Spread Spectrum Communication Research Articles

Chaotic Spread-Spectrum Communication: A Comparative Study between Chaotic Synchronization and Matched Filtering

This publication investigates the performance of demodulation methods utilized in spread spectrum chaotic communication systems, specifically matched filtering and chaotic synchronization. We conduct simulations and comparisons of three different communication systems: classic direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), chaotic signal fragment-based pseudo-chaotic spread spectrum (PCSS), and chaotic synchronization-based antipodal chaos shift keying (ACSK). These systems possess similar spectral and time domain characteristics, allowing us to shed light on their fundamental differences and limitations. Additionally, we assess the impact of frequency modulation (FM) on these modulation methods, as FM allows the creation of simplified non-coherent modulation schemes. Our findings, based on the analysis of bit error ratio (BER) curves, clearly demonstrate that the utilization of quantized waveforms for spreading confers a significant advantage over analogous, continuous-time spread spectrum systems. In addition, it is shown that the employment of chaotic synchronization instead of cross-correlation does not degrade the performance of the communication system and provides a more secure approach. In general, this research aims to enhance awareness regarding the distinct advantages and limitations associated with chaotic spread spectrum modulation methods.

Integrated Technology of Laser Spread Spectrum Communication and Ranging for Deep Space (Invited)

Integrated Technology of Laser Spread Spectrum Communication and Ranging for Deep Space (Invited)

Sidelobes Reduction Technique for Binary Codes

Pulse compression techniques enable the radar designers to transmit long duration pulse to cater the need of high power at the transmitter and achieve the range resolution of short duration pulse at the radar receiver simultaneously. Due to easy generation and processing, binary codes are widely used as pulse compression codes in radars, sonars and spread-spectrum communication systems. But binary codes have high unwanted pulse compression sidelobes at the output of pulse compression receivers. In this paper, optimum binary codes reported in the literatures are overlaid on Discrete frequency sequences to reduce unwanted peaks sidelobes of optimum binary codes. The proposed approach not only reduced peak sidelobes of optimum binary codes but also increased the pulse compression ratio. In this paper, optimum discrete frequency sequences for overlaying with binary codes are optimized using the Modified Simulated Annealing Algorithm (MSAA). A Discrete Frequency Coded binary signal has a complex signal structure which will be difficult to detect and analyze by enemy Electronics Support Measures (ESM). In this paper, a unified adaptive radar model is also proposed to cater the needs of today's radar signal design requirements. The proposed model will help to improve range resolution, the detection capability of radar, reduce the peak sidelobes significantly, and also improve the ESM capability of radar systems.

Optical frequency comb assisted reconfigurable broadband spread spectrum signal generation.

A photonic-assisted scheme for spread spectrum communication signals generation is proposed and demonstrated in this article. The spreading sequence and the baseband data codes are modulated on the photonic link by electro-optic modulators, and the spread spectrum process is completed through stream processing on the analog microwave photonic link. By combining optical frequency comb and injection locking technologies, the carrier frequency of the communication signals can be tuned over an ultra-broadband range of 3-39 GHz. In the proof-of-concept experiments, spread spectrum signals at 3 GHz and 6 GHz are obtained with a spread factor of 31. The analysis results indicate that the generated signals possess excellent reconfiguration, anti-interference, and anti-interception properties. Overall, our proposed scheme offers a flexible photonic architecture with significant potential in the application of ultra-broadband covert communication systems.

Accumulation and Elimination: A Hard Decision-Based Multi-User Interference Cancellation Method in Satellite Communication System

With the increasing number of users in the Medium-Orbit (MEO) satellite communication system, multi-access interference (MAI) has become an important factor that restricts the reliability and capacity of the system. Additionally, the low carrier-power-to-noise-density ratio (C/N0) resulting from long-distance transmission poses a significant concern. The parallel interference cancellation (PIC) algorithm, utilized within the paradigm of multi-user detection (MUD), exhibits the capability to effectively mitigate the impact of MAI within the same system. Simultaneously, coherent accumulation serves as a means to substantially enhance the correct detection probability (Pcd) at low C/N0. In this study, a signal acquisition method for multi-user spread spectrum satellite receivers is proposed, which employs interference cancellation and coherent accumulation as its core mechanisms. Furthermore, we introduce a power estimation method based on the outcomes of signal acquisition, which can be integrated into the signal reconstruction module of PIC. Finally, we implement the aforementioned algorithms in both simulation and hardware platforms. Remarkably, we observe that when the interference-to-signal ratio (ISR) caused by MAI equals 20 dB, the improved algorithm attains a maximum Pcd of 0.95 within the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) region, closely approaching the theoretical limit for the bit error rate (BER). The experimental results prove the effectiveness and feasibility of the acquisition algorithm. In summary, the enhanced algorithm holds vast potential for widespread implementation in multi-user spread spectrum communication systems.

