Communication apparatus, communication system, communication method and computer-readable storage medium

The present disclosure relates to communication apparatuses, communication systems, communication methods, and computer-readable storage media to perform wireless communication.

In recent years, MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) transmission systems have been widely investigated to increase the channel capacity. The MIMO transmission may be categorized into two types, namely, a multi-stream transmission and a single-stream transmission. In the multi-stream transmission, the SDM (Space Division Multiplexing), as typified by V-BLAST (Vertical-Bell Laboratories Layered Space-Time), and an eigenmode transmission scheme that significantly increases the transmission channel capacity, have been proposed. In the single-stream transmission, the MRC (Maximal Ratio Combining) and the STBC (Space-Time Block Code) transmission, which may yield significant improvements in the SINR (Signal-to-Interference plus Noise Ratio) by space diversity, have been proposed.

To gain multiple-access capability in the MIMO transmission systems, the MIMO-CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) has been studied. For downlink of the MIMO system, the STFS-CDMA (Space-Time-Frequency Spreading) has been proposed. The STFS-CDMA transmits a three-dimensional signal (space, time, and frequency) and employs the Walsh-Hadamard code, double orthogonal code, and the like. The STFS-CDMA employs CP (Cyclic Prefix) and MMSE (Minimum Mean-Squared Error) detector to improve its performance. The MIMO MC-CDMA systems that employ the STBC coding technique was proposed for the downlink MIMO transmission. However, these systems require a complete set of CSI (Channel-State Information), and thus, a complex computation process, in order to obtain a relatively high MIMO performance.

One aspect of the embodiment may provide a technology for realizing a relatively high MIMO performance. This technology may generate or update a STF code, that may reduce a BER (Bit Error Rate), at a receiving end without knowledge of CSI of time-dispersive multipath channels for spatially distributed apparatuses that may transmit signals asynchronously, to be fed back to a transmitting end.

According to one aspect of the embodiment, a communication apparatus communicatable with an external transmitter by MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) transmission, may include a receiver configured to receive signals from the transmitter through a plurality of receiver antennas, wherein the receiver includes a filter configured to filter the signals received through the plurality of receiver antennas, and having a weight matrix thereof updated by an adaptive algorithm with respect to each substream message symbol from the transmitter; and a code generator configured to feed back a part of the weight matrix updated by the filter, as an updated STF (Space-Time-Frequency) code, to the transmitter.

According to another aspect of the embodiment, a communication apparatus communicatable with an external receiver by MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) transmission, may include a transmitter configured to transmit signals to the receiver through a plurality of transmission antennas, wherein the transmitter includes a signature waveform generator configured to generate a signal based on a STF (Space-Time-Frequency) code for a substream message symbol to be transmitted from each of the plurality of transmission antennas, and update the STF code based on which the signal is generated to an updated STF code in response to a feedback from the receiver, wherein the feedback includes a part of a weight matrix updated by a filter within the receiver with respect to each substream message symbol transmitted from the transmitter, as the updated STF code.

According to another aspect of the embodiment, a communication system or a communication method may utilize the communication apparatus including the transmitter and the communication apparatus including the receiver described above.

According to another aspect of the embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may store a program which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a wireless communication process of the communication apparatus described above.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and further features will be apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of a MIMO uplink multiple access in a communication system in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a transmitter and a receiver of MIMO/FC-CDMA;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of specifications of the embodiment and the eigenmode MIMO-MCM (MIMO-Multi-Carrier Modulation);

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a BER performance of multistream transmission of an embodiment for N t =2, N r =2, and N d =2;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a BER performance of multistream transmission of the embodiment for N t =2, N r =3, and N d =2;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the communication apparatus;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining an example of a wireless communication process;

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of a transmitter and a receiver;

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating the example of the transmitter in more detail; and

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating the example of the receiver in more detail, all arranged in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless context dictates otherwise. The illustrative examples or embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other examples or embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matter presented here. It may be readily understood that aspects of this disclosure, as generally described herein, and illustrated in the Figures, may be arranged, substituted, combined, and designed in a wide variety of different configurations, all of which are explicitly contemplated and make part of this disclosure.

This disclosure is drawn, inter alia, to apparatuses, systems, methods and/or computer-readable storage media related to wireless (or radio) communication.

Briefly stated, techniques are generally described herein for wireless communication.

This disclosure may utilize a FC-CDMA (Feedback-Controlled Code Division Multiple Access) using the MIMO transmission, that is, MIMO/FC-CDMA, in order to improve the SINR. A communication apparatus at a receiving end of a communication system employing the MIMO/FC-CDMA may include filter, such as a three-dimensional adaptive FIR (Finite-duration Impulse Response) filter or IIR (Infinite-duration Impulse Response) filter. The communication apparatus at the receiving end may feed back a part of FIR filter weights (or coefficients), by a STF (Space-Time-Frequency) code generator, to a communication apparatus at a transmitting end of the communication system. The FIR filter may be larger than the STF code generator that generates the STF code. In the following, the communication apparatus at the transmitting end may simply be referred to as a transmitter, and the communication apparatus at the receiving end may simply be referred to as a receiver, however, the communication apparatus may include a transmitter and/or a receiver.

