Spread-spectrum Multiple-access Systems Research Articles

Performance evaluation of chaotic spreading sequences on software-defined radio

In this paper, bit error performance evaluation of chaotic sequences is presented. Performance of chaotic sequences is evaluated on multiple access spread spectrum system model for USRP software defined radio. LabVIEW is used to perform numerical simulations and bit error rate analysis. Chaotic sequences of different lengths are generated using one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional maps. It is expected that sequences generated from complex maps will have better multiple access performance. Performance of chaotic sequences is evaluated against orthogonal sequences in multiple access scenario. Using Golay figure of merit and Pearson correlation coefficient, analysis of correlation properties and a comparison is performed on orthogonal and chaotic sequences for correlation properties comparison. The results show that chaotic sequences from two-dimensional maps have lower bit error rate than orthogonal and other chaotic sequences. Comparison of correlation properties shows that sequences with a low figure of merit and low Pearson coefficient have lower bit error rate. Those results can be used to generate chaotic sequences with desired correlation properties.

Performance of FH/MFSK systems with readable erasures

We propose a readable-erasure channel for frequency-hopping spread-spectrum multiple access systems with MFSK modulation scheme (FH/MFSK). In contrast to the conventional erasure-only channel having M + 1 output symbols, the proposed readable-erasure channel has 2 M output symbols. Half of the symbols are related to hit-free transmissions, and the rest of the symbols, referred to as weak symbols, are related to transmissions that were hit. The essence of the readable erasure is in the information hidden inside it. One may explore such information by using channel coding. Our analysis shows that in conjunction with channel coding, the readable-erasure channel may enjoy performance advantage over the erasure-only channel. By taking the spectrum efficiency into consideration, we point out that using RS codes over large channel alphabet size in FH/MFSK systems is inefficient. Thus, for FH/MFSK systems, we suggest BCH codes over GF(4) for use with the readable-erasure channel.

Performance study of linear and nonlinear diversity-combining techniques in synchronous FFH∕MA communication systems over fading channels

Based on the Fourier-Bessel series and exponential characteristic function approach, the paper presents analytical bit-error-rate expressions for synchronous fast frequency-hopped spread-spectrum multiple-access systems over Rician fading channels with M-ary frequency-shift-keying modulation. Linear-combining, product-combining and clipper receivers are studied. Numerical results show that both the clipper and product-combining receivers perform significantly better than the linear-combining receiver. The clipper receiver with an optimum threshold level slightly outperforms the product-combining receiver. However, the product-combining receiver is the preferred diversity-combining method because it is completely nonparametric. In addition, the optimum diversity levels for various diversity-combining receivers over Rayleigh fading channels are higher than that of the Rician fading channels.

An asymptotic analysis of band-limited DS/SSMA communication systems

A new asymptotic analysis is presented to establish whether or not commonly used techniques to approximate the performance of direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access (DS/SSMA) systems still apply when the systems are strictly band limited. The results apply to any linear data modulation and spreading scheme. The interference components, including the interchip interference (ICI) of a linear receiver output, are shown to be asymptotically jointly Gaussian random variables conditioned on the phases and delays of the interfering signals. Expressions for the error probabilities of band-limited systems are also developed from this result.

Performance of multicarrier DS/SSMA over fast Rayleigh fading channels with Doppler diversity

The significant loss in performance of multicarrier direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access systems over fast-fading channels is investigated. First, the channel model for individual subchannels is obtained, using a canonical decomposition to a wide-sense stationary (WSS), uncorrelated scattering channel. Next, a receiver structure, which features both Doppler diversity and frequency diversity, is presented and analyzed. It is found that large Doppler spreads cause the average magnitude of the desired signals to diminish dramatically. Expressions for the bit-error rate are derived for both uncoded and coded systems by applying the standard Gaussian approximation. Numerical results, which show that Doppler diversity is preferable over frequency diversity in fast-fading channels, are provided for different combinations of the diversity orders. Numerical results, which show that the intersymbol and intersubchannel interference can be effectively suppressed, and the multiple-access interference tends to degenerate into a WSS process with the statistical periodicity destroyed by the fast-fading channels, are also provided.

