Chapter 3

Basic Principles of OFDM:

3.1 Orthogonality Concept

Frequency orthogonality is an important concept in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

(OFDM). It means that multiple signals can use different frequencies while overlapping in

bandwidth without interfering with each other. This improves the efficient use of available

spectrum.

Two signals are called orthogonal when the product of the two signals over a certain time period

averages to zero. Because of this property, even if the signals occupy the same bandwidth, they

can still be separated at the receiver without causing interference.

In OFDM, each data stream is transmitted on a separate sub-carrier frequency. These sub-carriers

are arranged so that they are mathematically orthogonal to each other. This orthogonality ensures

that the receiver can detect each signal independently even though the spectra overlap.

For orthogonality to occur, the spacing between two sub-carrier frequencies must be equal to the

reciprocal of the symbol duration:

f 1−¿f 1 ¿ (1)
2=¿ ¿
T

Where:

 T = symbol duration
  f₁ and f₂ = sub-carrier frequencies

This means the minimum spacing between frequencies f 1 and f 2 for orthogonality to be

established is 1/T, although multiples of this value (2/T, 3/T, etc.) can still achieve the same

result (3).

Another important property of orthogonal subcarriers is that the peak of one subcarrier occurs at

the zero crossing of neighboring subcarriers. Because of this, even though their spectra overlap,

they do not interfere with each other. This property allows OFDM systems to achieve high

spectral efficiency.

For example, in the IEEE 802.11a Wireless LAN standard, the symbol duration is 3.2 µs.

Therefore, the subcarrier spacing becomes:

1/T=312.5 kHz

Thus, the subcarriers are spaced at ±312.5 kHz, ±625 kHz, etc., ensuring orthogonality and

efficient transmission of multiple data streams simultaneously.

Figure 1. below is the frequency spectrum of the orthogonal sub-carriers, and it can be observed that the

frequency spectrum of each sub-carrier has zero-crossing at the central frequency of adjacent sub-carriers (2)

which results in spectral efficiency.

3.2 Mathematical model of OFDM;

The mathematical model of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) relies on the

Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT) to map a sequence of complex data symbols onto

multiple orthogonal subcarriers. In a single symbol period, the transmitted baseband signal s(n)

is represented as the sum of N independent subcarriers.

Because these subcarriers are spaced at exactly 1/T (where T is the symbol duration), they

remain orthogonal, meaning they can be packed tightly together without interfering with one

another. To prevent Inter-Symbol Interference (ISI) caused by multi-path delay, a Cyclic Prefix

(CP) is prepended to the signal, turning the linear convolution of the wireless channel into a

circular convolution, which allows the receiver to easily recover the original data using a simple

Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT).

3.3 OFDM Signal Representation:

Figure 3. OFDM signal representation

3.4. Subcarriers:

In Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), the total available bandwidth is divided into

multiple narrowband channels called subcarriers, each carrying a portion of the data in parallel. These

subcarriers are mathematically orthogonal, meaning they do not interfere with each other despite

overlapping in the frequency domain. Each subcarrier is modulated individually using schemes like QAM

or PSK, and the combination of all subcarriers forms the OFDM signal. This approach improves spectral

efficiency and robustness against multipath fading, as each subcarrier experiences flat fading rather than
frequency-selective fading. The orthogonality ensures that at the peak of one subcarrier’s frequency, the

others cross zero, preventing inter-carrier interference (ICI).

Each OFDM symbol contains subcarriers that are non-zero over a T-second interval. Hence, the spectrum

of a single symbol is a convolution of a group of Dirac pulses located at the subcarrier frequencies with

the spectrum of a square pulse that is one for a T-second period and zero otherwise. The amplitude

spectrum of the square pulse is equal to sinc (pifT), having zeros for all frequencies (f) that are an integer

multiple of 1/T. This effect is illustrated in Figure 4, which shows the overlapping since spectra of

individual subcarriers. It can also be observed that, at the maximum of each subcarrier spectrum, all

other subcarrier spectra are zero. This is due to the fact that an OFDM receiver calculates the spectrum

values at those points that correspond to the maxima of individual subcarriers. It can therefore

demodulate each subcarrier free from any interference with the other subcarriers.

