107

AN OVERVIEW OF MB-UWB OFDM

S. Ali Ghorashi, Ben Allen, Mohammad Ghavami, A. Hamid Aghvami

Centre for Telecommunications Research, King's College London

seyed.ghorashi@kcl.ac.uk

INTRODUCTION

MULTI-BAND OFDM (MB- OFDM)

In Fehrualy 2002, the-FCC allowed.3.1 GHz to 10.6

GHz for use by Ultra Wide Band (UWB) devices. This

In MB-OFDM the spectrum between 3.1 to 10.6 GHz

is divided into 14 bands that are 528 MHz (Fig. 1). The
three lower hands are used for standard operation
(mandatory) and the rest of the bands are allocated for
optional use or future expansions since propagation
loss severely limits signals at higher frequencies [4].
Information is transmitted using Orthogonal Frequency
Division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation on each
band and different Time-Frequency Codes (frequency
hopping patterns) are utilised for channelisation.

ruling has generated lots of interest in developing

UWB communication systems. UWB technology is
highly anticipated because it provides the Wireless
Personal Area Network (WPAN) connectivity of
Bluetooth, but at speeds of up to 500 times faster or
possibly even more. With this technology the energy is
spread across an extremely large bandwidth to insure
that the presence of the transmitted signal is virtually
undetectable by traditional frequency-selective radio
receivers. Other applications include: radar, sensor
networks, hio-medical imaging. This paper focuses on
WPAN applications.
UWB systems can be divided into two groups: single
hand and multi-band. Candidate single hand systems
are: time-hopping spread spectrum impulse radio (THUWB) and direct sequence spread-spectrum impulse
radio (DS-UWB). In TH-UWB, the time when pulses
are transmitted is determined based on a pseudorandom
sequence, while in DS-UWB, a pseudorandom
sequence is used to spread the information bits which
are continuously transmitted. In multi-band UWB, the
spectrum is divided into several sub bands. One strong
UWB candidate employs orthogonal frequency
division multiplexing (OFDM) together with frequency
hopping between each suh-hand. Signals are
transmitted in each band with sufficient time interval to
minimise the inter symbol interference. This is termed
multi-band OFDM (MB-OFDM).
Two main proposals are being introduced to the
IEEE 802.15.3a standardisation committee for
WPANs, which is charged with finalising a standard
for short range, high data rate applications. The two
proposals include the Multi-Band-OFDM Alliance
(MBOA) [I],
led by Intel Corp., and the double-band
scheme proposed by XtremeSpectrum group, led by
Motorola Inc.. The multi-band approach would divide
the 7.5 GHz of spectrum into several smaller subhands, that would he added or dropped depending upon
the interference from (or to) other systems [2,3]. The
second approach is based upon the DS-CDMA system
which splits the hand into two sub-hands (low band:
3.1 to 5.15 GHz and high hand: 5.825 to 10.6 GHz).
This activity is lead by Motorola. Till May 2004, MBOFDM proposal has not yet achieved the necessaly
75% votes to he approved. This paper presents an
overview of the UWB-OFDM proposal.
'

One OFDM symbol has a duration of 312.5 ns and a

bandwidth of 528 MHz. The proposed UWB system
uses a total of 122 sub-carriers that are modulated
using quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK). In the
transmitter a 128-point IFFT is used. 100 sub-carriers
are allocated to data, 12 sub-carries are allocated to
pilot for channel estimation and 10 sub-carriers are
allocated to guard interval which provides sufficient
time for switching between bands. The rest of the subcarriers, #62 to 66 and the 0 (DC) input, are set to zero.
A 60.6111s cyclic prefix duration provides robustness
against multi-path. The proposed physical layer UWB
supports data rates of 80, 110, 160,200, 320, and 480
Mhps where the support for transmitting and receiving
at data rates of 55, 110, and 200 Mbps is mandatoly.
Forward error correction coding (convolutional
coding) is used with a coding rate of 11/32, 112, 5/8,
and 3/4.
Multiple access is achieved by utilising different
preambles and Time-Frequency Codes (TFC) for
different UWB users. As an example, when a UWB
piconet uses the TFC of [I 3 2 1 3 21, it means that for
that user, the first OFDM symbol i s sent on both bands
1 and 3, the second OFDM symbol is repeated on
bands 2 and 1 and the information in the third OFDM
symhol is sent on hands 3 and 2. This time domain
spreading operates for data rates of 55, 80, I IO, 160
and 200 Mhps. Four TFCs per hand group (#l- #4) and
two TFCs per hand group(#5) allows for a total of 18
(4x4+2) piconets to simultaneously operate (Table 1).
The transmitter structure is shown in Fig. 2.

