Theoretical analysis and performance of OFDM signals in nonlinear fading channels

Abstract

This paper presents an analytical framework to calculate the average symbol-error rate (SER) of uncoded orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems in realistic scenarios impaired by transmitter nonlinearity and frequency-selective fading channels. The results are applicable to cyclically extended OFDM signals characterized by a high number of carriers, which can be modeled as complex Gaussian processes. To avoid intercarrier interference, we also assume that the symbol duration is shorter than the channel coherence time. We derive analytical SER results in Rayleigh and Rice frequency-selective fading channels, for both the nonlinear amplification and the ideal predistortion case. Simulations results demonstrate the validity of the analytical results.