1

CHAPTER 1

1.1 INTRODUCTION

ORTHOGONAL frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) has been attracting substantial
attention due to its excellent performance under severe channel condition. The rapidly growing
application of OFDM includes WiMAX, DVB/DAB and 4G wireless systems.

1.2 OVERVIEW

Initial proposals for OFDM were made in the 60s and the 70s. It has taken more than a
quarter of a century for this technology to move from the research domain to the industry. The
concept of OFDM is quite simple but the practicality of implementing it has many complexities.
So, it is a fully software project.OFDM depends on Orthogonality principle. Orthogonality
means, it allows the sub carriers, which are orthogonal to each other, meaning that cross talk
between co-channels is eliminated and inter-carrier guard bands are not required. This greatly
simplifies the design of both the transmitter and receiver, unlike conventional FDM; a separate
filter for each sub channel is not required.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a digital multi carrier
modulation scheme, which uses a large number of closely spaced orthogonal sub-carriers.
A single stream of data is split into parallel streams each of which is coded and modulated on to
a subcarrier, a term commonly used in OFDM systems. Each sub-carrier is modulated with a
conventional modulation scheme (such as quadrature amplitude modulation) at a low symbol
rate, maintaining data rates similar to conventional single carrier modulation schemes in the
same bandwidth. Thus the high bit rates seen before on a single carrier is reduced to lower bit
rates on the subcarrier.

2

In practice, OFDM signals are generated and detected using the Fast Fourier Transform
algorithm. OFDM has developed into a popular scheme for wideband digital communication,
wireless as well as copper wires. Actually; FDM systems have been common for many decades.
However, in FDM, the carriers are all independent of each other. There is a guard period in
between them and no overlap whatsoever. This works well because in FDM system each carrier
carries data meant for a different user or application. FM radio is an FDM system. FDM systems
are not ideal for what we want for wideband systems. Using FDM would waste too much
bandwidth. This is where OFDM makes sense. In OFDM, subcarriers overlap. They are
orthogonal because the peak of one subcarrier occurs when other subcarriers are at zero. This is
achieved by realizing all the subcarriers together using Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT).
The demodulator at the receiver parallel channels from an FFT block. Note that each subcarrier
can still be modulated independently.


















3

CHAPTER 2

2.1 BACKGROUND:

Most first generations systems were introduced in the mid 1980s, and can be
Characterized by the use of analog transmission techniques and the use of simple multiple access
techniques such as Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA). First generation
telecommunications systems such as Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) only provided
voice communications. They also suffered from a low user capacity, and security problems due
to the simple radio interface used. Second generation systems were introduced in the early
1990s, and all use digital technology. This provided an increase in the user capacity of around
three times. This was achieved by compressing the voice waveforms before transmission.

Third generation systems are an extension on the complexity of second-generation
systems and are expected to be introduced after the year 2000. The system capacity is expected
to be increased to over ten times original first generation systems. This is going to be achieved
by using complex multiple access techniques such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA),
or an extension of TDMA, and by improving flexibility of services available. The
telecommunications industry faces the problem of providing telephone services to rural areas,
where the customer base is small, but the cost of installing a wired phone network is very high.
One method of reducing the high infrastructure cost of a wired system is to use a fixed wireless
radio network. The problem with this is that for rural and urban areas, large cell sizes are
required to get sufficient coverage.

Fig.2.1 shows the evolution of current services and networks to the aim of combining
them into a unified third generation network. Many currently separate systems and services such
as radio paging, cordless telephony, satellite phones and private radio systems for companies etc,
will be combined so that all these services will be provided by third generation
telecommunications systems.

4


Fig: 2.1 Evolution of current networks to the next generation of wireless networks.

Currently Global System for Mobile telecommunications (GSM) technology is being
applied to fixed wireless phone systems in rural areas. However, GSM uses time division
multiple access (TDMA), which has a high symbol rate leading to problems with multipath
causing inter-symbol interference. Several techniques are under consideration for the next
generation of digital phone systems, with the aim of improving cell capacity, multipath
immunity, and flexibility. These include CDMA and OFDM. Both these techniques could be
applied to providing a fixed wireless system for rural areas. However, each technique as different
properties, making it more suited for specific applications.

OFDM is currently being used in several new radio broadcast systems including the
proposal for high definition digital television (HDTV) and digital audio broadcasting (DAB).
However, little research has been done into the use of OFDM as a transmission method for
mobile telecommunications systems. In CDMA, all users transmit in the same broad frequency
band using specialized codes as a basis of channelization. Both the base station and the mobile
station know these codes, which are used to modulate the data sent. OFDM/COFDM allows
many users to transmit in an allocated band, by subdividing the available bandwidth into many
narrow bandwidth carriers. Each user is allocated several carriers in which to transmit their data.

5

The transmission is generated in such a way that the carriers used are orthogonal to one
another, thus allowing them to be packed together much closer than standard frequency division
multiplexing (FDM). This leads to OFDM/COFDM providing a high spectral efficiency.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing is a scheme used in the area of high-data-
rate mobile wireless communications such as cellular phones, satellite communications and
digital audio broadcasting. This technique is mainly utilized to combat inter-symbol interference.

2.2 MULTIPLE ACCESS TECHNIQUES:

Multiple access schemes are used to allow many simultaneous users to use the same fixed
bandwidth radio spectrum. In any radio system, the bandwidth, which is allocated to it, is always
limited. For mobile phone systems the total bandwidth is typically 50 MHz, which is split in half
to provide the forward and reverse links of the system
.
Sharing of the spectrum is required in order increase the user capacity of any wireless
network. FDMA, TDMA and CDMA are the three major methods of sharing the available
bandwidth to multiple users in wireless system. There are many extensions, and hybrid
techniques for these methods, such as OFDM, and hybrid TDMA and FDMA systems. However,
an understanding of the three major methods is required for understanding of any extensions to
these methods.


2.3 FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS (FDMA):

In Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), the available bandwidth is subdivided
into a number of narrower band channels. Each user is allocated a unique frequency band in
which to transmit and receive on. During a call, no other user can use the same frequency band.


6

Each user is allocated a forward link channel (from the base station to the mobile phone)
and a reverse channel (back to the base station), each being a single way link. The transmitted
signal on each of the channels is continuous allowing analog transmissions. The bandwidths of
FDMA channels are generally low (30 kHz) as each channel only supports one user. FDMA is
used as the primary breakup of large allocated frequency bands and is used as part of most multi-
channel systems.

Fig 2.2 FDMA showing that the each narrow Fig 2.3 FDMA spectrum where the available
band channel allocated to a single user B.W is subdivided into narrowband channels



2.3 TIME DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS(TDMA):

Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) divides the available spectrum into multiple time
slots, by giving each user a time slot in which they can transmit or receive. Fig. 1.4 shows how
the time slots are provided to users in a round robin fashion, with each user being allotted one
time slot per frame. TDMA systems transmit data in a buffer and burst method, thus the
transmission of each channel is non-continuous.

