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For a high-resolution radar, an extended target is characterized by a few main scatterers spread over several range gates not necessarily consecutive. The joint detections and localizations of these scatterers are of particular interest in order to estimate the range profile and identify the target. In this paper, we study a detector based on the Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test considering the unknown locations of the scatterers. Given the number of scatterers and using order statistics results, we derive approximations of the probability of false alarm and the probability of detection and localization which can be a relevant measure of performance in this context. Finally, a comparative study is carried out with other existing detectors.

When using Bayesian estimation techniques for target tracking, the algorithm accuracy is induced by the choice of the system evolution model. Information on the type of target and its maneuver capability can then be helpful to choose relevant motion models. Joint tracking and classification (JTC) methods based on target features have thus been introduced. Among them, we recently proposed to take into account the target extent measurements for single-target tracking. In this paper, we extend this work to multi-target tracking (MTT) by using probability hypothesis density (PHD) filters. More precisely, assuming that each target class is characterized by its own kinematic-model set, a multiple-model (MM) PHD filter is used for each class. State estimates from each class are then combined by using class probabilities. Finally, the proposed approach, namely a multiclass MM-GMPHD, is applied to maritime-target tracking and simulation results show the relevance of the proposed approach regarding the tracking of various types of targets.

This paper deals with the identification of a nonlinear SISO system modelled by a second-order Volterra series expansion when both the input and the output are disturbed by additive white Gaussian noises. Two methods are proposed. Firstly, we present an unbiased on-line approach based on the LMS. It includes a bias correction scheme which requires the variance of the input additive noise. Secondly, we suggest solving the identification problem as an errors-in-variables issue, by means of the so-called Frisch scheme. Although its computational cost is high, this approach has the advantage of estimating the Volterra kernels and the variances of both the additive noises and the input signal, even if the signal-to-noise ratios at the input and the output are low.

A great deal of interest has been paid to autoregressive parameter estimation in the noise-free case or when the observation data are disturbed by random noise. Tracking time-varying autoregressive (TVAR) parameters has been also discussed, but few papers deal with this issue when there is an additive zero-mean white Gaussian measurement noise. In this paper, one considers deterministic regression methods (or evolutive methods) where the TVAR parameters are assumed to be weighted combinations of basis functions. However, the additive white measurement noise leads to a weight-estimation bias when standard least squares methods are used. Therefore, we propose two alternative blind off-line methods that allow both the variance of the additive noise and the weights to be estimated. The first one is based on the errors-in-variable issue whereas the second consists in viewing the estimation issue as a generalized eigenvalue problem. A comparative study with other existing methods confirms the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

In an uplink transmission of a coded orthogonal frequency division multiple access (C-OFDMA) system, channel estimation, time and frequency synchronization has to be addressed. For this purpose a control data, i.e. a known training sequence called "preamble" and pilot sub-carriers are used. As an alternative to the classic scheme and in order to maximize the data rate, we propose a non-pilot aided estimator based on an iterative architecture that does not require pilot sub-carriers. Our approach combines 1/ the so-called minimum mean square error successive detector to estimate the signal sent by each user 2/ a recursive method estimating the CFOs. Various algorithms such as the extended Kalman filter, the sigma-point Kalman filters and the extended H ? filter are tested and their performances are compared in terms of convergence speed and estimation accuracy. When considering an interleaved OFDMA uplink system over a Rayleigh fading channel, simulation results clearly show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in terms of CFO estimation and bit error rate performances.

We propose a new estimation method for the characterization of the Hodgkin-Huxley formalism. This method is an alternative technique to the classical estimation methods associated with voltage clamp measurements. It uses voltage clamp type recordings, but is based on the differential evolution algorithm. The parameters of an ionic channel are estimated simultaneously, such that the usual approximations of classical methods are avoided and all the parameters of the model, including the time constant, can be correctly optimized. In a second step, this new estimation technique is applied to the automated tuning of neuromimetic analog integrated circuits designed by our research group. We present a tuning example of a fast spiking neuron, which reproduces the frequency-current characteristics of the reference data, as well as the membrane voltage behavior. The final goal of this tuning is to interconnect neuromimetic chips as neural networks, with specific cellular properties, for future theoretical studies in neuroscience.

