From Bits to Antenna to RF:

Wireless System Design with MATLAB

Houman Zarrinkoub, PhD.

Signal Processing & Communications
MathWorks
houmanz@mathworks.com

© 2014 The MathWorks, Inc.1

Agenda

 Landscape of wireless design

 Antenna-to-Bit simulation
 Case study: 802.11n/ac/ad Systems

 Smart RF design
 Case study: ADI Agile Transceiver Modeling

 LTE and LTE-Advanced

 Case study: MU-MIMO

 Summary

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Mobile Communications: LTE, 5G and Beyond

 5G standardization
 100-1000 times faster speeds

 Reliable service everywhere

 Greater complexity
 New architectures

 New frequency bands (mmWave)

 More antennas (massive MIMO)

 Advanced RF and DSP co-design

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Connected Smart Devices, Internet of Things

 Internet of Things
 Embedded sensors

 Digital health

 Industrial instruments

 Pervasive computing
 Connected wirelessly to internet

 Low power

 Generate lots of data

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Wireless System Design: MATLAB and Simulink

 Who are our users?

 R&D algorithm designer

 Digital baseband engineer

Multi-domain
system
 RF system engineer
Wireless
 Test or validation engineer Single domain
System
system
Design

Algorithm
 What do they need?
Simulate Prototype & Implement
 End-to-end simulation & Analyze Test

 Design verification

 Real-world over-the-air testing

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 Antenna to Bits simulation
1

Smart RF design
2

LTE & LTE-Advanced

3

6
Antenna-to-Bits Simulation
MATLAB & Simulink

Simulate a complete wireless link

 Design modern wireless systems with
components such as MIMO, OFDM, and
adaptive beam-forming
 Analyze signals and make measurements
such as EVM, ACLR, BLER, Throughput
 Generate waveforms and create
verification references for downstream
implementation
 New Antenna Toolbox 1.0 released in
R2015a

7
Demo: 802.11n/ac/ad modeling
a MIMO-OFDM system

 Step-by-step MATLAB demo

– OFDM as the air interface technology of 802.11n
– Beamforming as a MIMO technique
 Easy-to-follow end-to-end simulation
 Graphical test bench
 Adjustment of channel characteristics on
the fly

8
 How does a MIMO-OFDM System work?
Transmitter

Input
bits
Channel Modulation MIMO
.. . Large-scale
fading
coding . (path-loss …)

Small-scale
fading
(Multipath,
Channel Doppler
effects)

Interference

Noise
Receiver OFDM
receiver
Output
bits … …
MIMO
Channel De- Channel …
decoding modulation
Receiver
estimation
…
(Equalizer)
OFDM
receiver

9
Baseband demo workflow

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Version 1: Baseline - Modulation and Coding

 Start with a SISO transceiver with modulation, coding, scrambling

 Channel modeling (Interferer + path loss)
 No multipath fading yet
 Isotropic (non-directional) antennas (1x1)

Interference

𝜃𝜃𝐼𝐼 Source (I)

𝜃𝜃𝑆𝑆
Signal
Source (S)
𝑑𝑑𝐼𝐼
𝑑𝑑𝑆𝑆

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MATLAB tools for modeling of adaptive
modulation and coding
• Use algorithms in
Communications System
Toolbox

• Quickly build and run fast &

reliable simulations

• Simulate dynamic changes

of systems (such as
modulation scheme)

• Perform measurements
and examine performance
metrics during simulation

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Version 2: Baseline + OFDM

 Introduce OFDM transmission

 Transceiver with modulation, coding, scrambling & OFDM
transmitter & receiver
 Channel (Interferer + path loss) modeling
 No multipath fading yet

Interference
Source (I)

Signal
Source (S)
𝑑𝑑𝐼𝐼
𝑑𝑑𝑆𝑆

13
MATLAB tools for modeling OFDM multi-
carrier transmission systems
• OFDM modulator and
demodulator from
Communications System
Toolbox

• Gold or PN Sequence
generators to generate
pilots (reference signals)

