BER analysis of multiuser detection in CDMA using MATLAB

Gaurav Kumar
gauravkumar.usit@gmail.com

and
Dr. Vandana Nath
vandanausit@gmail.com

University School of Information Technology, Guru Gobind Singh

Indraprastha University
Delhi-110006, India

Abstract— This article gives the details account this correlation would perform
about the modulation and detection of better than the conventional matched filter
multiuser detection in CDMA system in a bank. MUD is basically the design of signal
Gaussian channel having additive processing algorithms that run in the black
Gaussian noise. Implementation of box and take into account the correlative
CDMA transmitter and receiver with a structure of the MAI.
conventional and decorrelation detector is
done using MATLAB. The bit error rate
(BER) of the detected users is calculated
and compared as number of users
increases. Finally the effect of noise is
analysed as the noise power increases in
Keywords—DSSS, CDMA, BER, Additive
Gaussian noise, multiuser detection.

1. Introduction

Multiuser Detection (MUD) is the intelligent

estimation/demodulation of transmitted bits
in the presence of Multiple Access
Interference (MAI). MAI occurs in multi-
access communication systems
(CDMA/TDMA/FDMA) where
simultaneously occurring digital streams of
information interfere with each other. Figure 1. A typical multiuser detector
Conventional detectors based on the
matched filter just treat the MAI as additive 2. DSSS transmitter
white gaussian noise (AWGN). However,
unlike AWGN, MAI has a nice correlative In Direct Sequence-Spread Spectrum the
structure that is quantified by the cross- baseband waveform is multiplied by the PN
correlation matrix of the signature sequence. The PN is produced using a PN
sequences. Hence, detectors that take into
generator. Frequency of the PN is higher
than the Data signal. This generator consists
of a shift register, and a logic circuit that
determines the PN signal. After spreading,
the signal is modulated and transmitted. The
most widely modulation scheme is BPSK
(Binary Phase Shift Keying). The equation
that represents this DS-SS signal is:
is used to generate sufficient statistics for
signal detection. In the case of a multi-user
system, the detector consists of a bank of
matched filters (each matched to the
signature waveforms of different users in the
case of CDMA). This is shown in figure 3.
This type of detector is referred to as the
conventional detector in MUD literature.
We need exact knowledge of the users
signature sequences and the signal timing in
order to implement this detector.

…..……(1)

where m(t) is the data sequence, p(t) is the

PN spreading sequence, fc is the carrier
frequency, and Ɵ is the carrier phase angle
at t=0. Each symbol in m(t) represents a data
symbol and has a duration of Ts . Each pulse
in p(t) represents a chip, and has a duration
of Tc. The transitions of the data symbols
and chips coincide such that the ratio Ts to
Tc is an integer . Here we notice the higher
frequency of the spreading signal p(t). The
resulting spread signal is then modulated
Figure 3.conventional DSSS reciever
using the BPSK scheme. The carrier
frequency fc should have a frequency at In the demodulator section, we simply
least 5 times the chip frequency p(t). reverse the process. We demodulate the
BPSK signal first using low pass filter the
signal, and then Dispread the filtered signal,
to obtain the original message. The process
is described by the following equations

Figure 2. DSSS transmitter .................................................................. (2)

3. Conventional DS-CDMA receiver

In conventional single-user digital ....... ……………………………….....(3)

communication systems, the matched filter
PN sequence in the receiver it should be an
exact replica of the one used in the
transmitter, with no delays, cause this might
cause severe errors in the incoming
message. Again, my design is based on the
idea that PN sequences are matched, and
actually i am going to use the same
generator for both to ease the design. ……………………………….(6)

The signal at the receiver is given by R is a symmetric, non-negative

definite, toeplitz matrix. The decision
statistic a the output of the Kth
matched filter is given by

...…………………………….. (4)

Where sk is the signature waveform of the

kth user (sk is normalized to have unit ………...….............................. (7)
energy i.e., < sk ,sk > =1). bk is the input
where y(t) is given by (4). Expanding
bit of the kth user, bk {-1,1}.Ak is the
(7),
received amplitude of the kth user. n(t) is
additive white gaussian noise with PSD No.

The cross-correlation of the signature

sequences are defined as
……………………….……… (8)

using eq(6), we get

…… (5)

where N is the length of the signature

sequence . ………
The cross-correlation matrix is then …………………… (9)
defined

…………
……....................... (10)