(Communication System)

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of a MIMO uplink multiple access (or asynchronous transmission) in a communication system in accordance with an embodiment. In this example, it may be assumed for the sake of convenience that an uplink multi-antenna multiple access is performed in a communication system 1 , as illustrated in FIG. 1 , where Tx k denotes the kth transmitter (k=1, 2, . . . , K; K is the number of users or transmitters within a communication system) that has N t transmission antennas, and BS denotes a base station that has N r receiver antennas. The kth transmitter may be located externally to the base station BS. For the sake of convenience in evaluating the performance of the communication system 1 as will be described later, the base station BS may be regarded as including K receivers Rx 1 , . . . , Rx K . Although only one base station BS is illustrated in FIG. 1 , a plurality of base stations BS may be provided. N t and N r , may be the same or different from each other. In addition, N r may be the same as or be different from K.

Of course, when no base station BS exists, a decentralized asynchronous multiple access may be made between the transmitters Tx 1 , . . . , Tx K and the receivers Rx 1 , . . . , Rx K .

(Transmitter)

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a transmitter and a receiver of MIMO/FC-CDMA. The transmitter Tx k includes a signature waveform generator 31 , and N t transmission antennas.

A signature waveform c k,d,x (t) transmitted from an xth transmission antenna (x=1, 2, . . . , N t ) of the kth transmitter Tx k may be given by the following formula (1)

c k , d , x ⁡ ( t ) = ∑ l = 1 L ⁢ a k , d , x , l ⁡ ( t - ( l - 1 ) ⁢ T c ) , ( 1 )

where a k,d,x,l (t) (0<t<T c ; T c [s] is the chip duration) is the lth chip waveform (l=1, 2, . . . , L; L is the number of chips) for c k,d,x (t), which is a multicarrier signal and may be given by the following formula (2)

a k , d , x , l ⁡ ( t ) = g ⁡ ( t ) ⁢ ∑ m = 1 M ⁢ p k , d , x , l , m ⁢ ⅇ j2π ⁢ m - 1 T c ⁢ t , ( 2 )

where j=√(−1), p k,d,x,l,m is the complex amplitude of the mth tone of frequency (m−1)/T c [Hz] (m=1, 2, , , , , M; M is the number of transmittable tones per chip) for the lth chip of c k,d,x (t), and g(t)={1(0<t<T c ), 0(otherwise)}.

It may be assumed for the sake of convenience that P k,d,x represented by the following formula (3) is an L×M matrix that includes p k,d,x,l,m such that

P k , d , x = [ p k , d , x , 1 , 1 p k , d , x , 1 , 2 … p k , d , x , 1 , M p k , d , x , 2 , 1 p k , d , x , 2 , 2 … p k , d , x , 2 , M ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ p k , d , x , L , 1 p k , d , x , L , 2 … p k , d , x , L , M ] . ( 3 )

The matrix P k,d,x may be referred to as the STF code for a dth substream message symbol transmitted from the xth transmission antenna of the kth transmitter Tx k .

The signal transmitted from the xth antenna (x=1, 2, . . . , N t ) of the kth transmitter Tx k may be given by the following formula (4)

s k , x ⁡ ( t ) = ∑ n = 0 ∞ ⁢ ⁢ ∑ d = 1 N d ⁢ ⁢ b k , d ⁡ ( n ) ⁢ c k , d , x ⁡ ( t - nT s ) , ( 4 )

where b k,d (n) is a complex message symbol of the dth substream message symbol transmitted in nT s <t<(n+1)T s (n=0, 1, . . . ), and T s [s] is the symbol duration (T s =LT c ). In this example, it may be assumed that b k,d (n) is a QPSK (Quaternary Phase-Shift Keying) symbol.

(Channel)

It may be assumed for the sake of convenience that H k (t) is an impulse response matrix of size N r ×N t represented by the following formula (5), that is,

H k ⁡ ( t ) = [ h k , 1 , 1 ⁡ ( t ) h k , 1 , 2 ⁡ ( t ) … h k , 1 , N t ⁡ ( t ) h k , 2 , 1 ⁡ ( t ) h k , 2 , 2 ⁡ ( t ) … h k , 2 , N t ⁡ ( t ) ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ h k , N r , 1 ⁡ ( t ) h k , N r , 2 ⁡ ( t ) … h k , N r , N t ⁡ ( t ) ] , ( 5 )

through which the signal s k,x (t) may be transmitted from the xth antenna of the kth transmitter Tx k to a yth antenna of the kth receiver Rx k in the base station BS, and may be given by the following formula (6)

h k , y , x ⁡ ( t ) = ∑ i = 1 I k , y , x ⁢ ⁢ h k , y , x , i ⁢ δ ⁡ ( t - τ k , y , x , i ) , ( 6 )

where h k,y,x,i (=|h k,y,x,i |e jθk,y,x,i ) is the complex gain constant for the ith path of the channel, τ k,y,x,i (0≦τ k,y,x,i <T s ) is the delay for the ith path, and I k,y,x is the number of paths of the channel.

