Performance of MC-CDMA System in Frequency-Selective Rayleigh

Fading Channel
Md. Rezaul Haque Khan1, Md. Akbar Hossain2
1
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
Islamic University of Technology,
Gazipur-1704, Bangladesh, Telephone: +880-2-9291250, Fax: +880-2-9261260.
2
Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering,
Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology, Chittagong-4349, Bangladesh.
E-mail: sohagiut@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

In this paper a novel multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) system is proposed and
analyzed in a frequency selective Rayleight fading channel. The performance parameter bit error rate
(BER) and signal-to-interference-noise ratio (SINR) of the system is analytically derived in frequency
selective fading, with Gaussian noise and multiple access interference (MAI). The expression is much
simplified compared to previous research. The BER and SINR performance in uplink channels with
frequency-selective Rayleigh fading is shown by computer simulation. It is assumed that the proposed
system suffers single path fading. Numerical results indicate that the system performs better than that
of the conventional DS-CDMA system.

1. INTRODUCTION

Future wireless communication systems will likely
be code division multiple access (CDMA) based. A
CDMA system is interference limited, where all the
users share the available bandwidth. Because of
this, adding any new user to the radio cell increases
the multiple access interference (MAI), and causes
reduction in signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio
(SINR) for all the other users in the system. If each
user transmits only as much power as it is
necessary to maintain its SINR and BER
performance, more simultaneously transmitting
users can be supported in the system, and the
resource utilization can be improved. Code division
multiple access (CDMA) has proven very
successful for large scale cellular voice systems,
but there is some skepticism about whether CDMA
will be well-suited to non-voice traffic [1]. This has
motivated research on MC-CDMA systems which
allow variable data rates [2], [3], [4]. Meanwhile,
MC-CDMA has emerged as a powerful alternative
to conventional direct sequence CDMA (DS-
CDMA) in mobile wireless communications [5],
[6], [7], [8], [9], [10], and has been shown to have
superior performance to single carrier CDMA in
multipath fading. CDMA systems with imperfect
power control have been studied extensively in the
literature for homogeneous traffic, including outage
probability [11]-[12], capacity [13]-[14], and BER
performance analysis [15]. In MC-CDMA systems,
transmitted data bits are serial-to-parallel converted
to a number of parallel branches [16]. Each bit on
each branch is DS-SS (Direct Sequence-Spread
Spectrum) modulated and transmitted with a
number of orthogonal and overlapping carriers.
The reverse link of a MC-CDMA mobile
communication system who’s BER and SINR will
be analyzed in this paper is shown in fig. 1. We
consider perfect power control condition for this
analysis. The transmitter and receiver block is
elaborated in fig. 2 and fig.3.
The BER and SINR of the proposed system is
derived analytically in a frequency selective
multipath Rayleigh fading channel. The rest of the
paper is organized as follows: Section II discusses
the system model of our proposed MC-CDMA
wireless system. The SINR and BER of the
proposed system is derived in Section III.
Fig. 1 Block diagram proposed MC-CDMA
system.
Tb: bit Duration, N: Number of Subcarriers,
G : Processing Gain,Tc: Chip Duration,
Ck(t):Spreading Code of user k
Fig. 2 Transmitter of MC-CDMA systems.
Fig. 3 Receiver of MC-CDMA systems.
2. MC-CDMA WIRELESS SYSTEM
MODEL
In this paper single-cell MC-CDMA system is
considered, where the total number of users is K
and each mobile station has N subcarriers.
Furthermore, it is assumed that the chip rate and
the bit rate of message signals are fixed so that the
processing gain, G , is fixed by the ratio of the chip
rate and the bit rate. Under these assumptions, the
received signal rk (t ) , including the other-user
interference, fading and the background noise, is
modeled as
K
rk (t ) = ∑ rm ,k (t ) + v(t ), (k − 1)T ≤ t < kT (1)
m =1
T is the data bit duration, k is a time index and v (t )
is the additive Gaussian noise with double-sided
power spectral density of N0/2 .
In equation (1), the received signal from the n -th
mobile station using the i–th subcarrier, rni ,k (t ) , is
given by G
rni ,k (t ) =αni (t ) Pni (t ).a ni (t ) ∑c
g =1
ng , k
  zi  
2π f c + Tc t 
.h(t − gTc − kT ). cos 
  
