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QC 20201208

This paper considers coordinated multicast beamforming in a multicell multigroup multiple-input single-output system. Each base station (BS) serves multiple groups of users by forming a single beam with common information per group. We propose centralized and distributed beamforming algorithms for two different optimization targets. The first objective is to minimize the total transmission power of all the BSs while guaranteeing the user-specific minimum quality-of-service targets. The semidefinite relaxation (SDR) method is used to approximate the nonconvex multicast problem as a semidefinite program (SDP), which is solvable via centralized processing. Subsequently, two alternative distributed methods are proposed. The first approach turns the SDP into a two-level optimization via primal decomposition. At the higher level, intercell interference powers are optimized for fixed beamformers, whereas the lower level locally optimizes the beamformers by minimizing BS-specific transmit powers for the given intercell interference constraints. The second distributed solution is enabled via an alternating direction method of multipliers, where the intercell interference optimization is divided into a local and a global optimization by forcing the equality via consistency constraints. We further propose a centralized and a simple distributed beamforming design for the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) balancing problem in which the minimum SINR among the users is maximized with given per-BS power constraints. This problem is solved via the bisection method as a series of SDP feasibility problems. The simulation results show the superiority of the proposed coordinated beamforming algorithms over traditional noncoordinated transmission schemes, and illustrate the fast convergence of the distributed methods. Index Terms—Alternating direction method of multipliers, distributed optimization, multi-cell coordination, physical layer multigroup multicasting, primal deco, QC 20191030

This paper considers coordinated multicast beamforming in a multicell multigroup multiple-input single-output system. Each base station (BS) serves multiple groups of users by forming a single beam with common information per group. We propose centralized and distributed beamforming algorithms for two different optimization targets. The first objective is to minimize the total transmission power of all the BSs while guaranteeing the user-specific minimum quality-of-service targets. The semidefinite relaxation (SDR) method is used to approximate the nonconvex multicast problem as a semidefinite program (SDP), which is solvable via centralized processing. Subsequently, two alternative distributed methods are proposed. The first approach turns the SDP into a two-level optimization via primal decomposition. At the higher level, intercell interference powers are optimized for fixed beamformers, whereas the lower level locally optimizes the beamformers by minimizing BS-specific transmit powers for the given intercell interference constraints. The second distributed solution is enabled via an alternating direction method of multipliers, where the intercell interference optimization is divided into a local and a global optimization by forcing the equality via consistency constraints. We further propose a centralized and a simple distributed beamforming design for the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) balancing problem in which the minimum SINR among the users is maximized with given per-BS power constraints. This problem is solved via the bisection method as a series of SDP feasibility problems. The simulation results show the superiority of the proposed coordinated beamforming algorithms over traditional noncoordinated transmission schemes, and illustrate the fast convergence of the distributed methods.

Whenever multibeam satellite systems target very aggressive frequency reuse in their coverage area, inter-beam interference becomes the major obstacle for increasing the overall system throughput. As a matter of fact, users located at the beam edges suffer from very large interference for even a moderately aggressive planning of reuse-2. Although solutions for inter-beam interference management have been investigated at the satellite terminal, it turns out that the performance improvement does not justify the increased terminal complexity and cost. In this article, we pay attention to interference mitigation techniques that take place at the transmitter (i.e., the gateway). Based on this understanding, we provide our vision on advanced precoding techniques and user clustering methods for multibeam broadband fixed satellite communications. We also discuss practical challenges to deploy precoding schemes and the support introduced in the recently published DVB-S2X standard. Future challenges for novel configurations employing precoding are also provided., QC 20190913

The present work focuses on the forward link of a broadband multibeam satellite system that aggressively reuses the user link frequency resources. Two fundamental practical challenges, namely the need to frame multiple users per transmission and the per-antenna transmit power limitations, are addressed. To this end, the so-called frame-based precoding problem is optimally solved using the principles of physical layer multicasting to multiple co-channel groups under per-antenna constraints. In this context, a novel optimization problem that aims at maximizing the system sum rate under individual power constraints is proposed. Added to that, the formulation is further extended to include availability constraints. As a result, the high gains of the sum rate optimal design are traded off to satisfy the stringent availability requirements of satellite systems. Moreover, the throughput maximization with a granular spectral efficiency versus SINR function, is formulated and solved. Finally, a multicast-aware user scheduling policy, based on the channel state information, is developed. Thus, substantial multiuser diversity gains are gleaned. Numerical results over a realistic simulation environment exhibit as much as 30% gains over conventional systems, even for 7 users per frame, without modifying the framing structure of legacy communication standards., QC 20191011

A multi-antenna transmitter that conveys independent sets of common data to distinct groups of users is herein considered, a model known as physical layer multicasting to multiple co-channel groups. In the recently proposed context of per-antenna power constrained multigroup multicasting, the present work focuses on a novel system design that aims at maximizing the total achievable throughput. Towards increasing the system sum rate, the available power resources need to be allocated to well conditioned groups of users. A detailed solution to tackle the elaborate sum rate maximizing, multigroup multicast problem, under per-antenna power constraints is therefore derived. Numerical results are presented to quantify the gains of the proposed algorithm over heuristic solutions. The solution is applied to rayleigh as well as Vandermonde channels. The latter case is typically realised in uniform linear array transmitters operating in the far field, where line-of-sight conditions are realized. In this setting, a sensitivity analysis with respect to the angular separation of co-group users is included. Finally, a simple scenario providing important intuitions for the sum rate maximizing multigroup multicast solutions is elaborated., QC 20170322