• System objects make

exploring with system
parameters easier

• Explore a wide range of

center frequencies and
bandwidths
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Version 3: Baseline + OFDM +
Transmit-side beamforming
 Introduce Receive-side beamforming
 Transceiver with modulation, coding, scrambling, OFDM transmitter
& SIMO receiver
 Channel with Interferer + path loss + fading
 Receiver has multiple Antennas (1 to 8)

Interference
Signal Source (I)
Source (S)

15
MATLAB tools for modeling multi-antenna
systems and beamforming
• Antenna arrays and beam-
formers from Phased-Array
System Toolbox

• 2-D and 3-D spatial array

responses and directional
gains

• Implement null-steering and

interference cancelation
algorithms with a few lines
of MATLAB code

• Easily quantify interference

mitigation gains provided by
beam-forming
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Version 4: Baseline + OFDM +
Transmit-side beamforming + Multipath fading
 Introduce Transmit-side beamforming with Multipath fading
 Transceiver with modulation, coding, scrambling, MIMO-OFDM
transmitter & receiver
 Channel with Interferer + path loss + fading
 Transmitter has multiple Antennas (1 to 8)

Interference
Signal Source (I)
Source (S)

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MATLAB tools for modeling fading channels
and channel estimation-equalization
• MIMO fading channels from
Communications System
Toolbox

• Channel estimation and

equalization with received
values of time-frequency
grid

• Combine OFDM and MIMO

to approach a prototype of
802.11n/ac

• Experiment with ideal and

pilot-based channel
estimation algorithms
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What We Learned in This Demo

 Easily setup MIMO-OFDM system components

 Modulation, coding, OFDM

 MIMO fading channels

 Beamforming, beam steering & interference cancelation

 Dynamic & interactive MATLAB test benches

 On-the-fly tunable parameters

 Spectral analysis

 Visualizations and measurements

 Qualitative and quantitative metrics

 Live feeds of telemetry data as transmitted bit stream
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Antenna Toolbox
 Easy design
– Library of 22 parameterized antenna elements
– Functionality for the design of linear and
rectangular antenna arrays
– No need for full CAD design

 Rapid simulation setup

– Method of Moments field solver for port, field,
and surface analysis
– No need to be an EM expert

 Seamless integration
– Model the antenna together with signal
processing algorithms
– Rapid iteration of different antenna scenarios
for radar and communication systems design
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Antenna Toolbox Demo
Build your first antenna array

>> a = linearArray
>> a.Element = p;
>> a.ElementSpacing = 0.1;
>> a.NumElements = 4;
>> layout(a);
>> pattern(a, 1.66e9);

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Integration Demo: Phased Array System Toolbox
atx_array_modeling_with_embedded_element_pattern

...
% Import antenna element in Phased Array
myURA1 = phased.URA; Phased Array
myURA1.Element = mydipole;
Antenna element
...
% Import the embedded element pattern
EmbAnt = Phased.CustomAntennaElement(...
'FrequencyVector',freqVector,... Pattern of the
'AzimuthAngles',az,... embedded element
'ElevationAngles',el,...
computed with
'RadiationPattern',embpattern);
Antenna Toolbox
myURA2 = phased.URA;
myURA2.Element = EmbAnt;
...
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 Learn more about measurement,
analysis, visualization
Constellation Scope
 Visualizes the effects of channel
degradations on modulated symbols
 Shows rotations and attenuations
caused by various fading mechanism
 Measurements included:
– EVM
– MER

Spectrum Analyzer
 Visualizes flat or frequency-selective
nature of channel
 Measurements included:
– Complimentary Cumulative
Distribution Function (CCDF)
measurement and visualization
– Adjacent Channel Power Ratio
(ACPR) measurements
– Harmonic & Intermodulation
distortions
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Learn more about
Speeding up simulations
 Use Best Practices in
Programming
– Vectorization
– Pre-allocation
 Parallel Computing
– High level parallel constructs
(e.g. parfor)
– Utilize cluster, clouds, and
grids
 MATLAB to C
 GPUs

