Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

Introduction to OFDM
FD Systems
y m

Institute of Communications Engineering National Sun Yat-sen University

 Outline
OFDM Overview

OFDM Sys
O System
e Model
ode

Orthogonality

Multi carrier Equivalent Implementation by Using IDFT

Multi-carrier
(IFFT)

Cyclic Prefix (CP)

2
Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

OFDM Overview

Institute of Communications Engineering National Sun Yat-sen University

 OFDM Overview
OFDM
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) or multi-tone

systems have been employed in military applications
since the 196Os.

OFDM employs multiple carriers overlapping in the

f
frequency ddomain.
i

4
 OFDM Overview
Single carrier (SC) vs. multi-carrier (MC)

Single carrier : data are Multi-carrier : data are shared

transmitted over only
one carrier
Selective fading
among several carriers and
simultaneously transmitted
Fl t fading
Flat f di per subcarrier
b i

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 OFDM Overview
The basic principle of OFDM is to split a high-rate data
stream into
i a number
b off lower
l rate streams that
h are
transmitted simultaneously over a number of sub-carriers.

It eliminates or alleviates the problem of multi-path

channel
h l fading
f di effect,
ff t low
l spectrumt efficiency,
ffi i andd
frequency selective fading.

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 OFDM Overview
OFDM modulation

Features
No intercarrier guard bands
Overlapping of bands
S t l efficiency
Spectral ffi i
Easy implementation by IFFTs
Very sensitive to synchronization

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 Applications of OFDM Technology
Broadband Wired Access: Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Loop (ADSL), Digital Multi-tone
(DMT).
Wireless LANs (IEEE 802.11a/g, IEEE 802.11n,
HIPERLAN-2)
Digital Broadcasting (DAB, DVB-T, DVB-H)
WiMAX (IEEE
( 802.16 Series),
), 3GPP Longg Term
Evolution (3GPP LTE), 4G.
Wireless Personal Area Network ((WPAN): ) IEEE
802.15a/MBOA
Power Line

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Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

OFDM System Model

Institute of Communications Engineering National Sun Yat-sen University

 OFDM System Model
Multi-carrier Block Transmission

frequency

time

8T
10
 OFDM System Model
OFDM: A block modulation scheme that transmits
a block N source symbols in parallel by using
subcarriers
Sub-carriers are orthogonal in time, but overlapped in
eque cy.
frequency.
1
Frequency spacing: Δf =
TFFT

TFFT
∫0
cos(2π f1t ) cos(2π ( f1 + Δf )t )dt = 0

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 OFDM System Model

NΔt
+1
a(0 ) cos(2πf 0 t )
t a(0)
T
b(0)

i (2πf 0 t )
• sin
Data d (n ) D(t )
Input Encoder S/P • MUX Channel
fs =
1 {a(n ) + jb(n )} • cos(2πf N −1t )
Δt
a( N − 1)
a(0 )
+1 b(N − 1)
Δt T
t sin (2πf N −1t )
−1
a(1) a( N − 1) Figure 1
NΔt
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 OFDM System Model
An OFDM system
y transmitter shown in Figure
g 1.
The transmitted waveform D(t) can be expressed as
N −1
D (t ) = ∑ {a ( n ) cos( 2πf n t ) + b( n) sin( 2πf n t )} (1)
n =0

1
where f n = f 0 + nΔf and Δf =
N Δt
NΔ

Usingg a two-dimensional digital

g modulation format,, the data
symbols d(n) can be represented as a(n) + jb(n)
a(n) : in-phase component
b(n) : quadrature component

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 OFDM System Model
The serial data elements spaced
p y Δt are ggrouped
by p and
used to modulate N carriers. Thus they are frequency
division multiplexed.
p

The signaling interval is then increased to NΔt , which

makes the system less susceptible to channel delay
spread impairments.
Small-scale fading
(Based on multipath time delay spread)

Flat Fading Frequency Selective Fading

1. BW of signal < BW of channel 1. BW of signal > BW of channel
2. Delay spread < Symbol preiod 2. Delay spread > Symbol preiod

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Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

