Basics of Orthogonal

Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM)
Greg DesBrisay
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Consulting Systems Engineer, Wireless
gregd@cisco.com
+1 408 525 9348
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 Agenda

• Multipath
• OFDM
• Advantages
• Implementation
• More Information & Contacts

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 Multipath Limits Data Rates
Paths

…
• Signals follow several
propagation paths
…
• Multiple copies of signal
arrive at the receiver Base
Station Subscriber
• Signal distortion and
inter-symbol interference
(ISI) Area of ISI
Previous Symbol Present Symbol
• Multipath limits the data
rate Time

Echo of
Previous∆T = Delay Spread
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Symbol 3
 Multipath Causes Fading
Spatial Variation

• Spatial variation
Standing-wave pattern
Signal strength varies in
space y(
wa
ve )
len
gth en gths
s) avel
• Frequency variation x (w

Frequency-selective Time & Frequency Variation

fading
• Time variation
Signal strength varies
with motion in tim
e (m
ency
s) frequ
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 OFDM is the Antidote for
Inter-Symbol Interference

• Ways to minimize inter-symbol interference:

Reduce the symbol rate, but data rate goes down too
Equalizers, but equalization is processor intensive

• Solution:
Transmit over multiple carrier frequencies in parallel
(Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)

Frequency
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 Diversity Is the Antidote for Fading:
Frequency Diversity and Coding
Frequency-Selective Fade

Bits Are Distributed Across Tones

• Extensive error correction coding

• Interleaving (bits are distributed across many tones)
• Bits are recovered even with frequency selective fading or
narrow-band interference
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 Diversity Is the Antidote for Fading:
Spatial Diversity

Receiver Antennas
Spatially Separated

Receiver 1

Combiner
Input Output
Transmitter

Receiver 2

• Multipath fading at two receivers will be uncorrelated over two

different paths
• A combined received signal will have a higher SNR that any of
the individual signals
• The greatest multipath resolution capability comes from using
both frequency and spatial diversity
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 Agenda

• Multipath
• OFDM
• Advantages
• Implementation
• More Information & Contacts

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 OFDM Uses Many Channels in
Parallel

• Narrow, slower channels are free of ISI

• OFDM splits data into parallel independent
narrowband channels (“tones”)
• Higher data rates
• Adaptive equalizers are not required
amplitude

frequency
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 Each OFDM Tone Is Modulated
Independently
• Modulation on each tone is usually QAM
• Cisco uses

111
64-QAM

101
111
110
000 001 011 010 110 111 101 111

010
011
001
000

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 OFDM Tones Are Independent

• Orthogonal = Independent
• The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) keeps tones
independent if the tones have an integer number
of cycles in a symbol period (“burst”)

Time

T
Base Frequency = 1/T
T = Symbol Period
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 Cyclic Prefix Added To Each
Burst
TRANSMIT

• Each tone carries

information in
amplitude and phase
• Cyclic prefix added Cyclic prefix
to allow for delay RECEIVE
Cyclic prefix
spread
• Tones at receiver
purely periodic after
cyclic prefix

Receiver uses this

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 FFT and Cyclic Prefix Are The
Basics of OFDM

Encoded Add
IFFT Cyclic
DATA Prefix

Remove Encoded
Channel Cyclic FFT
Prefix DATA

• OFDM accomplished with cyclic prefix and

FFT operations

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 Training Tones

Transmit Spectrum

• Each OFDM burst

carries data and training
tones
Corrects for amplitude Receive Spectrum
and phase shifts
caused by the channel
Corrects for frequency
offset
Training Tone
Data Tone
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 Error Correction Coding and
Interleaving
Byte Convolutional Bit CODED
DATA Block Coding
Interleaving Coding Interleaving DATA

• Two levels of coding

Convolutional: bit-level convolutional encoding and
soft-decision Viterbi decoding
Block: Reed-Solomon (RS) encoding and decoding
• Interleaving
Symbol/bit interleaving across frequency
A robust processing technique for handling
multipath fading and narrow band interference
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 Frequency Interleaving Increases
Coding Gain

amplitude
amplitude

8 9 8
7 7 1 9
1 2
4 5 6 6 2 5
3 3 4

frequency frequency

• Coding is most effective if error

events appear random to decoder
• Frequency interleaving randomizes
errors
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 Soft-Decision Error Correction
Gives Improved Results
• Soft-decision error
correction
• Determine not just
magnitude of channel,
but the SINR for each
tone
• A tone may have very
poor receive quality,
even if signal is strong
amplitude
• Twice as many errors
can be corrected with
this information
frequency
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 VOFDM Exploits Both Frequency
and Spatial Diversity

• Conventional OFDM utilizes single

transmit and receive antenna
• Cisco solution combines OFDM with
spatial processing: VOFDM
(Vector Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing)
• Great benefit comes from exploiting both
frequency and spatial diversity

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 Spatial Diversity Is Applied to
Each Tone
• Two signals are unlikely to fade at the same time
• Signals are combined to maximize the SINR on
each tone
• Two-antenna diversity provides 3-14 dB of Gain

Receiver 1
Combiner

Input

Transmitter

Receiver 2

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633
PCI Bridge PCI Bridge

1679_08_2001_x7
Decryptor Encryptor
Byte Byte
HDLC Controller (RX) HDLC Controller (TX)

© 2000, Cisco Systems, Inc.

