1

UNIT – 1

Spread Spectrum Modulation

Unit-01/Lecture-01
1. Introduction
Communication may be broadly defined as the transfer of information from one point to
another. When the information is to be conveyed over any distance a communication
system is usually required. Within a communication system the information transfer is
frequently achieved by superimposing or modulating the information onto an
electromagnetic wave which acts as a carrier for the information signal. This modulated
carrier is then transmitted to the required destination where it is received and the original
information signal is obtained by demodulation. Sophisticated techniques have been
developed for this process using electromagnetic carrier waves operating at radio
frequencies as well as microwave and millimetre wave frequencies. However,
communication’ may also be achieved using an electromagnetic carrier which is selected
from the optical range of frequencies.

1.1 Historical development

In telecommunication and radio communication, spread-spectrum techniques are

methods by which a signal (e.g. an electrical, electromagnetic, or acoustic signal)
generated with a particular bandwidth is deliberately spread in the frequency domain,
resulting in a signal with a wider bandwidth. These techniques are used for a variety of
reasons, including the establishment of secure communications, increasing resistance to
natural interference, noise and jamming, to prevent detection, and to limit power flux
density (e.g. in satellite downlinks).

Spread-spectrum telecommunications This is a technique in which a telecommunication

signal is transmitted on a bandwidth considerably larger than the frequency content of
the original information. Frequency hopping is a basic modulation technique used in
spread spectrum signal transmission.

Spread-spectrum telecommunications is a signal structuring technique that employs

direct sequence, frequency hopping, or a hybrid of these, which can be used for multiple
access and/or multiple functions. This technique decreases the potential interference to
other receivers while achieving privacy. Spread spectrum generally makes use of a
 2

sequential noise-like signal structure to spread the normally narrowband information

signal over a relatively wideband (radio) band of frequencies. The receiver correlates the
received signals to retrieve the original information signal. Originally there were two
motivations: either to resist enemy efforts to jam the communications (anti-jam, or AJ), or
to hide the fact that communication was even taking place, sometimes called low
probability of intercept (LPI).

Frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS),

time-hopping spread spectrum (THSS), chirp spread spectrum (CSS), and combinations of
these techniques are forms of spread spectrum. Each of these techniques employs
pseudorandom number sequences — created using pseudorandom number generators —
to determine and control the spreading pattern of the signal across the allocated
bandwidth. Ultra-wideband (UWB) is another modulation technique that accomplishes
the same purpose, based on transmitting short duration pulses. Wireless standard IEEE
802.11 uses either FHSS or DSSS in its radio interface.

A spread-spectrum transmission offers three main advantages over a fixed-frequency

transmission:

1. Spread-spectrum signals are highly resistant to narrowband interference. The

process of re-collecting a spread signal spreads out the interfering signal, causing it
to recede into the background.
2. Spread-spectrum signals are difficult to intercept. A spread-spectrum signal may
simply appear as an increase in the background noise to a narrowband receiver. An
eavesdropper may have difficulty intercepting a transmission in real time if the
pseudorandom sequence is not known.
3. Spread-spectrum transmissions can share a frequency band with many types of
conventional transmissions with minimal interference. The spread-spectrum
signals add minimal noise to the narrow-frequency communications, and vice
versa. As a result, bandwidth can be used more efficiently.

Spread spectrum techniques spread information over a very large bandwidth –

specifically, a bandwidth that is much larger than the inverse of the data rate. In this
 3

