OFDM

Symbol Error rate for QAM (16, 64, 256,.., M-QAM)

In May 2008, we derived the theoretical symbol error rate for a general M-QAM modulation (in  Embedded.com, DSPDesignLine.com and dsplog.com) under Additive White Gaussian Noise. While re-reading that post, felt that the article is nice and warrants a re-run, using OFDM as the underlying physical layer. This post discuss the derivation of symbol error rate for a general [...]

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Quiz on IEEE 802.11a specifications

The IEEE 802.11a specifications are used by many to understand a wireless communication link built using OFDM. In this post, I have put together a set of 10 multiple choice questions based on 802.11a specifications. The questions are on the building blocks in 802.11a specifications, preamble structure and so on. Upon completion of the quiz, [...]

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Inter Carrier Interference (ICI) in OFDM due to frequency offset

In this post, let us evaluate the impact of frequency offset resulting in Inter Carrier Interference (ICI) while receiving an OFDM modulated symbol. We will first discuss the OFDM transmission and reception, the effect of frequency offset and later we will define the loss of orthogonality and resulting signal to noise ratio (SNR) loss due [...]

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BER for BPSK in OFDM with Rayleigh multipath channel

Mr. Lealem Tamirat, in a comment on BER for BPSK in Rayleigh channel, wondered about the performance of an OFDM modulated system in a frequency selective Rayeligh fading channel. My response was that, Though the total channel is a frequency selective channel, the channel experienced by each subcarrier in an OFDM system is a flat [...]

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Negative Frequency

Last week, I received an email from Mr. Kishore. He was wondering about the physical significance of negative frequency. Does negative frequency really exist? Though I have seen conflicting views on the net (thread in complextoreal.com, thread in comp.dsp), my perspective is that negative frequency exist. The concept of negative frequency helps me a lot [...]

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Trying out PAPR reduction for OFDM by multiplication with j

In this post, we will explore a probable way of reducing PAPR (peak to average power ratio) in OFDM by changing the phase of some of the subcarriers. This is in response to the comment to post on Peak to Average power ratio for OFDM, where Mr. Elibom suggested to reduce the PAPR by cyclically [...]

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BPSK BER with OFDM modulation

Oflate, I am getting frequent requests for bit error rate simulations using OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) modulation. In this post, we will discuss a simple OFDM transmitter and receiver, find the relation between Eb/No (Bit to Noise ratio) and Es/No (Signal to Noise ratio) and compute the bit error rate with BPSK.

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Frequency offset estimation using 802.11a short preamble

From the previous post on OFDM (here), we have understood that an OFDM waveform is made of sum of multiple sinusoidals (also called subcarriers) each modulated independently. In this post, let us try to understand the estimation of frequency offset in a typical OFDM receiver (using the short preamble specified per IEEE 802.11a specification as [...]

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Peak to Average Power Ratio for OFDM

Let us try to understand peak to average power ratio (PAPR) and its typical value in an OFDM system specified per IEEE 802.11a specifications. What is PAPR? The peak to average power ratio for a signal is defined as , where corresponds to the conjugate operator. Expressing in deciBels, .

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Cylcic prefix in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

In a previous post (here), we discussed in brief, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) transmission. Let us know probe bit more into the motivation of cyclic prefix (aka guard interval) associated with each OFDM symbol. What is cyclic prefix? Let us consider one subcarrier (subcarrier +1 specified in IEEE 802.11a specification) alone. In the figure [...]

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Understanding an OFDM transmission

Let us try to understand simulation of a typical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) transmission defined per IEEE 802.11a specification. Orthogonal pulses In a previous post (here ), we have understood that the minimum frequency separation for two sinusoidals with arbitrary phases to be orthogonal is , where is the symbol period. In Orthogonal Frequency [...]

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