Poer Measurement in Digital Wireless Communications Systems through Parametric Spectral Estimation

Abstract

Power measurement in digital wireless communication systems often suffers from poor repeatability, usually accompanied by low accuracy. Trying to give a proper answer to these problems, the use of parametric spectral estimators is investigated in the paper. A new method for power measurement is, in particular, proposed, which exploits Burg's solution to attain an estimation of the power spectral density (PSD) of the radiofrequency signal, suitably downconverted, and then applies straightforward measurement algorithms to the estimated PSD, in order to evaluate the quantities of interest. The performance of the method is assessed through a number of experiments, carried out on both laboratory and actual signals. Achieved results confirm the efficacy and reliability of the method in mitigating the aforementioned problems. Moreover, a comparison of the method's performance with that offered by an alternative solution, already proposed by the authors and based on nonparametric PSD estimation, shows that the new method allows for a significant reduction of measurement time, while exhibiting the same repeatability