Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing/Modulation:
OFDM
CADWCS
Spring 2010
Introduction to OFDM
Basic idea
z Using a large number of parallel narrow-band sub-
carriers instead of a single wide-band carrier to
transport information
Advantages
z Very easy and efficient in dealing with multi-path
z Robust against narrow-band interference
Disadvantages
z Sensitive to frequency offset and phase noise
z Peak-to-average problem reduces the power
efficiency of RF amplifier at the transmitter
Adopted for various wireless standards
802.11a, 802.16a, DAB, DVB (+DSL)
Multicarrier Modulation
• Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
– Based on the fast Fourier transform
– Standardized for DAB, DVB-T, IEEE 802.11a, 802.16a,
HyperLAN II
– Considered for fourth-generation mobile communication
systems
channel
magnitude
carrier
subchannel
frequency
Multipath Propagation –
Simple Model
| α0 | | α1 | | α2 |
∆1
α1 ∆2
α0
α2
hc(t) = ∑k αk δ(t - τk)
where k = 0, …, K-1
αk : path gain (complex)
τ0 = 0 normalize relative delay of first path
∆k = τk - τ0 difference in time-of-flight
Equivalent Propagation
Channel
convolution
heff(t) = gtr(t) * hc(t) * grx(t)
transmit filters receive filters
multipath
channel
• Effective channel at receiver
– Propagation channel
– Transmit / receive filters
• hc(t) typically random & changes with time
Must estimate and re-estimate channel
Impact of Multipath: Delay
Spread & ISI
1
0.5
2Ts 4Ts -0.5
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8
t/Ts
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.8
0.2
0.6
0
0.4
-0.2
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 0.2
t/Ts
-0.2
Ts -6 -4 -2 0
t/T
s
2 4 6 8
Max delay spread = effective number of symbol periods occupied by channel
Requires equalization to remove resulting ISI
Effective Delay Spread
Delay spread depends on difference in path lengths
Effective delay spread: function of the maximum difference
Sampling period Ts determines effect of delay spread
Cell size Max Delay Spread
Pico cell 0.1 km 300 ns
Micro cell 5 km 15 us
Macro cell 20 km 40 us
Sampling Period Channel taps Application
802.11a 50 ns 6 WLAN
DVB-T 160 ns 90 Audio
DAB 600 ns 60 TV broadcast
Multicarrier Modulation
• Divide broadband channel into narrowband subchannels
– No ISI in subchannels if constant gain in every subchannel and if
ideal sampling
channel
magnitude
carrier
subchannel
frequency
Monocarrier vs. Multicarrier modulation
Channel
Channelization N carriers
Similar to
Guard bands
FDM technique
B B
Pulse length ~1/B Pulse length ~ N/B
– Data are transmited over only one carrier – Data are shared among several carriers
and simultaneously transmitted
Drawbacks Advantages
Furthermore
– Selective Fading – Flat Fading per carrier
– It is easy to exploit
– Very short pulses – N long pulses Frequency diversity
– ISI is compartively long – ISI is comparatively short – It allows to deploy
2D coding techniques
– Equalizers are very long – N short Equalizers needed
– Dynamic signalling
– Poor spectral efficiency – Poor spectral efficiency
because of band guards because of band guards
To improve the spectral efficiency:
Eliminate band guards between carriers
To use orthogonal carriers (allowing overlapping)
Orthogonal Frequency Division Modulation
N carriers
Symbol: 2 periods of f0
Transmit
f
+
Symbol: 4 periods of f0
f
B
Symbol: 8 periods of f0
Channel frequency
Data coded in frequency domain Transformation to time domain: response
each frequency is a sine wave
in time, all added up.
