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Module-2
Code Division for Multiple Access (CDMA): Basic CDMA Mechanism, Fundamentals of
CDMA codes, Spreading Codes based on PN sequences, Correlation Properties of Random
CDMA Spreading Sequences, Advantages of CDMA. Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM): Introduction, Motivation and Multicarrier basics, OFDM basics, OFDM
Example, MIMO OFDM, OFDM Peak to Average Power ratio, SC-FDMA.
Text Book 1. Aditya K Jagannatham, “Principles of Modern Wireless Communication systems,
Theory and Practice ”, Mc Graw Hill Education (India) Private Limited, 2017, ISBN 978-81- 265-
4231-4.

Code Division for Multiple Access (CDMA)

Introduction to CDMA
 CDMA stands for Code Division for Multiple Access and is considered a path-breaking wireless
technology due to its several superior properties.
 (CDMA) is a multiple access technique used in wireless communication systems, particularly in
mobile and satellite networks. It allows multiple users to share the same frequency band
simultaneously by assigning each user a unique code.
 However, in a wireless network, mobile phones and other wireless-communication devices are
required to share the common radio channel over the air.
 The below figure shows the radio channel is common for all the users/ devices and the available
wireless frequency bands are limited. Thus, it is necessary to device a mechanism for multiple users
to access this common radio channel, which is termed as a Multiple Access (MA) technology.
 Thus, multiple access is at the heart of modern wireless technologies, especially 3G and 4G cellular
technologies.
 FDMA stands for Frequency Division Multiple Access, a channel access method used in
communication systems to allow multiple users to transmit data simultaneously over a shared
communication medium.
 In FDMA, the total available bandwidth is divided into separate frequency bands, and each user is
allocated a unique frequency channel. These channels are non-overlapping and are assigned for the
entire duration of the communication.

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 TDMA stands for Time Division Multiple Access, a method used in digital communication systems
to share a single frequency channel among multiple users by dividing it into time slots.
 In TDMA, each user is assigned a specific time slot during which they can transmit or receive data.
All users share the same frequency, but access it one at a time in a rapid sequence. The switching
happens so fast that it appears simultaneous to users.

Basic CDMA Mechanism

CDMA, as the name suggests, is a multiple-access technology based on code division. In other words,
different users are multiplexed using different codes.
Consider a two-user scenario, i.e., two users accessing the radio channel simultaneously. Let a0 denote
the symbol of the user 0, while a1 denotes the transmit symbol corresponding to the user 1. Let the code
c0 of the user 0 be given as c0 = [1, 1, 1, 1]. The above code c0 is of length N = 4 chips. Each element of
the code is termed as a chip. The transmitted signal x0 of the user 0 is then given by multiplying the code
c0 with the symbol a0 as
x0 = a0 × [1, 1, 1, 1]
= [a0, a0, a0, a0] (1)

The structure of the above transmit signal x0 can be interpreted as follows. The symbol a0, of the user 0,
is multiplied by the code c0 to yield 4 chips x0(i), 0 ≤ i ≤ N − 1. Similarly, let the code c1, given as c1 =
[1, −1,−1, 1], correspond to the code of the user 1. Hence, the sequence of chips corresponding to the user
1 transmission is given as
x1 = a1 × [1, −1,−1, 1]
= [a1, −a1, −a1, a1] (2)

The signals x0, x1 corresponding to users 1, 2 respectively are now summed to yield the net
signal x as
x = x1 + x2 = [(a0 + a1), (a0 − a1), (a0 − a1), (a0 + a1)] (3)

This sum, or composite, signal is then transmitted on the downlink from which each of the users 0, 1 detect
their own signal. This is done as follows. User 1 correlates the received signal x with his code c0, i.e.,

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basically multiplies each chip of the received signal x with the corresponding chip of the code c0 = [1, 1,
1, 1] and sums across the chips as follows.