chapter, we discuss various ways of providing multiple access by spreading the spectrum.
We start out with the conceptually most simple approach, Frequency Hopping (FH). We
then proceed to the most popular form of spread spectrum, Direct Sequence–Code
Division Multiple Access (DS-CDMA). Finally, we elaborate on time-hopping impulse radio,
a relatively new scheme that has gathered interest in recent years because of its
application to ultra wideband systems.
We have stressed in previous chapters how important spectral efficiency is: we want to
transmit as much information per available bandwidth as possible. Thus, it might seem
like a strange idea to spread information over a large bandwidth in a commercial wireless
system. After all, the term “spread spectrum” comes from the military area, where the
main interest lies in keeping communications stealthy, safe from intercept, and safe from
jamming efforts by hostile transmitters – issues that do not top the list of concerns of
cellular operators.1 It thus seems astonishing that spread spectrum approaches have
attained such an important role in wireless communications.
This seeming paradox can be resolved when we recognize that different users can be
spread across the spectrum in different ways. This allows multiple users to transmit in the
same frequency band simultaneously; the receiver can determine which part of the total
contribution comes from a specific user by looking only at signals with a specific spreading
pattern. Thus, capacity (per unit bandwidth) is not necessarily decreased by using spread
spectrum techniques, and can even be increased by exploiting its special features.
 4

Unit-01/Lecture-02

1.3 Frequency hopping multiple access

The basic thought underlying FH is to change the carrier frequency of a narrowband

transmission system so that transmission is done in one frequency band only for a short
while. The ratio between the bandwidth over which the carrier frequency is hopped and
the narrowband transmission bandwidth is the spreading factor. FH originated from
military communications; it was invented by actress Hedi Lamar during the Second World
War. It was inspired by the problem that emissions from radio transmitters could be used
by the enemy to triangulate the position of transmitters, or that transmission could be
jammed by the enemy with powerful (narrowband) transmitters. By changing the carrier
frequency frequently, the signal is in the vulnerable (observed or jammed) band only for
a short while.
The FH pattern has to be known to the desired receiver, but unpredictable for the
enemy, making them unable to “follow” the FH. In addition to suppressing narrowband
interferers, the FH also helps to mitigate the effect of deep fading dips through
frequency diversity. Sometimes the system transmits on a “good” frequency – i.e., one
with low attenuation between transmitter and receiver and low interference – and
sometimes on a “bad” frequency – i.e., in a fading dip and/or with high interference.
There are two basic types of FH: “slow” and “fast.” Fast FH changes the carrier frequency
several times during transmission of one symbol; in other words, transmission of each
separate symbol is spread over a large bandwidth. Consequently, the effects of fading or
interference can be combated for each symbol separately. It follows from elementary
Fourier considerations that transmission of each part of a symbol requires more
bandwidth than that of a narrowband system.
Furthermore, combining of the different contributions belonging to one symbol has to
use processing that works faster than at the symbol rate. Fast FH is not in widespread
use in commercial wireless systems; it has been mostly edged out by Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA). Slow FH transmits one or several symbols on each frequency.
This method is often used in conjunction with Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA):
each timeslot is transmitted on a given carrier frequency; the next slot then changes to a
different frequency. In such a case, the additional effort for synchronization is small, as
the receiver has to synchronize for the next slot anyway.
 5

In order for the FH to be effective, interleaving and coding has to distribute information
belonging to one source bit over several timeslots. Imagine simple repetition coding,
where each bit is sent twice, in different timeslots (and thus on different carrier
frequencies). If the first timeslot is transmitted in a deep fading dip, chances are that the
second is at a frequency where channel attenuation is small; thus the information can be
recovered. Slow FH is used, e.g., in the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM)
In the following, we will show that FH can be used as a multi-access method that is as
spectrally efficient as TDMA and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA). For these
considerations, we distinguish between synchronized and unsynchronized systems.
Let us consider first the synchronized case – e.g., in the downlink of a cellular system –
where the Base Station (BS) can always make sure that it emits to all Mobile Stations
(MSs) at the same time. Figure 1.1 shows an example with three available bands (carrier
frequencies). Clearly, during one time interval, the BS can transmit to three users
simultaneously, but for ease of exposition, we assume just two active users (users A and
B). During the first time interval (hopping period), the BS transmits to MS A in band 2. At
the same time, band 3 is free, so the BS can transmit to MS B in that band. In the next
timeframe, the BS now transmits to MS A in band 1, and MS B In the following, we will
show that FH can be used as a multi-access method that is as spectrally efficient as
TDMA and Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA). For these considerations, we
distinguish between synchronized and unsynchronized systems.
Let us consider first the synchronized case – e.g., in the downlink of a cellular system –
where the Base Station (BS) can always make sure that it emits to all Mobile Stations
(MSs) at the same time. Figure 1.1 shows an example with three available bands (carrier
frequencies). Clearly, during one time interval, the BS can transmit to three users
simultaneously, but for ease of exposition, we assume just two active users (users A and
B). During the first time interval (hopping period), the BS transmits to MS A in band 2. At
the same time, band 3 is free, so the BS can transmit to MS B in that band. In the next
timeframe, the BS now transmits to MS A in band 1, and MS B
 6

