Skip to main content
  • Research Article
  • Open access
  • Published:

Wideband Impulse Modulation and Receiver Algorithms for Multiuser Power Line Communications

Abstract

We consider a bit-interleaved coded wideband impulse-modulated system for power line communications. Impulse modulation is combined with direct-sequence code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) to obtain a form of orthogonal modulation and to multiplex the users. We focus on the receiver signal processing algorithms and derive a maximum likelihood frequency-domain detector that takes into account the presence of impulse noise as well as the intercode interference (ICI) and the multiple-access interference (MAI) that are generated by the frequency-selective power line channel. To reduce complexity, we propose several simplified frequency-domain receiver algorithms with different complexity and performance. We address the problem of the practical estimation of the channel frequency response as well as the estimation of the correlation of the ICI-MAI-plus-noise that is needed in the detection metric. To improve the estimators performance, a simple hard feedback from the channel decoder is also used. Simulation results show that the scheme provides robust performance as a result of spreading the symbol energy both in frequency (through the wideband pulse) and in time (through the spreading code and the bit-interleaved convolutional code).

References

  1. Biglieri E: Coding and modulation for a horrible channel. IEEE Communications Magazine 2003,41(5):92-98. 10.1109/MCOM.2003.1200107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Tonello AM, Rinaldo R, Scarel L: Detection algorithms for wide band impulse modulation based systems over power line channels. Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Power-Line Communications and Its Applications (ISPLC '04), March-April 2004, Zaragoza, Spain 367–372.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Tonello AM, Rinaldo R, Bellin M: Synchronization and channel estimation for wide band impulse modulation over power line channels. Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Power-Line Communications and Its Applications (ISPLC '04), March-April 2004, Zaragoza, Spain 206–211.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Mathisen G, Tonello AM: Wirenet: an experimental system for in-house powerline communication. Proceedings of International Symposium on Power-Line Communications and Its Applications (ISPLC '06), March 2006, Orlando, Fla, USA 137–142.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Win MZ, Scholtz RA: Impulse radio: how it works. IEEE Communications Letters 1998,2(2):36-38. 10.1109/4234.660796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Durisi G, Benedetto S: Performance evaluation and comparison of different modulation schemes for UWB multiaccess systems. Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC '03), May 2003, Anchorage, Alaska, USA 3: 2187–2191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Choi JD, Stark WE: Performance of ultra-wideband communications with suboptimal receivers in multipath channels. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications 2002,20(9):1754-1766. 10.1109/JSAC.2002.805623

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Zimmermann M, Dostert K: A multipath model for the powerline channel. IEEE Transactions on Communications 2002,50(4):553-559. 10.1109/26.996069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Zimmermann M, Dostert K: An analysis of the broadband noise scenario in power-line networks. Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Power-Line Communications and Its Applications (ISPLC '00), April 2000, Limerick, Ireland 131–138.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Tonello AM, Rinaldo R: A time-frequency domain approach to synchronization, channel estimation, and detection for DS-CDMA impulse-radio systems. IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications 2005,4(6):3018-3030.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Tonello AM: An impulse modulation based PLC system with frequency domain receiver processing. Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Power-Line Communications and Its Applications (ISPLC '05), April 2005, Vancouver, Canada 241–245.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Tonello AM: A wide band modem based on impulse modulation and frequency domain signal processing for powerline communication. Proceedings of the 49th Annual IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference (GLOBECOM '06), November-December 2006, San Francisco, Calif, USA

    Google Scholar 

  13. Win MZ, Scholtz RA: Characterization of ultra-wide bandwidth wireless indoor channels: a communication-theoretic view. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications 2002,20(9):1613-1627. 10.1109/JSAC.2002.805031

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lottici V, D'Andrea A, Mengali U: Channel estimation for ultra-wideband communications. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications 2002,20(9):1638-1645. 10.1109/JSAC.2002.805053

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Clark MV: Adaptive frequency-domain equalization and diversity combining for broadband wireless communications. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications 1998,16(8):1385–1395. 10.1109/49.730448

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Bingham JAC: Multicarrier modulation for data transmission: an idea whose time has come. IEEE Communications Magazine 1990,28(5):5-14. 10.1109/35.54342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lee MK, Newman RE, Latchman HA, Katar S, Yonge L: HomePlug 1.0 powerline communication LANs-protocol description and performance results. International Journal of Communication Systems 2003,16(5):447-473. 10.1002/dac.601

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Proakis JG: Digital Communications. 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, USA; 1995.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  19. Luschi C, Sandell M, Strauch P, et al.: Advanced signal-processing algorithms for energy-efficient wireless communications. Proceedings of the IEEE 2000,88(10):1633-1650. 10.1109/5.889000

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Middleton D: Statistical-physical models of electromagnetic interference. IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility 1977,19(3):106-127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Blum RS, Zhang Y, Sadler BM, Kozick RJ: On the approximation of correlated non-Gaussian noise pdfs using Gaussian mixture models. Proceedings of the 1st Conference on the Applications of Heavy Tailed Distributions in Economics, Engineering, and Statistics, June 1999, Washington, DC, USA

    Google Scholar 

  22. Dai H, Poor HV: Advanced signal processing for power line communications. IEEE Communications Magazine 2003,41(5):100-107. 10.1109/MCOM.2003.1200108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Nakagawa H, Umehara D, Denno S, Morihiro Y: A decoding for low density parity check codes over impulse noise channels. Proceedings of the 9th International Symposium on Power-Line Communications and Its Applications (ISPLC '05), April 2005, Vancouver, Canada 85–89.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Pighi R, Franceschini M, Ferrari G, Raheli R: Fundamental performance limits for PLC systems impaired by impulse noise. Proceedings of International Symposium on Power-Line Communications and Its Applications (ISPLC '06), March 2006, Orlando, Fla, USA 277–282.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Ungerboeck G: Adaptive maximum-likelihood receiver for carrier-modulated data-transmission systems. IEEE Transactions on Communications 1974,22(5):624-636. 10.1109/TCOM.1974.1092267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Buehrer RM, Kaul A, Striglis S, Woerner BD: Analysis of DS-CDMA parallel interference cancellation with phase and timing errors. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications 1996,14(8):1522-1535. 10.1109/49.539406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Tonello AM, Pecile F: Synchronization for multiuser wide band impulse modulation systems in power line channels with unstationary noise. Proceedings of International Symposium on Power-Line Communications and Its Applications (ISPLC '07), March 2007, Pisa, Italy

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea M. Tonello.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License (https://doi.org/creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tonello, A.M. Wideband Impulse Modulation and Receiver Algorithms for Multiuser Power Line Communications. EURASIP J. Adv. Signal Process. 2007, 096747 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/96747

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1155/2007/96747

Keywords