a0 + a1 a0 − a1 a0 − a1 a0 + a1

×1 1 1 1

(a0 + a1) + (a0 − a1) + (a0 − a1) + (a0 + a1) = 4a0

Thus, the result of the above correlation is 4a0, which is proportional to the transmitted symbol a0.
Similarly, at the user 2, the received signal x is correlated with the chip sequence
c1 =[1, −1, −1, 1] of the user 1 as

a0 + a1 a0 − a1 a0 − a1 a0 + a1

×1 −1 −1 1

(a0 + a1) − (a0 − a1) − (a0 − a1) + (a0 + a1) = 4a1

to yield 4a1, which is proportional to the transmitted symbol a1 of the user 1. Thus, unlike in GSM or
FDMA, in which the signals of different users are transmitted in different time slots or frequency bands, in
CDMA, all the signals of the different users are contained in the single signal x over all time and frequency.
However, in CDMA, the symbols of the different users are combined using different codes. For instance,
in the above example, the symbols a0, a1 of users 0, 1 are multiplied with codes c0, c1 prior to transmission.
Thus, the users of the different signals are multiplexed over the common wireless channel employing
different codes. Hence, this is termed Code Division for Multiple Access, i.e., multiple access based on
different codes.

The key operations in CDMA can be summarized as follows

1. Multiplying or modulation the symbols of the different users with the corresponding assigned unique
code, similar to the procedure illustrated in equations above.
2. Combining or adding the code-modulated signals of all the users to form the composite signal
as shown in Eq. (3), followed by subsequent transmission of the signal.
3. Finally, correlation of the composite received signal x at each user with the corresponding code of the
user to recover the transmitted symbol.

Fundamentals of CDMA Codes

From the example illustrated in the previous section, the astute reader will realize that it is no accident by
which we are able to recover the signals of users 0, 1. Computing the correlation r01 of the user codes c0,
c1 yields.

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= 1 × 1 + 1 × (−1) + 1 × (−1) + 1 × 1
= 1 + (−1) + (−1) + 1
=0
Thus, since the correlation between the codes c0, c1 is zero, the codes are, in fact, orthogonal. This is what
helps us recover the symbols of the different users from the composite signal. This is a key property of the
codes employed in CDMA wireless systems, and a fundamental principle on which the theory of CDMA is
based. Further, consider a fundamental property of the CDMA system arising because of the employment
of these codes. Let the symbol rate for the symbols a0 of the user 0 be 1 kbps. Hence, the time period T per
symbol is
T = 1 /1 kbps = 1 ms
Hence, the corresponding bandwidth required for transmission is

B = 1/ T = 1 kHz

However, now consider the transmission of the symbol a0 multiplied with the corresponding code c0, i.e.,
a0 × [1, 1, 1, 1] = [a0, a0, a0, a0]. Thus, for each symbol a0, one has to transmit 4 chips. Thus, to keep the
symbol rate constant at 1 kbps, the time of each chip Tc has to be set as Tc = 1/ 4T = 0.25ms. Thus, the
bandwidth required for this system is

BCDMA = 1/ Tc = 1 0.25 ms
= 4 kHz
Modulating with the code c0 of length N = 4, results in an increase of the required bandwidth by a factor
of N, i.e., from 1 kHz to 4 kHz. This is shown schematically in Figure 5.4. Thus, it basically results in a
spreading of the original signal bandwidth and, hence, is termed a spreading code. Also, since the
resulting signal occupies a large bandwidth, CDMA systems are also termed spread spectrum or
wideband systems.