Fig:1.1 Principle behind frequency hoping for multiple access for synchronized user

the third timeslot, MS A is serviced in band 3, and MS B in band 1. Then the whole
sequence repeats. The signals for all the MSs use the same hopping sequence, and it can
be made sure that there is never a collision between them. Thus, clearly, we have the
same capacity as FDMA, with the added benefit of frequency diversity. In order to apply
the same concept for the uplink, all MSs have to send their signals in such a way that
they arrive at the BS synchronously, and thus recover the situation of Figure 1.1. This
requires information about the runtime from each MS to the BS, which tells each MS
exactly when to start transmission. The situation is different when users are not
synchronized – such a situation can either occur in simple networks where timing
advance is not foreseen, for consideration of intercell nterference,2 or in ad hoc
networks. For such a case, it is not a good idea to use the same hopping sequence
for all users. Remember that, due to the lack of synchronization, any delay between the
signals of different users is possible, including a zero-delay. If all users use the same
hopping sequence, then such a zero-delay leads to catastrophic collisions, where
different users interfere with each other all the time. In order to circumvent this
problem, different hopping sequences are used for each user (see Figure 1.1). These
sequences are designed in such a way that during each hopping cycle (i.e., one repetition
of the hopping sequence; in our example, three times the hopping period), the duration
of exactly one timeslot is disturbed, while the remainder of the time is guaranteed to be
collision free. Obviously, the performance of such a system is worse than that of a
synchronized system (or an FDMA system). The design of hopping sequences that
 7

guarantee the low probability of collisions is also quite tricky, and still an active area of
research. The signal for all the mobile stations use the same sequence of hopping and all
there is never a collision between them. Hence, obviously, we have the same capacity as
FDMA, with the added frequency diversity benefit.
.

Unit-01/Lecture-03

1.4 Code Division Multiple Access

 8

The origins of CDMA can also be traced to military communications research, especially the
Development of the Direct Sequence–Spread Spectrum (DS-SS).

Fig1.2 Principle behind frequency hopping for multiple access for unsynchronized users

The DS-SS spreads the signal by multiplying the transmit signal by a second signal that has a very
large bandwidth. The bandwidth of this total signal is approximately the same as the bandwidth of
the wideband spreading signal. The ratio of the bandwidth of the new signal to that of the original
signal is again known as the spreading factor. As the bandwidth of the spread signal is large,
and the transmit power stays constant, the power-spectral density of the transmitted signal is very
small – depending on the spreading factor and the BS–MS distance, it can lie below the noise
Power-spectral density. This is important in military applications, because unauthorized listeners
Can not determine whether a signal is being transmitted. Authorized listeners, on the other hand,
can invert the spreading operation and thus recover the narrowband signal (whose power-
spectral density lies considerably above the noise power). Figure 2.1 shows the block diagram of a
DS-SS transmitter. The information sequence (possibly coded) is multiplied by a broadband signal
that was created by modulating a sinusoidal carrier signal with a spreading sequence. This can be
interpreted alternatively as multiplying each information symbol of duration TS by a spreading
sequence p(t ) before modulation. We assume in the following that the spreading sequence is MC
chips long, where each chip has the duration TC = TS/MC. As the bandwidth is the inverse of the
chip duration, the bandwidth of the total signal is now also W = 1/TC = MC/TS – i.e., larger than
the bandwidth of a narrowband-modulated signal by a factor MC. As we assume that the
spreading operation does not change the total transmit power, it also implies that the power-
 9

spectral density decreases by a factor MC.

