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BrowseJournals&Magazines>IEEECommunicationsMagazine>Volume:47Issue:11
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Thehistoryoforthogonalfrequencydivisionmultiplexing RelatedArticles
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[HistoryofCommunications] OFDMchannelestimationbysingularvalue
decomposition
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42 2920 Channelestimationtechniquesbasedonpilot
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Analysisofnewandexistingmethodsof
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1 StephenB.Weinstein ViewAllAuthors
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Abstract:
Orthogonalfrequencydivisionmultiplexing(OFDM)isoneofthoseideasthathadbeenbuildingforaverylongtime,andbecameapracticalreality
whentheappearanceofmassmarketapplicationscoincidedwiththeavailabilityofefficientsoftwareandelectronictechnologies.Thisarticledescribes
thebackgroundandsomeofthestrikingearlydevelopmentofOFDM,withexplanationofthemotivationsforusingit.Theauthorpresumeabroad
definitionofOFDMasfrequencydivisionmultiplexing(FDM)inwhichsubchannelsoverlapwithoutinterfering.Itdoesnotnotnecessarilyrequirethe
discreteFouriertransform(DFT)oritsfastFouriertransform(FFT)computationalmethod.

Publishedin:IEEECommunicationsMagazine(Volume:47,Issue:11,November2009)

DateofPublication:03November2009 INSPECAccessionNumber:10957825

PrintISSN:01636804 DOI:10.1109/MCOM.2009.5307460

Publisher:IEEE

Sponsoredby:IEEECommunicationsSociety

DownloadPDF Orthogonalfrequencydivisionmultiplexing(OFDM)isoneofthoseideasthathadbeenbuilding
foraverylongtime,andbecameapracticalrealitywhentheappearanceofmassmarket
applicationscoincidedwiththeavailabilityofefficientsoftwareandelectronictechnologies.This
DownloadCitations
articledescribesthebackgroundandsomeofthestrikingearlydevelopmentofOFDM,with
explanationofthemotivationsforusingit.IpresumeabroaddefinitionofOFDMasfrequency
ViewReferences divisionmultiplexing(FDM)inwhichsubchannelsoverlapwithoutinterfering.Itdoesnotnot
necessarilyrequirethediscreteFouriertransform(DFT)oritsfastFouriertransform(FFT)
Email computationalmethod.

Print TheFDMBackground
RequestPermissions
ThereisalonghistorybehindFDM.Stimulatedbytelegraphcompanieshopingtomultiplytheir
profits,entrepreneursandinventorsofthe1870ssoughtwaystomultiplythecapacityofa
ExporttoCollabratec telegraphtransmissionlinebycarryingseveralnoninterferinginformationchannels.Timedivision
multiplexing(TDM)ormoredynamictimedivisionmultipleaccess(TDMA),withuserstaking
turnsinusingtimeslots,wasinventedbyBaudot[1]andothers,andwasparticularlyusefulwhen
Alerts
thetelegraphlinewasunderutilized,withsignificantgapsbetweencharacters.Ofcourse,burst
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speedwouldbelimitedbyintersymbolinterferencethedispersionofapulseintoitsneighbors

Contents
forwhichtherewasnotyetagoodchannelequalizer.Thereweremanyinitiativeswithalternative
multiplexingschemes.Edison'squadruplextelegraphysystem[edison.rutgers.edu/quad.htm],for
example,senttwomessagessimultaneously(ineachdirection),onevaryingamplitudeandthe

otherpolarity.

Interestturnedfairlyearlytofrequencydivisionmultiplexing.Theevolutiontothetechniques FullText
knownasmultitoneorOFDMbeganintheinnovationsofthe1870s.AlexanderGrahamBellwas
initiallyfundedbyhisfuturefatherinlawGardinerHubbardtoworkonharmonictelegraphy, Abstract
whichwasFDMtransmissionofmultipletelegraphchannels[2],withtheequipmentshowninFig.
1.HiscompetitorElishaGraysimultaneouslyworkedinthisareaandhadanearlierpatent[3]. Authors
ThomasEdisonwasalsoinhotpursuitofthemultitonetelegraph[4].Theaccessfacilitiesforthese
techniquesmightbeconsideredearlyimplementationsofdigitalsubscriberline(DSL).However,
Figures
Bell'sfirstlovewastelephony,andhefocusedhisenergyonanalogvoicetransmissionratherthan
discretetonemultiplexedtelegraphy.
References

Citations

Keywords

Footnotes

BacktoTop

Figure1.
Bell'sharmonictelegraph,usingreedsresponsivetodifferentfrequencies.Photosofreplicasofthe
originalequipmentusedwithpermissionofTelecommunicationsMuseum,LaSalle,Quebec,Canada.