Orthogonality

Institute of Communications Engineering National Sun Yat-sen University

 Orthogonality
Consider a set of transmitted carriers as follows:
⎛ n ⎞
j 2π ⎜ f 0 + ⎟t
ψ n (t ) = e ⎝ N Δt ⎠
for n = 0, 1, ..., N − 1 (2)

b ⎧(b − a ) for p = q
∫aψ p (t )ψ (t )dt = ⎨⎩ 0 for p ≠ q and (b − a ) = NΔt
*
q

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 Orthogonality
t
b b j 2π ( p − q )
∫ψ (t )ψ (t ) dt = ∫ e
* N Δt
p q dt
a a
b a
j 2π ( p − q ) j 2π ( p − q )
e −e N Δt N Δt
=
j 2π ( p − q ) NΔt
⎛
j 2π ( p − q )
b
j 2π ( p − q )
1
( a −b ) ⎞
e ⎜1 − e N Δt N Δ t ⎟
⎜ ⎟
= ⎝ ⎠
j 2π ( p − q ) NΔt
= 0 , for p ≠ q and (b − a ) = NΔt

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 Orthogonality

NΔt

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 Mathematical Expression of
OFDM Signal
From above,, we know that {ψ n (t )} is the orthogonal
g
signal set. An OFDM signal based on this orthogonal
signal
g set can be written as:
⎧ ∞ N −1 ⎫
x (t ) = Re ⎨ ∑ ∑ d k ,nψ n (t − kT ) ⎬ (3)
⎩k = −∞ n = 0 ⎭
where ψ n (t ) = e j 2πf nt for n = 0, 1, 2, ..., N − 1 0 ≤ t ≤ T
n
f n = f 0 + , T = N Δt
T
d k ,n = ak ,n + jbk ,n

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 Mathematical Expression of
OFDM Signal
T : OFDM symbol duration
dk,,n : transmitted data on the n-th carrier of the k-th symbol

⎧ ∞ N −1 ⎫
x (t ) = Re ⎨ ∑ ∑ C k , nψ n (t − kT ) ⎬
⎩k = −∞ n = 0 ⎭
∞ N −1
= ∑ ∑ {a
k = −∞ n = 0
k ,n cos (2πf n (t − kT ) ) − bk , n sin (2πf n (t − kT ) )} (4)

If there is only one OFDM symbol ( i.e. k = 0 ), it can be

simplified as:
N −1
x(t ) = ∑ { an cos(2πf nt ) − bn sin( 2πf nt ) } (5)
n =0

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Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

Multi-carrier
Multi carrier Equivalent Implementation
by Using IDFT (IFFT)

Institute of Communications Engineering National Sun Yat-sen University

 Multi-carrier Equivalent
Implementation by using IDFT
Accordingg to the structure of Tx,, it must use N
oscillators. That increases the hardware complexity.

The equivalent method is using IDFT (IFFT).

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 Multi-carrier Equivalent
Implementation by using IDFT
In ggeneral,, each carrier can be expressed
p as:

S c (t ) = A c (t )e j (2πf c t +φc ( t ) ) (6)

We assume that there are N carriers in the OFDM signal.

Th th
Then the total
t t l complex
l signal
i l Ss(t) can beb represented
t d by:
b
N −1
1
S s (t ) =
N
∑ n
A
n =0
(t ) e j ( 2πf n t +φn ( t ) )
(7)

where f n = f 0 + nΔf
and An (t ), φn (t ), f n are amplitude, phase, carrier frequency
off n - thh carrier,
i respective
i ly.
l
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 Multi-carrier Equivalent
Implementation by using IDFT
Then we sample
p the signal
g at a sampling
p g frequency
q y 1 Δt ,
and An(t) and φn(t) becomes:
φn ((tt ) = φn (8)
An (t ) = An (9)
N −1
1
S s (kΔt ) =
N
∑Ae
n =0
n
j ( 2π ( f 0 + nΔf ) kΔt +φn )
(10)

Then the sampled signal can be expressed as:

( )⋅ e
N −1
1
S s (kΔt ) =
N
∑
n =0
A en
( j 2πf 0 kΔt +φn ) j 2πnkΔfΔt
(11)

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 Multi-carrier Equivalent
Implementation by using IDFT
The inverse discrete Fourier transform ((IDFT)) is defined
as the following:
1 N −1
f ( kΔt ) = ∑ F ( nΔf )e j 2πnk N (12)
N n =0

Comparing eq.(11) and eq.(12), the condition must be

satisfied in order to make eq.(11) an inverse Fourier
transform relationship:
1
Δf = (13)
N Δt