This paper deals with the joint estimation of Rayleigh fading channels and symbols in a MC-DS-CDMA system. Formerly, particle filtering has been introduced as a set of promising methods to solve communication problems. PF consists in simulating possible values of the unkwnown parameters and selecting the most likely candidates with regard to the received signal. Here, the Rao-Blackwellized particle filter (RBPF) is used to significantly decrease the variance of the channel/symbol estimates. Our contribution is twofold. Firstly, sinusoidal stochastic models have been shown to better represent the statistical properties of Rayleigh channels than classical autoregressive models. Therefore, the proposed RBPF estimator is based on these models which are expressed as the sum of two sinusoids in quadrature at the maximum Doppler frequency with autoregressive processes as amplitudes. The model parameters are unknown and need to be estimated. Since PFs are not well-suited to recover non-varying parameters, we propose to cross-couple the RBPF with a Kalman filter which makes use of the RBPF ouputs to sequentially update the parameters. Secondly, the choice of an efficient proposal distribution to simulate the particles is crucial for PF performance. We suggest using a suboptimal distribution which simulates likely values of the symbols at a reasonable computational cost.

The paper deals with the design of Rayleigh fading channel simulators based on the inner-outer factorization. The core of the approach is to approximate the outer spectral factor of the channel power spectral density (PSD) by either finite-order polynomials or rational functions. This, respectively, leads to MA or AR/ARMA models. The parameter estimation operates in two steps: the outer factor, which leads to a minimum-phase filter, is first evaluated inside the unit disk of the z-plane. Then, we propose to compute the Taylor expansion coefficients of the outer factor because they coincide with the model parameters. Unlike other simulation techniques, this has the advantage that the first p parameters remain unchanged when one increases the model order from p to p+1. A comparative study with existing channel simulation approaches points out the relevance of our ARMA model-based method. Moreover, the ARMA model weakens the oscillatory deviations from the theoretical PSD in the case of AR models, or low peaks at the Doppler frequencies for MA models.

This letter deals with a new Rayleigh channel simulator. In many cases, the channel is modeled by an autoregressive process, but this choice is not well suited due to the band limitation of the theoretical Rayleigh channel power spectrum density. Therefore, we suggest using a low-pass filtered version of the so-called stochastic sinusoidal process. It consists of sinusoids in quadrature with random magnitudes modeled by autoregressive processes. Unlike the autoregressive channel modeling, this simulator has the advantage of exhibiting the power spectrum density (PSD) peaks at the maximum Doppler frequency. Since estimating the autoregressive parameters of the amplitudes directly using a matrix approach from the theoretical Rayleigh channel autocorrelation leads to numerical errors, we propose two alternative methods using either the asymptotic behavior of the Bessel function or genetic algorithms.

This paper deals with the joint signal and parameter estimation for linear state-space models. An efficient solution to this problem can be obtained by using a recursive instrumental variable technique based on two dual Kalman filters. In that case, the driving process and the observation noise in the state-space representation for each filter must be white with known variances. These conditions, however, are too strong to be always satisfied in real cases. To relax them, we propose a new approach based on two dual Hinfin filters. Once a new observation of the disturbed signal is available, the first Hinfin algorithm uses the latest estimated parameters to estimate the signal, while the second Hinfin algorithm uses the estimated signal to update the parameters. In addition, as the Hinfin filter behavior depends on the choice of various weights, we present a way to recursively tune them. This approach is then studied in the following cases: (1) consistent estimation of the AR parameters from noisy observations and (2) speech enhancement, where no a priori model of the additive noise is required for the proposed approach. In each case, a comparative study with existing methods is carried out to analyze the relevance of our solution.