FDMcameintoitslargestgeneraluseincarriersystemsforanalogtelephony.Asdescribedby
Schwartz[5],FDMforanalogvoicesignalsmayfirsthavebeendemonstratedbyGeorgeSquier,a
majorintheU.S.ArmySignalCorps,in1910,inanapparatuswithonebasebandandone
passbandchannel.AT&Twasskeptical,claimingtoomuchdispersionandlossatthehigher
frequenciesitassumedwererequired.ButAT&Tdeployeditsownfivechannelsystemin1918that
usednotsohighsubcarrierfrequenciesandrepeaters.FDMbecamethemainmultiplexing
mechanismfortelephonecarriersystems.Bandwidthanddispersionwerenotseriousproblems
withtherelativelymodestspacingofrepeaters,and8kHzsubchannelspacingwasprovidedfor4
kHzvoicesignals.TheN2carriersystemofthemid1960s(Fig.2)useddoublesidebandamplitude
modulationandtransmittedupto200miles[6].

Figure2.
N2carriersystemfrequencyspectrumfor12telephonesubchannels,derivedfrom[6].

Withtheintroductionofdigitaltelephony,FDMcarriersystemswithindividualsubchannelsfor
voicesignalsbegan,inthe1970s,tobereplacedbyTDM/FDMandpureTDMsystems.Ofcourse,
thehighertheaggregatespeedofaTDMtransmissionline,thewiderthebandwidthofthissingle
channelandthegreaterthepotentialforintersymbolinterference.Highfrequency(HF)radio
systemshadaparticularlyseveretransmissionproblem,withselectivefading(Fig.3)acrossthe
transmissionbandwidthcausingconsiderablepulsedispersionandintersymbolinterference.

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Contents

FullText

Abstract

Authors

Figure3.
Figures
SelectivefadinginanHFradiochannel.Source:J.Stanley,ObservingSelectiveFadinginReal
TimewithDreamSoftware,QEX,JanFeb2007,www.arrl.org/qex/2007/01/stanley.pdf.
References

Citations
Theanswertothisproblemwithserialdatatransmissioninradiofrequency(RF)channels(and
laterinDSLwithseverelydistortedchannels)wastogobacktofinegrainedFDM,concentrating
Keywords
datainthelessfadedsubchannels.Eachsubchannelwouldbeaffectedbyonlyasmallpartofthe
channelcharacteristic(Fig.4),whichcouldbeapproximatedbyconstantamplitudeandphase.
Thisnarrowsubchannelcouldeasilybeequalized,inacomplexanalyticmodel,bymultiplication Footnotes
bytheinversecomplexnumber.Thehopethatthesavinginequalizationeffortwouldcompensate
forthegreatercomplexityofFDMbecamearealitywithOFDM. BacktoTop

Figure4.
Approximationofadistortedchannel,withinasubband,byconstantamplitudeandphase.

DenseSubchannels

ButFDM,too,haddrawbacks:

Thewasteofscarcewirelessfrequencyspectruminguardspacesbetweenthesubchannels

Thelargecomplexityofamultiplicityofseparatemodulatorsforthedifferentsubchannels

ThefirstproblemwasalleviatedbytheconceptofOFDMasanFDMsystemwithsubchannel
signalshavingoverlappingbutnoninterferingfrequencyspectra.Harmonicsinusoidswerean
obviouschoice,sincetheyareorthogonalonaperiodT ofthefundamental(lowest)subcarrier
signal.InanOFDMsystemsendingcomplexdata{a } ,thesubchannelsignals,
n

sn(t) = an g(t) exp(j2fn t),

f n = n/T , 0 n N 1,

g(t) = 1ontheinterval

0 < t < T andzeroelsewhere, (1)

ViewSource

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aremutuallyorthogonaldespiteoverlappingspectra.N )thenumberofsubchannels,isarbitrary
Contents
andvariesamongapplications.Therectangularpulseshapeg(t)hasasin(f )/f spectrummaking
asubchannelspectrumheavilyoverlapitsneighbors,asshowninFig.5.AnOFDMsignalblock,on
theintervalT )canbedefinedasthesumofthesesubchannelsignals,and,ideally,oneblock
immediatelyfollowsanother.Intheabsenceofchanneldistortion,thereisneitherintersubchannel
norintersymbolinterference.
FullText

