Base station sites account for over 80% of the energy consumed by mobile networks, out of which more than 60% is converted to waste heat. Power amplifiers are the most power-hungry components in the radio, accounting for over 50% of the consumed energy. Unfortunately, power amplifiers cannot be power-efficient without heavily compromising the quality of the transmit signals, which in turn limits the data that can be delivered to the network subscribers and interferes other systems operating in adjacent frequency bands. In this context, classical digital predistortion solutions were developed to allow for an efficient operation of power amplifiers while ensuring excellent signal quality for high-speed communications. However, the development of advanced large antenna array transmitter architectures poses many challenges to the design and implementation of digital predistortion solutions, which if not addressed properly can lead to an increased carbon footprint and increased costs for network operators, while also hindering the design of the radios.
“In my thesis, I investigated and developed new ways of designing and implementing digital predistortion techniques suitable for modern transmitter architectures, together with novel algorithms to deal with new challenges and impairments present in them. The developed solutions pave the way towards highly efficient mobile networks and reduced energy consumption and emissions,” Alberto Brihuega García explains.
“Energy-efficiency and carbon footprint are one of the main concerns in modern society, and carbon neutral industries are one of the main targets of Agenda 2030. Telecommunication equipment providers are investing lots of resources to reduce the emissions resulting from their products to meet these goals,” he says.
The research methods and results have been published in seven main scientific publications: six journal articles and one conference paper. The venues include IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Signal Processing (JSTSP), IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques (TMTT), IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing (TSP), and IEEE Microwave and Wireless Component Letters (MWCL).
The doctoral dissertation of MSc. Alberto Brihuega García in the field of Communications Engineering entitled Digital Predistortion Solutions for Large Antenna Array Transmitters will be publicly examined in the Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences of Tampere University at Hervanta Campus, in the auditorium TB109 of Tietotalo building (Korkeakoulunkatu 3, Tampere) on Friday 26th of August 2022 at 12:00. The opponent will be Professor Timo Rahkonen from University of Oulu, Finland. The Custos will be Professor Mikko Valkama from Tampere University, Finland. The work has been co-supervised by Senior Research Fellow Lauri Anttila from Tampere University.
The dissertation is available online at: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-2513-8
The event can also be followed via remote connection