Performance of an Interleaved Spread Spectrum OFDM System over Multipath Fading Channels

Abstract

In this paper we propose an interleaved spread spectrum orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (ISS-OFDM) system and investigate its performance over frequency selective multipath fading channels. The purpose is to exploit frequency diversity capability, develop an e±cient spectrum spreading algorithm and improve the system performance over frequency selective multipath fading channels. At transmitter, a spectrum spread ISS-OFDM signal is generated by employing OFDM modulation and interleaving techniques. At the receiver, two solutions including serial demodulation and parallel demodulation for diversity combing are proposed, in which the received signals are combined by using a maximum ratio combining (MRC) technique. The simulation indicates that higher frequency diversity is achieved, and the Bit Error Rate (BER) and Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAR) performances of the proposed ISS-OFDM system over frequency selective multipath fading channels are improved signi¯cantly as compared with the conventional OFDM systems. Another unique characteristic is that the spectrum spreading factor and diversity order provided by the system are reconfigurable to achieve cognitive communications.