Low-Complexity Suboptimal ML Detection for OFDM-IM Systems

Abstract

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with index modulation (OFDM-IM) is a novel multicarrier scheme, which uses <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> out of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${n}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> subcarriers as active subcarriers to transmit data. For detecting the subcarrier activation pattern (SAP) at the receiver, maximum likelihood (ML) detection cannot be used because of its high computational complexity. Instead, the detector selecting the most likely active <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> subcarriers is used, which is called a <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> largest values ( <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> lv) detector. However, this method degrades the detection performance especially if the ratio of illegal SAPs to SAPs is high. In this letter, the suboptimal ML detector is proposed, which is a simple modification of the <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${k}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> lv detector, but very efficient. The proposed detector has a similar detection performance compared to the ML detection, which is suitable for flexible implementation of OFDM-IM systems.