Minimum-variance unbiased estimator (MVUE)

As discussed in the introduction to estimation theory, the goal of an estimation algorithm is to give an estimate of random variable(s) that is unbiased and has minimum variance. This criteria is reproduced here for reference In the above equations f0 is the transmitted carrier frequency and is the estimated frequency based on a set … Read more

MPSK modulation: simulate in Matlab & Python

A generic complex baseband simulation technique, to simulate all M-ary phase shift keying (M-PSK) modulation techniques is given here. The given simulation code is very generic, and it plots both simulated and theoretical symbol error rates for all MPSK modulation techniques. M-ary phase shift keying (M-PSK) modulation In phase shift keying, all the information gets … Read more

Derive BPSK BER – optimum receiver in AWGN channel

Key focus: Derive BPSK BER (bit error rate) for optimum receiver in AWGN channel. Explained intuitively step by step. BPSK modulation is the simplest of all the M-PSK techniques. An insight into the derivation of error rate performance of an optimum BPSK receiver is essential as it serves as a stepping stone to understand the … Read more

Q function and Error functions : demystified

In simple words, The Q-function gives the probability that a random variable from a normal distribution will exceed a certain threshold value. The erf function gives the probability that a normally distributed variable will fall within a certain range. Q function Q functions are often encountered in the theoretical equations for Bit Error Rate (BER) … Read more

Estimation Theory : an introduction

Key focus: Understand the basics of estimation theory with a simple example in communication systems. Know how to assess the performance of an estimator. A simple estimation problem : DSB-AM receiver In Double Side Band – Amplitude Modulation (DSB-AM), the desired message is amplitude modulated over a carrier of frequency f0. The following discussion is … Read more

Derivation of expression for a Gaussian Filter with 3 dB bandwidth

In GMSK modulation (used in GSM and DECT standard), a GMSK signal is generated by shaping the information bits in NRZ format through a Gaussian Filter. The filtered pulses are then frequency modulated to yield the GMSK signal. GMSK modulation is quite insensitive to non-linearities of power amplifier and is robust to fading effects. But … Read more

Sampling Theorem – Bandpass or Intermediate or Under Sampling

Prerequisite: Sampling theorem – baseband sampling Intermediate Sampling or Under-Sampling A signal is a bandpass signal if we can fit all its frequency content inside a bandwidth . Bandwidth is simply the difference between the lowest and the highest frequency present in the signal. “In order for a faithful reproduction and reconstruction of a bandpass … Read more

Sampling Theorem – Baseband Sampling

For Matlab demo of sampling see here. “Nyquist-Shannon Sampling Theorem” is the fundamental base over which all the digital processing techniques are built. Processing a signal in digital domain gives several advantages (like immunity to temperature drift, accuracy, predictability, ease of design, ease of implementation etc..,) over analog domain processing. Analog to Digital conversion: In … Read more

OFDM simulation – performance in AWGN channel

Goal: Simulate discrete-time cyclic-prefixed OFDM communication system. Explain role of IFFT/FFT, cyclic prefix. Simulate M-QPSK / M-QAM based cyclic prefixed OFDM over AWGN channel. Discrete-time implementation of baseband CP-OFDM The schematic diagram of a simplified cyclic-prefixed OFDM (CP-OFDM) data transmission system is shown in Figure 1. The basic parameter to describe an OFDM system is … Read more

Introduction to OFDM – orthogonal Frequency division multiplexing – part 4 – Cyclic Prefix

Consider a non-ideal channel h(t)≠δ(t), that causes delay dispersion. Delay dispersion manifests itself as Inter Symbol Interference (ISI)on each subcarrier channel due to pulse overlapping. It will also cause ICC (Inter Carrier Interference ) due to the non-orthogonality of the received signal. Adding cyclic prefix to each OFDM symbol mitigates the problems of ISI and … Read more