Amplitude Modulation Signals Research Articles

Dual-polarization carrier-assisted differential detection with asymmetric twin-SSB modulation and simplified receiver structure.

Carrier-assisted differential detection (CADD) is a promising solution for high-capacity and cost-sensitive short-reach application scenarios, in which the optical field of a complex-valued double-sideband (CV-DSB) signal is reconstructed without using a local oscillator laser. In this work, we propose a polarization division multiplexed asymmetric twin single-sideband CADD (PDM-ATSSB CADD) scheme to realize the optical field recovery of the PDM CV-DSB signals. The polarization fading is solved by using a pair of optical bandpass filters (OBPFs) to suppress the unwanted other polarized offset carrier and signal, and the dual-polarization optical field is recovered by the CADD receiver. An asymmetric twin-SSB signal is used to relax the sharpness requirement of optical filter edges. We also propose a joint signal-signal beat interference (SSBI) iterative mitigation algorithm, which can effectively mitigate intra- and inter-polarization SSBI. The proposed PDM-ATSSB CADD scheme is validated for 30 Gbaud PDM asymmetric twin-SSB 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation signals. We illustrate the parameter optimization process for PDM-ATSSB CADD, including optical delay and the number of iterations. The impacts of phase noise and relative intensity noise for laser and polarization impairment on PDM-ATSSB CADD are evaluated through numerical simulation. Compared with the PDM-symmetric-TSSB CADD (PDM-STSSB CADD), the required frequency gap to reach the 7% FEC threshold can be reduced by 1 GHz, and the OSNR sensitivity is improved by about 3 dB. Moreover, two simplified PDM-ATSSB CADD schemes are proposed and discussed, which could be considered hardware-efficient and integrative candidates for metro and inter-data center interconnects.

Frame-rate adaptive fractionally spaced equalization enabled high-throughput optical camera communication.

Optical camera communication (OCC) has garnered worldwide research attention, due to its immunity to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and efficient utilization of spectrum resources. However, the limited bandwidth of the OCC system and the timing offset of the camera result in low system throughput. To enhance the OCC throughput, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a frame-rate adaptive fractionally spaced equalization algorithm (FA-FSE) for the joint mitigation of severe inter-symbol interference (ISI) and timing offset arising in OCC. Experimental results validate its correct and power-efficient function, leading to a record aggregated throughput of 250.96 kbit/s, when the 8-level pulse amplitude modulation (PAM-8) signals are independently modulated to eight chip-on-board light emitting diode (COB-LED) light strips, while simultaneously received by a smartphone 10 cm away.

Measuring impulse response and nonlinear distortions using exponential frequency-modulated signals

Abstract Exponential Frequency-Modulated (EFM) signals, characterized by their exponentially changing instantaneous frequency, are valuable in radar, sonar, and communication systems. This paper explores the application of EFM signals for measuring impulse response and nonlinear distortions in electronic devices. The EFM signal testing method, which involves recording and analyzing the device's output in response to EFM signals, provides insights into amplitude-frequency, phase-frequency responses, and impulse response. The spectral density analysis reveals a 3 dB/octave decrease in high-frequency regions. An innovative measurement method is proposed, involving convolution with a time-reversed and amplitude-modulated EFM signal, simplifying traditional approaches. MATLAB simulations validate the method, highlighting its efficacy in comprehensive device performance assessment.

Digital mobile fronthaul scheme based on diff-delta-sigma modulation and OCT precoding.

In this Letter, we experimentally demonstrate digital mobile fronthaul (MFH) for 65536 quadrature amplitude modulation (65536-QAM) signals based on a diff-delta-sigma modulation (D-DSM) scheme with orthogonal circulant matrix transform (OCT) precoding. By combining the D-DSM scheme with OCT precoding, we successfully solved the problem of uneven distribution of in-band quantization noise (IBN) while bringing about a quantization SNR gain of about 1.5 dB. In addition, we compare two signal combination schemes, Gray coding and power superposition, in the D-DSM scheme. The results show that the power superposition scheme can achieve similar performance to Gray coding with lower computational complexity. At the same time, the power superposition scheme is less affected by the saturation effect. Therefore, the D-DSM solution combined with OCT precoding and power superposition provides an effective solution for future 6 G digital mobile fronthaul.

