Motorola (France)

Zero padding (ZP) of multicarrier transmissions has been proposed as an appealing alternative to the traditional cyclic prefix (CP) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) to ensure symbol recovery regardless of the channel zero locations. In this paper, both systems are studied to delineate their relative merits in wireless systems where channel knowledge is not available at the transmitter. Two novel equalizers are developed for ZP-OFDM to tradeoff performance with implementation complexity. Both CP-OFDM and ZP-OFDM are then compared in terms of transmitter nonlinearities and required power backoff. Next, both systems are tested in terms of channel estimation and tracking capabilities. Simulations tailored to the realistic context of the standard for wireless local area network HIPERLAN/2 illustrate the pertinent tradeoffs.

Time-resolved carrier dynamics in single-wall carbon nanotubes is investigated by means of two-color pump-probe experiments. The recombination dynamics is monitored by probing the transient photobleaching observed on the interband transitions of the semiconducting tubes. This dynamics takes place on a 1 ps time scale which is 1 order of magnitude slower than in graphite. Transient photoinduced absorption is observed for nonresonant probing and is interpreted as a global redshift of the pi-plasmon resonance. We show that the opening of the band gap in semiconducting carbon nanotubes determines the nonlinear response dynamics over the whole visible and near-infrared spectrum.

The shape of things to come: Nanospheres, thermodynamically stable nanorods, and nanowires are selectively produced in solution from [Co(η3-C8H13)(η4-C8H12)] in the presence of oleic acid and various amines. The aspect ratio of the nanorods is controlled by the length of the alkyl chain of the amine. Nanorods with approximate dimensions of 9×40 nm (see Figure) are ferromagnetic at room temperature.

This paper proposes a new blind channel estimation method for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The algorithm makes use of the redundancy introduced by the cyclic prefix to identify the channel based on a subspace approach. Thus, the proposed method does not require any modification of the transmitter and applies to most existing OFDM systems. Semi-blind procedures taking advantage of training data are also proposed. These can be training symbols or pilot tones, the latter being used for solving the intrinsic indetermination of blind channel estimation. Identifiability results are provided, showing that in the (theoretical) situation where channel zeros are located on subcarriers, the algorithm does not ensure uniqueness of the channel estimation, unless the full noise subspace is considered. Simulations comparing the proposed method with a decision-directed channel estimator finally illustrates the performance of the proposed algorithm.

Coalescence of initially produced nanospheres inside 3D super-lattices may be the reason for the formation of ferromagnetic cobalt nanorods, monodisperse in length and diameter, from [Co(η3-C8H13)(η4-C8H12)] in the presence of stearic acid and hexadecylamine. The self-organization of these nanorods into unprecedented hexagonal 2D and 3D super-lattices has been studied by transmission electron microscopy (see picture). Supporting information for this article is available on the WWW under http://www.wiley-vch.de/contents/jc_2002/2003/z52090_s.pdf or from the author. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

This paper presents conventional and emerging applications of orthogonal synthesis/analysis transform configurations (transmultiplexer) in communications. It emphasizes that orthogonality is the underlying concept in the design of many communication systems. It is shown that orthogonal filter banks (subband transforms) with proper time-frequency features can play a more important role in the design of new systems. The general concepts of filter bank theory are tied together with the application-specific requirements of several different communication systems. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to increase the visibility of emerging communication applications of orthogonal filter banks and to generate more research activity in the signal processing community on these topics.

In this paper, we consider two-dimensional (2-D) signals modeled by the sum of damped cisoids. We propose two high-resolution approaches to estimate their frequencies and damping factors. Both high-resolution methods are based on the shift-invariance structure of the signal subspace related to each dimension. The first one estimates the frequency components in both dimensions as in the matrix enhancement and matrix pencil (MEMP) method before pairing them with a new algorithm. The second one consists of the direct estimation of the signal frequency pairs without an additional step to pair the frequencies related to each dimension. We show how these methods can estimate the scattering points of radar images.

We study the throughput of hybrid automatic retransmission request (H-ARQ) schemes based on incremental redundancy (IR) over a block-fading channel. We provide an information-theoretic analysis assuming binary random coding and typical-set decoding. Then, we study the performance of low-density parity-check (LDPC) code ensembles with iterative belief-propagation decoding, and show that, under the hypothesis of infinite-length codes, LDPCs yield almost optimal performance. Unfortunately, standard finite-length LDPC ensembles incur a considerable performance loss with respect to their infinite-length counterpart, because of their poor frame-error rate (FER) performance. In order to recover part of this loss, we propose two simple yet effective methods: using a modified LDPC ensemble designed to improve the FER; and using an outer selective-repeat protocol acting on smaller packets of information bits. Surprisingly, these apparently very different methods yield almost the same performance gain and recover a considerable fraction of the optimal throughput, thus making practical finite-length LDPC codes very attractive for data wireless communications based on IR H-ARQ schemes.

