements of modern market for a unified and functional system of mobile communications that, at the same time, may provide numerous broadband services to its users. More specifically, in the recent years, the usage of third generation (3G) - Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) cellular networks has begun to rise in most European countries, as in Greece. 3G networks have replaced the second generation mobile networks and moreover, are in position of offering advanced services to mobile users. However, the need for higher (broadband) speeds led to the further development of 3G networks and to the adoption of new technologies, with main representative the High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology. HSPA constitutes the evolution of UMTS and is known as 3.5G or 3G+ in order to indicate the upgrade from UMTS. However, despite the fact that HSPA technology is expected to allow the provision of numerous broadband services, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the authorized organization for the standardization of new mobile technologies, already examines new technologies that will prevail in the mobile communications industry over the next decades. This novel project is known as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and aims at achieving increased data rates and reduced latency compared to UMTS and HSPA networks. Therefore, the mobile communications industry progressively evolves to next generation networks, with main target the achievement of the so called “Mobile Broadband”. Simultaneously, multimedia content and service providers show an increased interest in supporting multicast data in order to effectively manage and re-use the available network resources. Additionally, more and more users require access to applications and services that until today could only be accessed by conventional wired networks. Thus, real time applications and services may face low penetration today; however, they are expected to gain high interest in future mobile networks. These applications actually reflect a modern, future way of communication among mobile users. For instance, mobile TV is expected to be a “killer” application for 3G’s. Such mobile TV services include streaming live TV (news, weather forecasts etc.) and streaming video (such as video clips). All the above constitute a series of indicative emerging applications that necessitate advanced transmission techniques. One of the most significant steps towards the provision of such demanding services is the introduction of Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS). MBMS is a point-to-multipoint service in which data is transmitted from a single source entity to multiple destinations, allowing the networks resources to be shared. Actually, MBMS extends the existing UMTS infrastructure and efficiently uses network and radio resources, both in the core network and most importantly, in the air interface of UMTS, where the bottleneck is placed to a large group of users. Therefore, MBMS constitutes an efficient way to support the plethora of the emerging wireless multimedia applications and services such as IP video conferencing and video streaming. The main requirement during the provision of MBMS multicast services is to make an efficient overall usage of radio and network resources. This necessity mainly translates into improved power control strategies, since the base stations’ transmission power is the limiting factor of downlink capacity in UMTS networks. Under this prism, power control is one of the most critical aspects in MBMS due to the fact that downlink transmission power in UMTS networks is a limited resource and must be shared efficiently among all MBMS users in a cell. Moreover, power control aims at minimizing the transmitted power, eliminating in this way the intercell interference. However, when misused, the use of power control may lead to a high level of wasted power and worse performance results. In order to have efficient power control in MBMS, one of the most critical aspects is the selection of the transport channel for the transmission of MBMS multicast traffic. MBMS services can be provided in each cell by either multiple point-to-point (PTP) channels or by a single point-to-multipoint (PTM) channel. A wrong channel selection may result to a significant capacity decrease, thus, preventing the mass delivery of multimedia applications. It is worth mentioning that channel selection is still an open issue in today’s MBMS infrastructure mainly due to its catalytic role in MBMS performance. In the frame of MBMS power control and transport channel selection several approaches have been proposed, with main representative the 3GPP MBMS Counting Mechanism. However, none of these approaches performs optimal transport channel selection either due to the fact that some of them do not consider the power consumption as the selection criterion or because of the fact that they do not consider all the available transport channels (or combination of them) for the transmission of the MBMS data. All the above stress the need for an advanced version of these mechanisms that could deliver multimedia content to a large number of mobile users in a more efficient and economic way. After taking into account the above analysis, objective of this dissertation is the study of power control issues in next generation mobile communication networks and the development of new approaches/ mechanisms for its optimization. To this direction, this dissertation analyzes and evaluates all the available UMTS and HSPA transport channels that could be used for the transmission of MBMS multicast services. Moreover, this dissertation investigates and evaluates several power saving techniques that aim at the efficient usage of radio and network resources. Techniques, such as Dynamic Power Setting, Macro Diversity Combining and Rate Splitting are capable of decreasing the power consumption during the provision of MBMS services and may enable the mass market delivery of multimedia services to mobile users. The evaluation of the available transport channels and power saving techniques will lead to the development of a novel scheme/mechanism that will enable the efficient selection of transport channels for the transmission of MBMS services. The proposed mechanism, which we call MBMS Channel Assignment Mechanism (or «MCAM»), is expected to optimally utilize the available power resources of base stations to MBMS sessions running in the network, resulting in that way to an extensive increase on the system’s capacity. Therefore, MCAM may allow the mass provision of multimedia data to a large number of mobile users, which makes MCAM a strong candidate for next generation networks.