Since ρ11=1, (9) simplifies to


............................................... (11)
The 2nd term in (11) is the MAI. The
matched filter treats the MAI just as white
noise. Stacking up (11) for all the users we
get
………………......................... (12)
4. Limitations of the
detector
Although {y1,y2,…,yk} are sufficient
statistics for detecting {b1,b2,…,bk}, yk is
not a sufficient statistic for detecting bk. The
conventional detector makes the mistake of
making this assumption (yk is a sufficient
statistic for detecting bk) by ignoring the
MAI as background noise. This is one
reason for the poor performance of the
matched filter bank when the number of
users is large. Another serious limitation of
the conventional detector is that it is
seriously affected by the near-far problem.
This causes a significant degradation in the
system performance even when the number
of users is very small. In a situation when
there is a large variation in the energies of
the signals received from different users, the
detection of relatively lower energy signals
becomes increasingly erroneous even in
high SNR regions due to multiple user
interference. Near-far resistance is defined
as the ability of a receiver to reject the
structured interference offered by the other
users. A conventional multi-user detector
does not account for the structure of the
MUI, considering it as just background
noise and does not have good near far
resistance. Theoretical limits on the number
of orthogonal sequences also place an upper
bound on the number of users that can be
supported by such a system. Also
practically, the inherent nature of the
wireless channel introduces multi-path
fading and delays, which destroy the
orthogonality of these signature waveforms.
In such a scenario, it is often desirable to use
signature waveforms with low cross
correlation’s (almost orthogonal) to ensure
minimum degradation in performance. The
role of multi-user detection becomes
increasingly crucial in non-orthogonal
… CDMA systems. A communication system
can achieve significant capacity gains if the
negative effect of Multiple-User Interference
conventional (MUI) can be removed. In multiuser
detection we exploit the correlation
properties of the signature waveforms of
different users to extract the desired signal.
Then instead of acting as interference, the
other users’ signals are used for mutual
benefit by implementing joint detection at
the receiver.
5. Multiuser detection using decorrelation
detector
The matched filter bank may decode
erroneously even in the absence of
background AWGN. This is not a very
attractive property for any receiver. An
optimal receiver must be capable of
decoding the bits error-free when the noise
power is zero. This detector makes use of
the structure of MAI to improve the
performance of the matched filter bank. The
decorrelating detector falls into the category
of linear multiuser detectors. The
decorrelating detector operates by
processing the output of the matched filter
bank with the R^-1 operator where R is the
cross-correlation matrix as defined in 6. Implementation
eq(12).
In the construction of my simulation model
for multiuser detection in CDMA, two
models are designed and simulated, one
using conventional DS-CDMA and other
using multiuser detection algorithm for
detection of DS-CDMA. MATLAB is used
to generate the message signal, GOLD
spreading sequence, transmitting signal as a
the sum of signals belonging to all active
users.The modulated DSSS signal is
transmitted through a channel having awgn.
The received signal at the receiver is
detected using matched filter and then
decorrelting detector multiuser CDMA
technique is used for detection to remove the
interference. Finally the BER from the
Figure 4. Decorrelating Detector
simulated results computed from the model
The output of the decorrelating detector is constructed in the MATLAB can be
compared with the the results of
given by:
conventional DS-CDMA detector.

…………………
7. Result
……………...…..….. (13)
The CDMA transmitter and receiver is
simulated for multiusers using conventional
………………………
and decorrelation detector using MATLAB
……………..….(14)
in the absence and presence of noise for
When the background noise is absent, i.e., various noise power and various waveforms
No=0, is obtained. Finally BER (bit error rate) is
plotted as a function of number of users for
……………………. conventional and decorrelation detector. The
……………….…(15) effect of noise power is then analysed and
compared for conventional and decorrelation
………………………………… detector.
……..(16)
In the absence of background noise the
decorrelating detector achieves perfect
demodulation unlike the matched filter bank.
One advantage of the decorrelating detector
is that it does not require knowledge of the
received signal amplitudes unlike the other
detector.
 Figure 5. PN sequence sA Figure 9. Transmitted signal

Figure 10. Noise signal

Figure 6. PN sequence sB

Figure 11. Received signal at receiver

Figure 7. GOLD codes

Figure 8. Input bit sequence of 10 bits Figure 12. Demodulated signal

and for 29 users
 Figure 13. Signal after passing through
matched filter
Figure 14. Received bit sequence using
conventional detector
Figure 15. Received bit sequence using
decorrelation detector
Figure 16. Probability of error when noise
power is zero in channel
Figure 17. Probability of error in the
presence of noise
Figure 18. Probability of error as a
function of nose with number of
users=29
8. Conclusion
The result of the MATLAB simulation of
detection of CDMA signal shows that if we
use conventional detector, probability of
error increases as the number of users
transmitting their signal in the
communication channel increases because of
interference from other users. So even if
there is no noise present in communication
channel, the probability of error will not be
zero as number of user increases in case of
conventional detector. On the other hand if
we use decorrelation detector the probability
of error remains zero even if number of
users increases if no noise is present in the
communication channel, hence it completely
removes the interference from other users.
However as noise power increases in
communication channel probability of error
increases for both conventional and
decorrelation detector and beyond a certain
limit probability of error in the decorrelation
detector exceeds the conventional detector.
Hence at low noise power decorrelation
detector has less probability of error and
gives much better performance than the
conventional detector by completely
removing interference from other users.

REFERENCES
[1] Halil Tanyer Eyyuboglu “MATLAB
simulation of multiuser detection in
CDMA”, World Academy of Science and
Technology 3, 2005

[2] M. Honig, U. Madhow, and S. Verdu,

“Blind Adaptive Multiuser Detection,”
IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, vol. 41, pp.
944-960, Jul. 1995.

[3] “Multiuser detection for CDMA”,

http://www.stanford.edu/class/ee360/suppRe
ad/read1/mud_CDMA.pdf

[4] “Implementation issues in multiuser

detection in CDMA communication
system”,
http://www.ece.rice.edu/~cavallar/theses/ga
ng_ms.pdf

[5] Andreas F.Molish , Wireless

Communications, Wiley India edition, Inc.,
2009.