Wireless and Mobile Communication

(ECEg5307)
Chapter 4 : Mitigation Techniques

AASTU
Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering

12/25/2023 1
Outline
• Chapter 1 : Overview of Wireless and Mobile Communications
• Introduction
• Equalization Techniques
• Diversity Techniques
• Channel Coding

2
Introduction

Radio channel is dynamic because of multipath fading and

Doppler spread
•Fading cause the signal at the receiver to fade

How to improve link performance in hostile mobile

environment?
•Mitigation techniques: Channel equalization, diversity, spread
spectrum, interleaving, channel coding, …

3
Introduction

• Mobile radio channel is particularly dynamic due to

• Multipath fading + delay spread
• Doppler spread

• As a result, the channel has a strong negative impact on BER of any

modulation technique.
• To improve received signal quality in hostile mobile radio environment, we
need
• Equalization
• Diversity
• Channel coding, …
• Each can be used independently or in tandem

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Introduction- Equalization

• Equalization compensates for intersymbol interference (ISI) created by

multipath with time dispersive channels
• Recall that pulse shaping filters also compensate for ISI

• ISI is the result of frequency selective channel

• Can also be used for time selective channels

• Equalizers must be adaptive since the channel is generally unknown

and time varying
• Linear equalization vs. nonlinear equalization

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Introduction- Diversity

• Diversity compensates for flat fading channel impairments

• Is employed to reduce the depth and duration of the fades experienced by
a receiver
• Idea: Create independent (or at least highly uncorrelated) signal “channels”
for communication
• Kinds of diversity
• Spatial diversity
• Frequency diversity
• Time diversity
• Polarization diversity
• Spatial diversity: usually implemented by using two or more receiving
antennas
• Widely used than both time and frequency diversity

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Introduction- Channel Coding

• Channel Coding improves mobile communication link performance by

adding redundant data bits in the transmitted message

• Channel coding is used by the Rx to detect or correct some (or all) of

errors introduced by the channel in a particular sequence of message
bits (fading or noise)

• Examples: Block code and convolutional code

Baseband
Signal Channel Modulation
coding
Carrier

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Equalization – Fundamentals

• Mobile fading channel is random and time varying, so that equalizers

must take this time varying characteristics, and are also called
adaptive equalizers
• The term equalization can be used to describe any signal processing operation
that minimizes ISI

• Two operating modes for an adaptive equalizer are:

• Training
• Tracking

• Three factors affect the time span over which an equalizer converges:
• Equalizer algorithm, equalizer structure, and time rate of change of the multipath radio
channel

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Adaptive Equalization – Training Mode

• Initially, a known, fixed length training sequence (TS) is sent by the

transmitter so that the receiver’s equalizer may average to a proper setting
• TS is a pseudo random signal or a fixed, prescribed bit pattern
• Immediately following the TS, the user data is sent

• The TS is designed to permit an equalizer at the receiver to acquire the

proper filter coefficients in the worst possible channel conditions
• Therefore, when the training sequence is finished, the filter coefficients are
near optimal
• An adaptive equalizer at the receiver uses a recursive algorithm to
evaluate the channel and estimate filter coefficients to compensate for the
channel

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Adaptive Equalization – Tracking Mode

• When the data of the users are received, the adaptive algorithm of
the equalizer tracks the changing channel
• As a result of this, the adaptive equalizer continuously changes the
filter characteristics over time
• Equalizers are widely used in TDMA systems

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Equalization – Combating Multipath/delay Spread

• Think of multipath 1
propagation/delay spread as a set 2
of channels with different delay i Sender  Receiver
& attenuation, then adding signals 3
up at receiver 4
Channel
• Equalization tries to “undo” this
delay/summing up by introducing
additional delay terms & factors, 1 T1
complementary to the channel’s
2 T2
• Ideally, i + Ti = const Sender   Receiver
• i not known 3 T3
• Estimate factors by
periodically sending 4 T4
known training sequences Channel Equalizer
• Hence, determine Ti
Simplified 11
Equalization – Block Diagram

• Equalizer is usually implemented at baseband or at IF in a receiver

y(t)  x(t)  f (t)  n (t)

b
• f*(t): complex
conjugate of f(t)
• nb(t): baseband
noise at the input
of the equalizer
• heq(t): impulse
of the equalizer