Figure 4. Spectra of individual subcarriers

3.5 IFFT and FFT:

FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) converts a time-domain signal into its frequency-domain representation.

IFFT (Inverse Fast Fourier Transform) does the opposite: it converts frequency-domain samples into a

time-domain waveform.

These transforms are computationally efficient ways to move between how signals look in time and how

they look in frequency.

3.5.1. Use of FFT and IFFT in Wireless Communication :

Wireless signals are transmitted and received over time, but many digital modulation schemes (like

QAM or PSK) are designed in the frequency domain. Antennas can only transmit time-domain

waveforms, so we need a way to bridge the gap:

turns it into a time-domain waveform.

 FFT at the receiver recovers the original frequency-domain symbols from the received time-

domain signal.

Without IFFT/FFT, you’d need hundreds or thousands of oscillators to separately transmit each

subcarrier. This is impractical, expensive, and power-hungry.

3.5.2. OFDM Uses in IFFT and FFT

Figure 6. OFDM IFFT Modulator

3.5.3. Transmitter Flow (IFFT)

.Bits to Symbols: Input bits are mapped to QAM symbols .1

vector.

3. Apply IFFT: Converts the frequency bins into a composite time-domain waveform.

4. Add Cyclic Prefix: A portion of the end of the symbol is copied to the beginning to prevent ISI.

5. Transmit: The time-domain signal is sent through a DAC and modulated onto a carrier.

3.5.4. Receiver Flow (FFT)

1. Receive Signal: Down convert and sample the received signal.

2. Remove Cyclic Prefix.

3. Apply FFT: Converts the received time-domain signal back into the frequency domain.

4. Equalize and Demap Symbols: Recover original QAM symbols and decode to bits.

3.6 Cyclic Prefix:

Inter symbol interference (ISI) occurs when a signal is passed through a time-dispersive channel. . Such

interferences have large effect on OFDM systems, as they also result in a loss of orthogonality between

the subcarriers, causing a further interference known as inter carrier interference (ICI).
 Tt = T + TCP (2)

Figure [Link] of Cyclic Prefix

In order to overcome such interferences, concept of cyclic prefix (CP) was introduced in 1980 by Peled

and Ruiz . As it is depicted in Figure 7, a cyclic prefix can be described as a percentage copy of the last

part of OFDM signal, which is appended to the transmitted signal. This added percentage copy of the

signal gets removed before the demodulation in the receiver section. The cyclic prefix should be chosen

to be longer than the expected delay spread, and this would increase the benefits of the cyclic prefix as ;

(i) It will eliminate the ISI by acting as a guard space between the successive symbols.

(ii) It will carry out the conversion of the channel impulse response with the linear convolution

into a cyclic convolution. Since in the time domain, the cyclic convolution gets translated

into a scalar multiplication in the frequency domain, causing the subcarriers to remain

orthogonal, and therefore eliminating any ICI .

As explained above, in order to mitigate and to some extend eliminate the ISI and ICI
almost completely, the length of the cyclic prefix has to be extended to make it longer than the

experienced impulse response. However, an increase in the length of the cyclic prefix will result in an

increase in the transmitted energy, which will consequently result in a loss of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR).

Equation (3) presents the mathematical relationship between the insertion of the cyclic prefix and loss

of SNR

SNR loss = -10log10 (1 -T cp /T ) (3)

Where;

T cp: the length of cyclic prefix.

T t; length of transmitted symbol.

The length of the transmitted symbol can be written as:

T t=¿T ¿ + T cp (4)

It is important to note that the length of the cyclic prefix should be carefully selected and the following

points should be considered when selecting

 The responses produced by the present filters within the system would add to the overall

impulse response, which will also be compensated for by the guard interval.

