PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF OFDMA,
MIMO AND SC-FDMA TECHNOLOGY IN 4G
LTE NETWORKS
Navita, M.Tech Student
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology
Hisar, India
navitamehra55@gmail.com
Abstract- Long Term Evolution (LTE) has become a
powerful technology for 4th Generation networks. New
generation always demand a better quality of service mainly in
terms of high data rate, better signal quality, large coverage area
and services at low cost etc. LTE comes to support the 4G
environment by adopting the three important multiple access
techniques. The three multiple access techniques are Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Multiple Inputs
Multiple Outputs (MIMO) and Single Carrier Frequency
Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) techniques. Each technique
has its associated features that make LTE popular among its
users. OFDMA and MIMO technology are used for downlink
and SC-FDMA for uplink channel. In this paper, we are going to
analyze the performance of OFDMA, MIMO and SC-FDMA in
LTE at physical layer by considering different modulation
schemes such as BPSK, QPSK, 16 QAM by using BER and SNR
as parameters.
Keywords - LTE; OFDMA; MIMO; SC-FDMA; BPSK;
QPSK; 16 QAM; BER; SNR.
I. INTRODUCTION
Our communication system simply started from the
voice, then to data and now in multimedia, video
conferencing, etc. This fast-growing development of
technology is because of the increasing demand of users.
They may demand a better Quality of Service in terms of
high data rates, better signal quality, high coverage area and
low cost services[1,6]. In order to improve the Quality of
Service of our existing communication system, various
communication committees such as Universal Mobile
Telecommunication Unit (UMTS), Universal Terrestrial
Radio Access Network (UTRAN) organized a workshop in
2004 under 3rd Generation partnership Project (3GPP)[1] to
make a decision how to satisfy users demand. Due to the
efforts made by various communication committees they
came to develop a technology that can satisfy users to a
large extent. The new technology, which is known as LTE.
It become an important and powerful technology for the 4th
generation communication system. As our communication
technology started from the first generation and now it has
978-1-4673-8203-8/16/$31.00 2016
c IEEE
Amandeep, Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Technology
Hisar, India
am.noliya@gmail.com
reached up to the 4th generation. It has different qualities
such as [1,2]
• High Data Rate
• Improved Latency
• High coverage Area
• High Spectral Efficiency
• Low Cost
II. LTE ENABLING TECHNOLOGY
Three important multiple access technologies are
supported by LTE. These technologies are termed as
OFDMA, SC-FDMA and MIMO. Various features are
linked with each technology [1,2,6]. These are described
below:
A. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access
(OFDMA):
OFDMA is an important multiple access technique used
at downlink channel in the LTE system. Orthogonal
Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) supports high
Quality of service (QOS) to the accessing points. OFDMA
has different features as high flexibility, robustness to
channel fading, easy equalization and high spectral
efficiency [4,6]. These attractive features have made
OFDMA more valuable for high speed data transmission
and more interesting for other data transmission techniques.
In this multiplexing technique, the complete frequency band
is divided into a number of orthogonal subcarriers[1].
At the OFDMA transmitter end, the available bandwidth
spectrum is divided into a number of orthogonal subcarriers.
After that the adaptive modulation schemes such as BPSK,
QPSK and 16 QAM etc.[5] must be applied. These
modulation schemes are used to modulate the signal so that
it can travel preliminary a large distance. The modulated
signal is then passed to a Serial to Parallel (S/P)
converter[1]. A serial to parallel converter convert the serial
signal into a streams of parallel signal. The resulted signal
554
in parallel form is passed through Inverse Fast Fourier
transform (IFFT) module. IFFT module transforms
frequency domain symbols into time domain symbols [9].
The resulted time domain symbols may create inter-symbol
interference (ISI) problem. So a cyclic extension must be
added to eliminate ISI problem[3]. Inter-Symbol
Interference problem may cause noise and multipath fading
of the signal. The resulted signal is then passed to the
channel.
At the receiver end, the complete process which is used
at transmitter end is reversed in order to receive the original
signal. First of all the cyclic prefix is removed and then