Fig 1.3. Block diagram of a direct sequence-spread-spectrum transmitter and receiver.

In the receiver, we now have to invert the spreading operation. This can be achieved by
correlating the received signal with the spreading sequence. This process reverses bandwidth
spreading, so that after correlation, the desired signal again has a bandwidth of 1/TS. In addition
to the desired signal, the received signal also contains noise, other wideband interferers, and
possibly narrowband interferers. Note that the effective bandwidth of noise and wideband
interferers is not significantly affected by the despreading operation, while narrowband
interferers are actually spread over a bandwidth W. As part of despreading, the signal passes
through a low-pass filter of bandwidth B = 1/TS. This leaves the desired signal essentially
unchanged, but reduces the power of noise, wideband interferers, and narrowband interferers by
a factor MC. At the symbol demodulator, DSSS thus has the same Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) as a
narrowband system: for a narrowband system, the noise power at the demodulator is N0/TS. For
a DS-SS system, the noise power at the receiver input is N0/TC = N0MC/TS, which is reduced by
narrowband filtering (by a factor of MC); thus, at the detector input, it is N0/TS. A similar effect
occurs for wideband interference.
Let us next discuss the spreading signals for DS-SS systems. In order to perfectly reverse the
spreading operation in the receiver by means of a correlation operation, we want the
 10

Autocorrelation Function (ACF) of the spreading sequence to be a Dirac delta function. In such a
case, the convolution of the original information sequence with the concatenation of spreader
and despreader is the original sequence. We thus desire that ACF(i) of p(t ) at times iT C is
ACF(i) = _ MC for i = 0
0 otherwise These ideal properties can only be approximated in practice. One group of
suitable code sequences is a type of Pseudo Noise (PN) sequences called maximum length
sequence (m-sequence). PN sequences have the following ACF:
ACF(i) = _ MC for i = 0
−1 otherwise

Fig 1.4 Autocorrelation function of a m-sequence.

Multiple Access
The Direct Sequence (DS) spreading operation itself – i.e., multiplication by the wideband
signal – can be viewed as a modulation method for stealthy communications, and is as such
mainly of military interest. CDMA is used on top of it, exploiting the spreading to achieve multi-
access Capability. Each user is assigned a different spreading code, which determines the
wideband signal that is multiplied by the information symbols. Thus, many users can transmit
simultaneously in a Wide band.
 11

Figure 1.5 Principle behind code division multiple access

 12

Unit 01/Lecture 4

Code division multiple access

Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method used by various radio
communication technology.

CDMA is an example of multiple access, which is where several transmitters can send
information simultaneously over a single communication channel. This allows several users to
share a band of frequencies (see bandwidth). To permit this without undue interference
between the users, CDMA employs spread-spectrum technology and a special coding scheme
(where each transmitter is assigned a code).

CDMA is used as the access method in many mobile phone standards such as cdmaOne,
CDMA2000 (the 3G evolution of cdmaOne), and WCDMA (the 3G standard used by GSM
carriers), which are often referred to as simply CDMA.

1.4.1 Steps in CDMA modulation:

CDMA is a spread-spectrum multiple access technique. A spread spectrum technique spreads

the bandwidth of the data uniformly for the same transmitted power. A spreading code is a
pseudo-random code that has a narrow ambiguity function, unlike other narrow pulse codes. In
CDMA a locally generated code runs at a much higher rate than the data to be transmitted. Data
for transmission is combined via bitwise XOR (exclusive OR) with the faster code. The figure
shows how a spread spectrum signal is generated. The data signal with pulse duration of
(symbol period) is XOR’ed with the code signal with pulse duration of (chip period). (Note:

bandwidth is proportional to , where = bit time.) Therefore, the bandwidth of the data

signal is and the bandwidth of the spread spectrum signal is . Since is much
smaller than , the bandwidth of the spread spectrum signal is much larger than the

bandwidth of the original signal. The ratio is called the spreading factor or processing
gain and determines to a certain extent the upper limit of the total number of users supported
simultaneously by a base station.
Each user in a CDMA system uses a different code to modulate their signal. Choosing the codes
used to modulate the signal is very important in the performance of CDMA systems. The best
 13