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Spread spectrum communication

The different orthogonal spreading codes are
c0 = 1 1 1 1
c1 = 1 −1 −1 1
c2 = 1 −1 1 −1
c3 = 1 1 −1 −1
The reader can verify that the codes c0, c1, c2, c3 are orthogonal to each other. For example,
consider c1, c2. The correlation r12 between codes c1, c2 is

This implies that given a spreading sequence length N, there exist N orthogonal codes and hence, N
users can be multiplexed together. This is important, since the bandwidth increases by a factor of N due to
transmission employing the codes as described earlier. However, it is important to note that no inefficiency
is introduced in the system because of the increase in bandwidth, because this increase in bandwidth by a
factor of N is compensated by the parallel transmission of the signals corresponding to the N users over the
same bandwidth. Thus, the spectral efficiency of the system is not compromised.

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Spreading Codes based on Pseudo-Noise (PN) Sequences

One method to generate such long spreading codes based on PN sequences for a significantly large N is
through the employment of a Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR)
Consider the shift register architecture shown in Figure 5.6, where the element D represents delays. Thus,
the digital circuit therein contains D = 4 delay elements or shift registers. The input on the left is denoted
by Xi, and the outputs of the different delays are Xi−1, Xi−2, Xi−3, Xi−4. Let Xi−4 also denote the final
output of the system. Also observe that the xor Xi−4 ⊕ Xi−3 is fed back as Xi which is the input to the
first shift register. Thus, the governing equation of the circuit i

Xi = Xi-3 ⊕ Xi-3
Which is a linear equation. Thus, since it implements a linear relation, with feedback and uses delay
elements or shift registers, such a circuit is also termed a Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR)
architecture. Since the next inpur, i.e., Xi depends on Xi−1, Xi−2, Xi−3, Xi−4, this can also be thought of
as the current state of the system. Consider initializing the system in the state Xi−1 = 1, Xi−2 = 1, Xi−3 =
1, Xi−4 = 1. Thus, we have the corresponding Xi given

This Xi becomes Xi−1 at the next instant and similarly, Xi−2, Xi−3 are shifted to the right as Xi−3, Xi−4
respectively. Continuing in this fashion, the entire sequence of state of the above LFSR is summarized. It
can be seen that the LFSR goes through the sequence of 15 states 1111, 0111, 0011, 0001, 1000, 0100,

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0010, 1001, 1100, 0110, 1011, 0101, 1010, 1101, 1110, before reentering the state 1111. Subsequently, the
entire sequence of states repeats again. Observe that this goes through 2D − 1 = 24 − 1 = 15 states. Also
note that the maximum number of possible states for D = 4 is 2D = 16. However, the LFSR can be seen to
go through all the possible states except one, which is the 0000 or the all-zero state

Further, observe that if the LFSR is initialized in the 0000 state, it continues in the 0000 state,
since the corresponding Xi is leading to the next state of 0000. Thus, the LFSR never gets out of
the all zero states! Therefore, it is desired that the LFSR never enter the all-zero state. Such an
LFSR circuit which goes through the maximum possible 2D − 1 states, without entering the all-
zero state is termed a maximum-length shift register circuit or maximum length LFSR. The
generated PN sequence is termed a maximum-length PN sequence. Thus, the maximum-length
PN sequence is of length 2D − 1. For instance, for the above LFSR, the maximum-length PN
sequence is the sequence of outputs Xi−4 given as PN Sequence = 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0
We can map the bits 1, 0 to the BPSK symbols −1, +1 to get the modulated PN sequence, PN
sequence = −1 − 1 − 1 − 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 − 1 + 1 + 1 − 1 − 1 + 1 − 1 + 1.

Properties of PN Sequences
Property 1-Balance Property:
In any periodic PN sequence of length N = 2ⁿ − 1, where n is the number of shift registers used to
generate the sequence.

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The PN sequence is of maximal length 2D − 1 = 15 corresponding to D = 4. Counting the number of −1

and +1 chips in the sequence, it can be seen that the number of −1s is one more than the number of +1s.
This is termed the balance property of the PN sequence. This fundamentally arisies from the noise like
properties of PN sequences. If we are generating random noise of +1, −1 chips, with P (Xi = +1) = P (Xi
= −1) = 1 2 , we expect to find on an average that half the chips are +1 and the rest are −1. In the above
case, however, as the total number of chips is an odd number, i.e., 15, it is not possible to have an exactly
even number of +1, −1s. Hence, we observe that the number of +1, −1s is close to half the total number,
i.e., eight −1s and seven +1s. Thus, the balance property basically supports the notion of a noise like PN
chip sequence.

