Flexibly supporting multiple services, each with different communication requirements and frame structure, has been identified as one of the most significant and promising characteristics of next generation and beyond wireless communication systems. However, integrating multiple frame structures with different subcarrier spacing in one radio carrier may result in significant inter-service-band-interference (ISBI). In this paper, a framework for multi-service (MS) systems is established based on a subband filtered multi-carrier system. The subband filtering implementations and both asynchronous and generalized synchronous (GS) MS subband filtered multi-carrier (SFMC) systems have been proposed. Based on the GS-MS-SFMC system, the system model with ISBI is derived and a number of properties on ISBI are given. In addition, low-complexity ISBI cancelation algorithms are proposed by precoding the information symbols at the transmitter. For asynchronous MS-SFMC system in the presence of transceiver imperfections, including carrier frequency offset, timing offset, and phase noise, a complete analytical system model is established in terms of desired signal, inter-symbol-interference, inter-carrier-interference, ISBI, and noise. Thereafter, new channel equalization algorithms are proposed by considering the errors and imperfections. Numerical analysis shows that the analytical results match the simulation results, and the proposed ISBI cancelation and equalization algorithms can significantly improve the system performance in comparison with the existing algorithms.
Network slicing has been identified as one of the most important features for 5G and beyond to enable operators to utilize networks on an as-a-service basis and meet the wide range of use cases. In physical layer, the frequency and time resources are split into slices to cater for the services with individual optimal designs, resulting in services/slices having different baseband numerologies (e.g., subcarrier spacing) and / or radio frequency (RF) front-end configurations. In such a system, the multi-service signal multiplexing and isolation among the service/slices are critical for the Physical-Layer Network Slicing (PNS) since orthogonality is destroyed and significant inter-service/ slice-band-interference (ISBI) may be generated. In this paper, we first categorize four PNS cases according to the baseband and RF configurations among the slices. The system model is established by considering a low out of band emission (OoBE) waveform operating in the service/slice frequency band to mitigate the ISBI. The desired signal and interference for the two slices are derived. Consequently, one-tap channel equalization algorithms are proposed based on the derived model. The developed system models establish a framework for further interference analysis, ISBI cancelation algorithms, system design and parameter selection (e.g., guard band), to enable spectrum efficient network slicing.
Background: Pregnant women with COVID-19 are more likely to be hospitalized and require respiratory support than non-pregnant women. There is little published data on Remdesivir use in pregnant women with COVID-19. We aimed to investigate the clinical course and obstetric outcomes for pregnant women with COVID-19 administered Remdesivir versus standard therapy.
Methods: We conducted a non-randomized quasi experimental study among 100 pregnant women with moderate or severe COVID-19 who were admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Dubai between 18 January and 31 March 2021. We compared women receiving Remdesivir (treatment arm) and women receiving standard therapy (control arm).
Results: More women in the Remdesivir group had normal vaginal delivery (n=17, 39.5%) than controls (n=9, 20.5%). Newborn Apgar scores at 1 and 5 minutes were similar in both groups. The mean standard deviation time to recovery and discharge was lower for patients receiving Remdesivir than controls (8.4\(\pm\)3.3 versus 13.6\(\pm\)9.2 days). Fewer treated patients required intensive care; at 60- day follow-up, all women on Remdesivir were doing well whereas six (12.0%) women on standard therapy had died.
Conclusions: Pregnant women with moderate or severe COVID-19 treated early with Remdesivir showed an overall better clinical course and outcomes than those on standard therapy.
To flexibly support diverse communication requirements (e.g., throughput, latency, massive connection, etc.) for the next generation wireless communications, one viable solution is to divide the system bandwidth into several service subbands, each for a different type of service. In such a multi-service (MS) system, each service has its optimal frame structure while the services are isolated by subband filtering. In this paper, a framework for multi-service (MS) system is established based on subband filtered multi-carrier (SFMC) modulation. We consider both single-rate (SR) and multi-rate (MR) signal processing as two different MS-SFMC implementations, each having different performance and computational complexity. By comparison, the SR system outperforms the MR system in terms of performance while the MR system has a significantly reduced computational complexity than the SR system. Numerical results show the effectiveness of our analysis and the proposed systems. These proposed SR and MR MS-SFMC systems provide guidelines for next generation wireless system frame structure optimization and algorithm design.
The present study explored the relationship of emotional intelligence and psychological distress with internet addiction. The participants were 200 individuals from different universities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, who were active internet users in their daily life. A co-relational method was used in order to obtain the quantitative analysis of the relationship between the three variables. The Internet Addiction Test (Young, 1998), Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (Wong et al., 2007) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21were used. The results supported the hypothesis that there is a relationship between internet addiction, psychological distress and emotional intelligence among internet users.
We derive the uplink system model for In-band and Guard-band narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT). The results reveal that the actual channel frequency response (CFR) is not a simple Fourier transform of the channel impulse response, due to sampling rate mismatch between the NB-IoT user and long term evolution (LTE) base station. Consequently, a new channel equalization algorithm is proposed based on the derived effective CFR. In addition, the interference is derived analytically to facilitate the co-existence of NB-IoT and LTE signals. This letter provides an example and guidance to support network slicing and service multiplexing in the physical layer.
This paper presents a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) estimation algorithm for advanced Digital Video Broadcasting-Return Channel via Satellite (DVB-RCS) systems using adaptive coding and modulation (ACM) in the reverse link of broadband satellite systems. Due to the absence of a repetitive pilot symbol structure, SNR estimation has to be performed using the fixed symbol preamble data. Moreover, sporadic nature of data traffic on the return link causes variation in interference level from slot to slot and, therefore, the estimation has to be done within one traffic slot duration. Hence, it becomes necessary to use a combination of data-aided (DA) and decision-directed (DD) algorithms so as to make use of traffic data. A non-data-aided (NDA) estimator that was previously proposed by the authors for binary phase shift keying (BPSK) and QPSK schemes is extended to 8-PSK in a decision directed manner. This estimator shows improved performance over existing estimators. The inherent bias of DD approach at low values of SNR is reduced by using a hybrid approach, i.e., using the proposed estimator at moderate/high values of SNR and the moments-based estimator ( M2M4 ) at low values of SNR. Overall improved performance of the proposed hybrid estimator, in terms of accuracy and complexity, makes it an attractive choice for implementing ACM in advanced DVB-RCS systems.
The current DVB-S2 standard specifies the use of constant energy level pilots for receiver synchronization and equalization algorithms. However, these are unsuitable for APSK modulations due to the nonlinear response of the satellite power amplifier. In this paper, we investigate the performance of two low-complexity techniques for nonlinear compensation in DVB-S2 systems, i.e. static predistortion and cluster based sequence equalizer (CBSE). We also propose how multilevel pilot structures, matched to each technique, can be used for carrier recovery. Simulation results are presented in terms of total degradation wherein both techniques are shown to achieve a significant improvement over the conventional system.
Choice of a suitable waveform is a key factor in the design of 5G physical layer. New waveform/s must be capable of supporting a greater density of users, higher data throughput and should provide more efficient utilization of available spectrum to support 5G vision of "everything everywhere and always connected" with "perception of infinite capacity". Although orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been adopted as the transmission waveform in wired and wireless systems for years, it has several limitations that make it unsuitable for use in future 5G air interface. In this chapter, we investigate and analyse alternative waveforms that are promising candidate solutions to address the challenges of diverse applications and scenarios in 5G.