Wireless multiuser communication systems: diversity receiver performance analysis, GSMuD design, and fading channel simulator

Abstract

Multipath fading phenomenon is central to the design and analysis of wireless communication systems including multiuser systems. If untreated, the fading will corrupt the transmitted signal and often cause performance degradations such as increased communication error and decreased data rate, as compared to wireline channels with little or no multipath fading. On the other hand, this multipath fading phenomenon, if fully utilized, can actually lead to system designs that provide additional gains in system performance as compared to systems that experience non-fading channels. The central question this thesis tries to answer is how to design and analyze a wireless multiuser system that takes advantage of the benefits the diversity multipath fading channel provides. Two particular techniques are discussed and analyzed in the first part of the thesis: quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and diversity receivers, including maximal ratio combining (MRC) and generalized selection combining (GSC). We consider the practical case of imperfect channel estimation (ICE) and develop a new decision variable (DV) of MRC receiver output for M -QAM. By deriving its moment generating function (MGF), we obtain the exact bit error rate (BER) performance under arbitrary correlated Rayleigh and Rician channels, with ICE. GSC provides a tradeoff between receiver complexity and performance. We study the effect of ICE on the GSC output effective SNR under generalized fading channels and obtain the exact BER results for M -QAM systems. The significance of this part lies in that these results provide system designers means to evaluate how different practical channel estimators and their parameters can affect the system’s performance and help them distribute system resources that can most effectively improve performance. In the second part of the thesis, we look at a new diversity technique unique to multiuser