Decode each frequency
bin separately
Receive
time f
Time-domain signal Frequency-domain signal
OFDM uses multiple carriers
to modulate the data
Time-frequency grid Data
N carriers
Frequency
B Carrier
f0
B
One OFDM symbol
T=1/f 0
Features Time
– No intercarrier guard bands
– Controlled overlapping of bands Intercarrier Separation =
– Maximum spectral efficiency (Nyquist rate) 1/(symbol duration)
– Easy implementation using IFFTs
– Very sensitive to freq. synchronization
Modulation technique
A user utilizes all carriers to transmit its data as coded quantity at each
frequency carrier, which can be quadrature-amplitude modulated (QAM).
OFDM Modulation and Demodulation
using FFTs
d0
b0
d1 P/S
b1 IFFT
d2 d0, d1, d2, …., dN-1
b2 Inverse fast d3 Parallel to
. Fourier transform . serial converter
.
f . . Transmit time-domain
. samples of one symbol
.
time .
bN-1
dN-1
Data coded in
frequency domain: Data in time domain:
one symbol at a time one symbol at a time
d0’ Decode each
b0’
d0’, d1’, …., dN-1’
S/P d1’ FFT b1’
frequency bin
d2’ Fast Fourier independently
b2’
Serial to . transform .
Receive time-domain parallel converter . .
samples of one symbol . f .
. .
dN-1’ bN-1’
time
Frequency Domain Equalization
For the kth carrier:
xk = Hk sk + vk
where Hk = ∑n hk(nTs) exp(j2π k n / N) and n = 0, …,. N-1
• Frequency domain equalizer xk sk
Hk-1
• Noise enhancement factor
|Hk|2
|Hk-1|2 bad
good
k k
Effect of the “cyclic prefix”
To combat the time dispersion: including ‘special’ time guards in the symbol transitions
copy
Furthemore it converts Linear conv. = Cyclic conv.
CP
τ T (Method: overlap-save)
Tc
Without the Cyclic Prefix Including the Cyclic Prefix
Symbol: 8 periods of fi
CP Symbol: 8 periods of fi
Passing the channel h(n)
Passing the channel h(n)
Ψi(t)
Ψi(t)
Channel: h(n)=(1) –n / n n=0,…,23
≠Ψi(t)
Initial transient The inclusion of a CP Final transient
remains within maintains the orthogonality remains within
Initial transient Loss of orthogonality Decaying transient
the CP the CP
Ψj(t) Ψj (t)
Symbol: 4 periods of fi Symbol: 4 periods of fi
CP functions:
– It acomodates the decaying transient of the previous symbol
– It avoids the initial transient reachs the current symbol
An OFDM Modem
N subchannels N complex samples
quadrature
Bits amplitude add D/A +
S/P modulation N-IFFT cyclic P/S transmit
00110 (QAM) prefix filter
encoder
TRANSMITTER
multipath channel
RECEIVER
N subchannels N complex samples
invert
Receive
QAM channel remove filter
P/S = N-FFT S/P cyclic
frequency +
decoder prefix
domain A/D
equalizer
DMT vs. OFDM
DMT (Discrete Multitone Transmission)
z Channel changes very slowly ~ 1 s
z Subchannel gains known at transmitter
z Bit-loading (sending more bits on good channels) increases throughput
OFDM
z Channel may change quickly ~ 10 ms
z Not enough time to convey gains to transmitter
z Forward error correction mitigates problems on bad channels
DMT: Send more data here
OFDM: Try to code so bad subchannels can be ignored
magnitude
frequency
DMT vs. OFDM
Key difference with DMT
Bandpass transmission allows for complex waveforms
Transmit: y(t) = Re{(I(t)+j Q(t)) exp(j2p fc t)}
= I(t) cos(2π fc t) – Q(t) sin(2π fc t)
Coded OFDM (COFDM)
Error correction is necessary in OFDM systems
Forward error correction (FEC)
z Adds redundancy to data stream
z Examples: convolutional codes, block codes
z Mitigates the effects of bad channels
z Reduces overall throughput according to the coding rate k/n
Automatic repeat request (ARQ)
z Adds error detecting ability to data stream
z Examples: 16-bit cyclic redundancy code
z Used to detect errors in an OFDM symbol
z Bad packets are retransmitted (hopefully the channel changes)
z Usually used with FEC
z Minus: Ineffective in broadcast systems
Typical Coded OFDM
Encoder
• Reed-Solomon and/or convolutional code
FEC
Data bits Parity bits
Rate 1/2
Bitwise
Interleaving • Intersperse coded and uncoded bits
Symbol
• Map bits to symbols
Mapping
Typical Coded OFDM
Decoder
Symbol demapping
Frequency-domain z Produce soft estimate of each bit
equalization z Improves decoding
Symbol
Demapping
Deinterleaving
Decoding
Frequency diversity using coding
Random errors: primarily introduced by thermal and circuit noise.