Fig 2.4 TDMA scheme, where each user is allocated a small time slot


7

The input data to be transmitted is buffered over the previous frame and burst transmitted
at a higher rate during the time slot for the channel. TDMA can not send analog signals directly
due to the buffering required, thus are only used for transmitting digital data. TDMA can suffer
from multipath effects, as the transmission rate is generally very high. This leads the multipath
signals causing inter-symbol interference. TDMA is normally used in conjunction with FDMA to
subdivide the total available bandwidth into several channels. This is done to reduce the number
of users per channel allowing a lower data rate to be used. This helps reduce the effect of delay
spread on the transmission. Fig.2.5 shows the use of TDMA with FDMA. Each channel based on
FDMA, is further subdivided using TDMA, so that several users can transmit of the one channel.
This type of transmission technique is used by most digital second generation mobile phone
systems. For GSM, the total allocated bandwidth of 25MHz is divided into 125, 200 kHz
channels using FDMA. These channels are then subdivided further by using TDMA so that each
200 kHz channel allows 8-16 users.

Fig.2.5 TDMA/FDMA hybrid, showing that the bandwidth is split into frequency channels and
time slots.

2.4 CODE DIVISION MULTIPLE ACCESS(CDMA):

Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is a spread spectrum technique that uses neither
frequency channels nor time slots. In CDMA, the narrow band message (typically digitized voice
data) is multiplied by a large bandwidth signal, which is a pseudo random noise code (PN code).
All users in a CDMA system use the same frequency band and transmit simultaneously. The
8

transmitted signal is recovered by correlating the received signal with the PN code used by the
transmitter. Fig. 2.6 shows the general use of the spectrum using CDMA.

Some of the properties that have made CDMA useful are: Signal hiding and non-
interference with existing systems, Anti-jam and interference rejection, Information security,
Accurate Ranging, Multiple User Access, Multipath tolerance.


Fig. 2.6 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)

Fig.2.7 shows the process of a CDMA transmission. The data to be transmitted (a) is
spread before transmission by modulating the data using a PN code. This broadens the spectrum
as shown in (b). In this example the process gain is 125 as the spread spectrum bandwidth is 125
times greater the data bandwidth. Part (c) shows the received signal. This consists of the required
signal, plus background noise, and any interference from other CDMA users or radio sources.

The received signal is recovered by multiplying the signal by the original spreading code.
This process causes the wanted received signal to be dispread back to the original transmitted
data. However, all other signals, which are uncorrelated to the PN spreading code used, become
more spread. The wanted signal in (d) is then filtered removing the wide spread interference and
noise signals.

9


Fig.2.7 Basic CDMA Generation.


CDMA Generation:
CDMA is achieved by modulating the data signal by a pseudo random noise sequence
(PN code), which has a chip rate higher then the bit rate of the data. The PN code sequence is a
sequence of ones and zeros (called chips), which alternate in a random fashion. The data is
modulated by modular-2 adding the data with the PN code sequence. This can also be done by
multiplying the signals, provided the data and PN code is represented by 1 and -1 instead of 1
and 0. Fig. 2.8 shows a basic CDMA transmitter.

Fig. 2.8 Simple direct sequence modulator

The PN code used to spread the data can be of two main types. A short PN code
(Typically 10-128 chips in length), can be used to modulate each data bit. The short PN code is
then repeated for every data bit allowing for quick and simple synchronization of the receiver.
10

Fig.2.9 shows the generation of a CDMA signal using a 10-chip length short code. Alternatively
a long PN code can be used. Long codes are generally thousands to millions of chips in length,
thus are only repeated infrequently. Because of this they are useful for added security as they are
more difficult to decode.


Fig.2.9 Direct sequence signals

















11

C CH HA AP PT TE ER R- -3 3

3.1 OFDM INTRODUCTION:
The OFDM technology was first conceived in the 1960s and 1970s during research into
minimizing ISI, due to multipath. The expression digital communications in its basic form is the
mapping of digital information into a waveform called a carrier signal, which is a transmitted
electromagnetic pulse or wave at a steady base frequency of alternation on which information
can be imposed by increasing signal strength, varying the base frequency, varying the wave
phase, or other means. In this instance, orthogonality is an implication of a definite and fixed
relationship between all carriers in the collection. Multiplexing is the process of sending multiple
signals or streams of information on a carrier at the same time in the form of a single, complex
signal and then recovering the separate signals at the receiving end.

Modulation is the addition of information to an electronic or optical signal carrier.
Modulation can be applied to direct current (mainly by turning it on and off), to alternating
current, and to optical signals. One can think of blanket waving as a form of modulation used in
smoke signal transmission (the carrier being a steady stream of smoke). In telecommunications
in general, a channel is a separate path through which signals can flow. In optical fiber
transmission using dense wavelength-division multiplexing, a channel is a separate wavelength
of light within a combined, multiplexed light stream. This project focuses on the
telecommunications definition of a channel.


3.2 OFDM PRINCIPLES:

OFDM is a special form of Multi Carrier Modulation (MCM) with densely spaced sub
carriers with overlapping spectra, thus allowing for multiple-access. MCM) is the principle of
transmitting data by dividing the stream into several bit streams, each of which has a much lower
bit rate, and by using these sub-streams to modulate several carriers. This technique is being
12

investigated as the next generation transmission scheme for mobile wireless communications
networks.

3.3 FOURIER TRANSFORM :

Back in the 1960s, the application of OFDM was not very practical. This was because at
that point, several banks of oscillators were needed to generate the carrier frequencies necessary
for sub-channel transmission. Since this proved to be difficult to accomplish during that time
period, the scheme was deemed as not feasible.

However, the advent of the Fourier Transform eliminated the initial complexity of the
OFDM scheme where the harmonically related frequencies generated by Fourier and Inverse
Fourier transforms are used to implement OFDM systems. The Fourier transform is used in
linear systems analysis, antenna studies, etc., The Fourier transform, in essence, decomposes or
separates a waveform or function into sinusoids of different frequencies which sum to the
original waveform. It identifies or distinguishes the different frequency sinusoids and their
respective amplitudes.
The Fourier transform of f(x) is defined as:
dx e x f F
x je
e

}
= ) ( ) (

and its inverse is denoted by:
}

= e e
t
e
d e F x f
x j
) (
2
1
) (

However, the digital age forced a change upon the traditional form of the Fourier transform to
encompass the discrete values that exist is all digital systems. The modified series was called the
Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). The DFT of a discrete-time system, x(n) is defined as:
(1)
(2)
13

= X
1
0
2
) ( ) (
N
n
kn
N
j
e n x k
t
1 s k s N

and its associated inverse is denoted by:

=
X =
1
0
2
) (
1
) (
N
n
kn
N
j
e k
N
n x
t
1 s n s N
However, in OFDM, another form of the DFT is used, called the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT),
which is a DFT algorithm developed in 1965. This new transform reduced the number of
computations from something on the order of

2
N
to
. log
2
2
N
N

3.4 ORTHOGONALITY:

In geometry, orthogonal means, "involving right angles" (from Greek ortho, meaning
right, and gon meaning angled). The term has been extended to general use, meaning the
characteristic of being independent (relative to something else). It also can mean: non-redundant,
non-overlapping, or irrelevant. Orthogonality is defined for both real and complex valued
functions. The functions
m
(t) and
n
(t) are said to be orthogonal with respect to each other over
the interval a < t < b if they satisfy the condition:

}
=
b
a
m m
dt t t , 0 ) ( ) (
*

Where n = m


(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
14

3.5 OFDM CARRIERS:

As for mentioned, OFDM is a special form of MCM and the OFDM time domain
waveforms are chosen such that mutual orthogonality is ensured even though sub-carrier spectra
may over-lap. With respect to OFDM, it can be stated that orthogonality is an implication of a
definite and fixed relationship between all carriers in the collection. It means that each carrier is
positioned such that it occurs at the zero energy frequency point of all other carriers. The sinc
function, illustrated in Fig.3.1 exhibits this property and it is used as a carrier in an OFDM
system.


f
u
is the sub-carrier spacing
Fig 3.1.OFDM sub carriers in the frequency domain

3.6 OFDM:

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a multicarrier transmission
technique, which divides the available spectrum into many carriers, each one being modulated by
a low rate data stream. OFDM is similar to FDMA in that the multiple user access is achieved by
subdividing the available bandwidth into multiple channels that are then allocated to users.
However, OFDM uses the spectrum much more efficiently by spacing the channels much closer
15

together. This is achieved by making all the carriers orthogonal to one another, preventing
interference between the closely spaced carriers.

Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM) is the same as OFDM
except that forward error correction is applied to the signal before transmission.

This is to overcome errors in the transmission due to lost carriers from frequency
selective fading, channel noise and other propagation effects. For this discussion the terms
OFDM and COFDM are used interchangeably, as the main focus of this thesis is on OFDM, but
it is assumed that any practical system will use forward error correction, thus would be COFDM.

In FDMA each user is typically allocated a single channel, which is used to transmit all
the user information. The bandwidth of each channel is typically 10 kHz-30 kHz for voice
communications. However, the minimum required bandwidth for speech is only 3 kHz. The
allocated bandwidth is made wider then the minimum amount required preventing channels from
interfering with one another. This extra bandwidth is to allow for signals from neighboring
channels to be filtered out, and to allow for any drift in the center frequency of the transmitter or
receiver. In a typical system up to 50% of the total spectrum is wasted due to the extra spacing
between channels.

This problem becomes worse as the channel bandwidth becomes narrower, and the
frequency band increases. Most digital phone systems use vocoders to compress the digitized
speech. This allows for an increased system capacity due to a reduction in the bandwidth
required for each user. Current vocoders require a data rate somewhere between 4- 13kbps, with
depending on the quality of the sound and the type used. Thus each user only requires a
minimum bandwidth of somewhere between 2-7 kHz, using QPSK modulation. However, simple
FDMA does not handle such narrow bandwidths very efficiently. TDMA partly overcomes this
problem by using wider bandwidth channels, which are used by several users. Multiple users
16

access the same channel by transmitting in their data in time slots. Thus, many low data rate
users can be combined together to transmit in a single channel, which has a bandwidth sufficient
so that the spectrum can be used efficiently.

There are however, two main problems with TDMA. There is an overhead associated
with the change over between users due to time slotting on the channel. A change over time must
be allocated to allow for any tolerance in the start time of each user, due to propagation delay
variations and synchronization errors. This limits the number of users that can be sent efficiently
in each channel. In addition, the symbol rate of each channel is high (as the channel handles the
information from multiple users) resulting in problems with multipath delay spread.

OFDM overcomes most of the problems with both FDMA and TDMA. OFDM splits the
available bandwidth into many narrow band channels (typically 100-8000). The carriers for each
channel are made orthogonal to one another, allowing them to be spaced very close together, with no
overhead as in the FDMA example. Because of this there is no great need for users to be time multiplex
as in TDMA, thus there is no overhead associated with switching between users.

The orthogonality of the carriers means that each carrier has an integer number of cycles
over a symbol period. Due to this, the spectrum of each carrier has a null at the center frequency
of each of the other carriers in the system. This results in no interference between the carriers,
allowing then to be spaced as close as theoretically possible. This overcomes the problem of
overhead carrier spacing required in FDMA.Each carrier in an OFDM signal has a very narrow
bandwidth (i.e. 1 kHz), thus the resulting symbol rate is low. This results in the signal having a
high tolerance to multipath delay spread, as the delay spread must be very long to cause
significant ISI (e.g > 500usec).



17

3.7 OFDM GENERATION:

To generate OFDM successfully the relationship between all the carriers must be
carefully controlled to maintain the orthogonality of the carriers. For this reason, OFDM is
generated by firstly choosing the spectrum required, based on the input data, and modulation
scheme used. Each carrier to be produced is assigned some data to transmit. The required
amplitude and phase of the carrier is then calculated based on the modulation scheme (typically
differential BPSK, QPSK, or QAM).

The required spectrum is then converted back to its time domain signal using an Inverse
Fourier Transform. In most applications, an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) is used. The
IFFT performs the transformation very efficiently, and provides a simple way of ensuring the
carrier signals produced are orthogonal.

The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) transforms a cyclic time domain signal into its
equivalent frequency spectrum. This is done by finding the equivalent waveform, generated by a
sum of orthogonal sinusoidal components. The amplitude and phase of the sinusoidal
components represent the frequency spectrum of the time domain signal.

. The IFFT performs the reverse process, transforming a spectrum (amplitude and phase of
each component) into a time domain signal. An IFFT converts a number of complex data points,
of length, which is a power of 2, into the time domain signal of the same number of points. Each
data point in frequency spectrum used for an FFT or IFFT is called a bin. The orthogonal carriers
required for the OFDM signal can be easily generated by setting the amplitude and phase of each
bin, then performing the IFFT. Since each bin of an IFFT corresponds to the amplitude and phase
of a set of orthogonal sinusoids, the reverse process guarantees that the carriers generated are
orthogonal.
18


Fig. 3.2 OFDM Block Diagram

Fig.3.2 shows the setup for a basic OFDM transmitter and receiver. The signal generated
is a base band, thus the signal is filtered, then stepped up in frequency before transmitting the
signal. OFDM time domain waveforms are chosen such that mutual orthogonality is ensured
even though sub-carrier spectra may overlap. Typically QAM or Differential Quadrature Phase
Shift Keying (DQPSK) modulation schemes are applied to the individual sub carriers. To prevent
ISI, the individual blocks are separated by guard intervals wherein the blocks are periodically
extended.

