This full text paper was peer reviewed at the direction of IEEE Communications Society subject matter experts

for publication in the IEEE GLOBECOM 2005 proceedings.

Companding Technique for PAPR Reduction in

OFDM Systems Based on An Exponential Function
Tao Jiang, Yang Yang, and Yong-Hua Song

Abstract— In this paper, a new non-linear companding tech-
nique, called “exponential companding”, is proposed to reduce
the high Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) of Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signals. Unlike the µ-
law companding scheme, which enlarges only small signals so that
increases the average power, the schemes based on exponential
companding technique adjust both large and small signals and
can keep the average power at the same level. By transforming
the original OFDM signals into uniformly distributed signals
(with a specific degree), the exponential companding schemes
can effectively reduce PAPR for different modulation formats
and sub-carrier sizes. Moreover, many PAPR reduction schemes,
such as µ-law companding scheme, cause spectrum side-lobes
generation, but the exponential companding schemes cause less
spectrum side-lobes. Computer simulations, which consider a
baseband OFDM system with Additive White Gaussian Noise
(AWGN) channels and a Solid State Power Amplifier (SSPA),
show that the proposed exponential companding schemes can
offer better PAPR reduction, Bit Error Rate (BER), and phase
error performance than the µ-law companding scheme.
Index Terms — Non-linear Companding Transform, Orthogo-
nal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Peak-to-Average
Power Ratio (PAPR), Solid State Power Amplifier (SSPA).
to the original signals, the compressed signals have a larger
average power level and still exhibit non-uniform distributions
[15].
In this paper, we propose and analyse a new non-linear
companding technique to reduce the PAPR of OFDM signals.
It can effectively transform the original Gaussian-distributed
OFDM signals into uniform-distributed (companded) signals
without changing the average power level. Unlike the µ-
law companding scheme, which mainly focuses on enlarging
small signals, the new companding schemes adjust both small
and large signals without bias so that it is able to offer
better performance in terms of PAPR reduction, Bit-Error-Rate
(BER) for OFDM systems.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In Section II,
a typical OFDM system is given and the high PAPR problem
is formulated. Then, the new non-linear companding technique
is proposed in Section III to reduce PAPR. In Section IV, the
performance of the proposed companding schemes are studied
and compared with the µ-law companding scheme through
computer simulations, followed by conclusions in Section V.

I. I NTRODUCTION II. P ROBLEM F ORMULATION

As a multi-carrier modulation technique, Orthogonal Fre-
Sk sn
quency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) has remarkable advan- tn
Input Bit QAM/PSK P/S and D/A and
tages [1], [2] and has been widely applied in many wireless S/P IFFT
...

...

Stream Mapping Companding HPA

communication systems, such as Digital Audio Broadcast-
ing (DAB), the ETSI HIPERLAN/2 standard and the IEEE wn
' '
802.11a standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN). Sk sn
rn
Original OFDM signals have a very high Peak-to-Average Output Bit QAM/PSK
P/S FFT
S/P and
A/D
...
...

Stream Demapping De-companding

Power Ratio (PAPR), which requires the use of sophisticated
and expensive radio transmitters having High Power Ampli-
fiers (HPA) operating over a very large linear range. Otherwise,
non-linear signal distortion occurs, which leads to high adja-
cent channel interference and poor system performance [2].
Many PAPR reduction schemes based on different techniques,
such as clipping and filtering [3], window shaping [4], block
coding [5], [6], partial transmit sequence (PTS) technique [7],
[8], and selective mapping (SLM) technique [9], [10], phase
optimization [11], tone reservation and injection [12], [13],
and non-linear companding transform schemes [14], [15], have
been proposed in literature. Specifically, it is shown in [14]
that the µ-law companding scheme can reduce PAPR more
effectively than the clipping approach. However, comparing
Dr. T. Jiang and Prof. Y. H. Song are with School of Engineer-
ing and Design, Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, U.K. (e-mails:
unique− jt@yahoo.co.uk, y.h.song@brunel.ac.uk). Dr. Y. Yang is with the
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College
London, London WC1E 7JE, U.K. (e-mail: y.yang@ee.ucl.ac.uk).
Fig. 1. OFDM system using non-linear companding technique.
Fig. 1 shows the block diagram of a typical OFDM sys-
tem using the non-linear companding technique for PAPR
reduction. Let N denote the number of sub-carriers used for
parallel information transmission and let Sk (0 ≤ k ≤ N − 1)
denote the k th complex modulated symbol in a block of N
information symbols. The outputs sn of the N -point Inverse
Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) of Sk are the OFDM signal
samples over one symbol interval, or mathematically
N −1  
1
j · 2πkn
sn = √ Sk exp . (1)
N N
k=0
The input information symbols are assumed to be statisti-
cally independent and identically distributed (i.i.d). So when

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This full text paper was peer reviewed at the direction of IEEE Communications Society subject matter experts for publication in the IEEE GLOBECOM 2005 proceedings.