The received signal r y (t) of the yth antenna of the kth receiver Rx k may be given by the following formula (7)

r y ⁡ ( t ) = ∑ k = 1 K ⁢ ⁢ ∑ x = 1 N t ⁢ ⁢ ( s k , x ⁡ ( t ) * h k , y , x ⁡ ( t ) ) + η y ⁡ ( t ) , ( 7 )

where n y (t) is an AWGN (Additive White Gaussian Noise) with a double-sided power spectral density of N 0 /2[W/Hz].

(Receiver)

The kth receiver Rx k includes N r receiver antennas, a three-dimensional adaptive FIR filter 11 , which may have (L+α)×M×N r , complex weights (0≦α≦L), and a STF code generator 12 . It may be assumed for the sake of convenience that W k,d,y is an (L+α)×M matrix represented by the following formula (8) that includes the complex weights W k,d,y,l,m of the yth antenna for the kth receiver Rx k , such that

W k , d , y = [ w k , d , y , 1 , 1 w k , d , y , 1 , 2 … w k , d , y , 1 , M w k , d , y , 2 , 1 w k , d , y , 2 , 2 … w k , d , y , 2 , M ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ w k , d , y , L , 1 w k , d , y , L , 2 … w k , d , y , L , M w k , d , y , L + 1 , 1 w k , d , y , L + 1 , 2 … w k , d , y , L + 1 , M w k , d , y , L + 2 , 1 w k , d , y , L + 2 , 2 … w k , d , y , L + 2 , M ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ w k , d , y , L + α , 1 w k , d , y , L + α , 2 … w k , d , y , L + α , M ] . ( 8 )

The weight matrix W k,d,y may be updated by an adaptive algorithm. In this example, a known N-LMS (Normalized-Least-Mean-Square) algorithm may be adopted, which may be one of the less complex adaptation algorithms.

It may be assumed for the sake of convenience that the kth receiver Rx k is synchronized with the first path of a desired signal s k,x (t). The kth receiver Rx k may obtain discrete-time samples of every frequency and chip from the received signal r y (t). The mth frequency component r k,y,l,m (n), detected at t=nT s +lT c +τ k,y,x,l (l=1, 2, . . . , L+α), may be given by the following formula (9)

r k , y , l , m ⁡ ( n ) = ∫ nT s + ( l - 1 ) ⁢ T c + τ k , y , x , 1 nT s + lT c + τ k , y , x , 1 ⁢ r y ⁡ ( t ) ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ 2 ⁢ π ⁡ ( m - 1 ) T c ⁢ t ⁢ ⁢ ⅆ t . ( 9 )

An (L+α)×M matrix R k,y (n), that includes the samples detected in nT s +τ k,y,x,l <t<nT s +(L+α)T c +τ k,y,x,l , may be defined by the following formula (10).

The FIR filter output {tilde over (b)} k,d (n) may be represented by the following formula (11)

b ~ k , d ⁡ ( n ) = ∑ y = 1 N r ⁢ ⁢ tr ⁡ [ W k , d , y ⁡ ( n ) ⁢ R k , y ⁡ ( n ) ] , ( 11 )

where the superscript denotes the complex conjugate and the transpose of the matrix, and tr[·] denotes the trace of the matrix. In order to recover the message symbol b k,d (n), the kth receiver Rx k may determine the signs for the real and imaginary parts of {tilde over (b)} k,d (n) such that the following formula (12) stands)=

{tilde over (b)} k,d ( n )=sgn[Re[ {tilde over (b)} k,d ( n )]]+ j sgn[Im[ {tilde over (b)} k,d ( n )]],  (12)

where sgn[·] is the signum function, Re[·] is the real part of the complex value, and Im[·] is the imaginary part of the complex value.

The weight matrix W k,d,y (n) may be updated by the following formula (13), such that

W k , d , y ⁡ ( n + 1 ) = W k , d , y ⁡ ( n ) + μ tr ⁡ [ R k , y ⁡ ( n ) ⁢ R k , y ⁡ ( n ) ] ⁢ R k , y ⁡ ( n ) ⁢ e k , d , y * ⁡ ( n ) , ( 13 )

where μ is the step size parameter, the superscript * denotes the complex conjugate, and e k,d,y (n) may be given by the following formula (14)

e k,d,y ( n )= {circumflex over (b)} k,d ( n )− tr[W k,d,y ( n ) R k,y ( n )].  (14)

In this example, the initial value W k,d,y (0) of the weight matrix W k,d,y (n) for the kth receiver Rx k may be chosen to be a set of weights that includes the zero matrix 0 (L+α)×M of size (L+α)×M.