performance will occur when there is good separation between the signal of a desired user and
the signals of other users. The separation of the signals is made by correlating the received
signal with the locally generated code of the desired user. If the signal matches the desired
user's code then the correlation function will be high and the system can extract that signal. If
the desired user's code has nothing in common with the signal the correlation should be as
close to zero as possible (thus eliminating the signal); this is referred to as cross-correlation. If
the code is correlated with the signal at any time offset other than zero, the correlation should
be as close to zero as possible. This is referred to as auto-correlation and is used to reject multi-
path interference.

Figure 1.6 Generation of CDMA

An analogy to the problem of multiple access is a room (channel) in which people wish to talk to
each other simultaneously. To avoid confusion, people could take turns speaking (time
division), speak at different pitches (frequency division), or speak in different languages (code
division). CDMA is analogous to the last example where people speaking the same language can
understand each other, but other languages are perceived as noise and rejected. Similarly, in
radio CDMA, each group of users is given a shared code. Many codes occupy the same channel,
but only users associated with a particular code can communicate. In general, CDMA belongs to
two basic categories: synchronous (orthogonal codes) and asynchronous (pseudorandom
codes).

1.4.2 Code division multiplexing (synchronous CDMA):

The digital modulation method is analogous to those used in simple radio transceivers. In the
analog case, a low frequency data signal is time multiplied with a high frequency pure sine wave
carrier, and transmitted. This is effectively a frequency convolution (Weiner-Kinchin Theorem)
 14

of the two signals, resulting in a carrier with narrow sidebands. In the digital case, the sinusoidal
carrier is replaced by Walsh functions. These are binary square waves that form a complete
orthonormal set. The data signal is also binary and the time multiplication is achieved with a
simple XOR function. This is usually a Gilbert cell mixer in the circuitry.

Synchronous CDMA exploits mathematical properties of orthogonality between vectors

representing the data strings. For example, binary string 1011 is represented by the vector (1, 0,
1, 1). Vectors can be multiplied by taking their dot product, by summing the products of their
respective components (for example, if u = (a, b) and v = (c, d), then their dot product u·v = ac +
bd). If the dot product is zero, the two vectors are said to be orthogonal to each other. Some
properties of the dot product aid understanding of how W-CDMA works. If vectors a and b are
orthogonal, then and:

Each user in synchronous CDMA uses a code orthogonal to the others' codes to modulate their
signal. An example of four mutually orthogonal digital signals is shown in the figure. Orthogonal
codes have a cross-correlation equal to zero; in other words, they do not interfere with each
other. In the case of IS-95 64 bit Walsh codes are used to encode the signal to separate
different users. Since each of the 64 Walsh codes are orthogonal to one another, the signals are
channelized into 64 orthogonal signals. The following example demonstrates how each user's
signal can be encoded and decoded.

1.4.3 Asynchronous CDMA

When mobile-to-base links cannot be precisely coordinated, particularly due to the mobility of
the handsets, a different approach is required. Since it is not mathematically possible to create
signature sequences that are both orthogonal for arbitrarily random starting points and which
make full use of the code space, unique "pseudo-random" or "pseudo-noise" (PN) sequences
are used in asynchronous CDMA systems. A PN code is a binary sequence that appears random
but can be reproduced in a deterministic manner by intended receivers. These PN codes are
 15

used to encode and decode a user's signal in Asynchronous CDMA in the same manner as the
orthogonal codes in synchronous CDMA (shown in the example above). These PN sequences
are statistically uncorrelated, and the sum of a large number of PN sequences results in
multiple access interference (MAI) that is approximated by a Gaussian noise process (following
the central limit theorem in statistics). Gold codesare an example of a PN suitable for this
purpose, as there is low correlation between the codes. If all of the users are received with the
same power level, then the variance (e.g., the noise power) of the MAI increases in direct
proportion to the number of users. In other words, unlike synchronous CDMA, the signals of
other users will appear as noise to the signal of interest and interfere slightly with the desired
signal in proportion to number of users.