Property 2-Run-Length Property:

A run is defined as a string of continuous values. There are a total of 8 runs in this PN sequences. For
instance, the first run −1, −1, −1, −1 is a run of length 4. Thus, there is one run of length 4. Similarly,
there is one run +1, +1, +1 of length 3, and two runs of length 2, viz., −1, −1, +1, +1. Finally, it can also
be seen that there are 4 runs of length 1, viz., two runs of +1 and two runs of −1. Thus, there are a total of
2(D−1) = 8 runs. Out of the 8 runs, it can be seen that 1, i.e., 1 8 of the runs are of length 3, 1 4 of the runs
are of length 2 and 1 2 of the runs are of length 1. This is termed the run-length property of PN sequences
and can be generalized as follows. Consider a maximal length PN sequence of length 2D − 1. Out of the
total number of runs in the sequence, 1 2 of the runs are of length 1, 1 4 of the runs are of length 2, 1 8 of
the runs are of length 3, and so on. This is again in tune with the noiselike properties of PN sequences.
For instance, consider a random IID sequence of +1, −1. In such a sequence, one would expect the
average number of +1 or −1 to be half the total chips. Further, the number of strings +1, +1 or −1, −1, i.e.,
runs of length two would be expected to comprises 1 4 of the total runs.

Property 3-Correlation Property:

The correlation property is one of the most important properties of PN sequences. Consider again the
BPSK chip sequence shown in and denote it by c0 (n). Let us now look at the correlation properties of
this sequence. Consider the correlation r00 (0), i.e., the correlation of the sequences c0 with itself (the
meaning of the (0) will become clear soon). This correlation is given as

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Consider a circularly shifted version of the PN sequence, shifted by n◦ = 2. Let it be denoted by c0 (n −

2). This circularly shifted sequence by 2 chips can be readily seen to be given as PN Sequence = −1 + 1,
−1 − 1 − 1 − 1 + 1 + 1 +1 − 1 + 1 + 1 − 1 − 1 + 1 (5.7) Let us denote the correlation between c0 (n) and c0
(n − 2) by r00 (2), where the (2) can now be seen to represent a circular shift of 2. The correlation can be
seen to be given as

In fact, one can compute the correlation for other such nonzero delays, and can demonstrate the
correlation is always − 1 N. This autocorrelation property of the PN sequence, i.e., of the sequence with a

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delayed version of itself, is shown pictorially in Figure 5.7. Thus, it can be seen that while the correlation
of the sequence with itself corresponding to a lag of 0 is 1, for any other nonzero shift, it assumes a very
low value of − 1 N, which tends to the limit 0 as the spreading length N → ∞. This autocorrelation
property of the PN sequences can be summarized as follows.

Correlation Properties of Random CDMA Spreading Sequences

CDMA spreading sequences can be chosen as PN sequences, which have noise like properties. In other
words, one can choose a chip sequence ck (i), 0 ≤ i ≤ N − 1 for the user k such that P (ck (i) = +1) = P (ck
(i) = −1) = 1 2 . Thus, we have, E {ck (i)} = 1 2 × (+1) + 1 2 (−1) = 0.
Another important aspect is to choose such sequences as containing Independent Identically Distributed
(IID) chips, i.e., satisfying the property

The above property implies that each chip ck (i) is uncorrelated with chip ck (j). Further, one can choose
independent sequences for different users, that is, to say

Let us examine the correlation properties of such random spreading sequences. As before, let r00 (k)
denote the autocorrelation of the chip sequence of the user k = 0, corresponding to a lag k = 0. This can be
expressed as