3.8 MODULATION TECHNIQUES:
Quadrature Amplitude Modulation(QAM):

This modulation scheme is also called quadrature carrier multiplexing. Infact, this
modulation scheme enables to DSB-SC modulated signals to occupy the same transmission BW
at the receiver o/p. it is, therefore, known as a bandwidth-conservation scheme. The QAM Tx
consists of two separate balanced modulators, which are supplied, with two carrier waves of the
same freq but differing in phase by 90. The o/p of the two balanced modulators are added in the
19

adder and transmitted.

Fig. 3.3 QAM System
The transmitted signal is thus given by
S (t) = X1 (t) A cos (2HFc t) + X2 (t) A sin (2HFc t)
Hence, the multiplexed signal consists of the in-phase component A X1 (t) and the
quadrature phase component A X2 (t).

Balanced Modulator:

A DSB-SC signal is basically the product of the modulating or base band signal and the
carrier signal. Unfortunately, a single electronic device cannot generate a DSB-SC signal. A
circuit is needed to achieve the generation of a DSB-SC signal is called product modulator i.e.,
Balanced Modulator.

We know that a non-linear resistance or a non-linear device may be used to produce AM
i.e., one carrier and two sidebands. However, a DSB-SC signal contains only 2 sidebands. Thus,
if 2 non-linear devices such as diodes, transistors etc., are connected in balanced mode so as to
suppress the carriers of each other, then only sidebands are left, i.e., a DSB-SC signal is
generated. Therefore, a balanced modulator may be defined as a circuit in which two non-linear
devices are connected in a balanced mode to produce a DSB-SC signal.

20

Q Qu ua ad dr ra at tu ur re e P Ph ha as se e S Sh hi if ft t K Ke ey yi in ng g( (Q QP PS SK K) ): :
In communication systems, we have two main resources. These are:
1. Transmission Power
2. Channel bandwidth
If two or more bits are combined in some symbols, then the signaling rate will be
reduced. Thus, the frequency of the carrier needed is also reduced. This reduces the transmission
channel B.W. Hence, because of grouping of bits in symbols; the transmission channel B.W can
be reduced. In QPSK two successive bits in the data sequence are grouped together. This reduces
the bits rate or signaling rate and thus reduces the B.W of the channel. In case of BPSK, we
know that when sym. Changes the level, the phase of the carrier is changed by 180. Because,
there were only two syms in BPSK, the phase shift occurs in 2 levels only. However, in QPSK,
2 successive bits are combined. Infact, this combination of two bits forms 4 distinct syms. When
the sym is changed to next sym, then the phase of the carrier is changed by 45 degrees.

S.No I/p successive bits symbol phase shift in carrier
I=1 1(1v) 0(-1v) S1 H/4
I=2 0(-1v) 0(-1v) S2 3H/4
I=3 0(-1v) 1(1v) S3 5H/4
I=4 1(1v) 1(1v) S4 7H/4


Generation of QPSK:
Here the i/p binary seq. is first converted into a bipolar NRZ type of signal. This signal is
denoted by b (t). It represents binary 1 by +1V and binary 0 by -1V. The demultiplexer
divides b (t) into 2 separate bit streams of the odd numbered and even numbered bits. Here Be (t)
represents even numbered sequence and Bo (t) represents odd numbered sequence. The symbol
duration of both of these odd numbered sequences is 2Tb. Hence, each symbol consists of 2 bits.
21


Fig.3.4 Generation of QPSK

It may be observed that the first even bit occurs after the first odd bit. Hence, even
numbered bit sequence Be (t) starts with the delay of one bit period due to first odd bit. Thus,
first symbol of Be (t) is delayed by one bit period due to first odd bit. Thus, first symbol of Be (t)
is delayed by on bit period Tb with respect to first symbol of Bo (t). This delay of Tb is known
as offset. This shows that the change in the levels of Be (t) and Bo (t) cant occur at the same
time due to offset or staggering. The bit stream Be (t) modulates carrier cosine carrier and B0(t)
modulates sinusoidal carrier. These modulators are the balanced modulators. The 2 carriers are
\Ps.cos (2HFc.t) and \Ps.sin (2HFc.t) have been shown in fig. Their carriers are known as
quadrature carriers. Due to the offset, the phase shift in QPSK signal is H/2.


3.9 FFT & IFFT:

In practice, OFDM systems are implemented using a combination of FFT and IFFT
blocks that are mathematically equivalent versions of the DFT and IDFT, respectively, but more
efficient to implement.

An OFDM system treats the source symbols (e.g., the QPSK or QAM symbols that
would be present in a single carrier system) at the Tx as though they are in the freq-domain.
These syms are used as the i/ps to an IFFT block that brings the sig into the time domain. The
IFFT takes in N syms at a time where N is the num of sub carriers in the system. Each of these
N i/p syms has a symbol period of T secs. Recall that the basis functions for an IFFT are N
orthogonal sinusoids. These sinusoids each have a different freq and the lowest freq is DC. Each
i/p symbol acts like a complex weight for the corresponding sinusoidal basis fun. Since the i/p
22

syms are complex, the value of the sym determines both the amplitude and phase of the sinusoid
for that sub carrier.

The IFFT o/p is the summation of all N sinusoids. Thus, the IFFT block provides a
simple way to modulate data onto N orthogonal sub carriers. The block of N o/p samples from
the IFFT make up a single OFDM sym. The length of the OFDM symbol is NT where T is the
IFFT i/p symbol period mentioned above.

Fig.3.5 FFT & IFFT diagram

After some additional processing, the time-domain sig that results from the IFFT is
transmitted across the channel. At the Rx, an FFT block is used to process the received signal
and bring it into the freq domain. Ideally, the FFT o/p will be the original syms that were
sent to the IFFT at the Tx. When plotted in the complex plane, the FFT o/p samples will form
a constellation, such as 16-QAM. However, there is no notion of a constellation for the time-
domain sig. When plotted on the complex plane, the time-domain sig forms a scatter plot
with no regular shape. Thus, any Rx processing that uses the concept of a constellation (such
as symbol slicing) must occur in the frequency- domain.

3.10 GUARD PERIOD:

One of the most important properties of OFDM transmissions is the robustness against
multipath delay spread. This is achieved by having a long symbol period, which minimizes the ISI. The
level of robustness, can in fact is increased even more by the addition of a guard period b/w transmitted
23

syms. The guard period allows time for multipath sigs from the pervious symbol to die away before the
information from the current symbol is gathered.