High-speed high-power free-space optical communication via directly modulated watt-class photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers

Photonic crystal surface-emitting lasers (PCSELs), which use a two-dimensional photonic crystal as the laser cavity, can achieve both high output powers and narrow beam divergence angles owing to single-mode lasing over a large area. High-speed, high-power, direct modulation of PCSELs is expected to realize compact and power-saving optical transmitters without bulky lens systems and fiber amplifiers for free-space optical communications. In this paper, we realize high-speed, high-power, free-space optical communication via directly modulated watt-class photonic-crystal surface-emitting lasers. We first numerically investigate the intrinsic (optical) and parasitic (electrical) frequency response characteristics of watt-class PCSELs with large lasing areas, and we show that several-GHz-class direct modulation is feasible even in watt-class PCSELs. Then, we fabricate a 500-µm-diameter PCSEL and simultaneously realize watt-class continuous-wave operation and several-GHz-class direct modulation. Finally, by directly modulating the developed PCSEL with a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signal, we demonstrate free-space optical communication with over 10 Gbit/s high-speed transmission and virtual 5-km-class long-distance transmission even without using a transmitter lens.

Quantum computer-enabled receivers for optical communication

Optical communication is the standard for high-bandwidth information transfer in today’s digital age. The increasing demand for bandwidth has led to the maturation of coherent transceivers that use phase- and amplitude-modulated optical signals to encode more bits of information per transmitted pulse. Such encoding schemes achieve higher information density, but also require more complicated receivers to discriminate the signaling states. In fact, achieving the ultimate limit of optical communication capacity, especially in the low light regime, requires coherent joint detection of multiple pulses. Despite their superiority, such joint detection receivers are not in widespread use because of the difficulty of constructing them in the optical domain. In this work we describe how optomechanical transduction of phase information from coherent optical pulses to superconducting qubit states followed by the execution of trained short-depth variational quantum circuits can perform joint detection of communication codewords with error probabilities that surpass all classical, individual pulse detection receivers. Importantly, we utilize a model of optomechanical transduction that captures non-idealities such as thermal noise and loss in order to understand the transduction performance necessary to achieve a quantum advantage with such a scheme. We also execute the trained variational circuits on an IBM-Q device with the modeled transduced states as input to demonstrate that a quantum advantage is possible even with current levels of quantum computing hardware noise.

Measuring the amplitudes of the received symbols of the shift keyed radio signals

In high-speed discrete information transmission systems, multi-position signals with various types of phase and amplitude shift keying are widely used. There are multi-level amplitude shift keyed (ASK), amplitude and phase-shift keyed (APSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals. When demodulating the amplitude code of such signals, the amplitude of the received symbol is determined, and its calibrated value is compared with the specified threshold levels. It is proposed to directly calculate the minimum and maximum amplitudes of the symbols at the output of the demodulator, with a subsequent definition of decision thresholds. It is noteworthy that there is no need to calibrate the amplitude characteristics of the reception path. The logarithmic ratio of the amplitudes of the received and previous symbols is further calculated. And if its value falls within the specified boundaries, independent of the signal and noise, then a decision is made about whether the amplitudes of these symbols belong to the maximum or minimum values. These obtained values are averaged after that and used to set thresholds for decision-making in the demodulator. The results of the statistical simulation confirm the high efficiency of the proposed technical solution.

Wavelength modulation laser-induced fluorescence for plasma characterization.

Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) spectroscopy is an essential tool for probing ion and atom velocity distribution functions (VDFs) in complex plasmas. VDFs carry information about the kinetic properties of species that is critical for plasma characterization. Accurate interpretation of these functions is challenging due to factors such as multicomponent distributions, broadening effects, and background emissions. Our research investigates the use of Wavelength Modulation (WM) LIF to enhance the sensitivity of VDF measurements. Unlike standard Amplitude Modulation (AM) methods, WM-LIF measures the derivative of the LIF signal. This approach makes variations in VDF shape more pronounced. VDF measurements with WM-LIF were investigated with both numerical modeling and experimental measurements. The developed model enables the generation of both WM and AM signals, facilitating comparative analysis of fitting outcomes. Experiments were conducted in a weakly collisional argon plasma with magnetized electrons and non-magnetized ions. Measurements of the argon ion VDFs employed a narrow-band tunable diode laser, which scanned the 4p4D7/2-3d4F9/2 transition centered at 664.553nm in vacuum. A lock-in amplifier detected the second harmonic WM signal, which was generated by modulating the laser wavelength with an externally controlled piezo-driven mirror of the diode laser. Our findings indicate that the WM-LIF signal is more sensitive to fitting parameters, allowing for better identification of VDF parameters such as the number of distribution components, their temperatures, and velocities. In addition, WM-LIF can serve as an independent method to verify AM measurements and is particularly beneficial in environments with substantial light noise or background emissions, such as those involving thermionic cathodes and reflective surfaces.

