Performance of multiantenna multicarrier direct-sequence code division multiple access using orthogonal variable spreading factor codes-assisted space–time spreading in time-selective fading channels

Abstract

A downlink (base-to-mobile) multicarrier direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (MC DS-CDMA) system employing multiple antennas at both the base station and each of the mobile terminals is investigated, when communicating over fast time-varying fading channels resulting in time-selective fading. In the considered multiantenna MC DS-CDMA, space–time spreading (STS) based on the family of orthogonal variable spreading factor (OVSF) codes is proposed in order to achieve the time diversity because of the time-selective fading, in addition to the transmit/receive diversity. In this contribution, the closed-form expressions for the single-user bit-error rate (BER) are derived, in order to gain insight into the achievable BER performance of the multiantenna MC DS-CDMA. The BER performance of the multiantenna MC DS-CDMA system is investigated, when communicating over correlated time-selective Rayleigh fading channels. The study and performance results show that the multiantenna MC DS-CDMA using OVSF codes-assisted STS constitutes a high-efficiency downlink space–time transmission scheme. It is capable of achieving the full diversity provided by the time-selective fading and multiple transmit/receive antennas. Furthermore, the proposed multiantenna MC DS-CDMA is capable of achieving a self-balance between the time diversity achieved and the multiuser interference suppression capability, when using low-complexity correlation detection.