The most effective guard period to use is a cyclic extension of the symbol. If a mirror in
time, of the end of the symbol waveform is put at the start of the symbol as the guard period, this
effectively extends the length of the symbol, while maintaining the orthogonally of the
waveform. Using this cyclic extended symbol the samples required for performing the FFT (to
decode the sym), can be taken anywhere over the length of the sym. This provides multipath
immunity as well as sym time synchronization tolerance.

As long as the multipath delay echos stay within the guard period duration, there is
strictly no limitation regarding the signal level of the echos: they may even exceed the signal
level of the shorter path! The signal energy from all paths just adds at the input to the receiver,
and since the FFT is energy conservative, the whole available power feeds the decoder.

If the delay spread is longer than the guard interval then they begins to cause ISI.
However, provided the echoes are sufficiently small they do not cause significant problems. This
is true most of the time as multipath echos delayed longer than the guard period will have been
reflected of very distant objects. Other variations of guard periods are possible. One possible
variation is to have half the guard period a cyclic extension of the symbol, as above, and the
other half a zero amplitude signal. This will result in a signal as shown in Fig.3.6.

Using this method the symbols can be easily identified. This possibly allows for symbol
timing to be recovered from the signal, simply by applying envelop detection. The disadvantage
of using this guard period method is that the zero period does not give any multipath tolerance,
thus the effective active guard period is halved in length. It is interesting to note that this guard
period method has not been mentioned in any of the research papers read, and it is still not clear
whether symbol timing needs to be recovered using this method.
24


Fig.3.6 Section of an OFDM signal showing 5 symbols, using a guard period which is half a cyclic
extension of the symbol, and half a zero amplitude signal.


















25

C CH HA AP PT TE ER R- -4 4

4.1 PROPAGATION OF CHANNEL CHARACTERISTICS:

In an ideal radio channel, the received signal would consist of only a single directpath
signal, which would be a perfect reconstruction of the transmitted signal. However in a real
channel, the signal is modified during transmission in the channel.

It is known that the performance of any wireless systems performance is affected by the
medium of propagation, namely the characteristics of the channel. In telecommunications in
general, a channel is a separate path through which signals can flow. In the ideal situation, a
direct line of sight between the transmitter and receiver is desired. But alas, it is not a perfect
world; hence it is imperative to understand what goes on in the channel so that the original signal
can be reconstructed with the least number of errors.

The received signal consists of a combination of attenuated, reflected, refracted, and
diffracted replicas of the transmitted signal. On top of all this, the channel adds noise to the
signal and can cause a shift in the carrier frequency if the transmitter, or receiver is moving
(Doppler effect). Understanding of these effects on the signal is important because the
performance of a radio system is dependent on the radio channel characteristics.

4.2 ATTENUATION:

Attenuation is the drop in the signal power when transmitting from one point to
another. It can be caused by the transmission path length, obstructions in the signal path, and
multipath effects. Fig.4.1 shows some of the radio propagation effects that cause attenuation.
26

Any objects, which obstruct the line of sight signal from the transmitter to the receiver, can cause
attenuation.

Fig.4.1.Some channel characteristics

Shadowing of the signal can occur whenever there is an obstruction between the
transmitter and receiver. It is generally caused by buildings and hills, and is the most important
environmental attenuation factor. Shadowing is most severe in heavily built up areas, due to the
shadowing from buildings. However, hills can cause a large problem due to the large shadow
they produce.

Radio signals diffract off the boundaries of obstructions, thus preventing total shadowing
of the signals behind hills and buildings. However, the amount of diffraction is dependent on the
radio frequency used, with low frequencies diffracting more then high frequency signals. Thus
high frequency signals, especially, Ultra High Frequencies (UHF), and microwave signals
require line of sight for adequate signal strength. To over come the problem of shadowing,
transmitters are usually elevated as high as possible to minimize the number of obstructions.
Typical amounts of variation in attenuation due to shadowing are shown in Table 3.1.

27


Table.4.1 Typical attenuation in a radio channel.
Shadowed areas tend to be large, resulting in the rate of change of the signal power being
slow. For this reason, it is termed slow-fading, or lognormal shadowing.

4 4. .3 3 M MU UL LT TI IP PA AT TH H E EF FF FE EC CT TS S: :

( (a a) ) R Ra ay yl le ei ig gh h f fa ad di in ng g: :


In a radio link, the RF signal from the transmitter may be reflected from objects such as
hills, buildings, or vehicles. This gives rise to multiple transmission paths at the receiver. Fig.4.2
show some of the possible ways in which multipath signals can occur.

Fig.4.2 Multipath Signals

The relative phase of multiple reflected sigs can cause constructive or destructive
interference at the Rx. This is experienced over very short distances (typically at half wavelength
28

distances), thus is given the term fast fading. These variations can vary from 10-30dB over a
short distance.

Fig.4.3 Typical Rayleigh fading while the mobile unit is moving.

The Rayleigh distribution is commonly used to describe the statistical time varying nature
of the received signal power. It describes the probability of the signal level. Being received due
to fading. Table.4.2 shows the probability of the signal level for the Rayleigh distribution.

Table 4.2 Cumulative distributions for Rayleigh distribution






29

(b) Frequency Selective Fading:

In any radio transmission, the channel spectral response is not flat. It has dips or fades in
the response due to reflections causing cancellation of certain frequencies at the receiver.
Reflections off near-by objects (e.g. ground, buildings, trees, etc) can lead to multipath signals of
similar signal power as the direct signal. This can result in deep nulls in the received signal
power due to destructive interference. For narrow bandwidth transmissions if the null in the
frequency response occurs at the transmission frequency then the entire signal can be lost. This
can be partly overcome in two ways.

By transmitting a wide bandwidth signal or spread spectrum as CDMA, any dips in the
spectrum only result in a small loss of signal power, rather than a complete loss. Another method
is to split the transmission up into many small bandwidth carriers, as is done in a
COFDM/OFDM transmission. The original signal is spread over a wide bandwidth thus; any
nulls in the spectrum are unlikely to occur at all of the carrier frequencies. This will result in only
some of the carriers being lost, rather then the entire signal. The information in the lost carriers
can be recovered provided enough forward error corrections are sent.

4.4 DELAY SPREAD:

The received radio signal from a transmitter consists of typically a direct signal, plus
reflections of object such as buildings, mountings, and other structures. The reflected signals
arrive at a later time than the direct signal because of the extra path length, giving rise to a
slightly different arrival time of the transmitted pulse, thus spreading the received energy. Delay
spread is the time spread between the arrival of the first and last multipath signal seen by the
receiver.

30

In a digital system, the delay spread can lead to inter-symbol interference. This is due to
the delayed multipath signal overlapping with the following symbols. This can cause significant
errors in high bit rate systems, especially when using time division multiplexing (TDMA).
Fig.4.4 shows the effect of inter-symbol interference due to delay spread on the received signal.
As the transmitted bit rate is increased the amount of inter-symbol interference also increases.
The effect starts to become very significant when the delay spread is greater then ~50% of the bit
time.