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The variance or basically the power of r00 (k), the autocorrelation of the random CDMA spreading
sequence is E r2 00 (k) = 1 N. Also, once again, the autocorrelation corresponding to a lag of k = 0 can be
readily seen to be given as

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Advantages of CDMA
 Jammer Margin
An important advantage of CDMA over conventional cellular systems is jammer suppression. A jammer
is basically a malicious user in a communication network who transmits with a very high power to cause
interference, thus leading to disruption of communication links. This is shown schematically in Figure
5.8. Jammers are of significant concern, especially in the context of highly secure communication systems
such as those used for military and defense purposes. The effect of jammer suppression in a CDMA
system can be understood as follows. Consider a communication system in which the signal x (n) of the
power P is received in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise w (n) of power σ2 w. The baseband
system model for this communication system can be expressed as

 Graceful Degradation
Graceful degradation is another key property of CDMA-based wireless networks and as we shall see
soon, allows for much more efficient interference management, which ultimately leads to universal
frequency reuse and higher spectral efficiency.

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 Universal Frequency Reuse

 Multipath Diversity and Rake Receiver
Another important advantage of CDMA is its ability to achieve diversity gain via multipath scatter
components. This is termed multipath diversity and is achieved through coherent combining of the
multipath-signal components employing a rake receiver.

Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing

Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) forms the basis for 4G, i.e., Fourth Generation
wireless communication systems. OFDM is used in 4G wireless cellular standards such as Long-Term
Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). OFDM is a key
broadband wireless technology which supports data rates in excess of 100 Mbps. Similarly, the wireless
local area (LAN) standards such as 802.11 a/g/n are based on OFDM. Next we describe multicarrier
transmission, which is the motivation and key idea behind OFDM.

Motivation and Multicarrier Basics

Consider a bandwidth B = 2W available for communication, where W is the one-sided bandwidth, or, in
other words, the maximum frequency. For a single carrier communication system, the symbol time T is
given as
T = 1 /B
Basically implying that symbols can be transmitted at intervals of 1 B seconds each. Therefore, the
symbol rate is given as
Rate = 1/ 1/B
=B
Such a system is termed a single-carrier communication system. In such a system, a single carrier is
employed for the entire baseband bandwidth of B. Therefore, roughly speaking, the symbols are transmitted
as symbol X(0) from 0 ≤ t < T, symbol X(1) from T ≤ t < 2T, and so on, i.e., roughly one symbol transmitted
every T = 1 B seconds. Consider now dividing the total bandwidth B into N sub-bands of bandwidth B/N
each as shown in Figure 7.1. Each subcarrier can now be represented by a subcarrier. Therefore, the
subcarriers are placed at . . . , − B N , 0, B N , . .. For instance, consider the bandwidth B = 256 kHz with
N = 64 subcarriers. The bandwidth per sub-band is equal to 256 64 = 4 kHz, which is also the frequency
spacing between the subcarriers. We now implement a multi-carrier transmission system as follows.
Consider the i th subcarrier at the frequency fi = i B N , with − N 2 − 1 ≤ i ≤ N 2 . Let Xi denote the data
transmitted on the ith subcarrier. Then, the signal si (t) corresponding to the i th subcarrier is given as

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Where fi is the i th subcarrier centre frequency, as described above, and ej2πfit is the i th subcarrier. The
above equation shows the data modulation process over the i th subcarrier. The N different data symbols
Xi are modulated over the N different subcarriers with centre frequencies fi. Hence, there are a total of N
data streams. Next we illustrate the scheme for multicarrier transmission.

Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

Introduction
Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) OFDM is used in 4G wireless cellular standards
such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access)
OFDM is a key broadband wireless technology which supports data rates in excess of 100 Mbps. Similarly,
the wireless local area (LAN) standards such as 802.11 a/g/n are based on OFDM.