Exact evaluation of M-ary TH-PPM UWB systems on AWGN channels for indoor multiple-access communications

Analysis of ultra-wideband (UWB) time-hopping spread-spectrum code division multiple-access system using binary PPM signaling has been considered previously. However, the representation of the multiple-access interference was based on assuming Gaussian random processes that resulted in inaccuracies in some scenarios. This analysis was improved by a more precise statistical analysis that dispensed with approximations based on using Gaussian process statistics. In the paper, this precise statistical analysis is extended for general M-ary PPM UWB modulations. Performance metrics of symbol error rate and capacity are evaluated. It is shown that there is a significant error in using the Gaussian approximation as it overestimates the capacity of the M-ary PPM modulation.

Error rate of asynchronous DS-CDMA in Nakagami fading

An accurate bit-error-rate (BER) calculation method is derived for a binary direct-sequence (DS) spread-spectrum multiple-access (SSMA) system using conventional matched filter receivers and random sequences on flat-fading Nakagami channels. A closed-form expression for the characteristic function of a sum of multiple Nakagami interfering signals is found. The accuracy of the standard Gaussian approximation (SGA) is assessed for DS code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems operating on Nakagami fading channels.

Performance Bounds on Chip-Matched-Filter Receivers for Bandlimited DS/SSMA Communications

Performance bounds on chip-matched-filter (CMF) receivers for bandlimited direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access (BL-DS/SSMA) systems with aperiodic random spreading sequences are obtained. First, the optimum transmit-receive chip waveform pairs that maximize the conditional signal-to-interference ratio are derived. This leads to performance bounds on CMF receivers when the conditional Gaussian approximation for cyclostationary multiple-access interference (MAI) is exploited. The bounds are used to examine the dependence of the MAI suppression capability of the CMF receivers on the excess bandwidth of the system and the delay profile of multiple-access users. The system employing the flat-spectrum chip waveform pair is shown to have near-optimum average bit-error rate performance among the fixed CMF (FCMF) receiver systems. Numerical results are provided for an adaptive CMF receiver and for FCMF receivers employing several different fixed chip waveforms.

Performance evaluation for quaternary DS-SSMA communications with complex signature sequences over Rayleigh-fading channels

Performance of quaternary direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access (DS-SSMA) systems with complex signature sequences and complex modulators and receivers in flat Rayleigh fading is investigated in this paper. Due to the availability of potentially large sets of complex sequences with good correlation characteristics, the interest of using complex spreading sequences in DS-SSMA has increased dramatically. The complex spreading sequences investigated in this paper include the recently introduced orthogonal unified complex Hadamard transform (UCHT) sequences. In this paper, complex processing in modulators and receivers is also employed in order to take advantage of the correlation properties of complex signature sequences. The average bit error rate (BER) for quaternary synchronous systems is obtained first, and then the BER for quaternary asynchronous systems is evaluated using characteristic function approach. Result based on Gaussian approximation method is also presented for asynchronous systems. The numerical examples illustrate that the systems based on UCHT spreading sequences perform generally better than the Gold sequences and the 4-phase family A-sequences.

Dual-Phase Continuous Phase Modulation for Spread-Spectrum Multiple-Access Communication

A new class of direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access (DS-SSMA) systems with continuous phase modulation (CPM) is defined. The signals are unique in that the spreading is done by adding an extra phase term to the information phase while maintaining phase continuity, constant envelope, and efficient bandwidth usage. The spreading phase is formed from the spreading code and is independent of the information phase, which allows despreading to be done separately before data detection, which, in turn, allows a simple CPM detector to be employed for data detection. The information phase is considered in the minimum-shift keying (MSK) format, and a serial-MSK-type spread-spectrum receiver is considered for performance analysis. Expressions for the signal-to-noise ratio, the power spectral density, and the probability of bit error are developed, along with methods for computing their values to an arbitrarily close approximation. Numerical results show that the proposed system is an attractive alternative to the conventional DS-SSMA systems.