The transmitted power of the n -th mobile station
using the i -th subcarrier is denoted by Pni (t ) ,
ani (t ) ∈ {-1 , +1}, is a data bit, c jg ,k ∈ {-1 , +1} is
the g -th component of a signature sequence with
chip duration Tc and h(t) represents a pulse of
duration Tc . fc is a center frequency and zi stands
for the i -th subcarrier that has an integer value for mobile station with the i -th subcarrier and the m
1≤ Zi ≤ N . Each data, modulated by a different -th mobile station with the same subcarrier is
subcarrier, is transmitted through a different
frequency band and suffers different fading. α ni (t ) 1 Tb  2π ( z i − z i )t 
is the component of fading envelope for the n -th
Riinm = α mi Pmi
Tb ∫0
c n (t ).c m (t ). cos
 TC
dt


mobile station using i -th subcarrier and has a
Rayleigh distribution [1]. The fading envelope
α ni (t ) i s actually time varying, but here it is 1 Tb

assumed that the fading changes with a rate much

= α mi Pmi
Tb ∫
0
cn (t ).cm (t ).dt (5)

slower than the bit rate so that α ni (t ) can be

considered as having constant value during a bit The third term in equation (2) comes from the same
duration. mobile station with the different carriers and the
cross correlation between the n -th mobile station
3. SYSTEM ANALYSIS with the i-th subcarrier and the n -th mobile station
with the j -th subcarrier is zero due to the
Let the correlation between the signals of the n -th orthogonality of subcarriers in a mobile stations.
mobile station with carrier zi and the signals of the
1 Tb  2π ( z i − z j )t 
Rijnn = α nj Pnj ∫
c n (t ).c n (t ). cos dt
nm
m -th mobile station with zj be Rij ; then the 
0 Tb  TC 
output of the matched filter for the n -th mobile
station using the i -th subcarrier is 1 Tb  2π ( z i − z j )t 
Tb ∫0
K N
= α nj Pnj cos  dt
 (6)
 T 
U ni =αni . Pni + ∑R nn
ii +∑R nn
ij
C

m =1
m ≠n
j =1
j ≠i
The fourth term in equation (2) comes from
different mobile stations with different carriers and
K N
+∑∑Rijnm +Noise the cross correlation between the n -th mobile
m =1 j =1
station with the i –th subcarrier and the m -th
m ≠n j ≠i mobile station with the j -th subcarrier is zero due
to the orthogonality of subcarriers.
=D+I+Z (2)
1 Tb  2π ( z i − z j )t 
3.1 Desired term
Rijnm = α mj Pmj
0 Tb ∫
c n (t ).c m (t ). cos
 TC
dt


1 Tb  2π ( z i − z j )t 
In equation (2), the first term, which represents the
desired signal, is obtained as
= α mj Pmj ∫
Tb 0
c n (t ).c m (t ). cos
 TC
dt

 (7)
1 Tb  2π ( z i − z i )t 
Rnnn = α nt . Pni .
0 Tb ∫
c n (t ).c n (t ). cos
 TC
 dt
 Total other-user interference is obtained by
1 Tb calculating the variance of Uni without noise;
= α ni Pni . ∫ c n (t ).c n (t )dt Other-user Interference
T 0
= α ni . Pni b (3)
 K 
= Var[U ni ] = Var  ∑ Riinm 
(8)
The desired power is easily obtained as  m=1,m ≠ n 
E[D2] = E[α ni2 ]Pni = Pni ,rv (4) Since the first, the third and the fourth terms in the
equation (2) are constant, the corresponding
variances are zero.
3.2 Interference Term I K

The second term in equation (2) is the interference

Let Y= ∑R nm
ii
: then the value of Y is
K m =1, m ≠ n
1
∑
Tb
∫
from the different mobile stations with the same
carrier and the cross correlation between the n -th
Y= α mi P mi cn (t ).cm (t )dt
m =1,m ≠ n Tb 0
 1 K G ( s +1)Tc 3.3 Noise term Z
=
Tb
∑
m =1, m ≠ n
α mi P mi ∑ c ns c ms ∫
s =1
sTc
Tb

h(t − sTc )h(t − ( s + 1)Tc )dt From Equation (2), Z= ∫

0
n (t) c1(t) cosωnt dt
Tc K G
= ∑ α mi P mi ∑ c ns c ms 1
Tb
N0
Tb m =1, m ≠ n S =1 E[Z ]=2
Tb ∫
0
n2 (t) c12(t) cos2ωnt dt ≈
2Tb
N0
Var [Z] =E [Z2]= σ2N =
[ ] (11)
K
T
= c
Tb
∑α
m =1, m ≠n
mi P mi c1n c1m + ... + c nG c mG 2Tb
From equations (4), (13) and (14), the received
T
(
= c [α1i P1i c1n c11 + ... + c nG c1G +
Tb
) SINR of the n -th mobile station using the i-th
subcarrier is
(
...... + α n −1,i P n −1,i c1n c1n −1 + ... + c nG c nG−1 ) D .Pni ,rv
+ α n +1,i (
P n +1,i c1n c1n +1 + ... + c nG c nG+1 )+ SINRni =
σ MAI + σ N  1 K
2 2
=
N 
...... + α Ki P Ki c1n c1K ( + ... + c nG c KG )]
 ∑ Pmi ,rv + 0 
 G m =1,m≠ n 2Tb 
1
G =
Where c n is the g-th component of the n-th mobile  1 K
N0 
station’s signature sequence. Then  ∑
 GP m=1,m ≠ nPmi , rv +
2 P T


