ML estimator and hybrid beamformer for multipath and interference mitigation in GNSS receivers

This paper addresses the estimation of the code-phase(pseudorange) and the carrier-phase of the direct signal received from a direct-sequence spread-spectrum satellite transmitter. Thesignal is received by an antenna array in a scenario with interferenceand multipath propagation. These two effects are generallythe limiting error sources in most high-precision positioning applications.A new estimator of the code- and carrier-phases is derivedby using a simplified signal model and the maximum likelihood(ML) principle. The simplified model consists essentially ofgathering all signals, except for the direct one, in a component withunknown spatial correlation. The estimator exploits the knowledgeof the direction-of-arrival of the direct signal and is much simplerthan other estimators derived under more detailed signal models.Moreover, we present an iterative algorithm, that is adequate for apractical implementation and explores an interesting link betweenthe ML estimator and a hybrid beamformer. The mean squarederror and bias of the new estimator are computed for a numberof scenarios and compared with those of other methods. The presentedestimator and the hybrid beamforming outperform the existingtechniques of comparable complexity and attains, in manysituations, the Cramér–Rao lower bound of the problem at hand.

NDA waveform estimation in the low-SNR regime

This correspondence addresses the problem of nondata-aidedwaveform estimation for digital communications. Based on the unconditionalmaximum likelihood criterion, the main contribution of this correspondenceis the derivation of a closed-form solution to the waveform estimationproblem in the low signal-to-noise ratio regime. The proposed estimationmethod is based on the second-order statistics of the received signaland a clear link is established between maximum likelihood estimation andcorrelation matching techniques. Compression with the signal-subspace isalso proposed to improve the robustness against the noise and to mitigatethe impact of abnormals or outliers.

Space-time front-ends for RAKE receivers in the FDD mode of UTRA

A unified and general vision of different space-time processors is presented. Many popular receivers can beaccomodated, like V-RAKE receivers, weighted V-RAKE, or spatial narrowband beamforming. By makingappropriate assumptions on the space/time characteristic of the interference it is possible to enhance theperformance of the receiver through spatial/temporal pre-processors. These receivers will be tested in the FDDmode of UTRA.

Audiosignaalin digitaalinen käsittely aktiivisessa meluntorjunnassa

Meluntorjuntaan on perinteisesti käytetty passiivisia menetelmiä. Monissa sovelluksissa melua voidaan vaimentaa myös aktiivisella meluntorjunnalla. Tässä työssä tutkitaan aktiivisen meluntorjunnan signaalinkäsittelyä sekä signaalinkäsittelyyn soveltuvia laitteistoja. Lisäksi selvitetään ANC-järjestelmien (Active Noise Control) toimintaanja signaalinkäsittelyyn vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Tutkinnassa rajoitutaan yksikanavaisiin järjestelmiin. Esimerkkisovelluksena käytetään ulkotilan melunvaimennukseen soveltuvaa järjestelmää. Esimerkkijärjestelmään suunniteltiin signaalinkäsittelylaitteisto, jonka soveltuvuutta järjestelmän signaalinkäsittelyyn selvitettiin suorituskykymittauksin ja kokeellisin mittauksin.Lisäksi pohditaan signaalinkäsittelyn toteuttamista tutkittavassa järjestelmässä ja sovelluskohteessa.

Multi-slice three-dimensional myocardial strain tensor quantification using zHARP.

In this article we propose a novel method for calculating cardiac 3-D strain. The method requires the acquisition of myocardial short-axis (SA) slices only and produces the 3-D strain tensor at every point within every pair of slices. Three-dimensional displacement is calculated from SA slices using zHARP which is then used for calculating the local displacement gradient and thus the local strain tensor. There are three main advantages of this method. First, the 3-D strain tensor is calculated for every pixel without interpolation; this is unprecedented in cardiac MR imaging. Second, this method is fast, in part because there is no need to acquire long-axis (LA) slices. Third, the method is accurate because the 3-D displacement components are acquired simultaneously and therefore reduces motion artifacts without the need for registration. This article presents the theory of computing 3-D strain from two slices using zHARP, the imaging protocol, and both phantom and in-vivo validation.