(Feedback)

A part of the FIR filter weights of the kth receiver Rx k may be fed back to the corresponding kth transmitter Tx k to be used as an updated version of the STF code P k,d,x , in order to improve the SINR. Further, successive feedback of the updated version of the STF code P k,d,x to the transmitter Tx k may optimize the SINR. In this example, it may be assumed for the sake of convenience that there is no delay time and no error for the feedback. Therefore, the STF code P k,d,x (φ) updated at t=φT f +Δ k +αT c +τ k,y,x,l (φ=1, 2, . . . , N f ; N f is the number of iterations of the feedback, T f is the feedback time interval, and Δ k is the preassigned offset of the feedback timing (0≦Δ k <T f )) may be represented by the following formula (15)

P k , d , x ⁡ ( φ ) ⁢ = △ ⁢ [ p k , d , x , 1 , 1 ⁡ ( φ ) p k , d , x , 1 , 2 ⁡ ( φ ) … p k , d , x , 1 , M ⁡ ( φ ) p k , d , x , 2 , 1 ⁡ ( φ ) p k , d , x , 2 , 2 ⁡ ( φ ) … p k , d , x , 2 , M ⁡ ( φ ) ⋮ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ p k , d , x , L , 1 ⁡ ( φ ) p k , d , x , L , 2 ⁡ ( φ ) … p k , d , x , L , M ⁡ ( φ ) ] , ( 15 )

where p k,d,x,l,m (φ) may be represented by the following formula (16)

p k , d , x , l , m ⁡ ( φ ) = tr ⁡ [ [ ∑ y = 1 N r ⁢ ⁢ w k , y , x , l , m ⁡ ( n ^ ) ⁢ R _ k , d , y ] ⁢ P ~ k , d , x ⁡ ( φ - 1 ) ] , ( 16 )

where {circumflex over (n)} └(φT f +Δ k +αT c +τ k,y,x,l )/T x ┘, └·┘ is the largest integer that is less than or equal to the operand, R k,d,y is the expectation of

{circumflex over (b)} k,d *( n ) R k,y in(φ−1) T f +Δ k +αT c +τ k,y,x,l <t<φT f +Δ k +αT c +τ k,y,x,l , and {tilde over (P)} k,d,x (φ−1)

is an (L+α)×M matrix that includes p k,d,x,l,m (φ−1). The initial value {tilde over (P)} k,d,x (0) may be chosen to be a set of weights that includes the corresponding initial STF code P k,d,x (0) and the zero matrix 0 α×M of size α×M, as represented by the following formula (17)

P ~ k , d , x ⁡ ( 0 ) = [ P k , d , x τ ⁡ ( 0 ) ⁢ ⁢ 0 α × M τ ] τ , ( 17 )

where the superscript T denotes the transpose of the matrix.

When the updated STF code P k,d,x (φ), whose elements p k,d,x,l,m (φ) may be represented by the formula (16) is fed back to the kth transmitter Tx k , this updated STF code P k,d,x (φ) may be used in place of the previous STF code P k,d,x represented by the formula (3) in order to generate and transmit the signal represented by the formula (4) from the xth antenna (x=1, 2, . . . , N t ) of the transmitter Tx k . As a result, the transmitter Tx k may make the transmission from the xth antenna using the updated STF code which may be optimized for the current channel state than the STF code used previously, and such a transmission using the corresponding updated STF code may be made separately for each of the first through N t th antennas.

In this example, the illustration of individual transmission antennas of the receiver Rx k and the illustration of individual receiver antennas of the transmitter Tx k is omitted for the sake of convenience. In FIG. 2 , the receiver Rx k is illustrated as having a transmission antenna part 121 that includes the transmission antennas through which the feedback of the updated STF code may be made, and the transmitter Tx k is illustrated as having a receiver antenna part 131 that includes the receiver antennas through which the feedback from the receiver Rx k may be received. The feedback of the updated STF code from the receiver Rx k to the transmitter Tx k may be made through an arbitrary feedback channel, and thus, the number of transmission antennas in the transmission antenna part 121 of the receiver Rx k and the number of receiver antennas in the receiver antenna part 131 of the transmitter Tx k may respectively be set arbitrarily. For example, the feedback channel may be similar to or, may be different from the channel used for the transmission from the transmitter Tx k to the receiver Rx k . In the latter case, the carrier frequency used for the transmission in the channel from the transmitter Tx k to the receiver Rx k may be different from the carrier frequency used for the feedback in the feedback channel from the receiver Rx k to the transmitter Tx k .