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 Equalization

dˆ t   y t   heq t 
 xt   f  t   heq t   nb t   heq t 

 δ t 
 F   f   H eq  f   1
• An equalizer is actually an inverse filter of the channel
Ideal Equalizer
Loss [dB]

Equalized
Interconnect
Channel
f [GHz]

13 13
Equalization

F   f   H eq  f   1
• If the channel is frequency selective, the equalizer
• Enhances the frequency components with small amplitudes and
• Attenuates the strong frequencies in the received frequency response
• So as to provide
• Flat, composite, received frequency response and
• A linear phase response

• For a time varying channel, the equalizer is designed to track the

channel variations so that the above equation is approximately
satisfied

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Equalization

Generic Adaptive Equalizer – Basic Structure

• Transversal filter with N delay elements, N+1 taps, and N+1 tunable
complex weights

• Weights are updated continuously by an adaptive algorithm

• The adaptive algorithm is controlled by the error signal ek
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Equalization

Generic Adaptive Equalizer

• An adaptive equalizer is a time-varying filter which must constantly be
retuned
• In the block diagram
• The subscript k represents discrete time index
• There is a single input yk at any time instant
• The value of yk depends upon
• Instantaneous state of radio channel and specific value of noise
• The block diagram shown is called transversal filter, has N delay elements,
N+1 taps and N+1 tunable multipliers called weights
• The weights have second subscript k to show that they vary with time and
are updated on a sample by sample basis

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Equalization

Adaptive Equalization – Algorithm

• The error signal ek
• Controls the adaptive algorithm
• The error signal is derived by comparing the output of the equalizer with
some signal dk which is either
• Replica of transmitted signal xk or
• Which represents a known property of the transmitted signal
• ek is used to minimize a cost function and iteratively update equalizer
weights so as to reduce the cost function
• The Least Mean Square (MSE) algorithm searches for the optimum or near
optimum weight by
• Computing the error between the desired signal and the output of the equalizer and
minimizes it
• Most common cost function

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Equalization

Adaptive Equalization – Classification

• Performance measures for an algorithm
• Rate of convergence
• Mis-adjustment
• Computational complexity and numerical properties

• Factors that dominate the choice of an equalization structure and its algorithm
• The cost of computing platform
• The power budget
• The radio propagation characteristics

• Algorithms
• Zero Forcing (ZF)
• Least Mean Squares (LMS)
• Recursive least square (RLS)

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Equalization

Adaptive Equalization – Algorithms

The speed of the mobile unit determines the channel fading rate and the Dopper
spread
• Which is related to the coherent time of the channel directly
• The choice of algorithm, and its corresponding rate of convergence, depends on
the channel data rate and coherent time
• The number of taps used in the equalizer design depends on the maximum
expected time delay spread of the channel
• The circuit complexity and processing time increases with the number of taps and
delay elements

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Diversity

Diversity exploits the random nature of radio propagation by finding

independent (or at least highly uncorrelated) signal “channels or paths” for
communication
• Idea: “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket”

• In fading channels, a signal power will fall below any given fade margin at
finite probability exists
• Send copies of a signal using multiple channels
• Time, frequency, space, antenna
• If one radio path undergoes a deep fade, another independent path may
have a strong signal
• Assumption: Individual channels experience independent fading events

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Diversity

 By having more than one path to select from, SNR at a receiver may be
improved (by as much as 20 dB to 30 dB)
 Advantage: Diversity requires no training overhead
 It provides significant link improvement with little added cost
 Assume that we have M statistically independent channels
 This independence means that one channel’s fading does not influence, or is not
correlated with, another channel’s fading
 Examples: Using antenna (or space) diversity
 Microscopic diversity: Mitigates small-scale fading effects (deep fading)
 Macroscopic diversity: Reduces the large-scale fading (selecting different base
stations), can also be used for uplink
 Selecting an antenna which is not shadowed

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Diversity

Diversity - Type
 Time diversity
 Repeatedly transmits information at time spacing that exceed the
coherence time of the channel, e.g., interleaver
 Spreading the data out over time & better for fast fading channel
•

 Frequency diversity
 Transmits information on more than one carrier frequency
 Frequencies separated by more than the coherence bandwidth of the
channel will not experience the same fads (FDM)
 Also spread spectrum (spread the signal over a larger frequency
bandwidth) or OFDM (use multiple frequency carriers)