This work aims at improving the power amplifier (PA) efficiency in uplink OFDM-based cognitive radio (CR) communications. Unlike the traditional approaches, we suggest transmitting a non-linearily ampliied signal without any il-tering and addressing the OFDM sample estimation from the distorted signal at the receiver. The proposed post-distortion and detection technique is based on a Volterra model for the PA and the channel. As the transmission can switch from one sub-band to another, the CR-PA behavior varies over time and the Volterra kernels can be constant or suddenly change. Therefore, an interactive multiple model (IMM) combining extended Kalman filters is considered. The transition probability matrix, which plays a key role in the IMM, is also sequentially estimated. The resulting uplink system has various advantages: it learns from the observations and a part of the computational load is exported to the receiver, which is not battery driven unlike the mobile terminal.

Dirichlet process (DP) mixtures were recently introduced to deal with switching linear dynamical models (SLDM). They assume the system can switch between an a priori infinite number of state-space representations (SSR) whose parameters are on-line inferred. The estimation problem can thus be of high dimension when the SSR matrices are unknown. Nevertheless, in many applications, the SSRs can be categorized in different classes. In each class, the SSRs are characterized by a known functional form but differ by a reduced set of unknown hyperparameters. To use this information, we thus propose a new hierarchical model for the SLDM wherein a discrete variable indicates the SSR class. Conditionally to this class, the distributions of the hyperparameters are modeled by DPs. The estimation problem is solved by using a Rao-Blackwellized particle filter. Simulation results show that our model outperforms existing methods in the field of target tracking.

International audience; In the field of cognitive radio (CR), radio frequency (RF) transceivers must be efficient to save the terminal battery autonomy. Therefore, when designing the CR power amplifier (CR-PA), an obvious objective is to optimize efficiency over a large bandwidth. As a consequence, the CR-PA operates in its non-linear region and then frequency-dependent distortions are generated. This issue is all the more critical as one deals with high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) like those of OFDM signals. In this paper, we develop a digital post-distortion and detection technique in order to compensate the non-linearities generated by the CR-PA. It is based on a dynamic Volterra model to take into account the non-linear behavior of the CR-PA. The key feature of the proposed technique is the joint estimations of the model parameters and the CR-PA input samples. For this reason, an extended Kalman filter (EKF) is considered. However, as the model parameters can vary over time, several EKFs are combined by means of an interacting multiple model (IMM) algorithm. Simulation results confirm the relevance of the proposed postdistortion and detection technique.

This paper presents a spectrum-based method to estimate the integral non-linearity (INL) of an analog-to-digital converter. It relies on a previous work published in the literature that consists in expanding in Fourier series the analytical expression of a converter distorted signal output. The INL estimation process is then reduced to three operations: a discrete Fourier transform (DFT), a matrix inversion and an inverse DFT. In comparison with the initial approach, the algorithm proposed in this article reduces by two the set of parameters required to obtain the INL. This new method is validated on experimental data from the 12-bit ADC12D800RF converter run at 800MHz.

International audience; This paper deals with digital post-distortion for radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers (PAs) used in cognitive radio (CR) systems. This technique is based on a new approach modelling the PA behavior. The latter characterizes not only the PA non-linearities and memory effects but also its highly-varying behavior with carrier frequency in CR context. Given this modelling, a Kalman algorithm based post-distortion and detection is used to compensate the CR-PA non-linear effect and restore the input signal. This method is suitable for uplink communications in CR context because it saves the consumed power at the transmitter. Finally, this on-line technique does not require known test signals to estimate the PA model parameters.

Autoregressive (AR) models are used in various applications, from speech processing to radar signal analysis. In this paper, our purpose is to extract different model subsets from a set of two or more AR models. The approach operates with the following steps: firstly the matrix composed of dissimilarity measures between AR-model pairs are created. This can be based on the symmetric Itakura divergence, the symmetric Itakura-Saito divergence, the log-spectral distance or Jeffrey's divergence (JD), which corresponds to the symmetric version of the Kullback-Leibler divergence. These matrices are then transformed to get the same properties as correlation matrices. Eigenvalue decompositions are performed to get the number of AR-model subsets and the estimations of their cardinals. Finally, K-means are used for classification. A comparative study points out the relevance of the JD-based method. Illustrations with sea radar clutter are also provided.