MB - OFDM ADVANTAGES
The multi-band design of MB-OFDM allows the
technology to cope with local regulations by
dynamically turning off some hands to comply with
local rules of operation on allocated spectrum. In

0 2004 The Institution of Electrical Engineers

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addition, the proposal also allows good coexistence

with narrowband systems (Fig. 3). For example there is
the flexibility to avoid group band #2 when and if
Unlicensed-National
Information
Infrastructure
interference, such as from IEEE 802.11a WLANs, is
present. The low in-band and out-of-band emission
limits ruled by FCC (or European organizations such
as ETSI ERM TG31A which is working towards the
standardization of the UWB technology) ensure that
UWB devices do not cause harmful interference to
licensed services and other radio operators such as
cellular, PCS, GPS, 802.11a, satellite radio and
terrestrial radio.

MB-OFDM also has major differences with WiFi

systems. MB-OFDM has a much shorter range: up to
10 meters versus 30.to 60 meters for Wi-Fi. While WiFi can supply a higher date rate than Bluetooth
technology, it still does not deliver sufficient
performance to effectively allow streaming of multiple
simultaneous high-quality video streams. The wireless
networking technologies developed for wirelessly
connecting PCs, such as Wi-Fi* and Bluetooth*
technology, are not optimized for multiple highbandwidth usage models of the digital home.

OFDM, which allows for each UWB suh-band to be

divided into a set of orthogonal narrowband channels
(with much larger symbol period duration),
successfully reduces the effects of ISI. This robust
multipath tolerance comes at the price of increased
transceiver complexity (compared to impulse radio
architecture), the need to combat inter-carrier
interference (ICI), and tighter linear constraint on
amplifying circuit elements. The key signal-processing
block in OFDM (the FFTOFFT) has been shown to
require around 50K gates, which contribute only a very
small area to the total silicon real estate [ 5 ] . Other
advantages of the proposed MB-OFDM include low
cost, high data rate, good quality of service, low power
consumption, capability to be mesh networked, cope
with ad-hoc decentralized environment, adaptation to
different regulatory environments and future scalability
and backward compatibility. It should he noted that
802.15.3.a is supposed to uses the same media access
control (MAC) layer as IEEE 802.15.3 [6]. However,
the MBOA has proclaimed that it will add some
fbnctions to the MAC layer. These functions are for
mobile devices and meshes, where groups of UWB
devices create their own networks on an ad-hoc basis

MB-OFDM UWB technology can.enable high-speed

wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) connectivity for
PCs and PC peripherals. The USB, with one billion
units in the installed base, is the most. successful
interface in PC history. Projections are for 3.5 billion
interfaces shipped by 2006. Wireless USB will build
on the success of wired USB, bringing USB
technology into the wireless future. Examples include
printers, scanners, digital projectors, PDAs, DVDs, and
external storage devices (Fig. 4). It can also replace
IEEE1394 cables between portable multimedia CE
devices, such as camcorders, digital cameras, and
portable MP3 players, with wireless connectivity [SI.
Cables in next-generation devices, such as 3G cell
phones, as well as IP/UPnP-based connectivity for the
next generation of IP-based PC/CE/ mobile devices can
also be replaced. These all can be used in wireless
home connectivity solutions such as video streaming,
digital TV, DVDs, Set Top Boxes, PVRs, stereos,
camcorders, digital cameras, and other CE devices, as
well as fast downloads of rich content, camera to PC,
home gateway to portable device. The aim would be

APPLICATIONS

the replacement of every in-room wire, except the

power cord, by a wireless connection.

PI.
MARKET CONSIDERATIONS
COMPARISON
TECHNOLOGIES

WITH

OTHER

MB-OFDM and impulse radio DS-CDMA proposals

are different in many aspects. An impulse radio system
mitigates the effect of narrow hand interference
through the processing gain inherent in a DS-SS
system with a Rake receiver. In MB-OFDM system the
band under attack can be dropped, thus, MB-OFDM
has greater flexibility in coexisting with other
international wireless systems and future government
regulators. CDMA impulse radio needs a Rake
equalizer to exploit multipath, while MB-OFDM does
not require an equalizer in its receiver structure.
Impulse radio has more resolvable multipath
components because of its wider bandwidth; therefore
it needs a more complex receiver with high number of
Rake fingers.