Parallel to Serial Conversion (P/S) conversion is done [9].
The resulted signal is then passed through FFT module. FFT
is known as the Fast Fourier Transform[3] which transform
time domain symbols into a frequency domain symbols.
These frequency domain symbols are then passed through
an equalizer. Equalizer eliminate the signal distortion
problem. At last demodulator is used to demodulate the
signal and finally the original bits are received at the
receiver end [9].
With these important features OFDMA also suffers from
different limitations. These are a very high Peak to
Average Power Ratio (PAPR), an Inter-Carrier Interference
(ICI) between sub-carriers and high sensitivity to frequency
errors[1,3,9].
B. Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access
(SC-FDMA)
SC-FDMA is an important multiple access technique
used in the uplink channel of LTE system. SC-FDMA
comes with different supporting features such as low PAPR
value, less costly power amplifier, high robustness against
spectra nulls[1,3,5]. These important features makes SC-
FDMA is useful in the uplink channel. Basic module's of
SC-FDMA structure is used in communication system at
both transmitting and receiving end.
At the transmitter end, a Serial to Parallel (S/P)
converter module is used which convert the serial signal into
parallel formed signal. Parallel signal is then passed through
M-Point DFT (Discrete Fourier Transform) where (M<N)
which transform the symbols in time domain into a
frequency domain symbols. After that the resulted symbols
are mapped onto the desired band in complete channel
bandwidth before they are converted back into the time
domain. After that signal is passed to parallel to serial
converter[1]. To the resulted signal Cyclic Prefix is added in
order to reduce interference between the symbols. At last
signal is converted from digital to analog and passed to the
channel[16].
2016 6th International Conference - Cloud System and Big Data Engineering (Confluence)
At the receiver end, a reverse process is followed. First
of all the analog signal is converted into digital signal using
analog to digital converter, then the cyclic prefix is
removed. The resulted signal is then passed through Serial
to Parallel converter (S/P). Parallel formed signals are then
passed through N-Point DFT which transforms time
domain symbols into a frequency domain symbols after that
a suitable de-mapping is done and again frequency domain
symbols are converted into time domain symbols and then
Parallel to Serial (P/S) conversion is done for original signal
detection[15][16].
C. Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO)
MIMO stands for Multiple Input and Multiple Output.
This technology uses multiple transmitters and receivers to
transfer more data at the same time. It is used as a downlink
channel. This technology mainly supports high coverage,
high data rate and better robustness, low bit error rate, better
spectral efficiency etc. [1,10].
At the transmitter end, the given information bits are
first divided into several bit streams (S1, S2, S3) and then
transmitted through antennas[10,14]. The channel used as a
medium mixes the streams so that the signal received at the
antenna is a combination of all bit stream. A unique pattern
matching method is used to recover the original signal
transmitted by the transmitter. A high data rate transmission
may reduce system performance and cause complexity. This
can be considered as important issues in MIMO
technique[1]. MIMO also suffers from limitations like high
hardware complexity, high battery power consumption etc.
III. EXPERIEMNTAL SETUP IN MATLAB
Complete implementation of simulation work is done in
MATLAB. It is easy to use, learn and provide a complete
environment for experimental setup. We analyzed three
multiple access techniques used in LTE networks. The
stepwise explanation for analysis of OFDMA, MIMO &
SC-FDMA.
1. APPLY: For OFDMA Technique, SC-FDMA
technique, MIMO technique
2. GENERATE: Input Signal for OFDMA, SC-
FDMA, MIMO
3. APPLY: BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM as modulation
technique for OFDMA, BPSK for SC-FDMA &
MIMO
4. RESULT: Get result for three modulation
techniques for OFDMA, BPSK modulation for SC-
FDMA and MIMO
5. ANALYSIS: Finally, we compare the result of all
these techniques and analyze the result for showing
which one is better in quality in all the three
techniques.
555
 A ratio higher than 1:1 (greater than 0 dB) indicates
more signal than noise. In case of conversation or exchange
of data, Signal-to-noise ratio is sometimes used to refer the
ratio of useful information to false or irrelevant data. There
exists an inverse relation between BER and SNR. Increase
in the value of SNR,
ଵ
 ‫ן‬ (4)
୆୉ୖ