Fig.4.4 Multi delay spread
shows the typical delay spread that can occur in various environments. The maximum delay
spread in an outdoor environment is approximately 20usec, thus significant intersymbol
interference can occur at bit rates as low as 25kbps.



31

Inter-symbol interference can be minimized in several ways. One method is to reduce the
symbol rate by reducing the data rate for each channel (i.e. split the bandwidth into more
channels using frequency division multiplexing). Another is to use a coding scheme which is
tolerant to inter-symbol interference such as CDMA.


4.5 DOPPLER SHIFT:

When a wave source and a receiver are moving relative to one another the frequency of
the received signal will not be the same as the source. When they are moving toward each other
the frequency of the received signal is higher then the source, and when they are approaching
each other the frequency decreases. This is called the

Doppler Effect. An example of this is the change of pitch in a cars horn as it approaches then
passes by. This effect becomes important when developing mobile radio systems. The amount
the frequency changes due to the Doppler effect depends on the relative motion between the
source and receiver and on the speed of propagation of the wave. The Doppler shift in frequency
can be written:

Where Af is the change in frequency of the source seen at the receiver, fo is the frequency of the
source, v is the speed difference between the source and transmitter, and c is the speed of light.


For example: Let fo = 1GHz, and v = 60km/hr (16.7m/s) then the Doppler shift will
be:

32

This shift of 55Hz in the carrier will generally not effect the transmission. However,
Doppler shift can cause significant problems if the transmission technique is sensitive to carrier
frequency offsets (for example COFDM) or the relative speed is higher (for example in low earth
orbiting satellites).


4.6 INTER SYMBOL INTERFERENCE:


As communication systems evolve, the need for high symbol rates becomes more
apparent. However, current multiple access with high symbol rates encounter several multi path
problems, which leads to ISI. An echo is a copy of the original signal delayed in time. ISI takes
place when echoes on different-length propagation paths result in overlapping received symbols.
Problems can occur when one OFDM symbol overlaps with the next one. There is no correlation
between two consecutive OFDM symbols and therefore interference from one symbol with the
other will result in a disturbed signal.

In addition, the symbol rate of communications systems is practically limited by the
channels bandwidth. For the higher symbol rates, the effects of ISI must be dealt with seriously.
Several channel equalization techniques can be used to suppress the ISIs caused by the channel.
However, to do this, the CIR channel impulse response, must be estimated.

Recently, OFDM has been used to transmit data over a multi-path channel. Instead of
trying to cancel the effects of the channels ISIs, a set of sub-carriers can be used to transmit
information symbols in parallel sub-channels over the channel, where the systems output will be
the sum of all the parallel channels throughputs.

33

This is the basis of how OFDM works. By transmitting in parallel over a set of sub-
carriers, the data rate per sub-channel is only a fraction of the data rate of a conventional single
carrier system having the same output. Hence, a system can be designed to support high data
rates while deferring the need for channel equalizations.

In addition, once the incoming signal is split into the respective transmission sub-carriers,
a guard interval is added between each symbol. Each symbol consists of useful symbol duration,
T
s
and a guard interval, At, in which, part of the time, a signal of T
s
is cyclically repeated. This is
shown in Fig.4.5.


Fig.4.5 Combating ISI using a guard interval

As long as the multi path propagation delays do not exceed the duration of the interval,
no inter-symbol interference occurs and no channel equalization is required.

4.7 CHANNELS:

The transmission signal models of the electromagnetic wave which travels form
transmitter to receiver. Along the way the wave encounters a wide range of different
34

environments. Channel models represent the attempt to model these different environments.
Their aim is to introduce well defined disturbances to the transmission signal. In this lecture we
discuss channel models which are typical for DAB transmission. We consider the effects of
noise, movement, and signal reflection. The general strategy is to have a pictorial representation
of the channel environment before we introduce the mathematical model.

Overview Diagram
The following figure shows again the block diagram of communication system. Such a
system consists of Sender, Channel and Receiver. In this lecture we focus on the channel
aspect of the communication system. In the block diagram, s(t) is the transmission signal and
s(t) is the received transmission signal.


(a) Frequency offset channel

The frequency offset channel introduces a static frequency offset. One possible cause for
such a frequency offset is a slow drifting time base, normally a crystal oscillator, in either
transmitter or receiver. The frequency offset channel tests the frequency correction circuit in the
receiver. The following figure shows the block diagram of the Frequency shift channel.


The mathematical model follows as:
35

.

(b) AWGN channel

For the Additional White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel the received signal is equal
to the transmitted signal with some portion of white Gaussian white noise added. This channel is
particularly important for discrete models operating on a restricted number space, because this
allows one to optimise the circuits in terms of their noise performance. The block diagram of the
AWGN channel is given in the next figure.

s(t) = s(t) + n(t)
where n(t) is a sample function of a Gaussian random process. This represents white Gaussian
noise.

(c) Multi path channel

The multipath channel is the last of the static channels. It reflects the fact that
electromagnetic waves can travel over various paths from the transmission antenna to the
receiver antenna. The receiver antenna sums up all the different signals. Therefore, the
mathematical model of the multipath environment creates the received transmission signal by
summing up scaled and delayed versions of the original transmission signal. This superposition
of signals causes ISI.

36

The following figure shows a multipath environment.


The block diagram, shown in the next figure, details a DSP model for the multipath environment.

The mathematical model follows as:

(d) Fading channels

Fading channels represent a mathematical model for wireless data exchange in a physical
environment which changes over time. These changes arise for two reasons:
1. The environment is changing even though the transmitter and receiver are fixed;
examples are changes in the ionosphere, movement of foliage and movement of reflectors
and scatterers.
2. Transmitter and receiver are mobile even though the environment might be static.
37


3. The next figure shows a multipath fading environment. The fading is modeled by the fact
that the environment is changing.


The block diagram, shown in the next figure, details a DSP model for the multipath environment

Mathematically the DSP model can be formulated as follows:

DSP model and mathematical description are close to the underlying physical
phenomena. This makes them unsuitable for practical channel models. To establish practical
channel models we employ statistical methods to abstract and generalize the fading channel
models. In the following two subsections we discuss Rayleigh and Rician fading channels. Both
represent statistical channel modes, the difference between them is that the Rayleigh model does
not assume a direct or prominent path and the Ricien model assumes a direct path. The last
channel model extends the ideas of Rayleigh and Rician fading channels with mobility aspects.
38

The resulting mobile fading channels model the degrading effects in the frequency domain of
wireless multipath channels.

(e) Rayleigh fading:

Rayleigh fading is caused by multipath reception. The mobile antenna receives a large
number, say N, reflected and scattered waves. Because of wave cancellation effects, the
instantaneous received power seen by a moving antenna becomes a random variable, dependent
on the location of the antenna.