Abstract

Authors

Figures
Figure5.
RectangularandfullcosinerolloffpulsesandresultingOFDMspectra.
References

Citations
Itiseasytoshow[7]thatanNpointinverseDFT(IDFT)operatingonthe(possiblycomplex)data
block{a , a , , a },
0 1 N 1
Keywords
N 1

sk = an exp{j2nk/N }, (2)
Footnotes
n=0

BacktoTop
ViewSource

generatessamples,attimeintervalsT /N ,oftheOFDMsignalthatisthesumofthesubchannel
signalsdefinedinEq.1.OperatingonthereceivedsignalwiththeDFT,likeEq.2butwitha
negativeexponent,recoversthedata.Figure6isasimplifiedillustrationoftheentireOFDM
system,includingthecyclicprefixoperationdescribedlater.

Figure6.
OFDMsystem.

Withrectangularg(t)andadistortedchannelcomesintersymbolinterference,aproblem
addressedearlier,butthereistheadvantagethatthetransmitterdoesnothavetoknowthe
channelcharacteristic(althoughthereceiverdoes,forequalizationpurposes).However,ifthe
channelcharacteristicisknownatthetransmitter,manyotherpulseshapesarepossible.Chang
[8],inafundamentalcontributiontoOFDM,developedgeneralconditionsfortheshapesof
pulses,definedasthecombinationoftransmitterfilterandchannelcharacteristic,with
bandlimitedbutstilloverlappingspectra.Suchpulses,includingthefullcosinerolloffpulseofFig.
5,makeaviableOFDMsystemwithoutinterchannelandintersymbolinterferences.

Figure7illustratestheChangsystemwithtransmittingfilters A ,, A dependingonthe
1 n

magnitudeofthechanneltransferfunctionH (f ).Ifthechannelcharacteristiciseffectivelyflat
acrossanarrowsubchannel,itmaybepossibletoeffectivelyignorethedependenceonH (f ).
Changassumedrealdatafortheamplitudemodulationineachsubchannel.

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Contents
Figure7.
ChangsystemforOFDMwithchanneldependenttransmitterfilters[8].

Saltzberg[9]extendedChang'sworktocomplexdata(e.g.,quadratureamplitudemodulation FullText
[QAM]).Thesystemhedescribed(Fig.7)isnowcalledOFDMOQAM(offsetQAM).Inorderto
eliminateintersymbolandintersubbandinterference(foradistortionlesstransmissionchannel),
Abstract
heshowedthatthetimingoftheinphaseandquadraturedatastreamsshouldbestaggeredbyT/2
andadjacentsubbandsstaggeredtheotherway,asFig.8indicates.Hedidnotpresumeknowledge
Authors
atthetransmitterofthechannelthetransmitandreceivefilters,intandem,haveaNyquist
characteristic.SaltzberginvestigatedtheperformanceofChang'smodelinadispersivechannel,
assumingbothintersymbolandintersubchannelinterferenceaswellasphaseoffset,andtested Figures
alternativepulsecharacteristicsmeetingtheChangcriteria.Hegeneratedperformancecriteriain
termsoftheclassicaleyeopeningderivedfromsuperposedoutputswithdifferentdatainput References
sequences.ChangandGibbyfollowedupwithanalysisoftheperformanceofSalzberg'ssystemin
thepresenceofsamplingtimeerror,carrierphaseoffset,andphasedistortionsinitsfilters[10]. Citations

Keywords

Footnotes

BacktoTop

Figure8.
OFDMOQAMimplementationwithstaggeredtimedelayedsubchannels(adaptedfromSaltzberg
[9]andHirosaki[11]).Onlytwotransmittersubchannelsareshown,withthepatternrepeatingfor
additionalsubchannelpairsandwithacomparablestructureinthereceiver.

Hirosaki[11]contributedfurtherenhancementstoOFDM/OQAM,particularlymuchfaster
processingthroughreplacementofanNpointDFTwithanN/2pointDFT,ifthepassbandcarrier
frequencyischosensuchthatthefractionalpartof f / is0.5,where f isthelowestsubcarrier
1 f 1

and isthesubchannelspacing.Fordigitalsignalprocessor(DSP)implementation,he
f

determinedthathisOFDM/OQAMdesignhasasignificantadvantageoversinglechanneldata
transmission.