 ni ,rv ni , rv b 
2
T 
EY [ ] 2
=  c (
 E[α 12i P1i c 1n c11 + .... + c nG c1G ) 2
+ Considering, the same power level is allocated to
 Tb  every subcarrier in a mobile station Pni ,rv = Pmi ,rv
(
.... + α n2−1,i , Pn −1,i c 1n c 1n −1 + .... + c nG c nG−1 ) 2
=P:
( )
N
N
∑
2
+ α n2+1,i Pn +1,i c 1n c1n +1 + .... + c nG c nG+1 + .. SINRn = SINRni =
1 N  (12)
( )
i =1
G 2  K + 0 
.. + α PKi c c + .... + c c
2
Ki
1 1
n k
G
n K ] G 2Eb 

{( ) }
2
T   K 2
=  c  E  ∑ α mi
2
Pmi c1n c1m ) + ... + (cnG cmG where, energy per bit Eb=PTb
 T  m =1,m ≠ n 
T
2
  K 2  For BPSK modulation scheme, over any channel
=  c  E  ∑ α mi Pmi G  bit error rate (BER) is expressed by the well-known
 Tb   m=1,m ≠ n  relation [16 ]:
2
T 
[ ]
K
=  c  G ∑ E α mi 2
Pmi BER =Q( SINR ) (13)
 Tb  m =1,m ≠ n
1 K
= ∑ Pmi,rv
G m =1,m ≠ n (9)
=Q( 1
N

N
 K + 0 
(14)
 G 2 Eb 

Finally, the variance of Y is

1 K
Thus MAI power=σ MAI = 2
∑ Pmi,rv
G m =1,m ≠ n
(10)
IV. NUMERICAL RESULTS
The performance parameter SINR, for MC-CDMA
system has been plotted in fig.4, 5, 6 versus the
number of users K, the Signal-to-Noise-Ratio
(SNR) per bit Eb/N0 and processing gain
respectively.
In fig. 4, SINR is plotted versus the number of
simultaneously active users K using N parameters.
It is observed that keeping all other parameter
constant, if the number of simultaneously active
user is increased, the SINR decreases. As the
number of user increases, the interference among
the users increase which in tern increase the MAI
power and consequently, the SINR decreases.

Fig. 5 SINR versus Eb/N0 for MC -CDMA system

In fig. 6, SINR is plotted versus the processing gain

using Eb/N0=20dB and K=10.

Fig. 4 SINR versus the number of users for MC-

CDMA system.

The variation of SINR versus Eb/N0 using G=128,

K=10 is shown in fig. 5. From fig. 5 it is seen that
keeping all other parameters constant, if the ratio
Eb/N0 is increased, the SINR increase almost
linearly upto a certain value. After that certain
Fig. 6 SINR versus processing gain for MC-CDMA
value of Eb/N0, the SINR becomes almost
system.
independent of Eb/N0. For lower value of Eb/N0, the
interference power caused by multiple users is
From fig.6, it is observed that keeping all other
negligible compared to the noise power. But after a
parameter constant, if the processing gain is
certain value of Eb/N0, the noise power becomes
increased, the SINR increases. As G is increased
less significant compared to that MAI power.
for a system, the more orthogonal code can be
Hence the SINR becomes almost independent of
allowed to the MC-CDMA users which will
Eb/N0.
eventually decrease the interference among the
users and consequently an increase in SINR will be
observed.

Putting N=1 in equation (12) the system is

transformed into DS-CDMS system. From Fig. 4, 5
and 6 it is clearly observed that the proposed MC-
CDMA system containing five subcarriers gives
batter performance over DS-CDMA system.
Fig. 7 BER versus SINR for MC-CDMA system.
Next we compare the BER performance of
asynchronous reception of MC-CDMA in fig. 7.
The interpretation for the above observations is as
follows: 1) At small SINR, where the white noise
and fading effects dominate the multiple access
interference (MAI) from other users, the system
performance mainly depends on the diversity order
achieved. 2) At large SINR where MAI dominates,
due to the orthogonality between carriers and the
narrow-band signaling on each carrier, the MAI
caused by intercarrier interference is less than that
caused by interpath interference.
V. CONCLUSION
In this paper, MC-CDMA was shown to be a
promising method for supporting high speed data
rates for a large number of user in future cellular
systems. Perfect power control condition has been
used to evaluate the BER and SINR for the MC-
CDMA system. In all cases we assumed single-path
fading, i.e. L=1. Both analytical and simulation
results showed the proposed MC-CDMA model
outperforms DS-CDMA in term of BER and SINR
in a frequency selective Rayleight fading channel.
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