Development of an Affordable FPGA Board for Advancing Software-Defined Radio Research in Auchi Polytechnic

This paper detailed the design and development of an affordable software-defined radio (SDR) system tailored for academic environments at Auchi Polytechnic. The system integrated a moderately fast analog-to-digital converter (ADC), an audio digital-to-analog converter (DAC), and an off-the-shelf field-programmable gate array (FPGA) for digital signal processing. The primary objective was to enhance the teaching of fundamental engineering concepts related to communications. To demonstrate its capabilities, the system included hardware blocks for demodulating amplitude modulation (AM) and frequency modulation (FM) signals. This approach provided a cost-effective solution for advancing SDR research and education. The SDR paradigm, which replaces traditional hardware configurations with flexible software-based solutions, has revolutionized communication receivers. Incorporating SDR into undergraduate curricula has become increasingly valuable, offering students hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies and skills relevant in both academic and industrial settings. While commercial SDR solutions such as the RTL-SDR dongle offer an accessible introduction to SDR concepts, they often fall short in providing a deep understanding of the underlying principles and design intricacies. To address this educational gap, the developed SDR platform aimed to offer practical experience and delve into the fundamental principles of SDR design, leveraging advancements in digital technologies like FPGAs and ADCs to create a cost-effective, educational SDR system.

The impact of CSF-filled cavities on scalp EEG and its implications.

Previous studies have found electroencephalogram (EEG) amplitude and scalp topography differences between neurotypical and neurological/neurosurgical groups, being interpreted at the cognitive level. However, these comparisons are invariably accompanied by anatomical changes. Critical to EEG are the so-called volume currents, which are affected by the spatial distribution of the different tissues in the head. We investigated the effect of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)-filled cavities on simulated EEG scalp data. We simulated EEG scalp potentials for known sources using different volume conduction models: a reference model (i.e., unlesioned brain) and models with realistic CSF-filled cavities gradually increasing in size. We used this approach for a single source close or far from the CSF-lesion cavity, and for a scenario with a distributed configuration of sources (i.e., a "cognitive event-related potential effect"). The magnitude and topography errors between the reference and lesion models were quantified. For the single-source simulation close to the lesion, the CSF-filled lesion modulated signal amplitude with more than 17% magnitude error and topography with more than 9% topographical error. Negligible modulation was found for the single source far from the lesion. For the multisource simulations of the cognitive effect, the CSF-filled lesion modulated signal amplitude with more than 6% magnitude error and topography with more than 16% topography error in a nonmonotonic fashion. In conclusion, the impact of a CSF-filled cavity cannot be neglected for scalp-level EEG data. Especially when group-level comparisons are made, any scalp-level attenuated, aberrant, or absent effects are difficult to interpret without considering the confounding effect of CSF.

Joint equalization and decoding with per-survivor processing based on super-trellis in time-varying underwater acoustic channels.

This Letter proposes a low-complexity joint equalization and decoding reception scheme based on super-trellis per-survivor processing, making it possible to apply maximum likelihood sequence estimation in high-order underwater acoustic communications under fast time-varying channels. The technique combines trellis-coded modulation states and intersymbol interference states and uses per-survivor processing to track channel parameters. Furthermore, a general trellis configuration for arbitrary order quadrature amplitude modulation signal is provided when truncate the channel is used to describe the intersymbol interference state to 1. Sea trials results show that the performance of proposed method can be more than 1.4 dB superiority than conventional schemes.

Modulation Level Adaptive Stochastic Resonance Receiver with Low-Resolution ADCs for Multilevel Amplitude Modulated Signals

Modulation Level Adaptive Stochastic Resonance Receiver with Low-Resolution ADCs for Multilevel Amplitude Modulated Signals

Radial vibration measurement of rotating shaft using constant density fringe pattern and line scan camera

The radial vibration signals of the rotor can provide abundant information about the health condition of the machine. In this paper, a simple vision-based measurement system is proposed to simultaneously measure two-dimensional displacements in radial directions for the rotating shaft, where the system consists of a constant density fringe pattern (CDFP), a line scan camera (LSC), and a lens. The CDFP should be installed around the surface of the rotating shaft to make the density of the fringe constant along the shaft axis, while the shaft axis is vertical to the optical axis of the LSC but not parallel to the line-array sensor of the LSC. Therefore, the density of the fringe imaged on the LSC is not constant because of the modulation of the circular surface of the shaft, and the distribution of the fringe density on the LSC is a U-shaped curve. Thus, the shaft centreline orbit can be tracked by the lowest point of the density distribution curve (DDC) of the fringe. Then, an efficient and accurate parameterized instantaneous frequency estimation method is employed to estimate the DDC of the fringe, because the variable density fringe can be regarded as an amplitude-modulated and frequency-modulated nonstationary signal whose instantaneous frequency function is equivalent to the DDC. Experimental results verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method by comparing it to the eddy current sensors.

