Master thesis project:
ShapeNoise
Generation of a noise signal with user-defined spectrum mask for spurious signals emulation in wireless transmissions.
Background:
Spectrum occupancy by other services and unwanted impairments (both in-channel and adjacent) is one of the major difficulties of wireless transmissions.
A way to characterize the influence and acceptable limits for a transmission system regarding this spurious spectrum environment is to generate signals with several specific generators/modulators and combine them with the useful signal. This is efficient but requires a lot of equipment, usually expensive and difficult to setup.
Another much more simple way to achieve similar work and results is to generate a pseudo-random signal having a spectrum mask representative of all impairment signals. This can be achieved in digital domain by appropriate FIR filtering of some white Gaussian noise.
Objective:
The project mainly consists in finding a global solution to reproduce any type of arbitrary user-defined spectrum mask / frequency response curve (low pass, high pass, band pass, notch and more complex shapes) in the best possible way with a FIR filter.
A first step is a theoretical analysis to dimension filter coefficients (taps) number and precision according to target response curve characteristics and accuracy.
A second step is to develop an off-line PC software enabling to generate a frequency response curve template (through an interpolation from a user set of point) and to calculate filter coefficients accordingly.
A third step is to implement a real-time parametrizable FIR filter on an hardware FPGA-based (programmable component) platform and to verify correct operation for various template curves.
Deliverables:
- Preliminary theoretical analysis report.
- Visual C++ module with graphic user-interface for filter response curve capture and FIR filter coefficients calculation.
- VHDL module for real-time filters implementation.
- Final project report (diploma report).
Organization:
This project will take place within the scope of a collaboration with a small company developing channel and impairments simulators for wireless transmissions.
Student(s) will be working at university labs and/or at home. The company will provide project follow-up and support. The company will also provide a hardware platform and possibly additional test tools for project implementation and verification.
At beginning of project, there will be a launch meeting and a technical specifications document with clear objectives and recommendations on how to achieve it and verify it. During project, there will be weekly progress meetings. At the end of project, there will be an acceptance and evaluation session about project deliverables.
Comment:
This project constitutes a very good pre-professional experience through the skills it will enable to enrich (FPGA/ASIC development and PC user-interface development are commonly and highly requested by industry) and through the fact that student(s) will collaborate to a real industrial project.
This project can be achieved by 1 student or can be merged with the “RadioStress” project in order to constitute a 2 students team.
Prerequisites:
- Mathematics, Electronics, Signal Processing, Telecommunications
- Visual C++ programming on PC environment
- VHDL language (preferable but not mandatory)
Supervisor:
Jean-François Csomo, DreamCom
Professor:
Prof. Bixio Rimoldi, tel: 32679, office: INR 111, bixio.rimoldi@epfl.ch