Soft multiuser demodulation and iterative decoding for FH/SSMA with a block turbo code

The number of users that can be supported by frequency-hopped, spread-spectrum multiple-access systems can be increased greatly by using multiuser demodulation and iterative decoding. In the receiver employed hard-decision multiuser demodulation followed by iterative decoding, users exchange decoded information with each other. Additional information from multiuser demodulation in the first decoding iteration is limited by the hard-decision output of the multiuser demodulator. The error-correction used was an errors-and-erasures Reed-Solomon (RS) decoder. We revisit hard-decision demodulation and conventional RS decoding. Hard-decision multiuser demodulation is modified to provide a soft output, which is then given to a nonbinary block turbo code with shortened RS codes as the constituent codes. An iterative multiuser decoding algorithm is developed to do soft multiuser interference cancellation. This soft receiver with soft demodulation and decoding is shown to be more resistant to multiuser interference and channel noise, especially at lower values of signal-to-noise ratio. The results show a great improvement in the ability of the system to support more users (more than three times in some cases), as compared with systems that erase all hits or employ hard-decision multiuser demodulation followed by RS code. We examine the proposed method for synchronous as well as asynchronous frequency-hopped systems in both AWGN and fading channels.

Performance analysis of time-hopping spread-spectrum multiple-access systems: uncoded and coded schemes

An ultra-wide bandwidth time-hopping spread-spectrum code division multiple-access system employing a binary PPM signaling has been introduced by Scholtz (1993), and its performance was obtained based on a Gaussian distribution assumption for the multiple-access interference. In this paper, we begin first by proposing to use a practical low-rate error correcting code in the system without any further required bandwidth expansion. We then present a more precise performance analysis of the system for both coded and uncoded schemes. Our analysis shows that the Gaussian assumption is not accurate for predicting bit error rates at high data transmission rates for the uncoded scheme. Furthermore, it indicates that the proposed coded scheme outperforms the uncoded scheme significantly, or more importantly, at a given bit error rate, the coding scheme increases the number of users by a factor which is logarithmic in the number of pulses used in time-hopping spread-spectrum systems.

Performance of multicarrier DS/SSMA systems in frequency-selective fading channels

Multicarrier direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access systems in frequency-selective fading channels are investigated. A consistent channel model is used for each system. First, the tapped delay line (TDL) channel model with uniformly spaced, uncorrelated taps is investigated to model a complex Gaussian, wide-sense stationary, uncorrelated scattering channel. An approximate average bit-error-rate expression is obtained for the receiver with RAKE fingers on each subcarrier branch, whose outputs are combined according to the maximum signal-to-noise ratio criterion. Various system configurations are examined for the same TDL channel model, data rate, total system bandwidth, and excess bandwidth of the chip waveform. All the systems compared employ the same number of correlators. The numerical results show that, given a contiguous spectrum, the systems with more fractionally-spaced RAKE fingers per subchannel are more robust than the systems with more subcarriers.

Chip waveform design for DS/SSMA systems with aperiodic random spreading sequences

The dependence of the error performance and spectral efficiency of direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access (DS/SSMA) systems with matched filter receivers on the chip waveform is examined. The actual shape of the chip waveform, as well as its energy, is found to influence the statistical properties of the multiple-access interference (MAI). An approach to design waveforms that may result in interchip interference (ICI) is proposed and a criterion for design based on the conditional Gaussian approximation of the MAI for systems with aperiodic random spreading sequences is derived. For a simplified system, a closed-form solution for optimal band-limited waveforms is obtained for excess bandwidth less than or equal to one by using a performance metric that includes the effect of ICI. Numerical results, based on an analytical method, as well as Monte Carlo simulations, are provided to evaluate the performance of the proposed waveforms in general systems with conventional matched filter receivers.