The line-of-sight peak detection and tracking of underwater acoustic DSSS communications in the doubly spread channel

In the underwater acoustic (UWA) channel, the line-of-sight (LOS) path has the characteristics of stable magnitude and continuous phase, which is seldom affected by the surface/bottom reflection. Therefore, in the direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) communication systems, the receiver usually extracts the LOS path to recover the information bits and achieve the robust communication. However, the UWA channel is typically the doubly spread channel, i.e., multipath fast fading and non-uniform Doppler shifts, which seriously degrades the performance of extracting the LOS path by the conventional maximum energy method. Therefore, this paper proposes a LOS peak detection and tracking algorithm to extract the LOS path in the UWA DSSS communications. In the proposed algorithm, the candidate correlation peaks after de-spreading are firstly selected by the adaptive peak detection threshold. Then, according to the transmitter/receiver motion relationship, the Delay-Doppler joint state equation is established, and thus the nearest neighbor method adopting the Kalman filter is proposed to track the LOS path. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm has better processing performance in the doubly spread channels compared with the conventional method. Finally, the performance of the proposed algorithm is confirmed by the shallow water horizontal channel and deep sea vertical channel experiments.

Concept, realization, and applications of coding metasurfaces

Coding metasurfaces, characterized by processing the electromagnetic waves for specified functions through predesigned coding sequences either in space or time, can manipulate the electromagnetic waves in both space frequencies and time frequencies. They have been emerging as the revolutionary platforms for metasurface technologies in recent years. In this paper, we first introduce the general concept and operating principle of the coding metasurfaces. Then, two design strategies for realizing the coding metasurface particles, altering resonant states and switching current phase, are provided, respectively. Next, two recent reported applications that are based on space-coding metasurface for RCS reduction and time-coding metasurface for spread-spectrum wireless communication are presented, respectively. Finally, existing challenges and potential future research directions in coding metasurfaces are discussed.

When FrFT meets quadratic frequency modulation functions—A novel tool for nonstationary signals and time-varying systems

The fractional Fourier transform (FrFT) is a general form of the Fourier transform, which has provided a theoretical framework for linear frequency modulation signal processing. The quadratic frequency modulation (QFM) function is a generalization of the linear frequency modulation function, which balances the precision and complexity of nonstationary signals in practical applications. However, there is no framework for analyzing and processing QFM signals, which limits the applications of QFM signal model. The QFMFrFT, a generalization of the FrFT, is developed in this study to tackle this issue. The impact of the QFMFrFT on the time-frequency distribution explains its usefulness in sampling, denoising, and filter design of QFM signals. Two one-place statistical functions are defined for QFM-type stochastic signals, of which the input-output relationships of a linear time-varying system are discussed. Using these relations, a linear time-varying matched filter is designed. Two types of generalized convolution operators are designed associated with the QFMFrFT, which allow a multiplicative realization of a time-varying system. The QFM signal is demonstrated as a singular function of this type of linear time-varying system, which inspires a multi-carrier technique in spread-spectrum communications. Simulations verify the applications of the QFMFrFT in parameter estimation, matched filter design, and communications.

Design of spread spectrum communication system based on multipath signal synthesis

AbstractA low‐complexity anti‐multipath interference spread spectrum communication system is proposed to address shortcomings in traditional anti‐multipath technology, such as complex structures and high resource consumption. The system utilizes a fast Fourier transform to capture pseudo‐noise code signals and simultaneously detect multipath signals. Moreover, the signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) of each path signal is calculated, and the multipath signal is synthesized through the designed optimal SNR synthesis method to improve the SNR of the demodulated signal to reduce the bit error rate. MATLAB is used to perform functional simulations of the system to verify its feasibility. The simulation results show that the system can successfully detect and synthesize multipath signals and achieve lower communication error rates than traditional code division multiple access (CDMA) systems.