(Performance Evaluation)

In this embodiment, the uplink asynchronous multiple access performance of the embodiment over time-invariant multipath channels may be observed. Results are illustrated in comparison with the eigenmode MIMO-MCM, as described below, and it may be confirmed that the embodiment achieves satisfactory performance without explicit knowledge of the CSI.

The eigenmode MIMO-MCM may require the frequency response matrix H m for the mth tone of frequency (m−1)/T s to be given by the following formula (18)

H m = ∫ nT s + τ y , x , 1 ( n + 1 ) ⁢ T s + τ y , x , 1 ⁢ H ⁡ ( t ) ⁢ ⅇ - j ⁢ 2 ⁢ π ⁡ ( m - 1 ) T s ⁢ t ⁢ ⁢ ⅆ t . ( 18 )

The SVD (Singular-Value Decomposition) for the matrix H m may be given by the following formula (19)

H m = U m ⁢ ∑ m ⁢ ⁢ V m , ( 19 )

where U m is a unitary matrix of size N r ×N r , V m is a unitary matrix of size N t ×N t , and Σ m =diag[√(λ m,1 ), √(λ m,2 ), . . . , √(λ m ,N m )](Nm≦min(N t , N r ). Since M different frequencies may be used, there may exist

N ch = ∑ m = 1 N ⁢ ⁢ N m

different eigenvalues in total, from which the N d (≦N ch ) largest eigenvalues λ i (i=1, 2, . . . , N d ) may be found. A precoder and a decoder of the eigenmode MIMO-MCM may use N d pairs of eigenvectors v i and u i that correspond to the eigenvalues λ i . In order to minimize the total BER of multistream transmission, a known optimum bit and power assignment scheme may be adopted.

In order to evaluate the performance of the communication system 1 in this embodiment, it may be assumed for the sake of convenience that a twelve-path model (i.e., I k =12 for all k) has a delay profile of exponential decay, where zero-mean complex Gaussian random variables h k,y,x,i are mutually statistically independent, the relative intensities of

[| h k,y,x,i |]are 10 log 10 ( [| h k,y,x,i+1 | 2 ]/ [|h k,y,x,i | 2 ])=

are −1.5 dB( i= 1, 2 , . . . , I k,y,x −1), [·]denotes the expectation, the path delays τ k,y,x,i are τ k,y,x,i+1 −τ k,y,x,i =( 1/64)T s , and τ k,y,x,l and θ k,y,x,i (for all k, y, x, and i) are mutually statistically independent, uniformly distributed random variables in the intervals of [0, T s ) and [0, 2π), respectively.

This embodiment may require an initial training period during which the kth receiver Rx k may feed back (or return) a part of the FIR filter weights to the corresponding kth transmitter Tx k in order to generate a suitable STF code for the current channel state. In this example, the initial training period may be defined as t<(N f +1)T f +Δ k +τ k,y,x,l , and the BER performance in the steady period may be defined as the period after the initial training period, that is, t≧(N f +1)T f +Δ k +τ k,y,x,l . It may be assumed for the sake of convenience that a reference {circumflex over (b)} k,d (n) used for updating the filter weights is {circumflex over (b)} k,d (n)=b k,d (n) during the initial training period, which may imply that the kth receiver Rx k has prior knowledge of the pilot data symbols used for the initial training. In the steady period, only the updating of the FIR filter weights may be performed at the kth receiver Rx k , and no feedback may be made to the kth transmitter Tx k . Since the BER performance depends on the randomly chosen values of τ k,y,x,l and h k,y,x,i , all plots indicate the average BER of one hundred simulation trials, for example. Other common specifications may be set as illustrated in FIG. 3 , for example. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the specifications of the embodiment and the eigenmode MIMO-MCM (MIMO-Multi-Carrier Modulation).

(Simulation Results)

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a BER performance of multistream transmission in this embodiment for N t =2, N r =2, and N d =2, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a BER performance of multistream transmission in this embodiment for N t =2, N r =3, and N d =2. In FIGS. 4 and 5 , the ordinate indicates an average BER (Bit Error Rate), and the abscissa indicates the normalized transmission (Tx) power [dB]. In other words, the BER performance of the multistream transmission in this embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 4 for (N t , N r )=(2, 2) and in FIG. 5 for (N t , N r )=(2, 3) along with the single user eigenmode MIMO-MCM.

It may be observed from FIG. 4 that there may be about a 2.5 dB loss for K=1 at BER=10 −4 and about a 5 dB loss for K=16 compared to the single user eigenmode MIMO-MCM. For K=20, an error-floor occurs, as illustrated in FIG. 4 . Such an error-floor disappears when the number of receiver antennas increases, as illustrated in FIG. 5 .