OtherresearcherscontinuedtoimproveOFDM/OQAM.Aparticularinteresthasbeenthedesignof
pulsesthatarewelllocalized(limited)inbothtimeandfrequency.TheworkofBolcskei,Duhamel
andHleiss[12],yieldingsymmetricpulsesthatarewelllocalizedandrealizeperformancecloseto
theoptimumOFDMspectralefficiency,isagoodexample(Fig.9).

Figure9.
OFDM/OQAMpulseshapingfiltertimeandfrequencycharacteristics,forapulsewelllocalizedin
bothtimeandfrequency[12].
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bothtimeandfrequency[12].

Contents

SignalGenerationUsingtheDFTand
itsFFTImplementation FullText

Abstract
ThesecondproblemofFDM,efficientlygeneratingamultichannel,closelypacked(OFDM)data
signal,wassolvedbytheFFTimplementationoftheDFT.ZimmermanandKirschpublisheda
Authors
remarkablepaperonthedesignofanHF(highfrequency)radioOFDMtransceiver(KATHRYN)in
1967[13],followinga1965articlebyBellothatdescribedthesystem'sresponsetochannel
impairmentsincludinguseofatimeguardinterval. Figures

KATHRYNgeneratedtheorthogonalsubchannelsignalsusingtheDFTinananaloghardware References
implementation.Therewere34subbchannelsina3KHzbandwidth,asshowninFig.10together
withtheequipment.Thesystemappearstohavedistributedpoweruniformlyoverallsubchannels, Citations
exceptforvaryingthetransmissionratebyusingsubchannelsaccordingtoconditions.Therewas
binaryinphaseandquadraturemodulationofeachsubcarrier,althoughapparentlynotwiththe Keywords
OFDMOQAMinsightsoflateryears,buttherewastheunderstandingthatlargersignal
constellationscouldbeusedinthesubchannelswithbetterchannelcharacteristics. Footnotes

BacktoTop

Figure10.
The1967KATHRYNhighfrequencyradioOFDMsystem[13].

ThetransitiontotheFFTforgeneratingtheDFTwassoontofollow.PaulEbert,JackSalz,andI
weremotivatedinthelate1960stofindagoodapplicationindatacommunicationfortherecently
announcedCooleyTukeyfastFouriertransform(FFT)algorithm[14],areducedcomplexityway
tocomputethediscreteFouriertransformrequiringapproximatelyNlogNoperationsratherthan
N ,ItwaslaterdiscoveredthattheFFTmaygobacktothegreatmathematicianKarlFriedrich
2

Gauss(around1805)whousedittohelpcalculateelementsofafiniteFourierseriesforthe
computationofasteroidorbits[15].TheFFT,exploitingtheperiodicityandsymmetrypropertiesof
exponentials,factorsalengthNDFTintoanumberofshorterlengthDFTswithmultiplereuseof
theresultsoftheseshorterlengthDFTs[cnx.org/content/m12026/latest/],

Itbecameapparenttousthat,sincetheDFTcouldgenerateadatasignalinparallelsubbands,
greatlyreducingequalizationcomplexityatthecostofthecomplexityofgeneratingthesubband
signals,theuseoftheFFTmightswingtheadvantagetoOFDMoversinglecarriersystems.OFDM
wouldalso,asZimmermanandKirschnotedin1967,supportflexibleutilizationofaspectrumthat
wassubjecttofadingor(asinADSL)frequencyselectiveinterference.Wepublishedourconcept
[7](Fig.11)buttherewaslittleinterestinthisapproachwithinourvoicebanddatacommunication
divisionatBellLaboratories.Itdidnotevenseemworthwhileapplyingforapatent.Thebig
applicationareasofADSL,wirelesscommunications,anddigitalaudioandvideobroadcasting
(DABDVB)wereyettocome.

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Figure11.
Originalfiguresfrom1971WeinsteinEbertpaper[7].Left:systemincludingsimple(onecomplex
multiplication)equalizationRight:multiplesubchanneltones. FullText

Abstract
UsingtheFFTmadeOFDMviable,butthedebateovertherelativecomplexityofOFDMsignal
processingandsinglecarrierwidechannelequalizationcontinuestothisday.Sari[16]andothers Authors
[17],[18]notedthatgeneratinganddetectinganOFDMsignalissimilartoequalizingasingle
carriersysteminthefrequencydomain.TheflexibilityofOFDMappearstohavemadeitthewinner
Figures
incurrentpractice.

