OFDM Baseband Receiver Design for Wireless Communications

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Introduction

All wireless communication standards, existing and under development, adopt or consider adopting orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) as the modulation technique. It is clear that OFDM has become the definitive modulation scheme in current and future wireless communication systems.

1.1 Wireless Communication Systems

Pursuance for better ways of living has been instrumental in advancing human civilization. Communication services available at any time and place free people from the limitation of being attached to fixed devices. Nowadays, thanks to the remarkable progress in wireless technology, affordable wireless communication service has become a reality. Mobile phones hook people up whenever and wherever they want. Digital audio and video broadcasting offers consumers high-resolution, better-quality and even interactive programmes. The devices are now thin, light, small and inexpensive. Furthermore, smart mobile phones capable of multimedia and broadband internet access are showing up on the shelves.

Several projects studying wireless networks with different extents of coverage are under way. They will enable wireless access to internet backbone everywhere, either indoors or outdoors and in rural or metropolitan areas. In the following, their evolution and future developments will be introduced. The essential role that the orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) technique plays in wireless communication systems will also become very clear. ...