Although the BER performance of the embodiment may be lower than that of the single user eigenmode MIMO-MCM, the single user MIMO-MCM requires the CSI at both the transmitter and receiver and has no multiple-access capability. Hence, considerable multiple-access interference may occur when two or more transmitters transmit signals in the single user MIMO-MCM. On the other hand, this embodiment does not require the CSI to be known, and has multiple-access capability.

In the MIMO/FC-CDMA in accordance with the embodiment, the BER performance for multistream multiple access may be evaluated over asynchronous multipath channels. It may be found that the embodiment significantly contributes to the improvement of MIMO multiple access performance.

For example, Kazuki Chiba et al., “Multitone-Hopping CDMA Using Feedback-Controlled Hopping Pattern for Decentralized Multiple Access”, IEICE TRANS. FUNDAMENTALS, VOL. E91-A, No. 12, pp. 3723-3730, December 2008 demonstrated that the quantization for the feedback may be possible without influencing the BER performance. Thus, it may be regarded that the embodiment may also be effective for limited feedback channels. Since the training period may be chosen to be 10 4 T s , for example, the N-LMS adaptation may be sufficiently accomplished.

(Hardware Configuration)

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the communication apparatus. A communication apparatus 20 illustrated in FIG. 6 may function as a transmitter Tx k and/or the receiver Rx k illustrated in FIG. 2 .

As illustrated in FIG. 6 , the communication apparatus 20 may be connected to a computer such as a PC (Personal Computer) or, to a network such as a LAN, to which a message symbol (transmission data) in QPSK may be output or from which a message symbol may be input.

The communication apparatus 20 includes an IF (Interface) circuit 200 , a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) 202 , a memory 204 connected to the DSP 202 , a D/A (Digital-to-Analog) converter 206 , an RF (Radio Frequency) circuit 208 , antennas 210 1 through 210 N , an A/D (Analog-to-Digital) converter 212 , a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 214 , a memory 216 connected to the CPU 214 , and a UI (User Interface) device 218 that may provide an interface between the communication apparatus 20 and the user. The number N of antennas 210 1 through 210 N may be N t for the transmission antennas of the transmitter Tx k , and may be N r for the receiver antennas of the receiver Rx k .

The communication apparatus 20 may include a component such as a cell phone component configured to transmit and/or receive voice and data in CDMA or, a wireless LAN device component configured to serve as a computer allowing software to perform signal processing, wireless communication, information processing, and the like.

It may be assumed for the sake of convenience that the communication apparatus 20 allows software to perform the signal processing and the information processing in the following. However, the communication apparatus 20 may be configured to allow embedded hardware to perform the signal processing and the information processing depending on the configuration, application, and performance requirements thereof.

Moreover, the communication apparatus 20 may use only one of the DSP 202 and the CPU 214 , depending on the configuration, application, and performance requirements thereof.

In the communication apparatus 20 , the IF circuit 200 may provide a function to input and/or output the message symbol between the communication apparatus 20 and the computer or the network.

The DSP 202 may execute a signal processing program stored in the memory 204 to perform spread spectrum on the message symbol input from the IF circuit 200 or, on the message symbol generated from the voice input through a microphone (not illustrated) of the UI device 218 , and output the processed message symbol to the D/A converter 206 .

The D/A converter 206 may convert the spread spectrum digital message symbol into analog baseband transmission signals or transmission signals having an intermediate frequency of the frequencies that may be processed by the DSP 202 or the CPU 214 , and output the transmission signals to the RF circuit 208 .

The RF circuit 208 may convert the transmission signals into transmission signals having a frequency used for the signal transmission between the communication apparatus 20 and other communication apparatuses, and transmit the transmission signals to the paths of the channel through the corresponding antennas 210 1 through 210 N .

The RF circuit 208 may receive the transmission signals from the other communication apparatuses through the antennas 210 1 through 210 N or, through antennas (not illustrated) other than the antennas 210 1 through 210 N , convert the transmission signals into analog transmission signals of the baseband or intermediate frequency, and output the analog transmission signals to the A/D converter 212 .

The A/D converter 212 may convert the analog transmission signals into digital transmission signals and output the digital transmission signals to the DSP 202 .

The CPU 214 may execute a program stored in the memory 216 to control the operation of the communication apparatus 20 , for example, according to the user operation performed from the UI device 218 . In addition, the CPU 214 may perform processes of setting and updating the weights used for filtering the transmission signals received by the DSP 202 . The CPU 214 may also control the UI device 218 to provide information and the like to the user.

Each of the memories 204 and 216 may form a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that stores a program which, when executed by a computer (DSP 202 , CPU 214 , or the like), causes the computer to function as a transmitter and/or a receiver to perform a wireless communication process. Each of the memories 204 and 216 may be formed by a semiconductor memory device, a recording medium such as a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium and an optical recording medium, a drive configured to make access to such a recording medium, or the like.