Performance evaluation for GMSK DS∕SSMA systems based on a closed-form expression for output SNR

The performance of asynchronous Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access (DS/SSMA) systems is evaluated using Pursley's approach. Taking into consideration the interchip interference caused by the Gaussian lowpass filter, a closed-form expression for signal-to-noise (SNR) at the output of a coherent receiver is derived and then used for system analysis. A system optimisation or evaluation based on output SNR is efficiently carried out, compared with Monte-Carlo simulation.

Accurate DS-CDMA bit-error probability calculation in Rayleigh fading

A binary direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access system with random sequences in flat Rayleigh fading is considered. A new explicit closed-form expression is obtained for the characteristic function of the multiple-access interference signals. It is shown that the overall error rate can be expressed by a single integral whose integrand is nonnegative and exponentially decaying. Bit-error rates (BERs) are obtained with this expression to any desired accuracy with minimal computational complexity. The dependence of the system BER on the number of transitions in the target user signature chip sequence is explicitly derived. The results are used to examine definitively the validity of three Gaussian approximations and to compare the performances of synchronous systems to asynchronous systems.

A multicarrier DS/SSMA system with reduced multiple access interference and higher data rate in Rician fading channels

We propose to use multiple signature sequences (instead of one) per user in a multicarrier direct-sequence spread spectrum multiple access system in Rician fading channels. Every user has a distinct set of spreading sequences, with a different spreading sequence for each carrier in each user's set. By analysis and computer simulation, we show that when these sets of sequences are chosen to be mutually orthogonal complementary sets of sequences, multiple access interference (MAI) is reduced in Rician fading channels. We also show that we can pack symbols more closely together, resulting in a higher data rate. The proposed system with a distinct set of deterministic spreading sequences per user has lower MAI and higher data rate than another system with one distinct random spreading sequences per user in Rician fading channels.

Partial successive interference cancellation in hybrid DS/FH spread-spectrum multiple-access systems

Partial successive interference cancellation is considered in hybrid DS/FH spread-spectrum multiple-access (SSMA) systems. We first show that the lowest BER attained by employing full interference cancellation in DS/SSMA systems can almost be achieved by employing a partial interference cancellation in hybrid DS/FH systems. The reduction in the number of cancellations translates into an alleviation of correlator speed requirements and a reduction in delays incurred in interference cancellations. The optimal number of frequency slots that minimizes the BER is investigated as a function of the number of interference cancellations. The effect of imperfect power control on the BER is investigated.

Multiuser demodulation and iterative decoding for frequency-hopped networks

Demodulation and decoding for frequency-hopped spread-spectrum multiple-access (FH/SSMA) systems have been traditionally conducted by conventional single-user (noncollaborative) demodulation and error- and erasure-correcting decoding techniques. In this paper, we study the demodulation and decoding aspects of collaborative multiuser reception for FH/SSMA and propose methods which increase the number of users the system can support. In particular, we propose and analyze the optimum maximum a priori probability demodulation of multiple symbols or type, and the use of iterative multiuser decoding after the demodulation. Since hits from one or two other users are the most likely hit events in FH/SSMA, the joint demodulation of two or of three users is performed based on likelihood ratio tests. M-ary frequency-shift keying modulation with noncoherent demodulation and Reed-Solomon codes with hard-decision minimum distance decoding are used in the FH/SSMA system. Results are derived for both synchronous and asynchronous frequency-hop systems. The performance of the proposed multiuser detector in additive white Gaussian noise and flat Rayleigh fading channels is evaluated. Scenarios when all simultaneous users or only a subset of them are collaboratively demodulated and decoded are simulated.

Bit-error probabilities of multicode direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access systems

Many techniques for calculating bit-error probabilities (BEPs) of direct-sequence spread-spectrum multiple-access systems (DS-SSMA) have been reported. Among them are the following three techniques: (1) the standard Gaussian approximation; (2) the improved Gaussian approximation; (3) and the simplified improved Gaussian approximation. We extend these techniques to derive the BEPs of multicode DS-SSMA systems. We assess the three techniques by comparing their results with the result of computer simulation.