This paper deals with a phase-coded waveform which combines two binary phase codes, each impacting on specific properties of the radar receiving channel. After giving a detailed analysis of the expression of the received signal after processing when the Gaussian clutter is modeled by a pth-order autoregressive process, we focus our attention on the choice of the two phase codes: one aims at increasing the unambiguous range whereas the other is chosen by taking into account several criteria such as the detection performance. For this purpose, we suggest determining the Pareto fronts of 1st, 2nd and 3rd orders by means of an exhaustive search. Given the three Pareto fronts for different types of clutters simulated by making the AR parameters vary, we provide an automatic way to determine, before embedding it, the most robust phase codes using a fuzzy logic operator.

This paper deals with the identification of an autoregressive (AR) process disturbed by an additive moving-average (MA) noise. Our approach operates as follows: Firstly, the AR parameters are estimated by using the overdetermined high-order Yule–Walker equations. The variance of the AR process driving process can be deduced by means of an orthogonal projection between two types of estimates of AR process correlation vectors. Then, the correlation sequence of the MA noise is estimated. Secondly, the MA parameters are obtained by using inner–outer factorization. To study the relevance of the resulting method, we compare it with existing algorithms, and we analyze the identifiability limits. The identification approach is then combined with Kalman filtering for channel estimation in mobile communication systems.

In this paper, we propose to address the moving average (MA) parameters estimation issue based only on noisy observations and without any knowledge on the variance of the additive stationary white Gaussian measurement noise. For this purpose, the MA process is approximated by a high-order AR process and its parameters are estimated by using an errors-in-variables (EIV) approach, which also makes it possible to derive the variances of both the driving process and the additive white noise. The method is based on the Frisch scheme. One of the main difficulties in this case is to evaluate the minimal AR-process order that must be considered to have a 'good' approximation of the MA process. To this end, we propose a way based on K-means method. Simulation results of the proposed method are presented and compared to existing MA-parameter estimation approaches.

Optimal filters such as Kalman filters are used in a wide range of applications from speech enhancement to biomedical applications. They are based on an a priori state-space model describing a dynamic system. If this model is not well-suited, the accuracy of the state vector may be poor. Therefore, several estimators based on different models can be combined. However, state-space models that are dissimilar enough must be chosen. To our knowledge, there are no guidelines to select them, we hence address this issue in this paper. Given an initial model set, our aim is to determine subsets of similar models by using Jeffrey?s divergence between the distributions of the state-vector time paths based on the different models. Our approach operates with the following steps: the so-called dissimilarity matrix composed of Jeffrey?s divergences between model pairs is created. Then, this matrix is transformed to get the same properties as a correlation matrix and an eigenvalue decomposition is performed. Subsequently, we propose an interpretation of the predominant eigenvalues which is then used to deduce the number of model subsets and their cardinals. A classification algorithm can then be considered to determine which models belong to which subsets. HighlightsWe propose to compare two state models by using the Jeffrey's divergence (JD).We generalize the above approach to determine subsets in an initial model set.The eigenvalues decomposition is then interpreted to deduce the number of model subsets.Then, a classification algorithm can be used to determine which model belongs to which subset.The method is more particularly applied to a toy example and to tracking.

The estimation of the parameters of an autoregressive process (AR) from noisy observations is still a challenging problem. In this paper, we propose to sequentially estimate both the signal and the parameters, avoiding a non-linear approach such as the extended Kalman filter. The method is based on two conditionally linked Kalman filters running in parallel. Once a new observation is available, the first filter uses the latest estimated AR parameters to estimate the signal, while the second filter uses the estimated signal to update the AR parameters. This approach can be viewed as a recursive instrumental variable-based method and hence has the advantage of providing consistent estimates of the parameters from noisy observations. A comparative study with existing algorithms illustrates the performances of the proposed method when the additive noise is either white or coloured.