Channel-selected errors: introduced by magnitude distortion in
channel frequency response.
Data bits
Time-frequency grid
Frequency
B
Bad carriers
f0
f Time
Frequency response T=1/f0
Errors are no longer random. Interleaving is often used to scramble
the data bits so that standard error correcting codes can be applied.
Ideal Channel Estimation
Wireless channels change frequently ~ 10 ms
Require frequent channel estimation
Many systems use pilot tones – known symbols
z Given sk, for k = k1, k2, k3, … solve xk = ∑l=0L hl e-j2π k l/N sk for hl
z Find Hk = ∑l=0L hl e-j2π k l / N (significant computation)
More pilot tones
z Better noise resilience
z Lower throughput (pilots are not informative)
magnitude
Pilot tones
frequency
Channel Estimation Via
Interpolation
More efficient approach is interpolation
Algorithm
z For each pilot ki find Hki = xki / ski
z Interpolate unknown values using interpolation filter
z Hm = αm,1 Hk1 + αm,2 Hk2 + …
Comments
z Longer interpolation filter: more computation, timing sensitivity
z Typical 1dB loss in performance in practical implementation
magnitude
frequency
OFDM and MIMO Systems
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems
z Use multiple transmit and multiple receive antennas
z Creates a matrix channel
OFDM Modulator
H(t) Joint
Demodulator
OFDM Modulator
Equivalent system for kth tone
xk = Hk sk + vk
Vector inputs and outputs
Why OFDM in Broadcast?
Enables Single Frequency Network (SFN)
z Multiple transmit antennas geographically separated
z Enables same radio/TV channel frequency throughout a country
z Creates artificially large delay spread – OFDM has no problems
20km
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Why OFDM for High-Speed
Internet Access?
High-speed data transmission
z Large bandwidths -> high rate, many computations
z Small sampling periods -> delay spread becomes a serious
impairment
z Requires much lower BER than voice systems
OFDM pros
z Takes advantage of multipath through simple equalization
OFDM cons
z Synchronization requirements are much more strict
Requires more complex algorithms for time / frequency
synch
z Peak-to-average power ratio
Approximately 10 log N (in dB)
Large signal peaks require higher power amplifiers
Amplifier cost grows nonlinearly with required power
OFDM Systems and Applications
Standard Meaning Carrier Freq. Rate (Mbps) Applications
DAB Digital Audio Broadcasting FM radio 0.008-0.384 Audio broadcasting
DVB-T Digital Video Broadcasting UHF 3.7-32 Digital TV broadcasting
DVB-H Digital Video Broadcasting UHF 13.7 Digital broadcasting to
handheld
IEEE 802.11a Wireless LAN / WiFi 5.2 GHz 6 - 54 Wireless Internet
IEEE 802.11g Wireless LAN / WiFi 2.4 GHz 6 – 54 Wireless Internet
IEEE 802.11n Wireless LAN (High Speed) 2.4 GHz - ?? 6 – 100 Wireless Internet
IEEE 802.16 Broadband Wireless Access 2.1 GHz & 0.5 – 20 Fixed / Mobile Wireless
others Internet
IEEE 802.20 Mobile Broad. Wireless Access 3.5 GHz ~1 Mobile Internet / Voice?
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
• Digital modulation scheme
• Wireless counterpart to discrete multitone transmission
• Used in a variety of applications
o Broadcast
o High-speed internet access