To simplify the derivation of the fading models an un-modulated carrier of the form
s(t) = Acos(2pifct) as transmission signal is used. Based on the block diagram the complex
envelope of the received signal is:

where ai (t) is the gain factor and Ti (t) is the delay for a specific path i at a specific time t.

where rRa (t) is a sample function of a Rayleigh distributed random process:

and the is uniformly distributed in the interval [0, 2pi).
The general form of this channel model is:

39

again, and are amplitude and phase from a particular measurement of a
rayleigh distributed random process. This channel is called rayleigh fading channel.

(f) Rician fading

The model behind Rician fading is similar to that for Rayleigh fading, except that in
Rician fading a strong dominant component is present. This dominant component can for
instance be the line-of-sight wave. Refined Rician models also consider
1. that the dominant wave can be a phasor sum of two or more dominant signals, e.g. the
line-of- sight, plus a ground reflection. This combined signal is then mostly treated as a
deterministic (fully predictable) process
2. that the dominant wave can also be subject to shadow attenuation. This is a popular
Assumption in the modeling of satellite channels. Besides the dominant component, the mobile
antenna receives a large number of reflected and Scattered waves.

A Rician fading channel indicates that there is a prominent or direct path over which the
electromagnetic wave can travel. Compared to the Rayleigh channel model, Equation 1, the
Rician fading channel model has an additional Acos(2pifct) component to reflect the prominent
path:

Above Equation can be written as:

40

Where rRi (t) is a sample function of a random process with a Rician distributed probability
density function (pdf):

Where I0 is the zero order modified Bessel functions of the first kind given by:

and the distribution of is:

Where is the error function defined as:

The ratio , referred as the K-factor, relates the power in un faded and faded
components. Values of K >> 1 indicate less severe fading, whereas K << 1 indicates severe
fading.
The general form of the Rician channel model is:

Where rRi (t) and are amplitude and phase of a particular measurement of a rician
distributed random process.
41

CHAPTER 5

5.1 PAPR INTRODUCTION:

However, OFDM is not without drawbacks. One critical problem is its high peak-to-
average power ratio (PAPR). High PAPR increases the complexity of analog-to-digital (A/D)
and digital-to-analog (D/A) converters, and lowers the efficiency of power amplifiers. Over the
past decade various PAPR reduction techniques have been proposed, such as block coding,
selective mapping (SLM) and tone reservation, just to name a few . Among all these techniques
the simplest solution is to clip the transmitted signal when its amplitude exceeds a desired
threshold. Clipping is a highly nonlinear process, however. It produces significant out-of-band
interference (OBI). A good remedy for the OBI is the so-called companding. The technique
soft compresses, rather than hard clips, the signal peak and causes far less OBI. The method
was first proposed in, which employed the classical -law transform and showed to be rather
effective. Since then many different companding transforms with better performances have been
Published. This paper proposes and evaluates a new companding algorithm. The algorithm uses
the special airy function and is able to offer an improved bit error rate (BER) and minimized OBI
while reducing PAPR effectively. The paper is organized as follows. In the next section the
PAPR problem in OFDM is briefly reviewed.

5.2 PAPR IN OFDM

OFDM is a powerful modulation technique being used in many new and emerging
broadband communication systems.
Advantages:
Robustness against frequency selective fading and time dispersion.
Transmission rates close to capacity can be achieved.
42

Low computational complexity implementation (FFT).
Drawbacks:
Sensitivity to frequency offset.
Sensitivity to nonlinear amplification.
Compensation techniques for nonlinear effects
Linearization (digital predistortion).
Peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction.
Post-processing.
PAPR-reduction techniques:
Varying PAPR-reduction capabilities, power, bandwidth and complexity
requirements.
The performance of a system employing these techniques has not been fully
analyzed
PAPR is a very well known measure of the envelope fluctuations of a MC signal
Used as figure of merit.
The problem of reducing the envelope fluctuations has turned to reducing PAPR.
In this paper we ...
present a quantitative study of PAPR and NL distortion
simulate an OFDM-system employing some of these techniques
Motivation: evaluate the performance improvement capabilities of PAPR-reducing methods.


43

5.3 ORTHOGONAL FREQUENCY DIVISION MULTIPLEXING


An OFDM signal can be expressed as





If the OFDM signal is sampled at , the complex samples can be described as


Peak-to-average power ratio
Let be the m-th OFDM symbol, then its PAPR is defined as

( )
1
2 /
0
1
, 0,
N
j kt NT
k
k
s t S e t NT
N
t

=
(

= e

Complex baseband modulated symbol

Number of subcarriers
k
S
N

1
2 /
0
1
, 0, 1
N
j kn N
n
k
k
s S e n N
N
t

=
(

= e

( )
( )
2
2
PAPR
m
m
m
E N

(
(

=
s
s
44


The CCDF of the PAPR of a non-oversampled OFDM signal is


CCDF of PAPR increases with the number of subcarriers in the OFDM system.
It is widely believed that the more subcarriers are used in a OFDM system, the
worse the distortion caused by the nonlinearity will be.
In-band and out-of-band distortion

If N is large enough, the OFDM signal can be approximated as a complex Gaussian
distributed random variable. Thus its envelope is Rayleigh distributed




where the variance of the real and imaginary parts of the signal is
Buss gang theorem

An interesting result is that the output of a NL with Gaussian input (OFDM) can be written as:

( )
( )
0
0
Pr 1 1
N
e



> =
t t
o o
| |
( (
|

\ .
= =
2
var 1
2 4
with and , E X X
( )
2
2
2
2
,
x
X
x
f x e
o
o

=
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
( )
1
1
, where
xy
xx
R
y t x t d t
R
t
o o
t
= + =
45


Considerations on PAPR reduction
In order to improve the system performance, PAPR should predict the amount of
distortion introduced by the nonlinearity
PAPR increases with the number of subcarriers in the OFDM signal.
The distortion term and the uniform attenuation and rotation of the constellation
only depend on the back-off.
The effect of a nonlinearity to an OFDM signal is not clearly related to its PAPR
The effective energy per bit at the input of the nonlinearity is
where E
o
is the average energy of the signal at the input of the nonlinearity, K is the
number of bits per symbol and
p
is the power efficiency.
There will only be a a BER performance improvement when the effect of reducing the
in-band distortion becomes noticeable and more important than the loss of power
efficiency.
This is not taken into account in the majority of the PAPR reducing methods.