When enhancing a speech signal using a single microphone system, various approaches based on an autoregressive speech model are referenced in the literature. Using a Kalman filter, they operate in two steps: (1) the noise variances and the autoregressive parameters are estimated, (2) the speech signal is retrieved using standard Kalman filtering. However the existing methods are usually iterative and a voice activity detector (VAD) is often required to find the silent frames for the estimation of the variance of the white noise. To avoid these drawbacks, we propose to consider Kalman filter-based speech enhancement as a realisation issue, i.e. as the estimation of the system matrices in the state space representation using the estimation of the correlation function of the observations. For this purpose, we first present various solutions, based on works initially developed in the field of identification by Van Overschee et al. and Verhaegen. Their non-iterative extensions to coloured noise are also addressed and used with car noise. In the second part of the paper we propose an alternative approach based on Mehra et al. and Belanger's approaches dealing with the estimation of the steady Kalman gain and previously derived in the framework of identification. This approach still avoids the use of a VAD.

One of the most important challenges when applying multiple-model approaches is model-set design. However, to our knowledge, there are not general rules to choose models. For this purpose, we recently proposed an approach based on the Jeffrey's divergence to characterize dissimilarities between two state models. In this paper, our contribution is to use the Jeffrey's divergence to classify at least two models into subsets. Our approach consists in creating a dissimilarity matrix composed of Jeffrey's divergences between model pairs. Then, we transform this matrix to get a correlation-like matrix and an eigenvalue decomposition is computed. We propose an interpretation of the predominant eigenvalues and use it to deduce the number of model subsets and their cardinals. Finally, a classification algorithm can be considered to determine which models belong to which subsets. Among the applications, we focus on target tracking.

In current airborne radars, detection and identification are done with two distinct waveforms. However, while the radar switches from one function to another, the target scene can change. In this paper, we propose a hybrid waveform combining intra and interpulse phase codes. This waveform is first processed in a low-resolution “channel”. Then, if a target is detected, the received signal is reprocessed in a high-resolution “channel”. Given the above scenario and assuming that the received data are disturbed by a colored Gaussian clutter, we address the optimization of the phase codes by searching the Pareto front of a multi-objective optimization problem. Finally, we aim at analyzing the sensitivity of the Pareto front to the clutter properties. For this purpose, we study whether a first-order autoregressive (AR) modelling for the clutter in the high-resolution case is relevant or not.

This paper deals with a system combining orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), interleave-division multiple access (IDMA) and space time block coding (STBC). Less investigated in the literature than multicarrier code division multiple access or OFDMA, OFDM-IDMA can be viewed as a promising technique to solve the problem of bandwidth scarcity. With a specific frame organization to estimate the carrier frequency offsets (CFO) and the channels, we suggest a new receiver architecture. Indeed, based on a modification of the standard IDMA receiver where a CFO correction is no longer necessary unlike common OFDM approaches, we show that the transmitted bits can be still recovered. When considering a STBC-OFDM-IDMA uplink system over different Rayleigh channels, simulation results show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. These results confirm the utility of this technique as a mid-term solution to solve the constant increase of data rate and user density per cell in cellular systems.

This paper deals with a system combining orthogonal frequency di- vision multiplexing (OFDM) and interleave-division multiple access (IDMA). OFDM makes the system robust against intersymbol inter- ference, whereas IDMA combats the multiple access interference. Nevertheless, unwanted phenomena must be taken into account: 1/ carrier frequency offset (CFO) must be estimated/corrected to guarantee the orthogonality between subcarriers and hence the sym- bol detection in the system. 2/ the conventional iterative IDMA receiver, initially proposed by Ping et al., requires a priori knowl- edge of the multipath channel. Therefore, the CFO and the multipath channel must be estimated "accurately" in an OFDM-IDMA system. Our contribution is to propose a new scheme where a CFO correc- tion is no longer necessary, unlike common OFDM approaches. We show that without a CFO correction, the symbols transmitted by the different users can be recovered by modifying the conventional iterative architecture of the IDMA receiver. When considering an OFDM-IDMA network over different Rayleigh fading channels, simulation results clearly show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm in terms of estimation accuracy and bit error rate.

