Wireless Channel Parameter Estimation Algorithms: Recent Advances and Future Challenges

Temporal and three-dimensional(3 D) spatial information is important for the characterization of wireless channels. In this paper, the commonly used array signal processing(ASP) methods to estimate channel parameters are summarized. Firstly, algorithms that can be used to estimate azimuth angle of arrival(AAo A) and elevation Ao A(EAo A) are introduced. They include multiple signal classification(MUSIC), estimation of signal parameter via rotational invariance techniques(ESPRIT), and Unitary ESPRIT algorithms. Secondly, algorithms that can be used to jointly estimate delay, AAo A, and EAo A are given. They include joint angle and delay estimation(JADE) MUSIC, JADE ESPRIT, shift-invariance(SI) JADE, and space-alternating generalized expectation-maximization(SAGE) algorithms. We also propose an improved SIJADE algorithm to further reduce computation complexity by incorporating with the Unitary ESPRIT algorithm. Performance of the above algorithms to extract only spatial information and to jointly extract temporal and spatial information is compared in both synthetic and 60 GHz real channel environments. Simulation results show that with the inclusion of delay estimation, the joint temporal and spatial estimation algorithms can provide better resolution than algorithms estimating only angles.Measurement data processing results show that MUSIC algorithm can provide comparable results with SAGE algorithm in estimating AAoA and EAoA. SI-JADE and the improved SI-JADE algorithms are also applicable to process 60 GHz channel measurement data.However, MUSIC, SI-JADE, and the improved SI-JADE algorithms can greatly reduce computational burden compared with SAGE algorithm. At last, some future directions are pointed out.

Neighbor-Aware Multiple Access Protocol for 5G m MTC Applications

In order to support massive Machine Type Communication(mMTC) applications in future Fifth Generation(5G) systems,a key technical challenge is to design a highly effective multiple access protocol for massive connection requests and huge traffic load from all kinds of smart devices,e.g.bike,watch,phone,ring,glasses,shoes,etc..To solve this hard problem in distributed scenarios with massive competing devices,this paper proposes and evaluates a Neighbor-Aware Multiple Access(NAMA) protocol,which is scalable and adaptive to different connectivity size and traffic load.By exploiting acknowledgement signals broadcasted from the neighboring devices with successful packet transmissions,NAMA is able to turn itself from a contention-based random access protocol to become a contention-free deterministic access protocol with particular transmission schedules for all neighboring devices after a short transition period.The performance of NAMA is fully evaluated from random state to deterministic state through extensive computer simulations under different network sizes and Contention Window(CW)settings.Compared with traditional IEEE802.11 Distributed Coordination Function(DCF),for a crowded network with 50 devices,NAMA can greatly improve system throughput and energy efficiency by more than 110%and210%,respectively,while reducing average access delay by 53%in the deterministic state.

Energy efficiency and area spectral efficiency tradeoff for coexisting wireless body sensor networks

The coexistence of wireless body sensor networks(WBSNs) is a very challenging problem, due to strong interference, which seriously affects energy consumption and spectral reuse. The energy efficiency and spectral efficiency are two key performance evaluation metrics for wireless communication networks. In this paper, the fundamental tradeoff between energy efficiency and area spectral efficiency of WBSNs is first investigated under the Poisson point process(PPP) model and Matern hard-core point process(HCPP) model using stochastic geometry. The circuit power consumption is taken into consideration in energy efficiency calculation. The tradeoff judgement coefficient is developed and is shown to serve as a promising complementary measure. In addition, this paper proposes a new nearest neighbour distance power control strategy to improve energy efficiency. We show that there exists an optimal transmit power highly dependant on the density of WBSNs and the nearest neighbour distance. Some important properties are also addressed in the analysis of coexisting WBSNs based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, such as the impact of intensity nodes distribution,optimal guard zone, and outage probability. Simulation results show that the proposed power control design can reduce the outage probability and enhance energy efficiency. Energy efficiency and area spectral efficiency of the HCPP model are better than those of the PPP model. In addition, the optimal density of WBSNs coexistence is obtained.

Dielectric and Electrical Transport Properties of the Fe^(3+)-doped CaCu_3Ti_4O_(12)

CaCu（3-x）FexTi4O（12）（x=0, 0.015, 0.03, 0.045, 0.06） ceramics were synthesized by sol-gel method. The electrical conduction and dielectric measurements show that the doping of a very small amount of Fe（3＋） ions greatly reduces the low-frequency dielectric constants and leakage, and enhances grain resistivity. For the doped samples, the appearance of the strong low-frequency peaks in the spectra of dielectric loss confirms that the doping of Fe（3＋） ions induces the contact-electrode effect on ceramic surface. These great changes of electrical properties may originate from the reduced amount of oxygen vacancies by doping Fe（3＋）

A review: Challenges and opportunities for artificial intelligence and robotics in the offshore wind sector

The UK has set plans to increase offshore wind capacity from 22GW to 154GW by 2030. With such tremendous growth, the sector is now looking to Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (RAI) in order to tackle lifecycle service barriers as to support sustainable and profitable offshore wind energy production. Today, RAI applications are predominately being used to support short term objectives in operation and maintenance. However, moving forward, RAI has the potential to play a critical role throughout the full lifecycle of offshore wind infrastructure, from surveying, planning, design, logistics, operational support, training and decommissioning. This paper presents one of the first systematic reviews of RAI for the offshore renewable energy sector. The state-of-the-art in RAI is analyzed with respect to offshore energy requirements, from both industry and academia, in terms of current and future requirements. Our review also includes a detailed evaluation of investment, regulation and skills development required to support the adoption of RAI. The key trends identified through a detailed analysis of patent and academic publication databases provide insights to barriers such as certification of autonomous platforms for safety compliance and reliability, the need for digital architectures for scalability in autonomous fleets, adaptive mission planning for resilient resident operations and optimization of human machine interaction for trusted partnerships between people and autonomous assistants. Our study concludes with identification of technological priorities and outlines their integration into a new ‘symbiotic digital architecture’ to deliver the future of offshore wind farm lifecycle management.

高铁隧道无线通信系统中的信道测量与建模综述

高铁的迅速发展为现有的高铁无线通信系统带来了一些新的挑战.一个准确描述隧道信道特性的信道模型,对高铁通信系统的设计和评估意义重大.由于隧道狭长的空间、隧道本身的边界性以及产生的波导效应等,高铁隧道中的信道特性不同于其他的高铁场景.此外,隧道信道的一些特性目前还没有被充分地研究.因此,考虑大尺度和小尺度衰落特性的准确的隧道信道模型是十分必要和重要的.本文全面地综述了已开展的隧道信道测量及采用不同方法建模的隧道信道模型,讨论了未来高铁隧道信道测量及建模的一些研究方向.