Bit Error Rate (BER) decrease. High BER causes a

packet loss which reduces throughput and increases delay
[13].

[Fig.2] shows the analysis of the three modulation

techniques QPSK, 16 QAM, BPSK used in OFDMA. All of
these modulation techniques are analyzed on the basis of
SNR and BER parameters. High noise to the signal may
causes high error bits. In OFDMA signal the noise is due to
Fig.1. Flow Chart for analysis.
high PAPR because it causes distortion in signal. In
OFDMA we reduced the PAPR and obtained low bit error
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND
rate. There exists an inverse relation between SNR and
DISCUSSION
The result of the experiment is explained on the basis of BER.
following two parameters:

1. Bit Error Rate (BER):

The BER is the ratio of a number of error bits and the
total number of bits transmitted. It is given by the following
formula.
BER = Number of Error Bits (1)
Total no of Transmitted Bits

The bit error probability pe is the expectation value of

the bit error ratio. At the receiver side, BER is mainly
affected by channel noise, distortion, interference and
multipath fading problem. There exists an inverse relation
between BER and SNR as [13]:
ଵ
‫ן ܴܧܤ‬ (2)
ௌேோ

With the increase in SNR value the BER decreases and
inverse is also true with a decrease in SNR, BER increases.
To plot BER performance first, we simulated the developed
model, calculated BER for different Signal to Noise Ratio
(SNR) values using the above formula and then we plotted
these values against corresponding SNR values. The
procedure was repeated for different modulation techniques
and SC-FDMA and MIMO.
2. Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR):
The SNR is the ratio of bit energy (Eb) to the noise power
spectral density (N0) and it is expressed in dB.
ா௕
ܴܵܰ ൌ (3)
ே௢
Fig.2. BER vs SNR for OFDMA using QPSK, 16QAM and BPSK
With the increase in SNR value, BER may decrease.
This decreased value of BER provides the best result and
shows better quality of the signal. The signal which
approaches better BER value at low SNR provides better
results. From our analysis, it is found that BPSK at 22 dB,
16 QAM at 39 dB and BPSK at 26 dB provides a BER
value of 10^-15. BPSK having better BER value at low
SNR, so it provides better QoS as compared to the other
modulation technique.
[Fig.3] shows the result of MIMO signal. From analysis,
we found that BPSK modulation provides better results.