N is large (e.g. N ≥ 64), the real and imaginary parts of in the nonlinear companding operation. The strict linearity
sn , denoted by Re{sn } and Im{sn }, are independent and requirements on HPA can then be partially relieved.
identically distributed Gaussian random variables
 with zero Let |tn |d , the dth power of the amplitude of companded
mean and a common variance σ 2 = E |Sk |2 /2, according signal tn , have a uniform distribution in the interval [0, α].
to the central limit theorem. The amplitude, or modulus, of The exponent d is called the degree of a specific exponential
OFDM signal sn is given by companding scheme. The CDF of |tn |d is simply
 x
|sn | = Re2 {sn } + Im2 {sn } . (2) F|tn |d (x) = , 0≤x≤α . (9)
α
The amplitude |sn | has a Rayleigh distribution with the The amplitude |tn | of companded signal has the following
Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF) as follows. CDF
F|sn | (x) = P rob{|sn | ≤ x} F|tn | (x) = P rob{|tn | ≤ x}
 x  2
2y y = P rob{|tn |d ≤ xd }
= 2
exp − 2 dy (10)
0 σ σ (3)
 2 xd √
x = , 0≤x≤ dα .
= 1 − exp − 2 , x≥0 . α
σ
The inverse function of F|tn | (x) is therefore
The power of OFDM signal sn can be calculated as √
N −1 N −1   F|t−1
n|
(x) = d α x , 0≤x≤1 . (11)
2 1

j · 2π(m − k)n
|sn | = Sm Sk exp . (4) On the other hand, given that h(x) is a strictly monotonic
N m=0 N
k=0 increasing function, we have
The PAPR of OFDM signals in one symbol period is then
F|sn | (x) = P rob{|sn | ≤ x}
defined as
= P rob{h(|sn |) ≤ h(x)} (12)
M ax{|sn |2 } √
P AP R = 10 log10 dB . (5) = F|tn | (h(x)) , 0 ≤ x ≤ h−1 d
α .
E [|sn |2 ]
The peak power occurs when N modulated symbols are Considering the phase of input signals, the companding
added with the same phase. function h(x) is given by

By using the non-linear companding technique, the OFDM h(x) = sgn(x) F|t−1
n|
F|sn | (x)
signals sn are companded before they are converted into

x2 (13)
analog waveforms and amplified by the HPAs. The companded = sgn(x) α [1 − exp(− 2 )] .
d

signal tn (0 ≤ n ≤ N − 1) is given by σ
tn = h(sn ) . (6) where sgn(x) is the sign function. The positive constant α
determines the average power of output signals. In order to
where h(·) is the companding function that changes only keep the input and output signals at the same average power
the amplitudes of input signals. Then OFDM signals are level, we let
transmitted into the radio channel. Consider an Additive White   d2
Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel, the received signals rn after  
 E |sn |2 
the analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion can be expressed as α=   
 . (14)
|sn |2 2
rn = tn + wn E d
[1 − exp(− σ2 )]
(7)
= h(sn ) + wn .
At the receiver side, the inverse function of h(x) is used in
where wn are the samples of AWGN signal n(t). After the the de-companding operation, i.e.
de-companding operation, we obtain   

xd
sn = h−1 (rn ) −1
h (x) = sgn(x) −σ 2 loge 1 − . (15)
(8) α
= sn + h−1 (wn ) .
Fig. 2 shows the exponential companding function h(x)
where h−1 (x) is the de-companding function, or the inverse
with degree d as a parameter. Referring to (9), the companded
function of h(x).
signals have uniformly distributed amplitudes and powers,
respectively, for the cases d = 1 and d = 2. When d ≥ 2, the
III. E XPONENTIAL C OMPANDING T ECHNIQUE proposed function h(x) can compress large input signals and
We propose in this section a new non-linear companding expand small signals simultaneously. While the µ-law com-
technique, namely “exponential companding”, that can effec- panding scheme can only enlarge small signals and does not
tively reduce the PAPR of transmitted (companded) OFDM change the signal peaks, which leads to a higher average power
signals by transforming the statistics of the amplitudes of these level of output signals [14], [15]. As seen, the differences
signals into uniform distribution. The new scheme also has between exponential companding functions are ignorable when
the advantage of maintaining a constant average power level d ≥ 8.

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2
simultaneously. These waveforms match the results observed
1.5 in Fig. 2.
Exponential companding
1 (d=8) 0
10
µ−law companded
0.5 signals

Complementary Cumulative Distribution Function

Exponential companding
h(x)

0 (d=2)

Exponential companding −1 Exponential companded signals

−0.5 10 (d=8)
(d=1)

Prob PAPR>x
Exponential companded signals
−1 (d=2)

Exponential companded signals

−1.5
µ−law companding (d=1)
−2
10
−2
−2 −1.5 −1 −0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2
x
Original signals

Fig. 2. The exponential companding function h(x).

