Performance Analysis and Enhancement of Multiband OFDM for UWB Communications

In this paper, we analyze the frequency-hopping orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system known as Multiband OFDM for high-rate wireless personal area networks (WPANs) based on ultra-wideband (UWB) transmission. Besides considering the standard, we also propose and study system performance enhancements through the application of Turbo and Repeat-Accumulate (RA) codes, as well as OFDM bit-loading. Our methodology consists of (a) a study of the channel model developed under IEEE 802.15 for UWB from a frequency-domain perspective suited for OFDM transmission, (b) development and quantification of appropriate information-theoretic performance measures, (c) comparison of these measures with simulation results for the Multiband OFDM standard proposal as well as our proposed extensions, and (d) the consideration of the influence of practical, imperfect channel estimation on the performance. We find that the current Multiband OFDM standard sufficiently exploits the frequency selectivity of the UWB channel, and that the system performs in the vicinity of the channel cutoff rate. Turbo codes and a reduced-complexity clustered bit-loading algorithm improve the system power efficiency by over 6 dB at a data rate of 480 Mbps.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. Submitted to the IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (Sep. 28, 2005). Minor revisions based on reviewers' comments (June 23, 2006

On receiver design for low density signature OFDM (LDS-OFDM)

Low density signature orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (LDS-OFDM) is an uplink multi-carrier multiple access scheme that uses low density signatures (LDS) for spreading the symbols in the frequency domain. In this paper, we introduce an effective receiver for the LDS-OFDM scheme. We propose a framework to analyze and design this iterative receiver using extrinsic information transfer (EXIT) charts. Furthermore, a turbo multi-user detector/decoder (MUDD) is proposed for the LDS-OFDM receiver. We show how the turbo MUDD is tuned using EXIT charts analysis. By tuning the turbo-style processing, the turbo MUDD can approach the performance of optimum MUDD with a smaller number of inner iterations. Using the suggested design guidelines in this paper, we show that the proposed structure brings about 2.3 dB performance improvement at a bit error rate (BER) equal to 10-5 over conventional LDS-OFDM while keeping the complexity affordable. Simulations for different scenarios also show that the LDS-OFDM outperforms similar well-known multiple access techniques such as multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) and group-orthogonal MC-CDMA

Discrete rate maximisation power allocation with enhanced BER

This study aims to maximise the rate over a multiple-in multiple-out (MIMO) link using incremental power and bit allocation. Two different schemes, greedy power allocation (GPA) and greedy bit allocation (GBA), are addressed and compared with the standard uniform power allocation (UPA). The design is constrained by the target bit error ratio (BER), the total power budget and fixed discrete modulation orders. The authors demonstrate through simulations that GPA outperforms GBA in terms of throughput and power conservation, whereas GBA is advantageous when a lower BER is beneficial. Once the design constraints are satisfied, remaining power is utilised in two possible ways, leading to improved performance of GPA and UPA algorithms. This redistribution is analysed for fairness in BER performance across all active subchannels using a bisection method

Error Rates of the Maximum-Likelihood Detector for Arbitrary Constellations: Convex/Concave Behavior and Applications

Motivated by a recent surge of interest in convex optimization techniques, convexity/concavity properties of error rates of the maximum likelihood detector operating in the AWGN channel are studied and extended to frequency-flat slow-fading channels. Generic conditions are identified under which the symbol error rate (SER) is convex/concave for arbitrary multi-dimensional constellations. In particular, the SER is convex in SNR for any one- and two-dimensional constellation, and also in higher dimensions at high SNR. Pairwise error probability and bit error rate are shown to be convex at high SNR, for arbitrary constellations and bit mapping. Universal bounds for the SER 1st and 2nd derivatives are obtained, which hold for arbitrary constellations and are tight for some of them. Applications of the results are discussed, which include optimum power allocation in spatial multiplexing systems, optimum power/time sharing to decrease or increase (jamming problem) error rate, an implication for fading channels ("fading is never good in low dimensions") and optimization of a unitary-precoded OFDM system. For example, the error rate bounds of a unitary-precoded OFDM system with QPSK modulation, which reveal the best and worst precoding, are extended to arbitrary constellations, which may also include coding. The reported results also apply to the interference channel under Gaussian approximation, to the bit error rate when it can be expressed or approximated as a non-negative linear combination of individual symbol error rates, and to coded systems.Comment: accepted by IEEE IT Transaction