Integrated segmented IQ-modulator for orthogonal sampling and multi-level high-bandwidth signal generation.

Photonic-assisted signal processing of high-bandwidth signals emerges as a solution for challenges encountered in electronic-based processing. Here we present a concept for a compact, photonic-assisted digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and optical IQ-modulator in one single integrated device based on two innovative concepts: a segmented Mach-Zehnder modulator and orthogonal sampling. For electrically driving the modulator, only a single radio frequency oscillator and no pulse source or electrical DAC are required. The presented and simulated proof-of-concept device with six segments can generate a multi-level and high-bandwidth signal from low-bandwidth electronic drivers; e.g., we show the generation of a 120 Gbps data rate, 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM, 30 Gbaud) signal solely based on low-bandwidth (5 GHz) non-return-to-zero (NRZ) signals. Integrated on a silicon photonic platform, the device provides fixable speed and bandwidth operations, positioning it as a viable solution for diverse communication systems.

Experimental demonstration of flexible information rate PON beyond 100 Gb/s with rate-compatible LDPC codes

The applications of rate-compatible low-density parity-check (RC-LDPC) codes are investigated for a 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) signal and coherent detection system. With rate-compatible signals, we can provide the flexible net data rate between 135.5 Gb/s and 169.7 Gb/s in a passive optical network (PON) link. Based on the LDPC codes defined in the IEEE 802.3ca standard, we construct two sets of RC-LDPC codes with a fixed and variable information bit length. Since the puncturing operation may degrade the performance of LDPC codes, we apply the protograph-based extrinsic information transfer (PEXIT) technique to optimize the puncturing positions to mitigate the degradation. Additionally, we explore four low-complexity LDPC decoding algorithms (min sum, offset min sum, variable weight min sum, and relaxed min sum with 2 nd min emulation) to investigate the relationship between the computational complexity and decoding performance. Simulation results indicate that the constructed codewords exhibit good performance in the waterfall region across a range of code rates. Finally, we conduct an experimental setup in a dual-polarization 25 GBaud 16QAM coherent PON to verify the effectiveness of the constructed LDPC codes with four decoding algorithms. The experimental results show maximal 4.8 dB receiver sensitivity differences, which demonstrate the feasibility of the method for constructing RC-LDPC codes in future high-speed flexible coherent PON.

Dual high-order QAM-modulated mm-wave signal transmission in the Q-band enabled by simple IM/DD architecture and bandpass delta-sigma modulation.

The intensity-modulation (IM)/direct-detection (DD) systems have been proven effective and low-cost due to their simple system architecture. However, the Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM) of the IM/DD systems only reserves its driving signal intensity. Therefore, the IM/DD systems are generally unable to transmit vector signals and have a restricted spectrum efficiency and channel capacity. Similarly, the radio-over-fiber (RoF) transmission systems based on IM/DD are limited by their simple architecture and generally cannot transmit high-order quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) signals, which hinders the improvement of their spectrum efficiency. To address the challenges, we propose a novel, to the best of our knowledge, scheme to simultaneously transmit the dual independent high-order QAM-modulated millimeter-wave (mm-wave) signals in the RoF system with a simple IM/DD architecture, enabled by precoding-based optical carrier suppression (OCS) modulation and bandpass delta-sigma modulation (BP-DSM). The dual independent signals can carry different information, which increases channel capacity and improves spectrum efficiency and system flexibility. Based on our proposed scheme, we experimentally demonstrate the dual 512-QAM mm-wave signal transmission in the Q-band (33-50 GHz) under three different scenarios: 1) dual single-carrier (SC) signal transmission, 2) dual orthogonal-frequency-division-multiplexing (OFDM) signal transmission, and 3) hybrid SC and OFDM signal transmission. We achieve high-fidelity transmission of dual 512-QAM vector signals over a 5 km single-mode fiber (SMF) and a 1-m single-input single-output (SISO) wireless link operating in the Q-band, with the bit error rates (BERs) of all three scenarios below the hard decision forward error correction (HD-FEC) threshold of 3.8 × 10-3. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time dual high-order QAM-modulated mm-wave signal transmission has been achieved in a RoF system with a simple IM/DD architecture.