References

Citations
ADSL:TheFirstMajorOFDM
Application Keywords

Although,asexemplifiedbytheKATHRYNsystemofthemid1960s,wirelessapplications Footnotes
apparentlyprecededwiredones,thefirstmajorconsumerorientedapplicationwasinADSL
(asymmetricdigitalsubscriberline).DSLhadbeeninvestigatedatBellLabswhereGitlinandothers BacktoTop
definedsinglechannelsystemsthatcouldworkatmegabitrateonsubscriberlinesaslongas18
kilofeet[19],andstudiesweremadeinthelate1980sofalternativeimplementationsusingOFDM
andCAP(carrierlessamplitudephasemodulation,avariationonsinglecarrierQAM).
PerformanceseemedcomparableandBellLabssubsequentlydevelopedCAPmodemsbuildingon
itslongexperiencewithvoicebandmodems.ADSL,withamuchhighertransmissionratetoward
thesubscriber,wasdefinedbyLechleiderandhiscolleaguesatBellcorearoundthesametime.
MuchsubsequentdevelopmentofADSLandhigherspeedDSLsystemswaspursuedatBellLabsby
Lawrenceandhiscolleagues[20].ItwaslefttoCioffiandhiscompany,Amati,todevelopdiscrete
multitone(DMT,essentiallyOFDM)[21].

Amati'sprototypeDMTADSLmodemwonacompetitionwithCAPinaBellcoresponsoredtestin
January,1993.Therewereanumberofreasonsforthesuccessofmultitone,butthemainone,as
suggestedtomebyJohnCioffi,mayhavebeenitscapabilitytoavoidexpendingpowerinpartsof
thespectrumcharacterizedbyverylargenoiseoradeepchannelnull,acapabilitydifficultto
achieveforsinglecarriersystems.TheShannoncapacityachievingwaterpouringanalysis,
illustratedinFig.13wherepower(water)ispouredontothecurverepresentingtheratioofnoise
powertochannelmagnitudesquared,canresultinislandswherenopoweratallshouldbeplaced.
TheAmatigroupdeviseddynamicbitassignmentstrategiesthatassigneddata(andsignalpower)
inaccordancewiththefluctuatingchannelandnoiseconditionstypicalofatwistedpairsubscriber
line.AsecondBellcoresponsoredcompetitionforveryhighspeedDSL(VDSL),heldin2003,also
showedbetterperformanceforDMT.

Figure12.
JohnCioffi(center,darksuit)andhisAmaticolleaguesreassembledin2005forthisphotograph
withtheirexperimentalmultitonemodemof1993(plasticboxontop)anditsearlycommercial
successor.[PhotocourtesyJohnCioffi.]

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FullText

Abstract

Authors

Figure13.
Waterpouring,showingtheoptimumallocationoftransmittedpowerthatrealizeschannel Figures
capacity.Forsimplicity,onlythepositivefrequencyspectrumisshown.

References

TheoriginalandstillprevalentADSL1technology[22]usesa256pointDFTwithsubcarriers
Citations
separatedby4.3125kHzanda(block)symbolrateof4000/s.Includingaguardperiodof40
samples,thesamplingrateofthetransmittedsignalis2.208million/s.Thedatarateisany
Keywords
multipleof32kb/suptoapproximately8Mb/s.Subbands032(exceptforafewlowestsubbands
consumedbyanalogtelephoneserviceandaguardband)areusedforupstreamtransmissionand
subbands33255fordownstream.Thetotalsubscriberlinebandwidth,upstreamanddownstream, Footnotes
isabout1.1MHz.
BacktoTop
ForthelaterADSL2+onshortersubscriberlines,512subbandsareused,andthesamplingrateis
4.416million/s,realizingamaximumdatarateofabout24Mb/s.ThestillnewerVDSL,inhybrid
systemswiththeshortestsubscriberlines,canusethesamesubcarrierspacingandsymbolrateas
doesADSLbutupto4096subbands,consumingabout17.6MHzofbandwidth.Alternatively,
VDSLcanusean8kHzsymbolrateand8.625kHzsubcarrierspacing,supportingupto150Mb/s
downstreamdatarateand75Mb/supstream.Upstreamanddownstreamgroupsofsubbandsare
distributedoverthetotalbandwidth.