In radar processing, inverse synthetic aperture radar (ISAR) takes advantage of the target rotational motion to provide a 2-D image of the target. The “quality” of this image must be sufficient to be used for target recognition. However, among the main problems to be addressed, the translation motion which is another component of the target motion must be foremost compensated. If this is not the case, a blurred image is obtained. In this paper, we propose a new approach for translation-motion compensation based on the target radial velocity estimation. This method consists in characterizing the radar echoes by several features (mean and wavelet coefficients for instance) and in storing them in sequences which represent the parameter evolution over time. Spectrum analysis methods are then used to get Doppler frequency estimates. To make the estimation robust against additive noise and sea clutter, several estimates are combined to deduce the target radial velocity estimation. Tests on experimental data confirm the validity of the approach.

In ISAR processing, ship classification is usually based on a range-Doppler (RD) image. The RD image is obtained by combining range alignment, phase compensation and short-time Fourier transform. Nevertheless, this leads to sophisticated approaches to weaken unwanted phenomena such as blurred images. In this paper, an alternative approach is proposed based on the time-frequency analysis. In that case, the Wigner-Ville transform provides geometrical structured events which correspond to the scatterers and unstructured ones which are associated to the artefacts and cross-terms. Taking advantage of these geometrical features, we first suggest computing a time-frequency local gradient analysis. This variational analysis provides a confidence map of the time-frequency distribution we can use to remove artefacts. Then, the practitioner can exploit the corresponding time-frequency images to choose the more appropriate instantaneous RD image. Simulation results confirm the effectiveness of this approach.

In ISAR processing, post-processing of the range Doppler image is useful to help the practitioner for ship recognition. Among the image post-processing tools, interpolation methods can be of interest especially when zooming. In this paper, we study the relevance of the Holderian regularity-based interpolation. In that case, interpolating consists in adding a new scale in the wavelet transform and the new wavelet coefficients can be estimated from others. In the original method, initially proposed by two of the authors, the image is first interpolated along the rows and then along the columns. Concerning the diagonal pixels, they are estimated as the mean of the adjacent original and interpolated pixels. Here, we propose a variant where the diagonal pixels are estimated by taking into account the local orientation of the image. It has the advantage of conserving local regularity on all interpolated pixels of the image. A comparative study on synthetic data and real range-Doppler images is then carried out with alternative interpolation techniques such as the linear interpolation, the bicubic one, the nearest neighbour interpolation, etc. The simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the approach.

A great deal of interest has been paid to the estimation of time-varying autoregressive (TVAR) parameters. However, when the observations are disturbed by an additive white measurement noise, using standard least squares methods leads to a weight-estimation bias. In this paper, we propose to jointly estimate the TVAR parameters and the measurement-noise variance from noisy observations by means of a generalized eigenvalue decomposition. It extends to the TVAR case an off-line method that was initially proposed for AR parameter estimation from noisy observations. A comparative study is then carried out with existing methods such as the recursive errors-in-variable approach and Kalman based algorithms.

In Cognitive Radio (CR) systems, spectrum sensing plays a key role to determine the free frequency bands. However, when the primary-user (PU) signal spectrum exhibits localized fading, PU detection cannot be guaranteed. In addition, as the CR may use the PU faded frequencies, the PU spectrum can be disturbed by a narrow-band interference (NBI) and synchronization algorithms used for the PU carrier frequency offset (CFO) estimation suffer degradations. In this paper, we propose a new scheme that jointly allows the CR-NBI to be detected and the PU-CFOs and the channels to be estimated in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system. It combines a sigma point Kalman filter and a test aiming at detecting a variation of the measurement-noise covariance matrix. Simulation results confirm that the proposed algorithm can accurately detect the CR-NBI and estimate the PU-CFOs.

National audience; In the STAP domain, modeling the interferences as an autoregressive (AR) process with the detector called Parametric Adaptive Matched Filter (PAMF), provides an estimation of the clutter-rejection filter with few training data. The main difficulty of this approach is the estimation of the AR matrices by using the training data. Thus, we propose an on-line estimation based on the Kalman filter and its variants. A comparative study is carried out and illustrates the relevance of such approaches with data provided by the DGA.

