Deterministic multiuser carrier-frequency offset estimation for interleaved OFDMA uplink

In orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA), closely spaced multiple subcarriers are assigned to different users for parallel signal transmission. An interleaved subcarrier-assignment scheme is preferred because it provides maximum frequency diversity and increases the capacity in frequency-selective fading channels. The subcarriers are overlapping, but orthogonal to each other such that there is no intercarrier interference (ICI). Carrier-frequency offsets (CFOs) between the transmitter and the receiver destroy the orthogonality and introduces ICI, resulting in multiple-access interference. This paper exploits the inner structure of the signals for CFO estimation in the uplink of interleaved OFDMA systems. A new uplink signal model is presented, and an estimation algorithm based on the signal structure is proposed for estimating the CFOs of all users using only one OFDMA block. Diversity schemes are also presented to improve the estimation performance. Simulation results illustrate the high accuracy and efficiency of the proposed algorithm.     

Robust Multiuser Interference Cancellation for OFDM Systems With Frequency Offset

In orthogonal frequency division multiple access systems clusters of subcarriers are assigned to different users for parallel data transmissions. The subcarriers are overlapped, but orthogonal to each other such that there is no intercarrier interference (ICI). However, synchronization errors among users cause the loss of the orthogonality and introduce ICI resulting in multiple-access interference. Synchronization between users is particularly difficult in the uplink channel where the user signals are potentially asynchronous and affected by different frequency offsets due to misalignment in carrier frequencies and Doppler shifts. This paper proposes a method to lower the effects of different frequency offsets among user signals in an OFDMA uplink system. The multiple access interference due to the user frequency misalignments is reduced by reconstructing and removing the interfering signals in the frequency domain. An approach based on the selective cancellation method, is proposed and its performance is analyzed by means of theoretical analysis and computer simulations. The effectiveness of the proposed system has been evaluated in the case of ideal and no-ideal frequency offset estimation and has been compared with that of the classical successive and parallel cancellation schemes. Simulation results show that the proposed approach allows performance close to the ideal case, i.e., with ideal frequency synchronization among users, with a low increase of the implementation complexity. Moreover, it is also highlighted here, that the successive cancellation method slightly outperforms the selective scheme, at the expense of a higher computational complexity and processing delay     

Multiuser OFDM Using Cyclic Time Shift for Wireless Uplink Broadcasting

A combination of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) called orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) is regarded as a promising solution for improving the performance of interactive wireless broadcasting systems. This paper presents our investigation into reducing the multiple access interference (MAI) introduced by symbol timing misalignment in an OFDMA uplink system. To combat the MAI, we provide a new OFDMA symbol frame employing a simple symbol repetition coupled with a cyclic time shift for typical OFDMA uplink scenarios. Theoretical analysis and computer simulations are used to assess the performance of the proposed OFDMA uplink system. It is found that this scheme can decrease the probability of destroying the orthogonality among the users and provide the MAI-free reception.     

Interleaved-OFDMA中基于子空间的上行链路载波频偏估计方法

在OFDMA系统中,通过为每个用户分配不同的子载波可以实现并行数据传输.采用Interleaved子载波分配方法可以提高频率分集和系统容量,但是发射机和接收机之间的载波频率偏移会破坏子载波间的正交性,从而导致本用户的载波间干扰(ICI)以及用户间干扰(MUI).本文提出了一种基于子空间的两阶段频偏搜索方法,该方法只采用一个OFDMA符号块就可以实现Interleaved-OFDMA上行链路多个用户频偏的联合估计,并且不需要知道接入的用户个数及用户所占用的子信道,因此适用于随机分配子信道的情况.仿真结果验证了算法的精确度和有效性.     

子载波交织分配的OFDMA系统

近年来，正交频分多址接入系统做为一种新的多址接入技术受到了极大关注。在OFDMA中，相临的多个子载波被分配给不同的用户来为用户并行低速传输数据。子载波是相互间重叠且正交的，所以避免了载波间干扰的产生。文中介绍了向上链接子载波交织分配的OFDMA系统。     

Timing and frequency synchronization for the uplink of an OFDMA system

This paper deals with timing and frequency recovery for the uplink of an orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) system. The frequency estimator is derived from ad hoc reasoning, whereas the timing estimator is based on the maximum-likelihood criterion. Both schemes rely on the repetition of a fixed pilot symbol. Their main feature is that they provide feedforward estimates and allow synchronization in only two OFDM blocks. In contrast to other existing methods, they do not require that the subcarriers of a given user occupy adjacent positions in the signal bandwidth. This makes it possible to interleave subcarriers of different users so as to optimally exploit the frequency diversity of the channel. Theoretical analysis and computer simulations are used to assess the performance of the proposed synchronizers. It is found that the degradations due to residual frequency and timing errors are negligible at signal-to-noise ratios of practical interest.     