Rain attenuation is among the major impairments for satellite systems operating in the K-band and above. In this paper, we investigate the impact of spatially correlated rain attenuation on the performance of a multibeam satellite return link. For a comprehensive assessment, an analytical model for the antenna pattern that generates the beams is also proposed. We focus on the outage capacity of the link and obtain analytical approximations at high and low signal-to-noise ratio. The derived approximations provide insights into the effect of key system parameters such as the interuser distance, the satellite beam radius, or the rain intensity, and simulation results show that it fits tightly with the Monte Carlo results. Additionally, the derived expressions can be easily particularized for the single-user case, providing some novel insights., QC 20170322

A multiantenna transmitter that conveys independent sets of common data to distinct groups of users is considered. This model is known as physical layer multicasting to multiple cochannel groups. In this context, the practical constraint of a maximum permitted power level radiated by each antenna is addressed. The per-antenna power constrained system is optimized in a maximum fairness sense with respect to predetermined quality of service weights. In other words, the worst scaled user is boosted by maximizing its weighted signal-to-interference plus noise ratio. A detailed solution to tackle the weighted max-min fair multigroup multicast problem under per-antenna power constraints is therefore derived. The implications of the novel constraints are investigated via prominent applications and paradigms. What is more, robust per-antenna constrained multigroup multicast beamforming solutions are proposed. Finally, an extensive performance evaluation quantifies the gains of the proposed algorithm over existing solutions and exhibits its accuracy over per-antenna power constrained systems., QC 20170322

QC 20170317

Linear precoding exploits the spatial degrees of freedom offered by multi-antenna transmitters to serve multiple users over the same frequency resources. The present work focuses on simultaneously serving multiple groups of users, each with its own channel, by transmitting a stream of common symbols to each group. This scenario is known as physical layer multicasting to multiple co-channel groups. Extending the current state of the art in multigroup multicasting, the practical constraint of a maximum permitted power level radiated by each antenna is tackled herein. The considered per antenna power constrained system is optimized in a maximum fairness sense. In other words, the optimization aims at favoring the worst user by maximizing the minimum rate. This Max-Min Fair criterion is imperative in multicast systems, where the performance of all the receivers listening to the same multicast is dictated by the worst rate in the group. An analytic framework to tackle the Max-Min Fair multigroup multicasting scenario under per antenna power constraints is therefore derived. Numerical results display the accuracy of the proposed solution and provide insights to the performance of a per antenna power constrained system., QC 20170322

Aggressive frequency reuse in the return link (RL) of multibeam satellite communications (SatComs) is crucial towards the implementation of next generation, interactive satellite services. In this direction, multiuser detection has shown great potential in mitigating the increased intrasystem interferences, induced by a tight spectrum reuse. Herein we present an analytic framework to describe the linear Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) performance of multiuser channels that exhibit full receive correlation: an inherent attribute of the RL of multibeam SatComs. Analytic, tight approximations on the MMSE performance are proposed for cases where closed form solutions are not available in the existing literature. The proposed framework is generic, thus providing a generalized solution straightforwardly extendable to various fading models over channels that exhibit full receive correlation. Simulation results are provided to show the tightness of the proposed approximation with respect to the available transmit power., QC 20140306

The constantly increasing demand for interactive broadband satellite communications is driving current research towards novel system architectures that reuse frequency in a more aggressive manner. To this end, the topic of dual satellite systems, in which satellites share spatial (i.e. same coverage area) and spectral (i.e. full frequency reuse) degrees of freedom is introduced. In each multibeam satellite, multiuser interferences are mitigated by employing zero forcing precoding with realistic per antenna power constraints. However, the two sets of users that the transmitters are separately serving, interfere. The present contribution, proposes the partial cooperation, herein referred to as coordination, between the two coexisting transmitters in order to reduce interferences and enhance the performance of the whole system, while maintaining moderate system complexity. In this direction, a heuristic, iterative, low complexity algorithm that allocates users in the two interfering sets is proposed. This novel algorithm, improves the performance of each satellite and of the overall system, simultaneously. The first is achieved by maximizing the orthogonality between users allocated in the same set, hence optimizing the zero forcing performance, whilst the second by minimizing the level of interferences between the two sets. Simulation results show that the proposed method, compared to conventional techniques, significantly increases spectral efficiency., QC 20140306

Multiuser precoding of the linear kind is one of the most promising candidate techniques required for managing inter-beam co-channel interference in aggressive frequency re-use multibeam High Throughput Satellite (HTS) systems. Although academic research on precoding schemes for broadband interactive satellite communication (SatCom) systems is intensifying, there are a number of practical constraints in current DVB-S2-based HTS systems that may inhibit the application of precoding. These have not been dealt with hitherto in the literature. The present article attempts to list the relevant issues, propose some possible ways forward and present some preliminary simulation results., QC 20140306