ARQ Receive / ARQ Transmit /
RR Decoder / RR Assembler /
Codeword De-Assembler Codeword Assembler
Reed-Solomon Reed-Solomon
Decoder Encoder
Descrambler Scrambler
Convolutional Byte Convolutional Byte
De-Interleaver interleaver

Viterbi Decoder Convolutional Encoder

Bit De-Interleaver Bit Interleaver

Symbol De-Interleaver Symbol Interleaver /
/ Tone De-randomizer Tone Randomizer
FFT / OFDM Demodulator IFFT /
Cisco VOFDM Pt-Pt

/ Diversity Combining
System Architecture

OFDM Modulator
FIR filter / FIR Filter /
Fs/4 Demodulator Fs/4 Modulator
IF Downconvertor IF Upconvertor

RF Downconvertor RF Upconvertor
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 OFDM Signal Spectrum

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 Agenda

• Multipath
• OFDM
• Advantages
• Implementation
• More Information & Contacts

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 Urban Canyon

• Multipath can be
especially severe in
urban centers
• Delay spreads up 10 µs
have been measured
• Single-carrier systems
fail to work in this
environment
• VOFDM uses multipath
to advantage
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 10.7-km Non-LOS Path
Over Buildings and Trees

View from Cisco Bldg. 6 to Wavepath

View from Wavepath

to Cisco Bldg. 6

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 3.3-km Non-LOS Path

• 3.3-km non-LOS path

diffracting around and
bouncing off of
buildings
• Two main paths
separated by
approximately
16 degrees.
• VOFDM link ran error
free

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 12.1-km Non-LOS Path
Diffracting Over Roofs
• Antennas below the
roof line of suburban
neighborhood
• Non-LOS 12.1-km
path diffracting over
rooftops
• Single-carrier QAM
overwhelmed by
multipath
• VOFDM link was error
free
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 11.7-km Non-LOS Path Over
Tops of Houses

• 11.7-km path
diffracting over
the tops of
houses in
suburban
residential
neighborhood
• Limited by
signal strength,
multipath not
an issue here
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 3.7-km LOS Path
Over Open Fields

Head-end tower

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 0.4-km Non-LOS Path Through
Trees with Diversity
• Signals traveled 120 m
through the trees.
• 20 dB of fading made it
impossible for single-
carrier QAM system to
maintain sync.
• VOFDM data was error
free.
• Paths through trees
work very well, but
range is limited &
diversity is required
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 7.7-km Non-LOS Path
Over Tops of Trees

• 7.7-km non-LOS
path diffracting over
a very large, thick
grove of trees
• Single-carrier QAM
overwhelmed by
multipath.
• VOFDM link was
error free.

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 Better Performance with
Lower Complexity

DFE
Quadratic
Complexity

OFDM
Log Linear
Complexity

• For higher bit rates cost of VOFDM is lower than

conventional equalization schemes
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 Advantages of OFDM

• Multipath immunity
Essential in downtown urban canyons
Improves coverage even in rural areas
Reduces cost of network deployment
and maintenance
• Higher data rate
• Better performance with less
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 Agenda

• Multipath
• OFDM
• Advantages
• Implementation
• More Information & Contacts

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 Point-to-Point Broadband
Wireless Products

Transverter
uBR7246 or uBR7223

Wireless Linecard
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 Point-to-Multipoint Broadband
Wireless Products

“Last Mile”
Broadband
PSTN Wireless
Access

Wireless Hub
•SMB
•SOHO
•Enterprise
Internet •MDU

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 Cisco’s BBFW Products Are
Complete Networking Products

• IP packet-based solution
• Up to 44.4-Mbps full-duplex throughput
between fixed sites
• Linecards for the uBR7246 and uBR7223
Routers w/ full IOS and SNMP Support
• MMDS (2.50-2.69 GHz) and
U-NII (5.725-5.825 GHz) frequency bands
• Encryption: 56-bit DES with RSA key
management
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 Agenda

• Multipath
• OFDM
• Advantages
• Implementation
• More Information & Contacts

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 BWIF: Broadband Wireless
Internet Forum
• Sponsored by IEEE-ISTO
(Industry Standards and Technology Organization)
• Goal: Ensure the adoption of a single, unified
broadband wireless access industry standard based
on VOFDM and DOCSIS
• Open Meeting August 30 in Denver, Colorado
ASIC Semiconductor manufacturers
RF system suppliers
CPE vendors
System Integrators
Service Providers
• For info about IEEE-ISTO or BWIF:
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 Web Pages

Broadband fixed wireless product info including data sheets

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/cc/pd/witc/wt2700/index.shtml/

Documentation, including Site Planning Guide

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/wireless/

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 A Bibliography

• R.W. Chang, High-Speed Multichannel Data Transmission with

Bandlimited Orthogonal Signals, Bell Syst. Tech. J., vol. 45,
pp. 1775-1796, Dec. 1966.
• ETSI, Digital Video Broadcasting (VDB); DVB Specification for
Data Broadcasting, Draft European Norm EN 301 192, Aug.
1997.
• Gregory G. Raleigh, Spatio-Temporal Coding for Wireless
Communication, IEEE Transactions on Communications,
Vol. 46, No. 3, March 1998.
• Ulrich Reimers, Digital Video Broadcasting,
IEEE Communications Magazine, pp. 104-110, June 1998.
• Neil Weste and David J. Skellern, VLSI for OFDM,
IEEE Communications Magazine, pp. 127-131, Oct. 1998.
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 Abbreviations for RF

Line of Line of
GHz GHZ, ghz Sight Site

Mbps, mbps,
MHz MHZ, mhz kbps Kbps

kHz KHz, KHZ dBm dBM

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