For MB-OFDM UWB technology to become a

widely adopted radio solution, some key issues need to
be resolved such as data rate performance, power
consumption, co-existence with other wireless devices,
immunity to interference, interoperability, ease of
product integration and certification, and global
spectrum allocation. In May 2004, a MB-OFDM
transceiver chip UB501 was built with SiGeBiCMOS technology. It supports a range of data rates
up to 480Mbps in a frequency spectrum between 3.1
and 7,4GHz. It has 56-pin package and requires several
passive components, an off-the-shelf crystal and no
external power amplifier. It also has fast-switching
generator needed to enable rapid switching among the
eight MBOA bands the chip supports switch within
several nanoseconds to any band of the eight allowed
from 3.1 to 7.4 GHz [9].

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109

All actors in UWB expect early versions of working

hardware and software to become available late this
year or early 2005, with consumer products appearing
later in that year. The market is expected to grow from
zero to nearly six million UWB nodes embedded in
various devices by 2007, according to tech consultancy
In-StamDR [lo].

5 . R. Kolic, Ultra Wideband, the Next-Generation

Wireless Connection,
htt~:lldevicefor~e.com/articleslAT8
I7 1287040.html

K. Mandke, H. Nam, L. Yerramneni, The

Evolution of Ultra Wide Band Radio for Wireless
Personal Area Networks,

6.

hnu:llwww.hi~hhFrequencvelectronics.com/A

03lHFE0903 TechReuolt.Ddf
I

7. R. Goodwins, Ultrawideband standards split

SUMMARY
This paper has proposed an overview of the MBOFDM UWB wireless solution. It has been compared
with other proposals, especially in terms of spectrum
co-existence.

deepens,
httu:llnews.zdnet.co.ukicomrnu~1icationslwirelesslO.39O
20348.39149350.00.htrn
8. Ultra-Widehand (UWB) Technology Enabling
high-speed wireless personal area networks, Intel
white paper,
htto:llwww.intel.co~technoloev/ultrawideban~downlo

adsNltra-Wideband.udf

9. Wisair Intros MB-OFDM Chip,

REFERENCES
http://www.multibandofdm.org
IEEE P802.15-031268r3, Multi-hand OFDM
Physical Layer Proposal for IEEE 802.15 Task
Group 3a, March. 2004.
IEEE 802.15-04/0220rl, Multi-Band OFDM
Physical Layer Proposal Update, Presentation,
May. 2004.
A Armogida, B Allen, M Ghavami, M Porretta, G
Manara, H Agbvami, Path Loss Modelling in
Short-Range UWB Transmissions, International
Workshop on Ultra Wideband Systems, Oulu,
Finland, June 2003.
Band Group #1

Band Group #2

httu:llwww.unstruns.com/docurnent.asu?docid=50742
10. Then Theres UWB, WiM%<, ...,
htto:/lnetscaoe.businessweek.comltechnoloev1contentife
b2004ltc20040218 3031 tcl40.htm

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
S. Ali Ghorashi wishes to acknowledge the support
provided by EPSRC (GR/S62017101)

Band Gpup #3

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Band Group #4
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4488
MHz

5016
MHz

5544 6072

6600

MHz

MHz

MHZ

7128
MHz

7656
MHz

Band Group #5
A

8184
MHz

8712
MHz

9240
MHz

9768
MHz

Figure 1. MultiBand OFDM frequency band plan

Figure 2. Transmitter Structure

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10296
MHz

110

Emitted
Signal
Power

4 . 2 5 dBm
(0.056 mW)

1.6 1.9

2.4

3.1
5
Frequency(GHz)

10.6

Figure 3. UWB spectrum and other radio operators

i -Printer

i -PDA

-RW/CD-RW
-Mass Storaoe
I Devices
-Digital Projector
Scanner

DatalAudio
Access

1 -PCVideo Conference 'I

i-.-.---.-.-.---.-.-.

----

- -------- - _ _

Camera
-Play Station
- M P Player
~
-Digital camera
I -Flash Card Reader

I
I
I
I
I

Long Range
Networking/
Connectivity
(Wireless LAM)

_I

Gaming:

I -Playstation

Wireless LAN
Wireless USB

Fieure 4. Wireless USB scenarios

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