 A fraction of guard interval should be retained for synchronisation. This is due to the fact that

not only a perfect time acquisition can never be promised, but also the consequence of clock

offset between the transmitter and receiver may still considerably increase the deviation.

3.7 OFDM advantages & disadvantages:

OFDM advantages:

OFDM has been used in many high data rate wireless systems because of the many advantages it

provides.
  Flexibility : each transceiver has access to all subcarriers within a cell layer.

 Easy equalization : OFDM symbols are longer than the maximum delay spread resulting in flat

fading channel which can be easily equalized.

 Immunity to selective fading: One of the main advantages of OFDM is that is more resistant to

frequency selective fading than single carrier systems because it divides the overall channel into

multiple narrowband signals that are affected individually as flat fading sub-channels.

 Resilience to interference: Interference appearing on a channel may be bandwidth limited and

in this way will not affect all the sub-channels. This means that not all the data is lost.

 Spectrum efficiency: Using close-spaced overlapping sub-carriers, a significant OFDM advantage

is that it makes efficient use of the available spectrum.

 Resilient to ISI: Another advantage of OFDM is that it is very resilient to inter-symbol and inter-

frame interference. This results from the low data rate on each of the sub-channels.

 Resilient to narrow-band effects: Using adequate channel coding and interleaving it is possible

to recover symbols lost due to the frequency selectivity of the channel and narrow band

interference. Not all the data is lost.

 Simpler channel equalization: One of the issues with CDMA systems was the complexity of the

channel equalization which had to be applied across the whole channel. An advantage of OFDM

is that using multiple sub-channels, the channel equalization becomes much simpler.

OFDM disadvantages:

OFDM has been widely used, there are still a few disadvantages to its use which need to be addressed

when considering its use.

 High peak to average power ratio: An OFDM signal has a noise like amplitude variation and has a

relatively high large dynamic range, or peak to average power ratio. This impacts the RF
 amplifier efficiency as the amplifiers need to be linear and accommodate the large amplitude

variations and these factors mean the amplifier cannot operate with a high efficiency level .

 Sensitive to carrier offset and drift: Another disadvantage of OFDM is that is sensitive to carrier

frequency offset and drift. Single carrier systems are less sensitive.

Conclusion:

In summary, the robustness of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is rooted

in its unique mathematical framework, which utilizes the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT)

to map data onto multiple overlapping, yet orthogonal subcarriers. This signal representation

effectively converts a frequency-selective wideband channel into a series of flat-fading

narrowband channels, significantly simplifying equalization. By integrating a Cyclic Prefix (CP),

the system gains a vital buffer against multi-path delay spread, eliminating inter-symbol

interference at the cost of a minor overhead in spectral efficiency. While the inherent high Peak-

to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) and sensitivity to synchronization errors present notable design

trade-offs, the advantages of high data rates and resilience to fading make OFDM the definitive

choice for current and evolving telecommunications standards.

Reference:

1. Karimian Noushin Final e-Thesis (Master Copy).pdf

[Link]

2. Oltean M. An Introduction to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing. Polytech Univ

Timisoara Rom [Internet]. 2016;(March). Available from:

[Link]

ency_Division_ Multiplexing
3. concept of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ( OFDM ) and 802 . 11 [Internet]. 2014.

p. 1–4. Available from:

[Link]

content/ofdm_basicprinciplesoverview.htm

4. Mathematical description of OFDM [Link]

5. (PDF) An introduction of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM),

channel modelling, mathematical modelling, assessment

[Link]

6. Glover IA, Atkinson R. 1 - Overview of wireless techniques. In: Uttamchandani D, editor. Wireless

MEMS Networks and Applications [Internet]. Woodhead Publishing; 2017. p. 1–33. (Woodhead

Publishing Series in Electronic and Optical Materials). Available from:

[Link] iples

7. Understanding FFT and IFFT in OFDM [Link]

8. [Link]

9. Figure 6. OFDM IFFT modulator [Link]

10. Figure [Link] signal representation [Link]

11. Figure 5. Subcarrier index [Link]

12.