Combined equalization for uplink MC-CDMA in Rayleigh fading channels

In this letter, we propose the concept of combined equalization for uplink multicarrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA) and perform a theoretical analysis which shows that better single-user bounds than the classical matched-filter bounds are achieved with this new concept. Moreover, we illustrate how to properly design an uplink MC-CDMA transmitter and receiver for combined equalization, and show by Monte Carlo simulations that the improved single-user bounds are closely approached, even in the case of a fully loaded system.