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Diversity

Diversity - Type
 Space diversity
 Transmit information on spatially uncorrelated channels
 Requires multiple antennas at transmitter and/or receiver
 Example: MIMO, SIMO, MISO, virtual antenna systems

 Multipath fading changes quickly over space

 Hence, the signal amplitude received on the different antennas can have a low
correlation coefficient

 The benefits of space diversity are no additional

 Signal needs to be transmitted (no reduction in data rate)
 Bandwidth is required

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Diversity

Diversity - Combining
• Combining: What to do with those independent signals once we get them?
• Reception methods of space diversity includes
1. Selection combining
2. Scanning or feedback combining
3. Maximal-ratio combining
4. Equal gain combining

 Let us see each of them assuming spatial diversity

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Diversity

Diversity - Selection Combining

 Selection combining/diversity
 The receiver branch, having the highest instantaneous SNR, is connected to the
demodulator
 The antenna signals themselves could be sampled and the best one sent to a single
demodulation
 Simple to implement but does not use all of the possible branches

>/2

Generalized receiver block diagram for selection diversity

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Diversity

Diversity – Scanning Diversity

 Scanning or feedback diversity
 Scanning all the signals in a fixed sequence until the one with SNR more than a
predetermined threshold is identified
 The best of M signals, is received until it falls below threshold and the scanning process is
again initiated
 Simple to implement, requires only one receiver

Basic form for

scanning diversity

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Diversity

Diversity – Scanning Diversity

• Performance for a single branch
 th  th 
Pr  i   th    p( i )d i   e d i  1  e  th /
1  i
0 0

• Performance for M branch selection diversity
Pr  1 , .... ,  M   th   (1  e th / ) M  PM ( th )

• The probability that at lease one of the channel not in fade

Pr  i   th   1  PM ( th )  1  (1  e  th / M
)
• E.g., assume two branches or links and selection combining. P(one link fails) =0.5,
then what is the probability that both links works? Ans: 0.25

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Diversity

Diversity Techniques – Examples

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Diversity

Diversity – Scanning Combining

 Graph of probability
distributions of
SNR= = th
threshold for M
branch selection
diversity
 The term 
represents the mean
Rule of
SNR on each branch diminishing
return

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Diversity

Diversity – Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC)

 Principle: “Combine all the signals from all of the M branches in a co-phased and
weighted manner so as to have the highest SNR at the receiver at all times”
 The control algorithms for setting the gains and phases for MRC are similar to
those required in equalizer
 Need time to converge & performance is as good as the channel

Maximal-ratio combiner
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Diversity

Diversity – Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC)

• Resulting signal envelope applied to the detector is

• Assume that all amplifiers have additive noise at their input and that the noise is
uncorrelated between different amplifiers
• Then, the total noise power NT applied to the detector is the weighted sum of the
noise in each branch, each branch has same noise power of N, then

• Which results in a SNR applied to the detector M

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Diversity

Diversity – Equal gain diversity

 Equal gain diversity
 The branch weights are all set to unity but the signals from each are co-phased to
provide equal gain combining diversity
 Co-phased signals and then add them together

 This allows the receiver to exploit signals that are simultaneously

received on each branch
 In certain cases, it is not convenient to provide for the variable weighting
capability as in MRC
 The probability of producing an acceptable signals from a number of
unacceptable inputs is still retained
 The performance is marginally inferior to maximal ratio combining and
superior to selection combining
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Diversity

Time Diversity – Interleaving

• Used to combat the effect of burst errors

Interleavers Channel Coding

• Types: Block interleaver or convolutional interleaver

Block interleaver where source bits are read into columns and out as n-bit rows 33
Diversity

Time Diversity – Interleaving

Time diversity: Uses a changing channel (due to mobility) at different times

• Example: Send same data at multiple different times
• However, this require multiple times the transmit power, and reduce data rate
(incurs additional latency)
• Latency depends on the application, e.g., voice is latency sensitive

• Time diversity is used in almost all common commercial systems in the

form of “interleaving”
• Interleaving: Takes an incoming coded bit stream and spreads the bits
across a transmitted packet in a known pattern
• So that a burst of (multiple sequential) coded bit errors caused by the channel are
spread across the packet by the interleaver