The resistance of a metal oxide gas sensor varies when the sensor is exposed to oxidizing or reducing gases, thus giving rise to a measurable signal. The most important sensor type with respect to practical application uses SnO2 as the sensitive layer material. In this paper, a new procedure for preparing nanoparticles of SnO2 suitable for gas sensing applications—combining thermolysis of an organometallic precursor with a hydration—is described. Such nanostructures are desirable since the size reduction of individual grains is expected to increase the sensitivity.

Space time coding has by now been well documented as an attractive means of achieving high data rate transmissions with diversity and coding gains, provided that the underlying propagation channels can be accounted for. We rely on redundant linear precoding to develop a (semi-)blind channel estimation algorithm for space time (ST) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) transmissions with Alamouti's (see IEEE J. Select. Areas Commun., vol.16, p.1451-58, Oct. 1998) block code applied on each subcarrier. We establish that multichannel identifiability is guaranteed up to one or two scalar ambiguities, regardless of the channel zero locations and the underlying signal constellations, when distinct or identical precoders are employed for even and odd indexed symbol blocks. With known pilots inserted either before or after precoding, we resolve the residual scalar ambiguities and show that distinct precoders require half the number of pilots than identical precoders to achieve the same channel estimation accuracy. Simulation results confirm our theoretical analysis and illustrate that the proposed semi-blind algorithm is capable of tracking slow channel variations and improving the overall system performance relative to competing differential ST alternatives.

Magnetic properties of nanoparticle composites, consisting of aligned ferromagnetic nanoparticles embedded in a nonmagnetic matrix, have been determined using a model based on phenomenological approaches. Input materials parameters for this model include the saturation magnetization (Ms), the crystal anisotropy field (Hk), a damping parameter (α) that describes the magnetic losses in the particles, and the conductivity (σ) of the particles; all particles are assumed to have identical properties. Control of the physical characteristics of the composite system—such as the particle size, shape, volume fraction, and orientation—is necessary in order to achieve optimal magnetic properties (e.g., the magnetic permeability) at GHz frequencies. The degree to which the physical attributes need to be controlled has been determined by analysis of the ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and eddy current losses at varying particle volume fractions. Composites with approximately spherical particles with radii smaller than 100 nm (for the materials parameters chosen here), packed to achieve a thin film geometry (with the easy magnetization axes of all particles aligned parallel to each other and to the surface of the thin film) are expected to have low eddy current losses, and optimal magnetic permeability and FMR behavior.

Digital receivers still employ analog components in the demodulation process causing amplitude and phase imbalances between the I and Q branches. This article describes a novel digital compensation scheme for orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) receivers based on adaptive frequency domain filtering to remove the IQ imbalance effects.

This article outlines the challenges of IP multicast over Mobile IP. Then it provides a comprehensive overview of existing multicast solutions to handle mobile sources and receivers in both the Mobile IPv4 and the Mobile IPv6 environments. The solutions are classified into different classes in light of how the network infrastructure is used and the nature of the multicast members (receivers or sources). For each solution, we present a brief overview; we describe the architecture and the proposed protocol; we discuss the advantages and the limitations; and we compare qualitatively all the solutions of each class based on common criteria such as optimal routing, join latency, handover transparency, etc.

Linear precoding consists in multiplying by an N/spl times/K matrix a K-dimensional vector obtained by serial-to-parallel conversion of a symbol sequence to be transmitted. In this paper, new tools, borrowed from the so-called free probability theory, are introduced for the purpose of analyzing the performance of minimum mean-square error (MMSE) receivers for certain large random isometric precoded systems on fading channels. The isometric condition represents the case of precoding matrices with orthonormal columns. It is shown in this contribution that the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the equalizer output converges almost surely to a deterministic value depending on the probability distribution of the channel coefficients when N/spl rarr/+/spl infin/ and K/N/spl rarr//spl alpha//spl les/1. These asymptotic results are used to analyze the impact of orthogonal spreading as well as to optimally balance the redundancy introduced between linear precoding versus classical convolutional coding, while preserving a simple MMSE equalization scheme at the receiver.