Short-Block-Length Low-Density Parity-Check Codes-Based Underwater Acoustic Spread-Spectrum Communication System

Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are commonly used in communication systems to improve the system performance, but LDPC codes takes too long for decoding, making communication inefficient and unsuitable for short-frame data transmission methods. In underwater acoustic channels, spread-spectrum communication becomes an effective way to realize long-distance communication. This paper combines short-block LDPC codes with a direct sequence spread spectrum and soft spread spectrum in underwater acoustic communication, addressing the problem of the inapplicability of conventional LDPC codes. The applicability of the proposed method in this paper is verified through simulation tests and pool experiments. The results indicate that the proposed communication system achieves lower bit error rates compared to the classical coding methods used in underwater acoustic spread-spectrum communication systems under the same channel conditions.

Analytical Technique Leveraging Processing Gain for Evaluating the Anti-Jamming Potential of Underwater Acoustic Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Communication Systems

This study proposes an analytical technique underpinned by processing gain to evaluate the anti-jamming potential of an underwater acoustic direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DSSS) communication system that employs a short-period pseudo-noise (PN) sequence. The processing gain comes from the symmetry of the coding, which provides a mechanism for separating desired signals from unwanted ones, and the apparent randomness of the coding, which suppresses interference and noise in the system. The robustness of such a system against wideband interference, partial-band jamming, and single-frequency interference is emulated. Outcomes suggest that, in comparison to a standard binary phase shift keying (BPSK) system, the DSSS system’s ability to resist wideband interference is limited, with only a marginal increase in immunity performance of approximately 0.5 dB. Contrarily, it suppresses partial-band jamming effectively, with the suppression level dependent on the interference bandwidth and its relative position concerning the signal carrier frequency. The influence of single-frequency interference on system performance depends similarly on its relative location relative to the signal carrier frequency. In all situations where the interference frequency offset is an integer multiple of the bit bandwidth, the system exhibits the worst performance when the frequency offset equals the bit bandwidth. Upon comparing resistance levels to identical power interferences targeted at the signal carrier frequency, our system demonstrates optimal resilience to single-frequency interference. In concordance with the empirical findings, the simulated results substantiate both the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed analytical method based on processing gain. Subsequently, this study contributes a novel perspective for evaluating the anti-jamming potential of DSSS systems.

Synchronization techniques for underwater acoustic communications

SummaryUnderwater acoustic channel is a challenging medium for communication due to the presence of significant multipath, high noise, frequency‐dependent propagation loss, and high and non‐uniform Doppler spread. Doppler shift is non‐negligible in underwater communication due to the low velocity of underwater signals. Synchronization and Doppler estimation are important requirements for achieving good performance in this channel. Synchronization algorithms that give good performance in radio communication do not work well in underwater communication. Hence, this area has received a lot of attention from researchers. This paper surveys important works in the area. The techniques proposed in the literature for frame synchronization, frequency and phase synchronization, and timing synchronization in single carrier communications are reviewed here. The synchronization techniques proposed for OFDM, MIMO OFDM, and spread spectrum communication are also surveyed. Doppler estimation methods proposed in the literature are also reviewed. It is found that most of the recent works in underwater acoustic communication focus on OFDM synchronization. Deep learning‐based methods proposed in the literature are also reviewed. Key open problems and areas that require future research attention in the field of synchronization and Doppler estimation in underwater communications are highlighted in this paper. The area needing most attention of underwater communication researchers was found to be MIMO OFDM due to the difficulty in synchronization in such systems while used in underwater communication. Reducing the computational complexity of the algorithms used is also important for future work. Schemes that work with Doppler due to relative velocity over 10 m/s also need to be developed.

Recursive Decoding Based Multi-channel M-ary Spread Spectrum Underwater Acoustic Communication

The spread spectrum communication method has strong anti-noise and anti-fading capability, but it also brings the problem of low information transmission efficiency. The paper proposes a multi-channel M-ary spread spectrum communication method, using a recursive decoding algorithm to reduce the communication bit error rate. In combination with the channel equalization technique based on the virtual time reversal mirror technique, the scheme improves the communication rate of spread spectrum communication. It is verified through computer simulation and sea trial data that the communication method can effectively reduce the mutual interference between different channel signals, which provides a new idea for the design of hydroacoustic spread spectrum communication scheme.