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Diversity

Time Diversity – Interleaving

• At the receiver, inverse interleaving operation is performed
• Error correction codes are more effective when errors are not
grouped together
• Block codes – At most one error per 6 or 7 received coded bits
• In general, coding methods correct a few out of each group of coded bits
received, but not more

• Drawback: Temporal correlation can be very long for most

applications, even for vehicular communications
• Packet retransmissions (e.g., TCP) can be viewed as time diversity

35
Diversity

Time Diversity – Interleaving

36
Diversity

Time Diversity – RAKE Receiver

• RAKE Receiver for CDMA with multipath channel

• An M-branch (M-finger) RAKE receiver implementation

• Each correlator detects a time shifted version of the original CDMA transmission
• Each finger of the RAKE correlates to a portion of the signal which is delayed by at
least one chip in time from the other finger

37
Diversity

Time Diversity – RAKE Receiver

• In DS-SS (direct sequence spreading), a rake receiver separates multipath
components from each other based on their differing time delays
• Hence, helps to achieves multipath diversity

• If one time delay group fades, another time delay group may not fade
• Advantage (compared to space diversity)
• The “fingers” of the rake receiver do not require different RF chains
• Beneficial when the multipath channel is the worst, for example, in urban areas, or in
mountain canyons

• Disadvantage of DS-SS
• Large frequency band required – for example, 20 MHz for 802.11b, or 1.25 MHz for
IS-95 (cellular CDMA)
• Significant computational complexity in the receiver

38
Diversity

Diversity Techniques – Polarization Diversity

It uses two antennas with different polarizations
• Reflection coefficients are different for horizontal and vertically polarized
components of the signal
• One polarized signal is nearly uncorrelated with the other polarized signal
• Advantages: The two antennas don’t need to be spaced /2 apart; hence
possible to implement on a mobile device
• Can be combined with space diversity to further reduce the correlation
coefficient b/n signal received at two antennas
• Polarization diversity doesn’t require additional bandwidth or signal
transmission from the transmitter
• Like space diversity

39
Diversity

Diversity Techniques – Polarization Diversity

• Disadvantage: There can be only two channels
• Vertical and horizontal
• Or right-hand and left-hand circular polarizations
• It may require two receiver RF chains (again, unless a scanning
combiner is used)

40
Channel Coding

• Mainly for error control and classified as block or convolutional codes

• Block Codes, examples

• Forward error correction (FEC) codes
• Hamming Codes
• Hadamard Codes
• Golay Codes
• Cyclic Codes
• BCH cyclic
• Reed-Solomon Codes
• Convolutional code

41
Channel Coding

• Trellis Coded Modulation: Combines both coding and modulation

42
Conclusion

• Equalizers attempt to make the discrete time impulse response of the

channel ideal
• Channels act as filters that cause both amplitude and phase distortion of
signals
• Transmitters and receivers can be designed as filters to compensate
for non-ideal channel behavior
• Training sequences can be used to adapt equalizer weights
• Multiple techniques are available for setting filter tap weights
• Zero forcing
• Least mean squares
• Recursive least squares

43
Conclusion

• Diversity is one technique to combat fading in wireless channel

• Time diversity: Used when channels spacing is greater than the
coherence time of the channel
• Repeating transmission in time correlated channel brings little advantage
• Good with fast fading channels
• Frequency diversity: used when channels frequency separation is
greater than the coherence bandwidth of the channel
• Spatial diversity requires multiple antennas
• E.g., MIMO and virtual antenna systems

• Channel coding is mainly used for error control

44
Conclusion

• Diversity is one technique to combat fading in wireless channel

• Time diversity: Used when channels spacing is greater than the
coherence time of the channel
• Repeating transmission in time correlated channel brings little advantage
• Good with fast fading channels
• Frequency diversity: used when channels frequency separation is
greater than the coherence bandwidth of the channel
• Spatial diversity requires multiple antennas
• E.g., MIMO and virtual antenna systems

• Channel coding is mainly used for error control

45
 Conclusion

Flat Frequency selective

DIVERSITY
Slow EQUALIZATION
CODING + INTERLEAVER

DIVERSITY DIVERSITY
Fast
CODING + INTERLEAVER CODING + INTERLEAVER

46
Last Slide

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