DespiteearlydevelopmentofADSL1intheUnitedStates,thefirstDMTADSLdeployments,using
Amatiequipment,wereinothercountries,beginningwithBritishTelecominlate1993andearly
1994,offering2.024Mb/sdownstream.FranceTelecomdeployedan8Mb/ssystem(onrelatively
shortsubscriberlines)in1994,DeutscheTelekomdeployed2Mb/sand8Mb/ssystemsin1994,
TelecomItaliaoffered4Mb/sand8Mb/sADSLin1994/1995,andTelstrainitiateda6Mb/s
system(includinglivevideo)inAustraliain1994/1995.Finally,in1997,agroupofBelloperating
companiesintheUnitedStatesdecidedtogowithDMTADSL.TexasInstrumentspurchased
Amatiinlate1997for$450million,thefirstbigeconomicsuccessforanOFDMequipment
manufacturer.

MEetingOFDMChallenges:The
CyclicPrefixandOvercomingHigh
PeaktoAverageRatio

PulselocalizationsuchasthatusedinOFDMOQAMcanminimizeintersymbolinterference,but
forordinaryOFDMwitharectangularpulseadispersivechannelcausesintersymbolinterference.
ItcanbemitigatedbyatimedomainguardintervalbetweenOFDMsymbols(blocks),orbyacyclic
prefixtotheOFDMblock.TheproportionaloverheadcostisminimizedbyuseoflongOFDM
symbols(largeN ).

Aguardintervalequaltothememory(dispersiontime)vofthechannel,duringwhichnoenergy
istransmitted,isthesimplestsolution.However,thechannelisusedmoreefficientlyifsomethingis
transmittedduringtheguardspacethatcontributestothesignalenergywithoutintroducing
intersymbolinterference.1Thisisthecyclicprefix,therepetitionofthelastpartofthetransmitted
signalduringtheprefixinterval,assuggestedinFig.14.Assumingthechannelisknownatthe
receiver,theOFDMdatablockmaybeverysimplydetectedasdescribedbelow.

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FullText

Figure14.
TransmissionofOFDMpulseswithguardintervalandwithacyclicprefix. Abstract

Authors
Thecyclicprefixwas,totheauthor'sknowledge,firstproposedbyPeledandRuiz[23]in1980.The
involvementofacirculantmatrixhaslongbeenrecognized,butJackSalz2recentlydevelopeda Figures
particularlyelegantcirculantmatrixexplanationforwhytheinputdataIDFTcyclicprefix
channelDFTseriesofoperationsdecouplesthesubchannelsandmakesdetectioneasy,withoutthe References
transmitterneedinganyknowledgeofthechannel.
Citations
Assumetransmittedsignalsamples(s ,,s
N v ,s ,s ,,s
N 1 0 1 )),wherethefirst v
N 1

elementsarethecyclicprefixrepeatingthelastvsamplesoftheOFDMsignalsamplesgeneratedby Keywords
theIDFToperatingontheinputdata( a , , a
0 ).Thesamplesofthechannelimpulse
N 1

responseare(h , , h ) .Convolvingthetransmittedsignalvectorwiththechannel(Fig.6)yields
0 v
Footnotes
thesampledreceivedsignal(r , , r 1, r , r , , r
v 0 1 ,r ,,r
N 1 N ),ofwhichonly r
N +v 0

through r N 1areappliedtotheDFTprocessor.Ifthechannelhas,forexample,memoryv = 2,a

BacktoTop
littlemathematicsshowsthattheseoperationscanbeexpressedaswheretheelementsattheupper
rightoftheequivalentchannelmatrixHC(betweentheDFTandtheIDFT)representtheeffectof
thecyclicprefix.Thismatrixisacirculantmatrixinwhicheachrowisacyclicshiftoftherow
aboveit.(H , , H ) arefrequencydomainsamplesofthechanneltransferfunction.
0 3

Equation3comesfromthemathematicsofsingularvaluedecomposition[24],whichdemonstrate
thatamatrixisdiagonalizedifitispostmultipliedbythematrixwhosecolumnsareitseigen
vectors,andpremultipliedbytheconjugatetransposeofthateigenvectormatrix.Itisaremarkable
factthattheeigenvectormatrixforanycirculantmatrix(whichcanbegeneratedfromany
channelcharacteristic)isalwaysthesameandissimplythematrixwhosecolumnsarethepowers
oftheN throotofone(i.e.,thematrixthatdefinestheDFT).If H isourchannelcirculantmatrix,
C

F istheIDFTmatrix,and F istheDFTmatrix(thecomplextransposeof F ,then F , H F is

1 2 1 2 C 1

thediagonalmatrix whoseelementsaretheeigenvaluesof H .Thesecanbeshowntobethe

C

valuesofthechanneltransferfunctionatthediscretesubchannelfrequencies.Thedatacanbe
recoveredfromtheoutputsamplesinEq.3bysimplydividingeachelementoftheoutputvectorby
theappropriatevalueofthechanneltransferfunction.