A novel transmitter design for GLSFBC–OFDM–CDMA communication systems

Relying on mutual orthogonality between subcarriers of different users in orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) systems and mutual orthogonality between spreading codes in code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems, a novel transmitter design is proposed for group layered space–frequency block code (GLSFBC)–OFDM–CDMA communication systems over frequency-selective fading channels. The proposed method is based on a three-level design of user codes: the top level (based on OFDMA) deals with group interference and intersymbol interference (ISI), the middle level (based on space–frequency block coding) results in space–frequency diversity, and the lower level (based on CDMA) handles multiuser interference. The new approach only needs one receive antenna to distinguish multiple users and suppress group interference simultaneously, so the complexity of the receiver decreases remarkably. Simulation results confirm the validity of the proposed technique.     

Multiuser carrier frequency offsets estimation for OFDMA uplink with generalized carrier assignment scheme

The frequency synchronization issue of multiuser in the uplink of an orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) system is investigated in this letter. We develop a subspace based blind carrier frequency offsets (CFOs) estimation algorithm for the base station (BS) equipped with uniform linear array (ULA). Due to the adoption of ULA at the BS and the narrowband signal assumption, CFOs of different users can be separated by their spatial information. Thus, unlike existing blind alternatives, which are subject to some specific carrier assignment schemes (CAS) or rely on null subcarriers, our proposed method can support generalized carrier assignment scheme (GCAS) and fully loaded systems, i.e., all subcarriers are available to users. Consequently, the dynamic channel assignment is available and the bandwidth efficiency is higher. Moreover, the closed-form directions of arrival (DOAs) of all active users are also obtained, which can be used in downlink beamforming in frequency division duplex (FDD) systems. Performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated by computer Monte Carlo simulations.     

基于阵列天线的低复杂度OFDMA上行链路载频偏估计方法

 提出一种基于阵列天线的正交频分多址（OFDMA）上行链路载频偏闭式盲估计方法,基站端配备阵列天线,该方法基于各天线阵元的空域快拍之间存在的旋转不变性,结合子空间平滑的思想,可在低运算复杂度的条件下,利用波达方向矩阵法得到信号空间的原始基底,由此可进一步同时获得各子载波对应用户的波达方向（DOA）与载频偏的闭式估计.该方法支持任意子载波分配方案以及满负载系统,并且可根据当前系统负载动态调整估计复杂度.理论分析和仿真结果验证了本文方法的有效性.     

Performance analysis of OFDMA uplink systems with symbol timing misalignment

This letter presents our investigation for the effect of symbol timing errors in orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) uplink systems. We express the symbol timing errors between users as the symbol timing misalignments with respect to the desired user. Then, we derive an explicit expression of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as a function of the maximum value of the symbol timing misalignments. Analyses and simulation results show that, to achieve an SNR of 20 dB, the maximum value of the symbol timing misalignments must be less than the cyclic prefix duration plus 6.25% of the useful symbol duration. Based on the resulting SNR degradation, we evaluate the SNR gain with guard subcarriers in order to mitigate the effect of the symbol timing misalignments.     

Cooperation Strategies and Resource Allocations in Multiuser OFDMA Systems

Cooperative communication and orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) technology are both promising candidates for next-generation wireless communication systems. In this paper, we investigate cooperation strategies and resource-allocation algorithms for multiuser cooperative orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) systems. There are two major contributions of this paper. First, we propose a novel cooperation strategy for the OFDMA system. When there are two users in the system, the strategy achieves the capacity region upper bound for decode-and-forward (DF) cooperation. When there are multiple users in the system, the strategy can achieve near upper-bound performance in certain network topologies. Moreover, the strategy always outperforms those that are previously proposed for cooperative OFDMA systems. The second contribution is that we develop novel centralized resource-allocation algorithms for cooperative OFDMA systems. The advantages of the algorithms are that they not only simultaneously solve relay, power, and subcarrier allocation but also have complexity that increases only linearly with the number of subcarriers in the systems.      

Edge sidelobe suppressor scheme for OFDMA uplink systems

We propose an edge sidelobe suppressor (ESS) for the uplink of orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) systems, which mitigates the interference introduced by different frequency offsets between a desired user and the other users. The simulation results confirm that the proposed ESS scheme improves system performance by approximately 5-dB signal-to-interference ratio as compared to conventional OFDMA systems, and without increasing the level of transmitter and receiver complexity.     

Group-orthogonal multicarrier CDMA

In the presence of frequency-selective multipath fading channels, code-division multiple access (CDMA) suffers from multiuser interference (MUI) and intersymbol interference (ISI); but when properly designed, it enjoys multipath diversity. Orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) is MUI-free, but it does not enable the available channel diversity without employing error-control coding. On the other hand, coded OFDMA may achieve lower diversity than a CDMA system employing the same error-control codes. In this paper, we merge the advantages of OFDMA and CDMA to minimize MUI effects, and also enable the maximum available diversity for every user. In our group orthogonal multicarrier CDMA (GO-MC-CDMA) scheme, groups of users share a set of subcarriers. By judiciously choosing group subcarriers, we guarantee that every user transmits with maximum diversity. MUI is only present among users in the same group, and is suppressed via multiuser detection, which becomes practically feasible because we assign a small number of users per group. Performance is analyzed, and simulations are carried out to illustrate the merits of GO-MC-CDMA relative to existing alternatives.     

