Signal design for bandwidth-efficient multiple-access communications based on eigenvalue optimization

Bandwidth-efficient multiple access (BEMA) is a strategy where transmitter pulses are continually designed at the base station and are dynamically allocated to the transmitters via a feedback channel. Such pulses (or "signature waveforms") are designed to conserve bandwidth while simultaneously enabling the receiver at the base station to meet a quality-of-service (QoS) specification for each transmitter. The key technical problem in BEMA communication is therefore the design of the transmitter pulses for the base station receiver. In an earlier paper, we presented solutions to this problem that were shown to be superior (in terms of strict bandwidth) to common signaling schemes such as time-, frequency-, and code-division multiple access (TDMA, FDMA, and CDMA). This paper uses the framework developed earlier, but considers strictly time-limited transmitter pulses and the root-mean squared (RMS) bandwidth measure. As in the earlier paper, significant bandwidth savings over the traditional multiple-access strategies are obtained. However, in contrast to the rank-conserving approach, the bandwidth gains of this paper are realized by tailoring the signature waveform design to conserve RMS bandwidth via eigenvalue optimization problems.