Thehighpeaktoaveragepowerratio(PAPR)ofOFDMwasasseriousaproblemasintersymbol
interference.Anintuitiveexampleiswhenthesamemodulationlevelisusedforallthesubcarrier
sinusoidsatt = 0theywillallhavethesamepolarityandadduptoalargevalue.Highpeak
valuesoccurinfrequentlybutcanbeveryhigh.Forexample,foranunmodified256pointOFDM
signal,HanandLeecomputedthatthepeaktoaverageratioexceeds11.3dBforlessthan0.1
percentoftheOFDMdatablocks[25].Theydiscussanumberofapproachestolimitingpeakto
averagepowerincludingamplitudeclipping,coding,tonereservationorinjection,dynamic
constellationextension,andvarioussignalformationtechniquessuchasmappingandinterleaving,
whichwillnotbedescribedhere.GreensteinandFitzgeraldcontributedearlyworkonsignal
phasingtominimizehighPAPR[26].

OtherApplications

ADSLwasthefirstwidelyusedapplicationforFFTbasedOFDM,butthepredecessorofanother
application,OFDMbasedfrequencyhoppingsystems,wasa1942patentofHedyKieslerMarkey,
betterknownasthefilmstarHedyLamarr[27].Theobjective,duringWorldWarII,wasajam
resistantcommunicationchannelforguidingtorpedoes,andLamarr'ssolutionwasrandom
movementamongfrequencychannelsthatwouldthwartthenarrowbandjammingsystems.
AlthoughthesystemofFig.15usedatunablehardwareoscillatorratherthanaDFT,itillustrated
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onemoremotivationforgeneratingasignalutilizingmanysubchannelsratherthanasinglecarrier

system. Contents

FullText

Abstract

Authors

Figures

References

Citations

Keywords

Figure15.
Partofthefigurefromthefrequencyhoppingsystem[27]coinventedbyHedyLamarr(photo).
Footnotes

BacktoTop
Theconceptoffrequencyhoppingisnowapopularspreadspectrumtechniqueforavoiding
interferenceifnotoutrightjamming.ItwasnotablyimplementedintheBluetoothstandard(IEEE
802.15.1).Morerecently,itappearedinthecontextofcellularmobilecommunicationsinthe
FlarionFlashOFDMsystem[28],nowaproductofQualcomm,whichusesfasthoppingamong
theOFDMsubbandstoprovideflexibilitytoaccommodatedifferentclassesofIP(Internet
Protocol)traffic,andtominimizeinterferencebetweenmobileunitsoneithersideofacell
boundary.

Withresistancetofastselectivefadinginmind,Cimini[29]exploredapplicationofOFDMtothe
difficultenvironmentofcellularmobilesystems.TheKATHRYNandotherearlysystemspresumed
slowfading,unlikethatexperiencedinavehiclemovingat60mi/h.CouplingOFDMwith
correctionsusingpilottones,henotedlargeimprovementsinBER[biterrorrate]performancein
aflatRayleighfadingenvironment.HecommentedthattheaveragingabilityoftheOFDM
system,whichmakestheburstyRayleighchannelappearnearlyGaussian,providesthislargeBER
improvement.

TheothermajortwowaywirelessapplicationsofOFDMincludeWiFi(IEEE802.11a,available
fromstandards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.11.html),inwhicha64pointtransformisstandardwith
only48ofthesubbandsused,andinWiMAX(IEEE802.16)wheretheDFTmayhaveasmanyas
4096points,orasfewas128,toaccommodatechannelsrangingfromthenominal20MHzdown
theorderof1MHz.ResearchershaveexploredhowOFDMcanbeutilizedinamultipleaccess
system(OFDMA)(mentor.ieee.org/802.22/file/05/22050005010000ofdmatutorial
ieee80222jan05.ppt)wherecorrectionsmustbemadeforthedifferentdownlinkchannelsto
differentusers[30],andforthedifferencesindelay,amplitude,andphaseamongthespatially
distributedcontributionsintheuplinkchannel.Cognitiveradiosystemsareasignificant
applicationarea[31].