Let (0),(1), ,( 1) represent the data sequence to be transmitted in an OFDM symbol with
subcarriers. The baseband representation of the OFDM symbol is given by:



where is the duration of the OFDM symbol. According to the central limit theorem, when is
large, both the real and imaginary parts of () become Gaussian distributed, each with zero
46

mean and a variance of E[()2]/2, and the amplitude of the OFDM symbol follows a Rayleigh
distribution. Consequently it is possible that the maximum amplitude of OFDM signal may well
exceed its average amplitude. Practical hardware (e.g. A/D and D/A converters, power
amplifiers) has finite dynamic range; therefore the peak amplitude of OFDM signal must be
limited. PAPR is mathematically defined as:



It is easy to see from above that PAPR reduction may be achieved by decreasing the numerator
max[()2], increasing the denominator (1/T) 0 ()2 , or both.

The effectiveness of a PAPR reduction technique is measured by the complementary cumulative
distribution function
(CCDF), which is the probability that PAPR exceeds some threshold, i.e.:

CCDF = Probability (PAPR > 0), where 0 is the threshold.











47

CHAPTER 6

6.1 SIMULATION RESULTS:

NEW COMPANDING ALGORITHM

OBI is the spectral leakage into alien channels. Quantification of the OBI caused by
companding requires the knowledge of the power spectral density (PSD) of the companded
signal. Unfortunately analytical expression of the PSD is in general mathematically intractable,
because of the nonlinear companding transform involved. Here we take an alternative approach
to estimate the OBI. Let () be a nonlinear companding function, and () = sin() be the input
to the compander. The companded signal () is: () = [()] = [sin()] . Since () is a periodic
function with the same period as (), () can then be expanded into the following Fourier series:
where the coefficients () is calculated as:


Notice that the input x in this case is a pure sinusoidal signal, any () = 0 for > 1 is the OBI
produced by the nonlinear companding process. Therefore, to minimize the OBI, () must
approach to zero fast enough as increases. It has been shown that () (+1) tends to zero if
() and its derivative up to the -th order are continuous [8], or in other words, () converges
at the rate of (+1). Given an arbitrary number n, the -th order derivative of (), /,
is a function of ()/, ( = 1, 2, , ), as well as sin() and cos(), i.e.:


sin() and and cos() are continuous functions, / is continuous if and only if
()/ ( = 1, 2, , ) are continuous. Based on this observation we can conclude:
48

Companding introduces minimum amount of OBI if the companding function () is infinitely
differentiable. The functions that meet the above condition are the smooth functions. We now
propose a new companding algorithm using a smooth function, namely the airy special function.
The companding function is as follows:


where airy() is the airy function of the first kind. is the parameter that controls the degree of
companding (and ultimately PAPR). is the factor adjusting the average output power of the
compander to the same level as the average input power:



where [] denotes the expectation. The decompanding function is the inverse of ():



where the superscript-1 represents the inverse operation. Notice that the input to the
decompander is a quantized signal with finite set of values. We can therefore numerically pre-
compute 1() and use table look-up to perform the decompanding in practice. Next we
examine the BER performance of the algorithm. Let () denote the output signal of the
compander, () the white Gaussian noise. The received signal can be expressed as:

The decompanded signal () simply is:

Notice that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in a typical additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN)
channel is much greater.
49





Fig.6.1 Companding and decompanding profile


The simulated PSD of the companded signals is illustrated in Fig.6.2. The proposed
algorithm produces OBI almost 3dB lower than the exponential algorithm, 10dB lower than the
-law. The result is in line with our expectation. The -law function has a singularity in its
second order derivative at x = 0 and therefore is expected to have the strongest OBI.


-0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
-0.2
0
0.2
Companding for proposed alogorithm
-0.5 -0.4 -0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
-0.2
0
0.2
DE Companding for proposed alogorithm
alp=5
alp=7.5
alp=12.5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-20
0
20
Companding for Exponential copanding
d=5
d=7.5
d=12.5
50


Fig.6.2 Power spectral density of original and companded signals


Using the first order Taylor series expansion,

From the given Equation shows that if () falls into the range of the decompanding function
1() where 1()/ =() < 1, the noise () is suppressed, and if () is out of the
range, 1()/ =() > 1 and the noise is enhanced. Therefore, if the parameter in (8) is
properly chosen such that more () is within the noise-suppression range of 1(), it is possible
to achieve better overall BER performance. It is worth to mention though that BER and PAPR
affect each other adversely and therefore there is a tradeoff to make.

The OFDM system used in the simulation consists of 64 QPSK-modulated data points.
The size of the FFT/IFFT is 256, meaning a 4. oversampling. Given the compander input power
of 3dBm, the parameter in the companding function is chosen to be 30. Consequently about
19.6 percent of () is within the noise-suppression range of the decompanding function. Two
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
-400
-350
-300
-250
-200
-150
-100
-50
0
Normalized Frequency (t rad/sample)
M
a
g
n
i
t
u
d
e

(
d
B
)
Magnitude Response (dB)
Original
Proposed
Exponential
mu law
51

other popular companding algorithms, namely the -law companding [3] and the exponential
companding [5], are also included in the simulation for the purpose of performance comparison.
Fig.6.3.depicts the CCDF of the three companding schemes. The new algorithm is roughly 1.5dB
inferior to the exponential, but surpasses the -law by 2dB.

Fig.6.3.Complementary cumulative distribution function of original and companded signals
(compander input power = 3dBm, = 30).

The BER vs. SNR is plotted in Fig.6.4. Our algorithm outperforms the other two. To
reach a BER of 103, for example, the required SNR are 8.9dB, 10.4dB and 11.7dB respectively
for the proposed, the exponential and the -law companding schemes, implying a 1.5dB and
2.8dB improvement with the new algorithm. The amount of improvement increases as SNR
becomes higher. One more observation from the simulation is: unlike the exponential
companding whose performance is found almost unchanged under different degrees of
companding, the new algorithm is flexible in adjusting its specifications simply by changing the
value of in the companding function.


0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
Exponential
Proposed
No companding
52



Fig.6.4.Bit error rate vs. SNR for original and companded signals in AWGN
channel (compander input power = 3dBm, = 30)











1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
10
-5
10
-4
10
-3
10
-2
10
-1
10
0
Performance analysis
-----EbNo
-
-
-
-
B
E
R
No companding
Proposed
Exponential
53

CONCLUSION


In this project,a new companding algorithm was proposed. Both theoretical analysis and
computer simulation show that the algorithm offers improved performance compared to
exponential companding and decompanding in terms of BER and OBI while reducing PAPR
effectively as well as shown the simulated results on PSD of original and companded signals.

















54

REFERENCES

[1] T. S. Rappaport, Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice, Prentice Hall,
New Jersey, 2002
[2] Y. (G.) Li and G. L. Stuber and Eds., Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing for
Wireless Commu- nications, New York : Springer- Verlag, 2006.
[4] D. Athanasios and G. Kalivas, SNR estimation for low bit rate OFDM systems in
AWGN channel, in Proc. of ICN/ICONS/MCL 2006., pp. 198 198, April 2006.
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