On vehicle response under non-Gaussian road profile excitation

Gaussian road profile is widely used to study vehicle response and fatigue damage potential, while field measured road profile often is non-Gaussian. In this paper, a new amplitude modulation method which has full control of cutoff frequency (denoted as Wcut) and amplitude of the amplitude modulation signal is firstly presented to synthesize non-Gaussian road profile with different kurtosis. The forced response of a quarter vehicle under non-Gaussian road profile excitation is then calculated using the ramp invariant digital filter method. The relationship between the vehicle response characteristics and the kurtosis of input non-Gaussian road profile are developed. A case study is used to verify the proposed method. The results show that a small Wcut should be selected so that the high kurtosis of the non-Gaussian road profile is correctly transferred to the vehicle response. The FDS of the vehicle response increases over the entire frequency range as the kurtosis of the input road profile increases.

Fiber-optic parametric amplifier-based all-optical format conversion enabling optical networks interconnection with different modulation formats

A fiber-optic parametric amplifier (FOPA)-based all-optical format conversion (AOFC) scheme is proposed and numerically simulated to achieve optical networks interconnection with different modulation formats. In this scheme, the power transfer function (PTF) and the relative phase shift (RPS) functions between the input and output optical signals for the single-pump FOPA are derived and numerically analyzed. For the input 20 Gbps bipolar 4-ary pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) signal, it can be converted into a BPSK signal (BPSK1) based on the power saturation characteristic of the PTF. By adjusting the input power of the input PAM4 signal, it can also be converted into a level-swapping PAM4 signal based on the single-pump FOPA. When the level-swapping PAM4 signal is sent into the single-pump FOPA with suitable power again, another BPSK signal (BPSK2) could also be generated. When the PAM4-to-BPSK format converter based on the single-pump FOPA is combined with the dual-pump FOPA (namely phase-sensitive amplifier, PSA), the 16-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) signal can also be de-aggregated into four BPSK signals or two quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) signals. The constellation diagrams, the power waveforms, the error vector magnitude (EVM) and the bit error rate (BER) of the relevant optical signals are measured to evaluate the scheme performance. The scheme can be deployed at the optical gateway to realize optical networks interconnection using different modulation formats.

Short-term cooling load prediction for central air conditioning systems with small sample based on permutation entropy and temporal convolutional network

In air-conditioning load predicting, the mainstream methods mainly include mechanism model based methods and data-driven prediction methods. The mechanism model can achieve accurate prediction, but are normally used to predict non-existent buildings and by default have to make several assumptions regarding post occupancy. This study proposes a novel data-driven short-term cooling load prediction method based on historical data of the existing buildings to improve the prediction performance when the size of the training sample datasets, including load data and air conditioning internal operation data, is small. Firstly, an improved version of variational mode decomposition (IVMD) technique is proposed to deconstruct complex historical cooling load signals. Then, the permutation entropy and Savitzky-Golay (PE-SG) smoothing method is developed to extract singles with distinct characteristics and high regularity, which comprises multiple single-component amplitude and frequency modulation (AFM) signals, thus mitigating the interference of noise in predictive accuracy. Subsequently, a data-driven model based on temporal convolutional network (TCN) is constructed, which effectively alleviates the risks of over-fitting and under-fitting. Finally, the efficacy of the proposed method is validated through two case studies, and the obtained results show that the issues confronted by small sample datasets are adeptly solved by this method. The precision of prediction is significantly enhanced according to the comparison to other traditional models, showcasing greater stability and generalization ability.

The Synchrosqueezed Method and Its Theory-Analysis-Based Novel Short-Time Fractional Fourier Transform for Chirp Signals

Time–frequency analysis is an important tool used for the processing and interpretation of non-stationary signals, such as seismic data and remote sensing data. In this paper, based on the novel short-time fractional Fourier transform (STFRFT), a new modified STFRFT is first proposed which can also generalize the properties of the modified short-time Fourier transform (STFT). Then, in the modified STFRFT domain, we derive the instantaneous frequency estimator for the chirp signal and present a new type of synchrosqueezing STFRFT (FRSST). The proposed FRSST presents many results similar to those of the synchrosqueezing STFT (FSST), and it extends the harmonic signal to a chirp signal that offers attractive new features. Furthermore, we provide a detailed analysis of the signal reconstruction, theories, and some properties of the proposed FRSST. Several experiments are conducted, and all of the results illustrate that the proposed FRSST is more effective than the FSST. Finally, based on the linear amplitude modulation and frequency modulation signal, we present a derivation for analyzing the limitations of the FRSST.