High performance bit‐activation code index modulation method

AbstractWith the increasing demand of applications for the spread spectrum technique, especially the demand for data transmission rates and spectral efficiency, the advantages of the traditional direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) system are limited. Therefore, multi‐ary spread spectrum (M‐ary) technology, parallel combinatory spread spectrum (PCSS) technology, and code index modulation (CIM) technology have been proposed. Although these three new technologies can improve the data rate, they all face the problem of the large consumption of pseudo‐code resources. In order to solve the problem of pseudo‐code resources, a bit‐activation code index modulation (BA‐CIM) method is proposed. At the transmitter, considering the good correlation among multiple pseudo‐codes, the corresponding pseudo‐code activation principle is established, and the corresponding spreading pseudo‐code is activated by using the status of each bit of the index data according to the pseudo‐code activation principle. Then, multicode superposition processing is carried out to spread the modulation data. At the receiver, the corresponding activation pseudo‐code is obtained using the maximum peak‐to‐average ratio (MPAR) and secondary peak‐to‐average ratio (SPAR) judgement mechanisms to decode the multibit index data. Compared with existing methods, the proposed BA‐CIM method can not only achieve a better bit error rate performance but also use the least pseudo‐code resources. Moreover, BA‐CIM has the best comprehensive performance improvement and is far superior to other methods. This research can provide technical support for the application of efficient spread spectrum communication.

Software-Defined Radio Implementation and Performance Evaluation of Frequency-Modulated Antipodal Chaos Shift Keying Communication System

This paper is devoted to software-defined radio (SDR) implementation of frequency modulated antipodal chaos shift keying (FM-ACSK) transceiver and presents results of prototype testing in real conditions. This novel and perspective class of spread-spectrum communication systems employs chaotic synchronization for the acquisition and tracking of the analog chaotic spreading code and does not need resource-demanding cross-correlation. The main motivation of the given work is to assess the performance of FM-ACSK in real conditions and demonstrate that chaotic synchronization can be considered an efficient spread-spectrum demodulation method. The work focuses on the real-time implementation aspects of the modulation-demodulation algorithms, forward error correction (FEC) and symbol timing synchronization approach in MATLAB Simulink. The performance of the presented prototype is assessed via extensive testing, which includes measurement of bit error ratio (BER) in single-user and multi-user scenarios, estimation of carrier frequency offset (CFO) impact and image transmission over-the-air between two independent sites and comparison with classical frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS). The paper shows that the presented class of the spread spectrum communication systems demonstrates good performance in low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions and in terms of BER significantly outperforms the classic spread-spectrum modulation schemes which employ correlation-based detection.

A Direct Construction of Golay Complementary Pairs and Binary Complete Complementary Codes of Length Non-Power of Two

Golay complementary pairs (GCPs) and complete complementary codes (CCCs) have found a wide range of practical applications in coding, signal processing and wireless communication due to their ideal correlation properties. The binary CCCs have special advantages in spread spectrum communication for their simple modulo-2 arithmetic operation, modulation, and correlation simplicity; however, they are limited in length. In this paper, we present a direct construction of GCPs, mutually orthogonal Golay complementary sets (MOGCSs) and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -ary, including binary CCCs of non-power of two lengths to widen their application in the recent communication field. First, a generalised Boolean function (GBF) based truncation technique is used to construct GCPs of non-power of two lengths which has never been reported before. Then Golay complementary sets (GCSs) and MOGCSs of lengths of the form <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2^{m-1}+2^{m-3}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m \geq 5$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$2^{m-1}+2^{m-2}+2^{m-4}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m \geq 6$ </tex-math></inline-formula> ) are generated by higher order GBFs. The later length of MOGCSs with direct construction is not available in the literature. Finally, <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$q$ </tex-math></inline-formula> -ary sequences including binary CCCs with non-power of two lengths are constructed using the union of MOGCSs. There is no such direct construction of binary CCC of non-power of two lengths available in the literature. The column sequence peak to mean envelope power ratio (PMEPR) have been investigated for GCSs and CCCs respectively, and compared with existing works. The column sequence PMEPR of resultant CCCs is effectively upper bounded by 2, which is much lower than that of paraunitary based CCC construction. The proposed construction is also compared with existing works.

Iterative double-differential direct-sequence spread spectrum reception in underwater acoustic channel with time-varying Doppler shifts.