Over the past decade or so, the wireless industry has undergone many significant changes. Radio systems have moved toward forming heterogeneous wireless networks: collaborations of multiple radio access networks, which in some cases operate different radio access technologies, such as second- and third-generation cellular RATs, IEEE 802.x wireless standards, and so on. On the other hand, multimode reconfigurable user devices with the ability to choose among various supported RATs have become a reality, and devices and networks with dynamic spectrum access capabilities, allowing real-time sharing of spectrum resource usage among different systems, are expected to be a part of the future radio eco-space. As a result of these changes, there is a need to develop a standard that addresses the requirements and leverages the opportunities posed by such a versatile radio environment. To this end, IEEE 1900.4 aims to standardize the overall system architecture and information exchange between the network and mobile devices, which will allow these elements to optimally choose from available radio resources. In other words, the standard facilitates the distributed dynamic optimization of the usage of spectrum offered by the heterogeneous wireless network, relying on a collaborative information exchange between networks and mobile devices, thereby acting as a common means to improve overall composite capacity and quality of service for the served networks. This article provides a snapshot of IEEE P1900.4 in its current form, covering the scope and purpose of the standard, reference use cases for which the standard is applicable, its system and functional architectures, and finally, the information model for its main interfaces.

We consider the uplink of a backhaul-constrained, MIMO coordinated network. That is, a single-frequency network with N + 1 multi-antenna base stations (BSs) that cooperate in order to decode the users' data, and that are linked by means of a common lossless backhaul, of limited capacity R. To implement the receive cooperation, we propose distributed compression: N BSs, upon receiving their signals, compress them using a multi-source lossy compression code. Then, they send the compressed vectors to a central BS, which performs users' decoding. Distributed Wyner-Ziv coding is proposed to be used, and is designed in this work. The first part of the paper is devoted to a network with a unique multi-antenna user, that transmits a predefined Gaussian space-time codeword. For such a scenario, the "compression noise" covariance at the BSs is optimized, considering the user's achievable rate as the performance metric. In particular, for N = 1 the optimum covariance is derived in closed form, while for N > 1 an iterative algorithm is devised. The second part of the contribution focusses on the multi-user scenario. For it, the achievable rate region is obtained by means of the optimum "compression noise" covariances for sum-rate and weighted sum-rate, respectively.

This paper focuses on inter-vehicular networks providing warning delivery service. As soon as a danger is detected, the propagation of a warning message is triggered, with the aim of guaranteeing a safety area around the point in which the danger is located. Multiple broadcast cycles can be generated so that a given lifetime of the safety area is guaranteed. The service is based on multi-hop ad hoc inter-vehicular communications with a probabilistic choice of the relay nodes. The scenario we consider consists of high speed streets, such as highways, in which vehicles exhibit one-dimensional movements along the direction of the road. We propose an analytical model for the study of this service and derive performance indices such as the probability that a vehicle is informed, the average number of duplicate messages received by a vehicle and the average delay. Moreover, we use the model to discuss system design issues, which include the proper setting of the forwarding probability at each vehicle, so that a given probability to receive the warning can be guaranteed to all vehicles in the safety area. The model is validated against simulation results. Since it is very accurate, the model can be instrumental to the performance evaluation and design of broadcasting techniques in inter-vehicular networks.

This article aims to analyze network mobility issues and requirements in the context of beyond-3G systems, and explore various approaches to the solutions, including the basic approach being pursued within the IETF NEMO working group. It starts with understanding the network mobility scenarios. Then the principle of mobile IP is revisited to serve as the basis for the subsequent discussion on the basic and advanced requirements and approaches for network mobility support. Finally, the network mobility research activities in the EU project OverDRiVE are reported.

This paper presents algorithms for approximate finite state machine traversal based on state space decomposition. The original finite state machine is partitioned in component submachines, and each of them is traversed separately; the result of the computation is an over-estimation of the set of reachable states of the original machine. Different traversal strategies, which reduce the effects of the degrees of freedom introduced by the decomposition, are discussed. Efficient partitioning is a key point for the performance of the traversal techniques; a method to heuristically find a good decomposition of the overall finite state machine, based on the exploration of its state variable dependency graph, is proposed. Applications of the approximate traversal methods to logic optimization of sequential circuits and behavioral verification of finite state machines are described; experimental results for such applications, together with data concerning pure traversal, are reported.

An improved high-voltage technique based on the use of a field plate combined with semiresistive layers (SIPOS) on oxide is proposed. The field plate and SIPOS (semi-insulating polycrystalline silicon) are shown to have complementary functions. Junction curvature electric field effects are reduced by the presence of the field plate. The silicon surface potential is linearized by a primary SIPOS layer on oxide, thereby reducing the peak electric field at the edge of the field plate. A second high-resistivity SIPOS layer provides an excellent passivation, and also prevents the dielectric breakdown of the underlayer SIPOS film. Moreover, the savings in chip area is about 20% compared to the standard mesa termination. The global yield is 94% for the SIPOS planar transistors and 86% for equivalent devices in mesa technology. The complete fabrication, design, electrical characteristics, and reliability of high-voltage planar transistors are described.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>