Andrew K. Bolstad of Iowa State University

Amplifiers found in radio transmitters and receivers are often assumed to be linear systems, but when they operate near their limits, nonlinear effects can cause distortion and spectral leakage. Digital nonlinear compensation techniques improve the linearity of both transmitters and receivers. On the transmit side, digital pre-distortion (DPD) allows power amplifiers to run near saturation, where they are most efficient, without introducing nonlinear distortion in band or in neighboring channels. On the receive side, nonlinear equalization (NLEq) increases receiver dynamic range, allowing detection of very weak signals. DPD and NLEq both require power efficient digital implementations to maintain the efficiency of the overall system. Effects of nonlinear distortion and techniques to combat it will be presented.

Biography:

Andrew K. Bolstad is an adjunct assistant professor of electrical engineering at Iowa State University. Prior to joining the faculty at ISU, he was a technical staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory in the Advanced RF Technology and Systems Group. His research interests include nonlinear digital compensation, spectrum intelligence, sparse models, compressed sensing, and machine learning. Dr. Bolstad is a member of the IEEE Signal Processing Society. He has published several journal and conference papers and has been awarded four patents. He was a co-author of the 2015 GOMACTech Best Poster Paper and a recipient of the 2012 MIT Lincoln Laboratory Team Award. Dr. Bolstad received a BS in EE from Iowa State University and an MS and PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Email:

Address:3212 Coover, 2520 Osborn Dr, Ames, Iowa, United States, 50011-1046