Motivation and Multicarrier Basics

Consider a bandwidth B = 2W available for communication, where W is the one-sided bandwidth, or, in
other words, the maximum frequency. For a single carrier communication system, the symbol time T is
given as
T = 1 /B
Basically implying that symbols can be transmitted at intervals of 1/ B seconds each. Therefore, the
symbol rate is given as

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Such a system is termed a single-carrier communication system. In such a system, a single carrier is
employed for the entire baseband bandwidth of B. Therefore, roughly speaking, the symbols are
transmitted as symbol X (0) from 0 ≤ t < T, symbol X(1) from T ≤ t < 2T, and so on, i.e., roughly one
symbol transmitted every T = 1/ B seconds.
Consider now dividing the total bandwidth B into N sub-bands of bandwidth B/N Therefore, the
subcarriers are placed at . . . , − B N , 0, B N , . . ., as shown in the figure. For instance, consider the
bandwidth B = 256 kHz with N = 64 subcarriers. The bandwidth per sub-band is equal to 256 64 = 4 kHz,
which is also the frequency spacing between the subcarriers. We now implement a multi-carrier
transmission system as follows. Consider the i th subcarrier at the frequency fi = i B N , with − N 2 − 1 ≤ i
≤ N 2 . Let Xi denote the data transmitted on the ith subcarrier. Then, the signal si (t) corresponding to the
i th subcarrier is given as.

Where fi is the i th subcarrier centre frequency, as described above, and ej2πfit is the i th subcarrier. The
above equation shows the data modulation process over the i th subcarrier. The N different data symbols
Xi are modulated over the N different subcarriers with centre frequencies fi. Hence, there are a total of N
data streams. Next we illustrate the scheme for multicarrier transmission.

Multicarrier Transmission

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Where we have used the fact that T0 0 ej2π(i−l)f0t dt = 0 for i = l, since this is basically integrating a
sinusoid of frequency (i − l) f0, which is a multiple of the fundamental frequency f0 over the period T0.
an integer number of cycles of the sinusoid of frequency (i − l) f0, this integral is 0.
In fact, this basically implies that the different sinusoids ej2πif0t and ej2πlf0t are orthogonal.
property of orthogonality which helps extract the different streams Xi modulated over the different
subcarriers.

Therefore, all the subcarriers other than the l th subcarrier are orthogonal to the l th subcarrier. Further,
observe that multiplying with e j2πfl t ∗ and integrating is basically coherent demodulation, i.e.,
demodulation with the carrier matched to the subcarrier frequency fl = l /B N . Thus, Xl, the data
modulated on the different subcarriers, can be conveniently recovered by coherently demodulating with
each of the subcarriers corresponding to l = −( N /2 − 1 ), . . . , N /2 . The above scheme of transmission
on multiple orthogonal subcarriers and the associated data recovery at the receiver is termed Multicarrier
Modulation (MCM).

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Multicarrier Transmission

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Cyclic Prefix in OFDM

In this section, we explain the concept of cyclic prefix, which is an important component of an
OFDM system. Consider a frequency-selective channel modelled with channel taps h (0), h (1), . . . , h (L
− 1). Thus, the received symbol y at a given time instant n can be expressed as

y (n) = h (0) x (n) + h (1) x (n − 1) + . . . + h (L − 1) x (n − L + 1) …………. ISI component