In radar processing, coloured transmission aims at improving the detection of targets that appear as fast as they disappear. It consists in simultaneously transmitting different waveforms using a wide beam. To differentiate the transmitted waveforms, various orthogonal coding schemes such as phase and frequency coding have been considered. In this paper, we suggest using in the MIMO radar case the so-called multicarrier phase coded signals (MCPC) initially introduced in SISO radar processing. This approach has the advantage of having better performances than phase coding based schemes. In addition, it has a lower computational cost than the frequency coding system.

Space time adaptive processing (STAP) is useful in radar processing to detect a target by filtering the clutter and the additive thermal noise. A derived version based on a multichannel autoregressive (M-AR) model of the clutter has the advantage of reducing the computational cost. Nevertheless, the estimation of the AR matrix parameters is a key issue because the clutter is not Gaussian in real cases. When dealing with an off-line solution, the multichannel least squares method (MLS) can be considered, but the estimation of the disturbance covariance matrix is required. In this paper, we suggest using the so-called fixed point method since it has “matrix- and texture-constant false alarm rate” property (matrix-CFAR and texture-CFAR) and it provides an unbiased and consistent estimate in a non-Gaussian case. A comparative study is then carried out between off-line M-AR based STAP methods and it points out the relevance of the solution we propose.

In this paper, our purpose is to estimate time-varying Rayleigh fading channels in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) mobile systems. When the fading channel is approximated by an AutoRegressive (AR) process, the direct estimation of the model parameters from the noisy observations available at the receiver may yield biased values. To avoid this drawback, the joint estimation of both the channel and its AR parameters must be addressed. Existing solutions to this dual estimation issue require Kalman filtering. This kind of filtering is optimal in the H2 sense provided that the underlying state-space model is accurate. Moreover, the initial state, the driving process and the measurement noise must be independent, white and Gaussian. However, in real cases, these assumptions may no longer be satisfied. To relax them, we propose to consider a structure based on two cross-coupled H2 filters. This method makes it possible to provide robust estimation of the fading channel and its AR parameters.

This paper deals with the issue of correlated noises in GPS navigation. GPS is based on the measure of the propagation delays of satellite signals. Therefore, additional delays induced when traveling through the ionosphere or the troposphere degrade GPS accuracy. These error sources are correlated, both spatially and temporally. Thus, when using an extended Kalman filter as navigation algorithm, these correlations should be taken into account to ensure that an optimal solution is obtained in terms of mean square error. Our contribution is to study, in this context, the relevance of an alternative approach well-known in the field of control engineering: the H ∞ filter. Also based on a state representation, this technique has the advantage of relaxing the constraints on the measurement and state noises. A comparative study with a standard extended Kalman filter and a colored extended Kalman filter is carried out to illustrate which of the above-mentioned approaches achieves the better compromise between accuracy and computational complexity.

In civil aviation applications, Satellite failures yield unacceptable positioning errors when using the Global Positioning System (GPS). To ensure the user security, the navigation system has to fulfill stringent performance requirements. Thus, detecting and excluding the faulty GPSmeasurements is necessary prior to estimating the mobile location. Classical fault detection algorithms based on Kalman filters (KF) are sensitive to the choice of an appropirate motion model for the mobile. To overcome this difficulty, we propose in this paper a new fault detection algorithm wherein the KF are replaced by multiple model algorithms. In this way, both the false alarm rate and the positioning mean square error are shown to be decreased.

Whereas lecturing is the most widely used mode of instruction, we have explored small-group learning projects to make signal processing more appealing at the University and in Engineering schools in Bordeaux (France). The projects cover a wide range of applications, from audio processing to mobile communication system analysis and can be based on problems suggested by industrial partners. After a state of the art in the area, the students develop signal processing algorithms and usually deliver new softwares. At the end of the semester, they provide a final 8-page report and present their work during a one-day workshop. The projects enable the students to experience cooperative works, which is mostly done in industry. In addition, they help the students to see more easily the links between the courses they follow, including project managing. The students are hence involved in dialog inside their own group, in writing English reports as well as in problem solving, analysis and synthesis. This paper presents four examples dealing with speech processing, spectral analysis, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile positioning and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) synchronization.