(Software Configuration)

FIG. 7 is a flow chart for explaining an example of the wireless communication process. In FIG. 7 , a step ST 1 may be executed by the transmitter Tx k , for example, and steps ST 11 through ST 14 may be executed by the receiver Rx k , for example.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the transmitter Tx k and the receiver Rx k that may be used by the wireless communication process illustrated in FIG. 7 , for example. The illustration of the antennas through which the feedback may be made from the receiver Rx k , and the antennas through which the transmitter Tx k may receive the feedback is omitted in FIG. 8 .

The transmitter Tx k illustrated in FIG. 8 may include a transmitting unit 31 i for the ith substream message symbol b ki (n), where i=1, 2, . . . , d, . . . , N d , an adder unit 32 j , where j=1, 2, . . . , x, . . . , N t , and N t antennas. A channel Ch may be represented by the impulse response matrix H k (t) of the formula (5) described above and the AWGN (or n y (t)), such that the received signal r y (t) of the yth antenna of the receiver Rx k may be given by the formula (7) described above. The receiver Rx k may include N r receiver antennas, a three-dimensional (3D) adaptive FIR filter unit 11 i , and a STF code generating unit 12 i , where i=1, 2, . . . , d, N d .

In FIG. 7 , the step ST 1 may use the matrix P k,d,x , that is, the STF code represented by the formula (3), to generate and transmit the signal represented by the formula (4) from the xth antenna (x=1, 2, . . . , N t ) of the transmitter Tx k , using the transmitting unit 31 i and the adder unit 32 j .

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating the example of the transmitter Tx k in more detail. FIG. 9 illustrates a transmitter part 30 d of the transmitter Tx k for the dth substream message symbol b kd (n). The transmitter part 30 d may include signature waveform generating units 311 1 , 311 2 , . . . , 311 x , . . . , 311 Nt that may be provided with respect to the first, second, . . . , xth, . . . , N t th transmission antennas, and an adder unit 32 d . Each of the signature waveform generating units 311 1 , 311 2 , . . . , 311 x , . . . , 311 Nt may receive the dth substream message symbol b kd (n), and the feedback from the corresponding STF code generating unit 12 d of the receiver Rx k . The number of iterations of the feedback may be N f , and the feedback time interval may be T f . The adder unit 32 d may add M outputs of each of the signature waveform generating units 311 1 , 311 2 , . . . , 311 x , . . . , 311 Nt , and output the signals s k,1,d (t) s k,2,d (t), . . . , S k,x,d (t), . . . , s k,Nt,d (t) to be transmitted from the first, second, . . . , xth, . . . , N t th antennas, respectively.

For example, the signature waveform generating unit 311 1 may include M units 3111 - 1 through 311 M- 1 , and M multipliers 3111 - 2 through 311 M- 2 . Each unit 311 i - 1 (i=1, 2, . . . , M) may include L coefficient multipliers for multiplying p k,d,l,L,i , . . . , p k,d,I,l,i , and delay units T c that may be connected as illustrated in FIG. 9 . Each multiplier 311 i - 2 may multiply an output of the unit 311 i - 1 and e j(2n{1−1)}t/Tc . An output of the multiplier 311 i - 2 may be supplied to a corresponding one of N t adders forming the adder unit 32 d .

Returning now to the description of FIG. 7 , the step ST 11 may receive the signals transmitted from the transmitter Tx k through the first, second, . . . , yth, . . . , N r th antennas, and generate the (L+α)×M matrix R k,y (n) represented by the formula (10), whose elements, namely, the (l, m)th entry (i.e., lth chip and mth frequency component) r k,y,l,m (n), may be given by the formula (9). The step ST 12 may judge the received message symbols from the (L+α)×M matrix R k,y (n) represented by the formula (10), using the formulas (11) and (12). The step ST 13 may update the weight matrix W k,d,y (n) of the three-dimensional adaptive FIR filter 11 according to the formula (13). The step ST 14 may generate the updated STF code P k,d,x (φ), whose elements p k,d,x,l,m (φ) may be represented by the formula (16) based on the updated weight matrix W k,d,y (n) of the three-dimensional adaptive FIR filter 11 , and feed back the updated STF code P k,d,x (φ) to the transmitter Tx k . The number of iterations of the feedback may be N f , and the feedback time interval may be T f . Hence, at the transmitter Tx k , the step ST 1 may use the updated STF code P k,d,x (φ) that is fed back from the receiver Rx k , in place of the STF code P k,d,x represented by the formula (3), in order to generate and transmit the signal represented by the formula (4) from the xth antenna (x=1, 2, . . . , N t ) of the transmitter Tx k . The processes of the steps ST 1 through ST 14 may be repeated in order to optimize the STF code used by the transmitter Tx k for the current channel state in order to generate and transmit the signal represented by the formula (4) from the xth antenna (x=1, 2, . . . , N t ).