from which it can be seen that the received symbol y (n) at the time instant n experiences inter symbol
interference from the previous L − 1 transmitted symbols. Consider now two OFDM symbols as follows.
Let x (0), x (1), . . . , x (N − 1) denote the IFFT samples of the modulated symbols X (0), X (1), . . . , X (N
− 1), while x˜ (0), x˜ (1), . . . , x˜ (N − 1) denote the IFFT samples of the previous modulated symbol block
X˜ (0), X˜ (1), . . . , X˜ (N − 1). Thus, the samples corresponding to these two blocks of OFDM symbols
are transmitted sequentially as x˜ (0), x˜ (1), . . . , x˜ (N − 1), Previous block x (0), x (1), . . . , x (N − 1)
Current block Now, consider the received symbol y (0) corresponding to the transmission of x (0). This can
be expressed as y (0) = h (0) x (0) + h (1) ˜x (N − 1) + . . . + h (L − 1) ˜x (N − L + 1) ISI from previous
OFDM symbol . It can be seen from the above equation that the received symbol y (0) experiences inter-
symbol interference from x˜ (N − 1), x˜ (N − 2), . . . , x˜ (N − (L − 1)). Thus, there is inter-OFDM symbol
interference in this new OFDM system. The initial samples of the current OFDM symbol block are being
subject to interference from the N − 1 samples of the previous OFDM block. This is shown in Figure 7.6.
Similarly, the received symbol y (1) is given as y (1) = h (0) x (1) + h (1) x (0) h (2) ˜x (N − 1) + . . . + h (L
− 1) ˜x (N − L + 2) ISI from previous OFDM symbol , which can again be seen to experience inter-OFDM
symbol interference from the previous OFDM block symbols x˜ (N − 1), x˜ (N − 2), . . . , x˜ (N − L + 2).
Let us now consider a modified transmission scheme as follows.

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 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

Prepared by: Dr .A Poonguzhali / Radhika Sri Sairam College of Engineering Anekal

 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

Prepared by: Dr .A Poonguzhali / Radhika Sri Sairam College of Engineering Anekal

 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

Prepared by: Dr .A Poonguzhali / Radhika Sri Sairam College of Engineering Anekal

 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

Impact of Cyclic Prefix on Data Rate

Inter OFDM symbol interference with increasing OFDM symbol time

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 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

We need
Lc × Ts ≥ Td
Where Ts denotes the sample time and Td denotes the delay spread. Also, the sample time Ts = 1
/B , where B is the total bandwidth of the system and Td = 1 /Bc , where Bc is the coherence bandwidth of
the system. The above condition implies
Lc ≥ Td/ Ts ,
= B /Bs
Combining this with the earlier condition that N >> Lc for efficiency in terms of the effective data
rate, we have
N >> Lc ≥ B/ Bc .
This can also be recast as Bc >> B N .
Interestingly, this is the same condition for frequency flat fading across each subcarrier since this
implies that the subcarrier bandwidth B N is required to be much less than the coherence bandwidth Bc.
Thus, an appropriately designed OFDM system converts a frequency-selective fading channel into a set of
parallel narrowband flat-fading channels across the subcarriers.

OFDM Example
Sing WiMAX parameters design the complete OFDM system the total number of subcarriers N =
256, with a bandwidth of 15.625 kHz per subcarrier
B /N = 15.625kHz
⇒ B = N × 15.625
= 256 × 15.625
= 4 MHz Also, observe that the subcarrier bandwidth is less than the coherence bandwidth, i.e.,
Bs = 15.625 kHz << Bc = 250 kHz. Therefore, each subcarrier experiences frequency flat
fading. The OFDM symbol time without CP is
N
B = 256
4 × 106 = 64 μs.
The raw OFDM symbol time, corresponding to the N = 256 IFFT samples, is 64 μs. WiMAX
employs a cyclic prefix which is 12.5% of the symbol time. Therefore, the duration of the cylic
prefix is
Duration of cyclic prefix = 12.5% of symbol time

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 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

= 12.5
100
× 64μs,
= 8 μs
Thus, the total transmitted OFDM symbol duration with cyclic prefix is 64 μs + 8 μs = 72 μs.
Also, the number of samples in the CP is
# Samples in CP = CP duration/ Sample time