Analysis of Active Magnet Bearing Control Software

Problems of the designing active magnet bearingcontrol are developed. The estimation controller are designed and applied to a rigid rotor. The mathematical model of the active magnet bearing controller is developed. This mathematical model is realized on a DSP. The results of this realization are analyzed. The conclusions about the digital signal processing are made.

Oikosulkumoottorin roottorivaurioiden tunnistaminen staattorivirran avulla

Diplomityössä esitellään menetelmiä sauvarikon toteamiseksi. Työn tarkoituksena on tutkia roottorivaurioita staattorivirran avulla. Työ jaetaan karkeasti kolmeen osa-alueeseen: oikosulkumoottorin vikoihin, roottorivaurioiden tunnistamiseen ja signaalinkäsittelymenetelmiin, jonka avulla havaitaan sauvarikko. Oikosulkumoottorin vikoja ovat staattorikäämien vauriot ja roottorivauriot. Roottorikäämien vaurioita ovat roottori sauvojen murtuminen sekä roottorisauvan irtoaminen oikosulkujenkaan päästä. Roottorivaurioiden tunnistamismenetelmiä ovat parametrin arviointi ja virtaspektrianalyysi. Työn alkuosassa esitellään oikosulkumoottorien rakenne ja toiminta. Esitellään moottoriin kohdistuvia vikoja ja etsitään ratkaisumenetelmiä roottorivaurioiden tunnistamisessa. Lopuksi tutkitaan, kuinka staattorimittaustietojen perusteella saadut tulokset voidaan käsitellä FFT -algoritmilla ja kuinka FFT -algoritmi voidaan toteuttaa sulautettuna Sharc -prosessorin avulla. Työssä käytetään ADSP 21062 EZ -LAB kehitysympäristöä, jonka avulla voidaan ajaa ohjelmia RAM-sirusta, joka on vuorovaikutuksessa SHARC -laudassa oleviin laitteisiin.

Speaker recognition improvement using blind inversion of distortions

In this paper we propose the inversion of nonlinear distortions in order to improve the recognition rates of a speaker recognizer system. We study the effect of saturations on the test signals, trying to take into account real situations where the training material has been recorded in a controlled situation but the testing signals present some mismatch with the input signal level (saturations). The experimental results shows that a combination of several strategies can improve the recognition rates with saturated test sentences from 80% to 89.39%, while the results with clean speech (without saturation) is 87.76% for one microphone.

EEG Windowed statitical wavelet deviation for estimation of muscular artifacts

Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings are, most of the times, corrupted by spurious artifacts, which should be rejected or cleaned by the practitioner. As human scalp EEG screening is error-prone, automatic artifact detection is an issue of capital importance, to ensure objective and reliable results. In this paper we propose a new approach for discrimination of muscular activity in the human scalp quantitative EEG (QEEG), based on the time-frequency shape analysis. The impact of the muscular activity on the EEG can be evaluated from this methodology. We present an application of this scoring as a preprocessing step for EEG signal analysis, in order to evaluate the amount of muscular activity for two set of EEG recordings for dementia patients with early stage of Alzheimer’s disease and control age-matched subjects.

Nonlinear prediction based on score function

The linear prediction coding of speech is based in the assumption that the generation model is autoregresive. In this paper we propose a structure to cope with the nonlinear effects presents in the generation of the speech signal. This structure will consist of two stages, the first one will be a classical linear prediction filter, and the second one will model the residual signal by means of two nonlinearities between a linear filter. The coefficients of this filter are computed by means of a gradient search on the score function. This is done in order to deal with the fact that the probability distribution of the residual signal still is not gaussian. This fact is taken into account when the coefficients are computed by a ML estimate. The algorithm based on the minimization of a high-order statistics criterion, uses on-line estimation of the residue statistics and is based on blind deconvolution of Wiener systems [1]. Improvements in the experimental results with speech signals emphasize on the interest of this approach.