An efficient digital implementation of multicarrier CDMA system based on generalized DFT filter Banks

In this paper, an efficient digital implementation of multicarrier transmission scheme based on generalized discrete Fourier transform (DFT) filter banks is presented for multicarrier code-division multiple-access (MC-CDMA) systems. Generalized DFT filter banks has been traditionally discussed for very high-speed digital subscriber lines (VDSL) wireline systems, received interest also for wireless applications. The design of the generalized DFT modulated filter banks is investigated and its fast implementation is derived in the time-domain for arbitrary integer sampling rate. Through the utilization of the generalized DFT modulated filter banks, one or more subcarriers, even noncontiguous subcarriers can be easily supported by system in both uplink and downlink, which facilitates the users to access the network in a frequency-division multiple-access manner. Simulation results show that the overall bit-error-rate performance of the proposed multicarrier transmission scheme well approaches that of a single-carrier system due to the negligible intercarrier interference introduced by an appropriate design of the generalized DFT modulated filter banks.     

Multiple-Access Interference Suppression for Interleaved OFDMA System Uplink

In this paper, the issue of multiple-access interference (MAI) suppression for the uplink in an interleaved orthogonal frequency-division multiple-access (OFDMA) system is investigated. In such a system, a carrier frequency offset (CFO) disrupts the orthogonality between the subcarriers and gives rise to MAI among users. Based on the signature vector formulated for each user, we propose a novel detector that performs MAI suppression before CFO compensation and fast Fourier transform (FFT) demodulation. Subspace zero-forcing and minimum mean square error (MMSE) techniques are then developed to suppress MAI. The proposed scheme is shown to become almost MAI free, provided that the CFO estimation is accurate enough. From the obtained simulation results, the proposed scheme is also found to be able to enhance the system performance at low complexity.     

Low Complexity Carrier Frequency Offset and Channel Estimation for Multiuser OFDMA Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - Multiple carrier frequency offsets exist in the orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) uplink receivers, and consequently induce inter-carrier...     

Carrier Frequency Offset estimation for interleaved OFDMA uplink based on subspace processing

This paper investigates Carrier Frequency Offset （CFO）, estimation in the uplink of the Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access （OFDMA） systems with the interleaved subcarrier assignment. CFOs between the transmitters and the uplink receiver will destroy orthogonality among different subcarriers, hence resulting in inter-carrier interference and multiuser interference. A two-stage frequency offset estimation algorithm based on subspace processing is proposed. The main advantage of the proposed method is that it can obtain the CFOs of all users simultaneously using only one OFDMA block. Compared with the previously known methods, it not only has a relatively low implementation complexity but is also suitable for random subchannel assignment.     

交织OFDMA上行系统CFO估计算法的研究

文中对OFDMA系统中的子载波分配方法进行了研究,介绍了两种子载波分配方法的原理,对两种子载波分配方法进行了仿真,结果显示在频率选择性衰落信道中交织分配的OFDMA系统要比块分配的OFDMA系统获得更多的频率分集.给出了交织OFDMA系统上行链路的信号结构,由于发射机和接收机之间存在的载波频率偏移(CFO)将会影响子载波间的正交性,对多用户的CFO估计提出了一种估计算法,仿真的结果显示所提出的算法具有较好的性能.     

Pilot-Aided OFDM Channel Estimation in the Presence of the Guard Band

In this letter, pilot design and channel estimation are discussed for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) systems with guard subcarriers. First, we investigate the effects of guard band on channel estimation errors. From this, we propose pilot placement having a maximum distance between adjacent pilots except for the guard band, and show that it achieves minimum channel estimation errors among partially equispaced pilots using equivalence of the Toeplitz and circulant matrices. Also, an efficient channel estimator is developed by introducing an extended channel and its finite impulse response (FIR) approximation to overcome high numerical complexity caused by the presence of guard subcarriers and the use of a large number of subcarriers. Simulation results are presented for OFDM and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems consistent with IEEE 802.16a standards.     

An interference-cancellation scheme for carrier frequency offsets correction in OFDMA systems

Recently, orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), with clusters of subcarriers allocated to different subscribers (often referred to as OFDMA), has gained much attention for its ability in enabling multiple-access wireless multimedia communications. In such systems, carrier frequency offsets (CFOs) can destroy the orthogonality among subcarriers. As a result, multiuser interference (MUI) along with significant performance degradation can be induced. In this paper, we present a scheme to compensate for the CFOs at the base station of an OFDMA system. In the proposed scheme, circular convolutions are employed to generate the interference after the discrete Fourier transform processing, which is then removed from the original received signal to increase the signal-to-interference power ratio (SIR). Both SIR analysis and simulation results will show that the proposed scheme can significantly improve system performance.