Conventional double differential phase-shift keying modulation amplifies the phase noise and performs poorly under the time-varying direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DSSS) communication system. Therefore, the authors propose an iterative reception for DSSS communication in time-varying underwater acoustic channels. First, bit-interleaved coded modulation with iterative decoding integrated with multi-symbol differential detection is used. Second, this paper uses cross correlation method to estimate and track the Doppler shift of each symbol. Based on Doppler estimates, a dynamic linear prediction model is proposed to estimate and track the channel phase variation. Third, an algorithm for adaptive selection of reference signals is utilized to recover the magnitude attenuation of correlation peaks. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that the proposed reception achieves around 9 dB gain compared to conventional differential decision reception under constant acceleration of 0.14 m/s2. During the acoustic communication experiment in Songhua Lake, the proposed reception was tested by using a moving source at a speed of 1-6 knots at 2-m depth and the farthest distance between the transceivers is 2.8 km. The proposed reception achieves only one frame error from a total of 205 frames collected in the lake experiment, and it also achieves error-free communications over 96 frames during a 10 km depth deep-sea experiment.

Airborne Acoustic Chirp Spread Spectrum Communication System for User Identification in Indoor Localization

In this contribution, we propose a reliable, longrange, communication system based on chirp spread spectrum techniques for aerial ultrasonic channels, to be employed for user identification in ultrasonic indoor localization systems. We adopt binary orthogonal keying, where the binary information, modulates the shape of the chirp instantaneous frequency, mapping zeros onto down-chirps and ones onto up-chirps. In order to reduce the demodulation computational costs, we exploit the band-pass sampling theorem and develop an ad-hoc algorithm to under-sample the received signal. The incoming packet detection and frame synchronization are guaranteed by employing a characteristic chirp signal, typically utilized for localization purposes, as a pilot for the transmitted identification packet. A simple, yet efficient, pilot detection scheme enables live features by constantly listening to the channel, triggering the demodulator only when the pilot is detected. The performance of our system has been evaluated in low power and ultra-low power real-world experiments in a warehouse-like environment. It is demonstrated that our system is capable of error-free communication up to a range of 22 m in the low power setup, where the transmitter had a transmission power of 80 mW, corresponding to a sound pressure level of approximately 37 dBSPL at 1 m distance. In the ultra-low power mode, with a transmission power to 15 mW, corresponding to a sound pressure level of approximately 29 dBSPL at 1 m, the system achieved 99% success rate up to 16 m. Moreover, the capability of the system to be robust against the Doppler effect and in a multi-user environment has been tested via simulations.

Performance analysis of code division multiplexing communication under evaporation duct environment

The evaporation duct is an effective means for realizing non-line-of-sight (NLOS) wireless transmission over the sea. However, the effects of marine weather conditions on electromagnetic propagation have rarely been studied. In this study, the influence of the marine atmospheric environment on electromagnetic propagation was analyzed through numerical simulation. Additionally, the impacts of antenna height, transmission distance, and electromagnetic wave frequency on path loss were studied. Finally, the link capacity of the code division multiplexing (CDM) communication system in the evaporation duct environment was studied via numerical analysis and simulations. Simulation results demonstrated that CDM communication technology can improve the link capacity under an evaporation duct compared with that of the spread-spectrum communication technology.

2.4 GHz LoRa Wireless Technology for Internet of Things: An Experimental Study

LoRa is a new low data-rate modulation technology for wireless communication, which uses spread spectrum communications to increase transmission distance. At present, sub-GHz LoRa is mainly used to build LoRaWAN and is applied to the monitoring and data collection of the Internet of Things (IoT). Focusing on the latest 2.4 GHz LoRa technology, this study introduces the characteristics of 2.4 GHz LoRa in the physical layer and experimentally analyzes the basic performance of communication, energy consumption, and ranging. Meanwhile, for the deficiencies of time on air in the evaluation of effective data rate, this study proposes the concepts of time on PHY and time of transmission (ToT). Then, the ToT duration of 2.4 GHz LoRa under different parameter configurations is calculated. Finally, combined with the physical-layer characteristics of 2.4 GHz LoRa, four potential networking topologies of the 2.4 GHz LoRa are listed, and their characteristics and application scenarios are analyzed. Compared with sub-GHz LoRa, 2.4 GHz LoRa is more applicable for building self-organized networks and worldwide IoT solutions.