Combined T2 -preparation and two-dimensional pencil-beam inner volume selection.

PURPOSE: To improve coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) by combining a two-dimensional (2D) spatially selective radiofrequency (RF) pulse with a T2 -preparation module ("2D-T2 -Prep"). METHODS: An adiabatic T2 -Prep was modified so that the first and last pulses were of differing spatial selectivity. The first RF pulse was replaced by a 2D pulse, such that a pencil-beam volume is excited. The last RF pulse remains nonselective, thus restoring the T2 -prepared pencil-beam, while tipping the (formerly longitudinal) magnetization outside of the pencil-beam into the transverse plane, where it is then spoiled. Thus, only a cylinder of T2 -prepared tissue remains for imaging. Numerical simulations were followed by phantom validation and in vivo coronary MRA, where the technique was quantitatively evaluated. Reduced field-of-view (rFoV) images were similarly studied. RESULTS: In vivo, full field-of-view 2D-T2 -Prep significantly improved vessel sharpness as compared to conventional T2 -Prep, without adversely affecting signal-to-noise (SNR) or contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR). It also reduced respiratory motion artifacts. In rFoV images, the SNR, CNR, and vessel sharpness decreased, although scan time reduction was 60%. CONCLUSION: When compared with conventional T2 -Prep, the 2D-T2 -Prep improves vessel sharpness and decreases respiratory ghosting while preserving both SNR and CNR. It may also acquire rFoV images for accelerated data acquisition.

Population ageing and ICT: An exploratory review of technology innovation trough digital applications

The multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change produced by population ageing affects not only the quality of life of elderly people but also of our societies. Some dimensions of population ageing grow and expand over time (e.g. knowledge of the world events, or experience in particular situations), while others decline (e.g. reaction time, physical and psychological strength, or other functional abilities like reduced speed and tiredness). Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can help elderly to overcome possible limitations due to ageing. As a particular case, biometrics can allow the development of new algorithms for early detection of cognitive impairments, by processing continuous speech, handwriting or other challenged abilities. Among all possibilities, digital applications (Apps) for mobile phones or tablets can allow the dissemination of such tools. In this article, after presenting and discussing the process of population ageing and its social implications, we explore how ICTs through different Apps can lead to new solutions for facing this major demographic challenge.

Structured sparsity through reweighting and application to diffusion MRI

We consider the problem of multiple correlated sparse signals reconstruction and propose a new implementation of structured sparsity through a reweighting scheme. We present a particular application for diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging data and show how this procedure can be used for fibre orientation reconstruction in the white matter of the brain. In that framework, our structured sparsity prior can be used to exploit the fundamental coherence between fibre directions in neighbour voxels. Our method approaches the ℓ0 minimisation through a reweighted ℓ1-minimisation scheme. The weights are here defined in such a way to promote correlated sparsity between neighbour signals.

Virtalähdejärjestelmän ohjauksen suunnittelu

Virtalähdejärjestelmä koostuu itsenäisesti toimivista virtalähdeyksiköistä. Virtalähdeyksiköt ovat rinnankytketty syöttämään virtaa kuormaan. Tämä diplomityö käsittelee virtalähdeyksiköiden ohjaamiseen liittyviä ongelmia ja ratkaisuja. Työssä suunnitellaan virtalähdejärjestelmän ohjauselektroniikkaa sekä mikrokontrollerin ohjelmakoodia. Lisäksi kehitetään ratkaisuja virtalähteen hallintaan ja automaattiseen ohjaukseen. Huomiota kiinnitetään vikasietoisuuteen ja käyttäjäystävällisyyteen.

Secure logarithmic audio watermarking scheme based on the human auditory system

Peer-reviewed