OFDMisassociatedwithoneofthemajornewerapplicationareasofOFDM,audioandvideo
broadcasting,asexemplifiedbySariandKaram'sanalysisoftheapplicationtocabletelevision
systems[32]andtheterrestrialbroadcast(DVBT)workofReimers[33].TheDVBTbroadcaster
(Fig.16)usesa2048(2K)or8192(8K)DFTandemployscodedOFDM(COFDM)[34].The
serialbasebandbitstreamisdistributedovermultiplesubbandsforrobustnessagainstmultipath
channelsandagainstnarrowbandinterferers.Alengthenedguardinterval,uptoonefourththe
OFDMsymbollength,providesaddedprotectionatthecostoflowerspectralefficiency.Spectral
efficiencyrangesfrom0.62bits/sec/Hzto3.27bits/sec/Hz,inan8MHzchannel,dependingon
thecoderate(1/2to7/8)andthemodulation(QPSK,16QAM,64QAM).DVBhasbeenextended
toamoremobilefriendlyversion,DVBH(handheld),thathasbeenadoptedasastandardofthe
EuropeanUnion.Thestandard(8K)versionofDVBHemploysan8192pointDFTbutonlyuses
6817activesubcarriersspacedby1.116KHz,ofwhich6048carryuserdata[www.dvb
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5307460/?part=1 10/12
6/24/2017 Thehistoryoforthogonalfrequencydivisionmultiplexing[HistoryofCommunications]IEEEXploreDocument
6817activesubcarriersspacedby1.116KHz,ofwhich6048carryuserdata[www.dvb

Contents
h.org/PDF/DVBHFactSheet.0808.pdf][35].A4KmodeisalsoavailableinDVBHbutnotin
DVBT.

FullText

Abstract

Authors

Figures
Figure16.
TheDVBTsystem[34].
References

Citations
Withinthepastseveralyears,OFDMhasbeenappliedtolonghaulopticalcommunication
networks,whereitcanhelpreducethedegradationsofchromaticdispersion[36].Thenewest
applicationareainopticalcommunicationsisinlocalaccess,forexampleinPONs(passiveoptical Keywords
networks),wherethefinegranularityofthesubbandsprovidesmanyopportunitiesforconfiguring
arangeofservicesandvirtualprivatenetworks[37]. Footnotes

Anadditionalnewapplicationareaisinultrawideband(UWB)personalareanetworksusing BacktoTop
OFDM.Inthisapplication(IEEE802.15.3a),thespectrumissegmentedin528MHzchunks,each
supporting128OFDMsubchannels.Acommunicationsessioncanjumpamongchunksand
subchannelsfromoneOFDMsymboltothenext.

WhereCanItGoNext?

OFDMdoesnotnecessarilyhavetousesinusoidalcarriers.Therehasbeenexploratoryworkinthe
useofprolatespheroidal[38]andwavelet[39]transforms.Wearelikelytoseeitappearinmany
formstomeetdifferentneeds.Itwillcontinuetohavecompetitionwithalternatives[40].OFDMis
oneofthosetechniquesthathadtowaitquietlyforgenerationsuntiltechnologymadeitpractical.
Ascomputationaltechnologycontinuestoadvance,andwithlowerpowergreenradiobecoming
animportantgoal,wecanexpectevenmoreinnovativeapplicationsinthenearfuture.

Keywords

IEEEKeywords
History,Frequencydivisionmultiplexing,OFDM,Telegraphy,Telephony,DiscreteFouriertransforms,
DSL,Repeaters,Applicationsoftware,Availability

INSPEC:ControlledIndexing
OFDMmodulation,discreteFouriertransforms,history

INSPEC:NonControlledIndexing
history,orthogonalfrequencydivisionmultiplexing,OFDM,massmarketapplications,discreteFourier
transform,DFT,fastFouriertransform,FFT

Authors

StephenB.Weinstein

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References
AnalysisoflowcomplexitywindowedDFTbasedMMSEchannelestimatorforOFDMsystems
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Citations

MinimumBERblockprecodersforzeroforcingequalization Keywords
YanwuDingT.N.DavidsonZhiQuanLuoKonMaxWong
Footnotes
BERminimizedOFDMsystemswithchannelindependentprecoders
YuanPeiLinSeeMayPhoong BacktoTop

InfluenceofRFoscillatorsonanOFDMsignal
C.Muschallik

AComparisonofDCTBasedOFDMandDFTBasedOFDMinFrequencyOffsetandFading
Channels
PengTanNormanC.Beaulieu

PreDFTcombiningspacediversityassistedCOFDM
M.OkadaS.Komaki

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