All forms of CDMA use spread spectrum process gain to allow receivers to partially discriminate
against unwanted signals. Signals encoded with the specified PN sequence (code) are received,
while signals with different codes (or the same code but a different timing offset) appear as
wideband noise reduced by the process gain. Since each user generates MAI, controlling the
signal strength is an important issue with CDMA transmitters. A CDM (synchronous CDMA),
TDMA, or FDMA receiver can in theory completely reject arbitrarily strong signals using
different codes, time slots or frequency channels due to the orthogonality of these systems.
This is not true for Asynchronous CDMA; rejection of unwanted signals is only partial. If any or
all of the unwanted signals are much stronger than the desired signal, they will overwhelm it.
This leads to a general requirement in any asynchronous CDMA system to approximately match
the various signal power levels as seen at the receiver. In CDMA cellular, the base station uses a
fast closed-loop power control scheme to tightly control each mobile's transmit power.
 16

Unit 01/Lecture 05
1.5 Difference Between GSM and CDMA

Two basic technologies in mobile phones, CDMA and GSM represent a gap you can't cross.
They're the reason you can't use many AT&T phones on Verizon's network and vice versa. But
what does CDMA vs. GSM really mean for you?  CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM
(Global System for Mobiles) are shorthand for the two major radio systems used in cell phones.
Both acronyms tend to group together a bunch of technologies run by the same entities. In this
story, I'll try to explain who uses which technology and what the real differences are.

Data Transfer Methods in GSM vs. CDMA

Another difference between GSM and CDMA is in the data transfer methods. GSM’s high-speed
wireless data technology, GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), usually offers a slower data
bandwidth for wireless data connection than CDMA’s high-speed technology (1xRTT, short for
single carrier radio transmission technology), which has the capability of providing ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Network)-like speeds of as much as 144Kbps (kilobits per second).
However, 1xRTT requires a dedicated connection to the network for use, whereas GPRS sends
in packets, which means that data calls made on a GSM handset don’t block out voice calls like
they do on CDMA phones.

Interaction between GSM and CDMA

In cities and densely populated areas, there are often high concentrations of GSM and CDMA
connection bases. In theory, GSM and CDMA are invisible to one another and should "play nice"
with one another. In practice, however, this is not the case. High-powered CDMA signals have
raised the "noise floor" for GSM receivers, meaning there is less space within the available band
to send a clean signal. This sometimes results in dropped calls in areas where there is a high
concentration of CDMA technology. Conversely, high-powered GSM signals have been shown to
cause overloading and jamming of CDMA receivers due to CDMA’s reliance upon broadcasting
across its entire available band. The result of this little cross-broadcasting joust has led some
cities to pass ordinances limiting the space between cell towers or the height they can reach,
giving one technology a distinct advantage over the other. This is something to note when
 17

choosing a wireless provider. The distance between towers will severely affect connectivity for
GSM-based phones because the phones need constant access to the narrow band broadcasting.

Unit 01/ Lecture 6

1.6 Multiuser detection technique
Multiuser detection deals with demodulation of the mutually interfering digital streams of
information that occur in areas such as wireless communications, high-speed data transmission,
DSL, satellite communication, digital television, and magnetic recording. It is also being currently
investigated for demodulation in low-power inter-chip and intra-chip communication. Multiuser
detection encompassed both receiver technologies devoted to joint detection of all the
interfering signals or to single-usereceivers which are interested in recovering only one user but
are robustified against multiuser interference and not just background noise. Mutual
interference is unavoidable in modern spectrally efficient wireless systems: even when using
orthogonal multiplexing systems such as TDMA, synchronous CDMA or OFDMA, multiuser
interference originates from channel distortion and from out-of-cell interference. In addition, in
multi-antenna (MIMO) systems, the digitally modulated streams emanating from different
antennas interfere at the receiver, and the MIMO receiver uses multiuser detection techniques
to separate them. By exploiting the structure of the interfering signals, multiuser detection can
increase spectral efficiency, receiver sensitivity, and the number of users the system can sustain.
In addition, the use of multi-user detection greatly. Because of the mistaken belief in some
quarters of the spread spectrum community that little could be gained from receivers more
sophisticated than the single-user matched filter, multiuser detection did not start developing
until the early ’80s. Verdu, showed that the near-far problem suffered by CDMA was not
inherent to this multiplexing technology and could be overcome by an optimum receiver that
demodulates all users simultaneously. Verdu's receiver consisted of a bank of matched filters
followed by a Viterbi algorithm. In the context of the capacity of the narrowband Gaussian two-
user multiple-access channel, Cover showed the achievability of the capacity region by means
of a successive cancellation receiver, which decodes one user treating the other as noise, re-
encodes its signal and subtracts it from the received signal. The same near-far resistance of the
optimum receiver can be achieved with the decorrelating receiver proposed in Adaptive
multiuser detectors that do not require prior knowledge of the interfering waveforms have also
been proposed
 18

