Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)

Muhammad Haroon ID : 4432

OFDM
Split the available bandwidth B into N narrow band sub channels at equidistant frequencies The sub channel spectra overlap each other but the sub carrier signals are still orthogonal Single high rate data stream is subdivided into N low rate data streams for sub channels Each Sub channel is modulated individually and will be transmitted simultaneously in a superimposed and parallel form

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So OFDM signal consists of N orthotogonal sub carriers spaced by f on the frequency axis All sub carriers are mutually orthogonal with in the symbol duration Ts = 1/f Ts >> max (for OFDM based system) The kth un modulated subcarrier is described analytically by

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OFDM symbol duration Ts is N times larger than the alternative SC symbol duration Number of subcarriers is chosen such that Ts will be very large as compared to max Additionally in time variant channel, Dopplers spread imposes restrictions on the subcarrier spacing f To keep the resulting ICI at a tolerable level, the system parameter of the subcarrier spacing f must be large enough compared to the maximum Dopplers spread

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Choosing the Ts as a rule of thumb in practical systems is given by [2]

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Duration Ts of the kth sub carrier is extended by a cyclic prefix (so called guard interval) TG which is larger than the max in order to avoid ISI completely which could occur in multipath channels in transition between two OFDM symbols

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The total OFDM symbol duration is therefore

Loss in spectral efficiency = (Cyclic prefix length/total OFDM symbol length) OR Loss in spectral efficiency = CP/T

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The radio channel behaves linearly and in a short time interval (a few OFDM symbol duration) even time invariant Hence the radio channel can be described by LTI system model, characterized by the impulse response h(t) All complex valued exponential signals (sub-carriers) are Eigen functions of each LTI system (radio channel) This means only the signal amplitude and phase will change if it is transmitted through the linear and TI radio channel

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So sub carrier frequency isnt effected at all by the radio channel Which means all sub carrier signals are also orthogonal at the receiver Due to this important property, the received signal which is superimposed by all sub carrier signals can be split directly into the different subchannel components by a FFT and each subcarrier signal can be restored by a single-tap equalizer and demodulated individually in the receiver

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Subcarriers

OFDM Spectrum

Transmitter Block Diagram

Receiver Block Diagram