556 2016 6th International Conference - Cloud System and Big Data Engineering (Confluence)
 Fig.3. BER vs SNR for MIMO
BPSK modulation technique is used in MIMO and
analyze its performance on the basis of SNR and BER
parameters. MIMO performance mainly depends on M and
N means number of transmitting and receiving antennas.
With increase in M and N performance may increase. But a
high M and N may cause high BER value. MIMO provides
10^-5.6 BER value at 28 dB SNR and then constant.
Fig.4. BER vs SNR for SC-FDMA
[Fig.4] shows the result of SC-FDMA signal. From our
analysis from Figure 4, we found that BPSK modulation
provides the best result. We use BPSK modulation
technique in SC-FDMA and analyze its performance in SC-
FDMA on the basis of SNR and BER parameters. In SC-
FDMA a single carrier channel is used for transmission. SC-
FDMA having low PAPR value which may also reduce
distortion between symbols. But due to single carrier a small
distortion may cause high error rate. SC-FDMA provides
10^-4.1 BER value at 18 dB SNR and then constant.
2016 6th International Conference - Cloud System and Big Data Engineering (Confluence)
Fig.5. BER vs SNR for OFDMA, SC-FDMA and MIMO
[Fig.5] shows the analysis of the three modulation
techniques QPSK, 16QAM, BPSK used in OFDMA, BPSK
modulation technique used in SC-FDMA and MIMO. All of
these techniques are analyzed on the basis of SNR and BER
parameters. The signal which approaches better BER value
at low SNR provides the best result. From our analysis, it is
found that BPSK at 17 dB, QPSK at 19 dB, 16 QAM at
29dB provides 10^-6 BER value. MIMO at 30 dB provides
10^-5.6 SC-FDMA at 20 dB provides 10^-4.6 BER value.
As low value of SNR provides the best result. BPSK having
low value of SNR and better BER value so, it provides the
best result and this is the result of mainly OFDMA signal.
From our analysis we can say that in all techniques used in
LTE. OFDMA having better quality of service as compared
to MIMO and SC-FDMA.
V. CONLUSION & FUTURE WORK
Analysis work is done on the three important multiple
access techniques (OFDMA, SC-FDMA & MIMO) of LTE.
Three modulation schemes (BPSK, QPSK, 16 QAM) are
applied on these techniques in order to analyze their
performance using BER and SNR as important parameters.
BPSK having low value of SNR and better BER value so its
provides better result. From our analysis, it is concluded that
in all the three techniques used in LTE, OFDMA having the
best quality of service as compared to MIMO and SC-
FDMA.
In this work, we analyze the Quality of OFDMA,
MIMO and SC-FDMA on the basis of BER and SNR. The
analysis work is effective, but the work can be extended in
future by using other modulation techniques and also
analyze the performance of these techniques on the basis of
other parameters such as PAPR (Peak to Average Power
Ratio), Congestion, PSD (Power Spectral Density) etc.
557
 REFERENCES [9] A. Osman and A. Mohammad,, "Performance Evaluation of a Low-
[1] S. Chadchan and C.B Akki, "3GPP LTE/SAE: An Overview," Complexity OFDM-UMTS-LTE System, " IEEE, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 1-
International Journal of Computer Science and Engineering 6, 2008.
Technology (IJCEE), vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 806-814, October 2010. [10] R. Chauhan, "Performance Enhancement of MIMO-OFDM
[2] "The LTE Network Architecture. A comprehensive tutorial," a white Technology in LTE System," International Journal of Computer
paper by Alcatel Lucent. Science (IJCSI), vol.1, no. 8, October 2013.
[3] R. Nee and R. Prasad, “OFDM for Wireless Multimedia [11] Y.Wu and W. Y. Zou, “Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing:
Communications,” Artech House publications, 2000. A Multi-Carrier Modulation Scheme,” IEEE Trans. Consumer
[4] R. Singh, "Multiple Access Techniques For 4G Mobile Wireless Electronics, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 392–399, August 2003.
Networks," International Journal of Engineering Research and [12] Wu Y., Zou W. Y., “Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing: A
Development (IJERD), vol. 5, no.11, pp. 86-94, February 2013. Multi-Carrier Modulation Scheme,” IEEE Trans. Consumer
[5] H.M. Aung, " Performance Evaluation of GSM Transmission over Electronics, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 392–399, August 1995.
Different Modulation Schemes (BPSK, QPSK, GMSK)," [13] A.S Rao and S. Srinivas, "A New BER and SNR Calculations for
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications MIMO System," International Journal of Inventive Engineering and
(IJSRP), vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 1-5, April 2014. Sciences (IJIES), vol. 2, no. 8, July 2014.
[6] H. Holma and A. Toskala, "LTE for UMTS: OFDMA and SC-FDMA [14] R. Dinis, D. Falconer and C. Lam, "A Multiple Access Scheme for
based radio access," John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2009. the Uplink of Broadband Wireless Systems," IEEE Communication
[7] M. Sehrawat and R. Singh, "Performance comparison between Society Globecom, pp. 3808-3812, 2004.
OFDMA and SC-FDMA using rayleing fading Channel," [15] H. Myung,, J. Lim, and D.Goodman,, "Single Carrier FDMA for
International Journal of Advanced Technology in Engineering Uplink Wireless Transmission," IEEE Vehicular Technology
Science and Engineering Technology (IJAETS), vol. 4, no. 3, pp. Magazine, pp. 30-38, September 2006.
1614-1619, June 2014. [16] "SC-FDMA Single Carrier FDMA in LTE" IXIA Leader in coverage
[8] A. Farhood and N. Agarwal, "Performance Analysis of OFDMA in IP Testing, A White paper, pp. 1-15, November 2009.
LTE," International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology
(IJCET), vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 1614-1619, June 2014.

558 2016 6th International Conference - Cloud System and Big Data Engineering (Confluence)