Signal Processing and Speech Communication Laboratory

Welcome!

In 2000, the Signal Processing and Speech Communication Laboratory (SPSC Lab) of Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) was founded as a research and education center in nonlinear signal processing and computational intelligence, algorithm engineering, as well as circuits & systems modeling and design. It covers applications in wireless communications, speech/audio communication, and telecommunications.

If you want to learn more about Signal Processing, click: What is Signal Processing?

The Research of SPSC Lab addresses fundamental and applied research problems in five scientific areas:

Result of the Month

Joint Localization, Synchronization and Mapping via Phase-Coherent Distributed Arrays [link]

Extremely large-scale antenna array (ELAA) systems emerge as a promising technology in beyond 5G and 6G wireless networks to support the deployment of distributed architectures. This paper explores the use of ELAAs to enable joint localization, synchronization and mapping in sub-6 GHz uplink channels, capitalizing on the near-field effects of phase-coherent distributedm arrays. We focus on a scenario where a single-antenna user equipment (UE) communicates with a network of access points (APs) distributed in an indoor environment, considering both specular reflections from walls and scattering from objects. The UE is assumed to be unsynchronized to the network, while the APs can be timeand phase-synchronized to each other. We formulate the problem of joint estimation of location, clock offset and phase offset of the UE, and the locations of scattering points (SPs) (i.e., mapping). Through comprehensive Fisher information analysis, we assess the impact of bandwidth, AP array size, wall reflections, SPs and phase synchronization on localization accuracy. Furthermore, we derive the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator for the joint localization, synchronization, and mapping problem, which optimally combines the information collected by all the distributed arrays. To overcome its intractable high dimensionality, we propose a novel three-stage algorithm that first estimates phase offset leveraging carrier phase information of line-of-sight (LoS) paths, then determines the UE location and clock offset via LoS paths and wall reflections, and finally locates SPs using a null-space transformation technique. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in distributed architectures supported by radio stripes (RSs)—an innovative alternative for implementing ELAAs—while revealing the benefits of carrier phase exploitation and showcasing the interplay between delay and angular information under different bandwidth regimes.

Contact: Erik Leitinger