Webinar: Accelerating
Communications System
Simulations in MATLAB

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Summary

 We have modern algorithms (OFDM and MIMO) & analysis tools and even
modern standard-based products (LTE) for modern systems

 We have incorporated features and tools like C code generation, parallel

computing etc. into our tool that “substantially” accelerate simulation

 We now have very high end communications measurements and analysis

tools like Spectrum Analyzers, etc. They work directly in MATLAB and come
at the low toolbox price

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 Antenna to Bits simulation
1

Smart RF design
2

LTE & LTE-Advanced

3

26
Smart RF Design
Fast behavioral RF modeling & simulation MATLAB & Simulink

 Model and simulate RF transceiver

together with baseband algorithms
 Develop calibration and control
algorithms such as DPD or AGC to
mitigate impairments and interferers
 Add measured RF component
characteristics
 Use circuit envelope techniques to Analog Devices AD9361
RF Agile Transceiver™
accelerate simulation of RF
transceivers

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Example: Simulation of Analog Devices® RF
Transceivers with MATLAB and SimRF
AGC RSSI

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 RF Receiver AGC
Manual and slow attack mode

RSSI

CW test signal

Tunable Third order

RF receiver Delta-Sigma ADC

Analog continuous-time Multi-rate finite-precision

LTE-like or custom
test signal programmable filters programmable decimation filters29
Simulation Results: MGC, 2 Tones
In-band noise Images DC Offset IP2 Fundamental IP3

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Which Tools? MATLAB, Simulink and …

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Learn More About: RF Modeling

 SimRF: fast simulation of RF front-ends

 Design the architecture and specs of the RF front-end
 Integrate RF with adaptive algorithms such as DPD, AGC
 Test and debug the implementation before going in the lab
 Provide a model to your colleagues and customers

Webinar: Design and Verify RF Transceivers for Wireless Communication Systems

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Trade Off Simulation Speed and Modeling Fidelity
How do your signals look like?
Signal
bandwidth

Spectrum
Equivalent Baseband
Simulation speed

Carrier freq

Spectrum
Circuit Envelope

DC Carrier 1 Carrier 2 freq

True Pass-Band

Spectrum
freq
Modeling fidelity
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Summary

Executable specifications of real-life communication systems

across multiple disciplines
 Develop smarter algorithms faster
 Improve the communication between different teams
 Understand, debug, test your system before going in the lab
 Provide (IP protected) models to the end users

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 Antenna to Bits simulation
1

Smart RF design
2

LTE & LTE-Advanced

3

35
LTE & LTE-Advanced
Design, simulate, and test LTE and LTE-Advanced systems
 Specify your LTE and LTE-A PHY MATLAB & Simulink
systems covering all transmission
modes, channels, and signals
 Combine your LTE baseband models
with RF modeling for a combined
digital-RF design
 New features in R2015a
 LTE Rel. 11 support
 UMTS/HSPA+ Waveform Generation
 Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP)

Qualifying question
• Are you working on LTE Physical layer?
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What’s the LTE System Toolbox?

 Release 8,9, 10 &11 (LTE-A)

 Scope
– TDD/FDD,
– Uplink/Downlink
– Transmitter/Receiver

 ~200 functions for

physical layer (PHY) modeling
 Link-level simulation
 Conformance Tests

37
Signal Generation and Analysis
Reference Measurement Channels

TS 36.101

Standard-compliant
signal available in the
MATLAB workspace

>> lteRMCDLTool
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Typical Use Cases

 Golden reference to verify in-house PHY models

 Complete end-to-end link-level simulation

Transmitter
 Signal generation and analysis RF Signal Generator
Test Waveform
Generation

 Signal information recovery

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Demo: Equalizing the Downlink Grid

Transmitter Channel Receiver

Channel Estimation
Test Waveform Synchronisation &
Fading Channel &
Generation OFDM Demodulation
Equalisation

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Summary

 Comprehensive
– Comprehensive set of PHY models
– Numerous preset, extensible examples
 Open environment
– MATLAB-based
– Link to test and measurement instruments
 Standard-compliance
– Ability to generate and transmit signals using
hardware signal generators
– Trusted by numerous customers

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