Abstract-The present work focuses on the forward link of a broadband multibeam satellite system that aggressively reuses the user link frequency resources. Two fundamental practical challenges, namely the need to frame multiple users per transmission and the per-antenna transmit power limitations, are addressed. To this end, the so-called frame-based precoding problem is optimally solved using the principles of physical layer multicasting to multiple co-channel groups under perantenna constraints. In this context, a novel optimization problem that aims at maximizing the system sum rate under individual power constraints is proposed. Added to that, the formulation is further extended to include availability constraints. As a result, the high gains of the sum rate optimal design are traded off to satisfy the stringent availability requirements of satellite systems. Moreover, the throughput maximization with a granular spectral efficiency versus SINR function, is formulated and solved. Finally, a multicast-aware user scheduling policy, based on the channel state information, is developed. Thus, substantial multiuser diversity gains are gleaned. Numerical results over a realistic simulation environment exhibit as much as 30% gains over conventional systems, even for 7 users per frame, without modifying the framing structure of legacy communication standards.

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A multiantenna transmitter that conveys independent sets of common data to distinct groups of users is considered. This model is known as physical layer multicasting to multiple cochannel groups. In this context, the practical constraint of a maximum permitted power level radiated by each antenna is addressed. The per-antenna power constrained system is optimized in a maximum fairness sense with respect to predetermined quality of service weights. In other words, the worst scaled user is boosted by maximizing its weighted signal-to-interference plus noise ratio. A detailed solution to tackle the weighted max-min fair multigroup multicast problem under per-antenna power constraints is therefore derived. The implications of the novel constraints are investigated via prominent applications and paradigms. What is more, robust per-antenna constrained multigroup multicast beamforming solutions are proposed. Finally, an extensive performance evaluation quantifies the gains of the proposed algorithm over existing solutions and exhibits its accuracy over per-antenna power constrained systems.Index Terms-Gaussian randomization, per-antenna power constraints, physical multigroup multicasting, semidefinite relaxation, weighted max-min fair optimization.

Precoding has been conventionally considered as an effective means of mitigating the interference and efficiently exploiting the available in the multiantenna downlink channel, where multiple users are simultaneously served with independent information over the same channel resources. The early works in this area were focused on transmitting an individual information stream to each user by constructing weighted linear combinations of symbol blocks (codewords). However, more recent works have moved beyond this traditional view by: i) transmitting distinct data streams to groups of users and ii) applying precoding on a symbol-per-symbol basis. In this context, the current survey presents a unified view and classification of precoding techniques with respect to two main axes: i) the switching rate of the precoding weights, leading to the classes of block-and symbol-level precoding, ii) the number of users that each stream is addressed to, hence unicast-/multicast-/broadcast-precoding. Furthermore, the classified techniques are compared through representative numerical results to demonstrate their relative performance and uncover fundamental insights. Finally, a list of open theoretical problems and practical challenges are presented to inspire further research in this area. 1

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Existing satellite communication standards such as DVB-S2, operate under highly-efficient adaptive coding and modulation schemes thus making significant progress in improving the spectral efficiencies of digital satellite broadcast systems. However, the constantly increasing demand for broadband and interactive satellite links emanates the need to apply novel interference mitigation techniques, striving towards Terabit throughput. In this direction, the objective of the present contribution is to investigate joint multiuser processing techniques for multibeam satellite systems. In the forward link, the performance of linear precoding is investigated with optimal nonlinear precoding (i.e., dirty article coding) acting as the upper performance limit. To this end, the resulting power and precoder design problems are approached through optimization methods. Similarly, in the return link the concept of linear filtering (i.e., linear minimum mean square error) is studied with the optimal successive interference cancelation acting as the performance limit. The derived capacity curves for both scenarios are compared to conventional satellite systems where beams are processed independently and interbeam interference is mitigated through a four color frequency reuse scheme, in order to quantify the potential gain of the proposed techniques.

Policy brokers and policy entrepreneurs are assumed to have a decisive impact on policy outcomes. Their access to social and political resources is contingent on their influence on other agents. In social network analysis (SNA), entrepreneurs are often closely associated with brokers, because both are agents presumed to benefit from bridging structural holes; for example, gaining advantage through occupying a strategic position in relational space. Our aim here is twofold. First, to conceptually and operationally differentiate policy brokers from policy entrepreneurs premised on assumptions in the policy-process literature; and second, via SNA, to use the output of core algorithms in a cross-sectional analysis of political brokerage and political entrepreneurship. We attempt to simplify the use of graph algebra in answering questions relevant to policy analysis by placing each algorithm within its theoretical context. In the methodology employed, we first identify actors and graph their relations of influence within a specific policy event; then we select the most central actors; and compare their rank in a series of statistics that capture different aspects of their network advantage. We examine betweenness centrality, positive and negative Bonacich power, Burt's effective size and constraint and honest brokerage as paradigmatic. We employ two case studies to demonstrate the advantages and limitations of each algorithm for differentiating between brokers and entrepreneurs: one on Swiss climate policy and one on EU competition and transport policy.

Multiuser precoding of the linear kind is one of the most promising candidate techniques required for managing inter-beam co-channel interference in aggressive frequency re-use multibeam High Throughput Satellite (HTS) systems. Although academic research on precoding schemes for broadband interactive satellite communication (SatCom) systems is intensifying, there are a number of practical constraints in current DVB-S2-based HTS systems that may inhibit the application of precoding. These have not been dealt with hitherto in the literature. The present article attempts to list the relevant issues, propose some possible ways forward and present some preliminary simulation results.