−3
10
−4 −3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3 4
x (dB)

IV. P ERFORMANCE E VALUATION Fig. 4. The complementary cumulative distribution functions of

In order to verify the performance of the exponential
companding scheme in the reduction of PAPR and the system
such as BER, we consider a baseband OFDM system as in
Fig. 1 with the number of sub-carriers N = 64 throughout
the computer simulations. The oversampling factor is set to
be 4 so that 256-point IFFT and FFT are used respectively at
the transmitter and the receiver in this section. The randomly
generated input data are modulated by Quadrature Phase Shift
Keying (QPSK).
4 4
2 2
0 0
−2 −2
original OFDM signals and companded signals.
Fig. 4 shows respectively the Complementary Cumulative
Distribution Functions (CCDF) of PAPR for original OFDM
signals, µ-law companded signals, and exponential companded
signals with degrees d = 1, d = 2 and d = 8. The CCDF
curves for degrees larger than eight are almost the same as
that for d = 8. As seen, the original OFDM signals have
a Gaussian distribution. The µ-law companded signals still
exhibit some quasi-Gaussian nature. While the exponential
companded signals have more uniform-alike distributions, and
therefore can offer much smaller PAPR.
−10
µ−law companded
signals
−20
Power Spectral Density (dB/ rad/sample)

−4 −4 −30
0 100 200 0 100 200
(a) Original OFDM signals. (b) µ−law companded signals.
−40
4 4

−50
2 2
Exponential companded
signals (d=2)
0 0 −60

Original signals
−2 −2 −70

−4 −4
0 100 200 0 100 200 −80
(c) Exponential companded signals (d=1). (d) Exponential companded signals (d=2). 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Normalized Frequency (π rad/sample)

Fig. 5. The spectrums of original OFDM signals and companded

Fig. 3. Waveforms of original OFDM signals and companded signals. signals.

Fig. 3 compares the temporal waveforms of original OFDM
signals, µ-law companded signals, and exponential companded
signals with degrees d = 1 and d = 2. The results for the
cases d > 2 are found similar to that of d = 2 and therefore
not shown in the figure. As seen, the µ-law companding
scheme only expands the amplitudes of small signals. While
the exponential companding scheme with degree d = 2
expands the small signals and compresses the large signals
Due to the high PAPR, original OFDM signals have a
very sharp, rectangular-like power spectrum (see Fig. 5).
This good property will be affected by the PAPR reduction
schemes, e.g. slower spectrum roll-off, more spectrum side-
lobes, and higher adjacent channel interference. Many PAPR
reduction schemes cause spectrum side-lobes generation, but
the exponential companding schemes cause less spectrum
side-lobes. As seen in Fig. 5, our exponential companding

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scheme (with degree d = 2) has much less impact on the
original power spectrum comparing to the µ-law companding
scheme. It is the major reason that the exponential companding
scheme not only enlarges the small amplitude signals but also
compresses the large amplitude signals, while maintains the
average power unchanged by properly choosing α parameters,
which can increase the immunity of small amplitude signals
from noise. The proposed scheme maintains the same average
power level as that of original OFDM signals, but the µ-law
companding scheme increases the average power level and
therefore requires a larger linear operation region in HPA. The
power spectrums for other degree values (not shown) are found
similar to that of d = 2.
To evaluate the Bit Error Rate (BER) and phase error
performance of exponential companding schemes, we consider
to use AWGN channel with a Solid State Power Amplifier
(SSPA). According to the model proposed in [16], [17], SSPA
produces no phase distortion and only the AM/AM conversion
can be expressed as following
x(t)
y(t) = 1/(2p)
. (16)
[1 + x2p (t)]
where x(t) and y(t) are input and output signals respectively.
The parameter p is a random positive integer and it has been
set to be the typical value 2 in this paper.
0
10
µ−law companding
−1
10
Bit Error Rate
10
−2
Performance bound
10
−3
Exponential companding
(d=2)
−4
10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Signal−to−Noise Ratio (dB)
Fig. 6. Bit error rate under different companding schemes.
Figs. 6 shows the performance of BER and phase error
versus Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) under different com-
panding schemes. The performance bounds are obtained by
ignoring the effect of SSPA and directly transmitting the
original OFDM signals directly through the AWGN channels.
Comparing to the µ-law companding scheme, the exponential
companding scheme (with degree d = 2) can offer much
smaller BER and phase error, which are very close to the
performance bounds. Specifically, to achieve a BER of 10−4 ,
the minimum required SNR is 11.06 dB (performance bound).
The required SNRs under the exponential companding and
the µ-law companding schemes are 12.03 dB and 16.00 dB,
respectively. The performance curves for other degree values
are found similar to that of d = 2 and therefore omitted.
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V. C ONCLUSIONS
Non-linear companding transform is an effective technique
in reducing the PAPR of OFDM signals. In addition, the
schemes based on companding technique have low imple-
mentation complexity and no constraint on modulation format
and sub-carrier size. In this paper, we have proposed and
evaluated a new non-linear companding technique based on
an exponential function. It can adjust the amplitudes of both
large and small input signals, while maintain the average
power unchanged by properly choosing transform parameters,
so as to make the output signals have a uniform distribution
(with a specific degree). Simulation results have shown that
the proposed companding schemes could offer better system
performance in terms of PAPR reduction, power spectrum,
BER than the µ-law companding scheme.
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