AR modeling is used in a wide range of applications from speech processing to Rayleigh fading channel simulation. When the observations are disturbed by an additive white noise, the standard Least Squares estimation of the AR parameters is biased. Some authors of this paper recently reformulated this problem as an errors-in-variables (EIV) issue and proposed an off-line solution, which outperforms other existing methods. Nevertheless, its computational cost may be high. In this paper, we present a blind recursive EIV method that can be implemented for real-time applications. It has the advantage of converging faster than the noise-compensated LMS based solutions. In addition, unlike EKF or Sigma Point Kalman filter, it does not require a priori knowledge such as the variances of the driving process and the additive noise. The approach is first tested with synthetic data; then, its relevance is illustrated in the field of radar sea clutter rejection.

on line depuis novembre 2008; International audience; This paper deals with the on-line estimation of time-varying frequency-flat Rayleigh fading channels based on training sequences and using H∞ filtering. When the fading channel is approximated by an autoregressive (AR) process, the AR model parameters must be estimated. As their direct estimations from the available noisy observations at the receiver may yield biased values, the joint estimation of both the channel and its AR parameters must be addressed. Among the existing solutions to this joint estimation issue, Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm or crosscoupled filter based approaches can be considered. They usually require Kalman filtering which is optimal in the H2 sense provided that the initial state, the driving process and measurement noise are independent, white and Gaussian. However, in real cases, these assumptions may not be satisfied. In addition, the state-space matrices and the noise variances are not necessarily accurately estimated. To take into account the above problem,we propose to use two crosscoupled H∞ filters. This method makes it possible to provide robust estimation of the fading channel and its AR parameters.

A great deal of attention has been paid to speech enhancement using a single microphone system. The various approaches, based on the Kalman filter, operate in two steps: (1) the noise variances and the parameters of the speech model are estimated, and (2) the speech signal is retrieved using standard Kalman filtering. This letter presents an alternative solution that does not require the explicit estimation of the noise and the driving process variances. This deals with a new formulation of the approach proposed within a control literature framework by Mehra (1970).

In various applications from radar processing to mobile communication systems based on CDMA or OFDM, M-AR multichannel processes are often considered and may be combined with Kalman filtering. However, the estimations of the M-AR parameter matrices and the autocorrelation matrices of the additive noise and the driving process from noisy observations are key problems to be addressed. In this paper, we suggest solving them as an errors-in-variables issue. In that case, the noisy-observation autocorrelation matrix compensated by a specific diagonal block matrix and whose kernel is defined by the M-AR parameter matrices must be positive semi-definite. Hence, the parameter estimation consists in searching every diagonal block matrix that satisfies this property, in reiterating this search for a higher model order and then in extracting the solution that belongs to both sets. A comparative study is then carried out with existing methods including those based on the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and the Sigma-Point Kalman Filters (SPKF). It illustrates the relevance and advantages of the proposed approaches.

In 1952 Hodgkin and Huxley introduced the voltage--clamp technique to extract the parameters of the ionic channel model of a neuron. Although this method is widely used today, it has a lot of disadvantages. In this paper, we propose an alternative approach to the estimation method of the voltage--clamp technique using metaheuristics such as Simulated Annealing, Genetic Algorithms and Differential Evolution. This method avoids approximations of the original technique by simultaneously estimating all the parameters of a single ionic channel with a single fitness function. To compare the different methods, we apply them on measurements from a neuromimetic integrated circuit. This circuit, due to its analog behavior, provides us noisy data like a biological system. Therefore we can validate the efficiency of our method on experimental-like data.

This paper deals with the estimation of time-varying Multi-Carrier Direct-Sequence Code DivisionMultiple Access (MC-DS-CDMA) fading channels using a training-aided scheme. Our approach consists in using an optimal filtering based on a linear state-space model of the fading channel system. In that case, two issues have to be investigated: 1) what kind of optimal filtering can be used? 2) how to estimate the state-space matrices?