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 Multi-carrier Equivalent
Implementation by using IDFT
If eq.(13)
q ( ) is satisfied,,
An e j (2πf 0 kΔt +φn ) is the frequency domain signal
S s ( kΔt ) is the time domain signal g
Δf is the sub-channel spacing
NΔt iss thee sy
N symbol
bo du
duration
o in eeach
c sub
sub-channel
c e

This outcome is the same as the result obtained in the

system of Figure 1. Therefore IDFT can be used to
generate an OFDM transmission signal.
signal

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 Multi-carrier Equivalent
Implementation by using IDFT
cos(2πf 0 t )

a(0)

b(0 )

• sin (2πf 0 t )
d (n ) D(t )
I
Input • Channel
fs =
1 {a(n ) + jb(n )}
Δt • cos(2πf N −1t )

1 a( N − 1)
f n = f 0 + nΔf , Δf =
N Δt
NΔ
b( N − 1)

sin (2πf N −1t )

d (0)
d (1)
d (2 )

• •
d (n ) D(t )
Input • • Channel
fs =
1 {a(n ) + jb(n )}
Δt • •
1 • •
f n = f 0 + nΔf , Δf = • •
NΔf
d ( N − 1)

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Frequency Error Results in ICI

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Synchronization Error Results in ICI

Not Orthogonal Any More.

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Wireless Information Transmission System Lab.

Cyclic Prefix (CP)

Institute of Communications Engineering National Sun Yat-sen University

 Cyclic Prefix
In multipath channel, delayed replicas of previous OFDM signal
lead to ISI between successive OFDM signals.

Solution : Insert a guard interval between successive OFDM

signals.

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 Cyclic Prefix
Guard interval leads to intercarrier interference (ICI) in OFDM
d
demodulation
d l i

In DFT interval,, difference between two subcarriers does not

maintain integer number of cycles Î loss of orthogonality.
Delayed version of subcarrier 2 causes ICI in the process of
d
demodulating
d l ti subcarrier
b i 1.
1
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 Cyclic Prefix
Cyclic prefix (CP) : A copy of the last part of OFDM signal is
attached to the front of itself.

d [0] D[0]
d [1] D[1]
d [2] D[2]
~
• D[k ]
Input data d [n]
•
•
•
•
•
•
symbols •
•

[ ]
•
•
•
D N − Ng
• •
• •

D[N − 1]
•

d [N − 1]

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 Cyclic Prefix
y replicas
All delayed p y have an
of subcarriers always
integer number of cycles within DFT interval Î no ICI

34
 Cyclic Prefix
Linear convolution vs. circular convolution

35
 Cyclic Prefix
Channel effect with cyclic prefix

Signal after removed CP

36
 Cyclic Prefix
p
Time-Domain Explanation

37
Cyclic Prefix

38
 Cyclic Prefix
Spectrum of channel response h[n ] with length Lh (smaller
than N g )
H k = FFT {h[n]}
Received complete OFDM signal
~
r [n] = D[n] ⊗ h[n] , 0 ≤ n ≤ N + N g + Lh − 2
~
Received useful part r [n]
r [n] = D[n] ⊗ N h[n]
where ⊗ N is N-point circular convolution (due to CP)
Received symbol at k-th subcarrier
Yk = FFT {r [n]} = FFT {D[n] ⊗ N h[n]} = X k H k
Yk “Useful property for OFDM system to reduce
⇒ Xk =
Hk complexity of channel equalization”

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 Cyclic Prefix
(OFDM Receiver)

• •
r (n ) Output data
r (n )
~
• •
Symbols
• •
• •
• •

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 Cyclic Prefix
One of the most important
p reasons to do OFDM is the
efficient way it deals with multipath delay spread.
To eliminate inter
inter-symbol
symbol interference (ISI) almost
completely, a guard time is introduced for each OFDM
symbol.
(The guard time is chosen larger than the delay spread)

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 Bandwidth Efficiency
In a classical pparallel system,
y , the channel is divided into
N non-overlapping sub-channels to avoid inter-carrier
interference (ICI).
( )

The diagram for bandwidth efficiency of OFDM system

is shown below:

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 Summary
The advantage
g of the FFT-based OFDM system
y :
The use of IFFT/FFT can reduce the computation complexity.
The orthogonality
g y between the adjacent
j sub-carriers will make
the use of transmission bandwidth more efficient.
The guard interval is used to resist the inter-symbol interference
(ISI).
The main advantage of the OFDM transmission technique is its
high performance even in frequency selective channels.
The drawbacks of the OFDM system :
It is highly vulnerable to synchronization errors.
Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR) problems.

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