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram illustrating the example of the receiver Rx k in more detail. FIG. 10 illustrates a receiver part 10 d of the receiver Rx k for the dth substream message symbol b kd (n). The receiver part 10 d may include three-dimensional (3D) adaptive FIR filter units 111 1 , 111 2 , . . . , 111 y , . . . , 111 Nr that may be provided with respect to the first, second, . . . , yth, . . . , N r th receiver antennas, and a decoder unit 112 d .

Each FIR filter unit 111 i may include a multiplier 111 i - 1 (i=1, 2, . . . , M) to multiply e −j(2π(i−1)t/Tc the received signal r i (t), a LPF (Low-Pass Filter) unit 111 i - 2 , a sampler 111 i - 3 , a tapped delay line unit 111 i - 4 , an adder 111 i - 5 , an adder 1121 , an adder 1122 , and an adaptive algorithm unit 1123 . Each unit 111 i - 4 may include delay units T α , and L+α coefficient multipliers for multiplying W* k,d,l,i,L+α , . . . , W* k,d,l,i,l , that may be connected as illustrated in FIG. 10 . The adder 1121 may add outputs of the adders 1111 - 5 through 111 M- 5 , and supply an output to the adder 1122 and an adder 112 - 1 of the decoder unit 112 d . The adder 1122 may add (in this example, subtract) the output of the adder 1121 from an output e k,d,i (n) of a data decoder 112 - 3 of the decoder unit 112 d . An output of the adder 1122 may be supplied to an adaptive algorithm unit 1123 which may adaptively update the coefficients W* k,d,l,i,L++ , . . . , W* k,d,l,i,I , of the L+α coefficient multipliers of the corresponding unit 111 i - 4 .

The decoder unit 112 d may have a known structure including the adder 112 - 1 , a data detector (or data sampler) 112 - 2 , and the data decoder (or message symbol decoder) 112 - 3 . The receiver part 10 d may correspond to the FIR filter unit 11 d illustrated in FIG. 8 .

Hence, the received signals r 1 (t), r 2 (t), . . . , r y (t), . . . , r Nr (t) may be input to the FIR filter units 111 1 , 111 2 , . . . , 111 y , . . . , 111 Nr , respectively. The decoder unit 112 d may generate the message symbol {circumflex over (b)} k,d (n) from outputs of the FIR filter units 111 1 , 111 2 , . . . , 111 y , . . . , 111 Nr , and supply the message symbol {circumflex over (b)} k,d (n) to the corresponding STF code generator unit 12 d illustrated in FIG. 8 .

The technique disclosed heretofore may be applied to a communication system in which both the transmitter and the receiver are fixed or, at least one of the transmitter and the receiver is fixed or, at least one of the transmitter and the receiver is movable. For example, both the transmitter and the receiver may be fixed when the transmitter and the receiver are base stations communicating with each other. In addition, at least one of the transmitter and the receiver may be fixed when the transmitter and the receiver respectively are a mobile communication apparatus and a base station, or vice versa, communicating with each other. Both the transmitter and the receiver may be movable when both the transmitter and the receiver are mobile communication apparatuses communicating with each other, although the mobile communication apparatuses may avoid frequent movements.

Furthermore, the technique disclosed heretofore may be applied to various communication systems adapted not only to the multi-stream transmission but also to the single-stream transmission.

References made in this disclosure to the term “responsive to” or “in response to” are not limited to responsiveness to a particular feature and/or structure. A feature may also be responsive to another feature and/or structure and also be located within that feature and/or structure. Moreover, when terms or phrases such as “coupled” or “responsive” or “in response to” or “in communication with”, etc. are used herein or in the claims that follow, these terms should be interpreted broadly. For example, the phrase “coupled to” may refer to being communicatively, electrically and/or operatively coupled as appropriate for the context in which the phrase is used.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the art to describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein, and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate such described devices (e.g., transmitters, receivers, wireless devices, computing platforms, computing devices, etc.) and/or methods into data processing systems. That is, at least a portion of the devices and/or methods described herein can be integrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amount of experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that a typical data processing system generally includes one or more of a system unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatile and non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digital signal processors, computational entities such as operating systems, drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one or more interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or control systems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback for sensing position and/or velocity; control motors for moving and/or adjusting components and/or quantities). A typical data processing system may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially available component, such as those typically found in data computing/-communication and/or network computing/communication systems.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components or elements contained within, or connected with, different other components or elements. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely examples, and that in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interacting components and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactable components.

With respect to the use of substantially any plural and/or singular terms herein, those having skill in the art can translate from the plural to the singular and/or from the singular to the plural as is appropriate to the context and/or application. The various singular/plural permutations may be expressly set forth herein for sake of clarity.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the terms “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both term's. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.