Unit01/Lecture 07

1.7 Time-hopping

Time-hopping (TH) is a communications signal technique which can be used to achieve anti-
jamming (AJ) or low probability of intercept (LPI). It can also refer to pulse-position modulation,
which in its simplest form employs 2k discrete pulses (referring to the unique positions of the
pulse within the transmission window) to transmit k bit(s) per pulse. To achieve LPI, the
transmission time is changed randomly by varying the period and duty cycle of the pulse
(carrier) using a pseudo-random sequence. The transmitted signal will then have intermittent
start and stop times. Although often used to form hybrid spread-spectrum (SS) systems, TH is
strictly speaking a non-SS technique. Spreading of the spectrum is caused by other factors
associated with TH, such as using pulses with low duty cycle having a wide frequency response.
An example of hybrid SS is TH-FHSS or hybrid TDMA (time division multiple access).

Fig1.7: Time hopping spread spectrum transmitter

 19

Fig 1.8 : Time hopping spread spectrum receiver

 20

Unit 01/ lecture 08

1.8 Walsh-Hadamard Code

In coding theory, the Walsh-Hadamard code is an example of a linear code over a binary
alphabet that maps messages of length to codewords of length . The Walsh-Hadamard code
is unique in that each non-zero codeword has Hamming weight of exactly . Note: this
implies that the distance of the code is also . Furthermore, the Walsh-Hadamard code is a
locally decodable code which provides a way to recover the original message with high
probability, while only looking at a small fraction of the received word. This gives rise to
applications in complexity theory. It can also be shown that using list decoding, the original
message can be recovered as long as less than 1/2 of the bits in the received word have been
corrupted.

The Walsh-Hadamard code is also used to uniquely define individual communication channels.
Walsh-Hadamard codes are mathematically orthogonal codes. As such, if two Walsh-Hadamard
codes are correlated, the result is intelligible only if these two codes are the same. As a result, a
Walsh-encoded signal appears as random noise to a CDMA capable mobile terminal, unless that
terminal uses the same code as the one used to encode the incoming signal.

If perfectly synchronized with respect to each other, W-H codes are perfectly orthogonal. That
is, W-H are optimal codes to avoid interference among users in the link from base station to
terminals.

The simplest matrix of 2 orthogonal Walsh-Hadamard sequences is

1 1
C1 = [ ]
 21

1 -1
The code of user 1 is the first column, i.e., (1, 1), the code of user 2 is the second column, i.e.,
(1, -1). Clearly (1, 1) is orthogonal to (1, -1). This matrix can be extended using a recursive
technique. For 2n users, the matrix is found from the code matrix for 2(n - 1) users, according to
C(n-1) C(n-1)
Cn = [ ]
C(n-1) -C(n-1)
S.NO RGPV QUESTIONS Year Marks
Q.1 With the help of block diagram explain the Jun 2014 7
working of frequency hopped spread spectrum
technique.

Q.2 Explain the working of direct sequence spread Jun 2014 7

spectrum technique.

Q.3 Discuss about multiuser detection techniques Jun 2014 7

Q.4 Short note on multiuser detection for CDMA June 2011 7