A New Approach for Performance Improvement of OFDM System using Pulse Shaping

Abstract

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a multi-carrier modulation technique, in which a single high rate data-stream is divided into multiple low rate data-streams and is modulated using sub-carriers, which are orthogonal to each other. Some of its main advantages are multipath delay spread tolerance, high spectral efficiency, efficient modulation and demodulation process using computationally efficient Inverse Fast Fourier Transform and Fast Fourier Transform operation respectively. The peak to average power ratio of the time domain envelope is an important parameter at the physical layer of the communication system using OFDM signaling. The signals must maintain a specified average energy level in the channel to obtain the desired Bit-error-rate. The peak signal level relative to that average defines the maximum dynamic range that must be accommodated by the components in the signal flow path to support the desired average. A secondary concern is the carrier frequency offset which disturbs the orthogonality among the carriers and results ICI. The undesired ICI degrades the performance of the system.