= 8 μs/1/B
= 8 μs × 4 × 106
= 32
Thus, the length of the cyclic prefix Lc = 32 samples and the total number of samples is
256 + 32 = 288. This break-up of the OFDM symbol in terms of the regular samples and the
Cyclic prefix is shown in Figure 7.11. Finally, the loss in spectral efficiency is
Loss in spectral efficiency = 32/288
= 8 μs/72 μs
= 11.1%
This is the loss in spectral efficiency arising because of the addition of the cyclic prefix

MIMO-OFDM
MIMO-OFDM is a combination of the Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless
technology with that of OFDM, to further increase the rate in broadband multi-antenna wireless systems.
Similar to OFDM, MIMO-OFDM converts a frequency-selective MIMO channel into multiple parallel flat
fading MIMO channels. Hence, MIMO-OFDM significantly simplifies baseband receive processing by

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 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

Eliminating the need for a complex MIMO equalizer. We have already seen that the frequency-selective
SISO channel is modelled as an FIR channel filter, with the output y (n) at time instant n given as

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 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

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 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

OFDM–Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR)

The Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) is a critical problem in OFDM systems, which needs to
be handled effectively in order to limit the distortion at the receiver. Consider a non-OFDM or single-carrier
system with BPSK modulated symbols. For example, let the symbol stream x (0), x (1), x (2), . . . be given
as +a, −a, +a, . . . and so on. The power in each symbol equals a2. Further, also observe that this is the peak
power at any given instant of time. Therefore, we have

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 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

Prepared by: Dr .A Poonguzhali / Radhika Sri Sairam College of Engineering Anekal

 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

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 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

SC-FDMA
Which stands for Single-Carrier Frequency Division for Multiple Access, can be employed to
reduce the peak-to-average power ratio in an OFDM system. Consider the following hypothetical
modification of the OFDM transmitter by the Insertion of an N-point FFT block before the N-point IFFT
block. It can then be seen that the FFT and the IFFT cancel the effect of each other and the net output is the
exact input symbol stream, i.e., corresponding to a single-carrier system. This drastically reduces the PAPR,
since, as seen previously, the PAPR of a single-carrier system is 0 dB . However, instead of using an N-
point FFT, one can use an M-point FFT, where M < N, to reduce the PAPR, while still retaining the
properties of the OFDM system

SC-FDMA Receiver
The SC-FDMA receiver schematic is shown in Figure, the SC-FDMA receiver
Incorporates two new blocks compared to the OFDM receiver. The purpose of these additional
Blocks can be described as follows. After the N-point FFT operation at the receiver, the signals
are equalized across all the subcarriers, to remove the effect of the fading-channel coefficient
across the subcarriers. Following the above operation, they are demapped from the subcarriers,
which are N in number, to the original FFT block size of M. Finally, the M-point FFT is
performed on these samples to generate the symbol stream.

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 Regulation-2022(CBCS-scheme) Wireless Communication Systems –BEC703

Subcarrier Mapping in SC-FDMA

Subcarrier mapping, in which the M samples at the output of the M-point FFT are mapped
to the N subcarriers, is a key operation in SC-FDMA, a block representation of which
can be seen in the SC-FDMA transmitter schematic in Figure 7.18. The various possible
SC-FDMA subcarrier mappings are illustrated through the following example. Consider
M = 4 SC-FDMA symbols and N = 12 subcarriers. Let x (0), x (1), x (2), x (3) denote
the symbols and X (0), X (1), X (2), X (3) denote the corresponding M = 4-point FFT
samples which are to be loaded onto the subcarriers. Let the number of subcarriers be N = 12.
In Interleaved FDMA (IFDMA) shown in Figure 7.20, the samples X (i) are interleaved with
zeros. In LFDMA, which is also employed in the uplink of the 4G mobile standard LTE,
the samples are loaded as a block onto the subcarriers, with appropriate zero padding. This
is shown in Figure 7.20. Post this subcarrier mapping, the rest of the procedure prior to
transmission proceeds as shown in the SC-FDMA transmitter block.

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