Unit-I:

Spread Spectrum
Communications

M V K Gayatri Shivani
-Assistant Professor
 INDEX
Spreading sequences-
➢Properties of Spreading Sequences,
➢Pseudo- noise sequence,
➢Gold sequences,
➢Kasami sequences,
➢Walsh Sequences,
➢Barker Sequence
➢Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factor Sequences
➢Complementary Codes
Text Book : Principles of Mobile Communication, 3rd Edition, Springer
[Chapter 9]
 INDEX
Digital Modulation DQPSK ,8PSK, 16PSK, 8QAM, 16QAM,

Direct sequence spread spectrum:

➢ DS-CDMA Model,
➢ Conventional receiver,
➢ Rake Receiver ,
➢ Synchronization in CDMA,
➢ Power Control,
➢ Soft handoff,
➢ Multiuser detection – Optimum multiuser detector, Liner multiuser
detection
 Introduction
▪ Spread Spectrum was originally invented for military
▪ Commercial applications include WCDMA, CDMA2000,
Bluetooth, WIFI
▪ Spread spectrum signals have the distinguishing characteristic
that the bandwidth used to transmit a message is much greater
than the message bandwidth.
▪ This band spread is achieved using a spreading code or
pseudo-noise (PN) sequence that is independent of the
message and is known to the receiver
Properties of Spreading Sequences
▪ CDMA systems achieve their multiple-access capability using sets
spreading sequences that are chosen to have three desirable
attributes
- Balance Property
the sequences are balanced so that each element of the
sequence alphabet occurs with equal frequency, relative frequencies
of 0 and 1 are each half.
In the balance property, the number of output binary ones and
the number of binary output zeros in a single period differs by at
most one. The number of 1is 1 more than the no of zeros for a PN
sequence
- Run Length Property: {Fundamental Property}
A run is defined as a continuous sequence of the same type of binary
digit.
A new run commences with the appearance of a different binary
digit.
The length of a run is the number of digits contained in a given run.
In Spreading sequences about half of the runs are of length 1, about a
quarter of the runs are of length 2, about an eighth of the runs are of
length three and so on.
A Fraction off all runs are of length n for all finite n
- Correlation Property:
Based on the correlation property if any PN output sequence is
compared with any cyclic shift of itself, the number of agreements
differs from the number of disagreements by at most one count
The correlation property makes synchronization easier since during
synchronization, by correlating the transmitter sequence with the
receiver sequence the receiver PN sequence can be continuously
delayed until a set threshold of the correlation under which
acquisition can be declared is attained

PN sequences usually have impulse like autocorrelation and very little

cross correlation but both cannot be achieved together simultaneously
- Delay and Add Property

If a shifted PN sequence is added to itself it will again generate a

PN Sequence
 Pseudo- noise sequence
▪ Codes that appear random but are not
▪ PN Sequences are generated using LFSR, the length of the sequence
depends on the shift registers.
▪ For ‘n’ shift registers the length is a
▪ The sequences are also known as Maximal Length Sequences
▪ The initial contents of the shift register are called initial conditions
▪ Connection to the LFSR is given by primitive polynomials
Generate a PN sequence for a generator polynomial given as
▪ Balance Property
No of Ones :- 4
No of Zeroes :- 3 1st run of length 1 3rd run of length 3
▪ Run Property
Sequence generated = 1 001110 4th run of length 1
Total runs = 4
Runs with length 1 = 2
2nd run of length
Runs with Length 2 = 1 2
Generate a PN Sequence for polynomial x^3 + x^2+ 1

x1 x2 x3
0 0 1
1 1 0 0
2 0 1 0
Sequence 3 1 0 1
generated 4 1 1 0
5 1 1 1
6 0 1 1
Sequence = 1 0 1 1 1 0 0
7 0 0 1
▪Balance Property
No of Ones :- 4
No of Zeroes :- 3

▪Run Property
Sequence generated = 1 0 1 1 1 0 0
Total runs = 4
Runs with length 1 = 2
Runs with Length 2 = 1
 Cross Correlation Property
The cross-correlation of two discrete sequences x and y, normalized with
respect to the sequence length N,
is given by
 Disadvantages of PN Sequences
• No of Sequences that can be generated using LFSR of given degree
are limited to the no of primitive polynomials that are available

• Only for certain values of m, do there exist a few pairs of m-

sequences with low full period cross-correlations.
 Gold Codes
o Gold code, also known as Gold sequence, is a type of
binary sequence, used in CDMA and GPS
o Gold codes are named after Robert Gold
o Gold codes have bounded small cross correlations within
a set, which is useful when multiple devices are
broadcasting in the same frequency range.
o A set of Gold code sequences consists of 2n + 1 sequences
each one with a period of 2n − 1.
• A set of Gold codes can be generated with the following steps.
- Pick two maximum length sequences of the same length 2n − 1 such
that their absolute cross-correlation is less than or equal to 2(n+2)/2,
where n is the size of the linear-feedback shift register used to generate
the maximum length sequence
- two maximum length sequences form a set of 2n + 1 Gold code
sequences.
- The highest absolute cross-correlation in this set of codes is 2(n+2)/2 +
1 for even n and 2(n+1)/2 + 1 for odd n.
Gold sequence generator with p1(x) and p2(x) This sequence generator can
produce 32 Gold sequences of length 31
❑How are the m-sequences selected?

▪Let p1(x) and p2(x) be a pair of primitive polynomials over GF(2) each
having degree m such that p1(α) = 0 and p2(α^d) = 0 for some integer d
▪ If if e = GCD(m,h) is such that m/e
is odd, then p1(x) and p2(x) constitute a preferred pair of polynomials.
▪Note that p2(x) may not be unique. For example, with m = 5, both h = 1
and h = 2 will work
▪To find the corresponding polynomials we can refer to Peterson’s table of
irreducible polynomials
 Kasami Sequences
▪Let m be even.
▪Let p1(x) be a primitive polynomial over the binary field GF(2) with degree m and
α as a root, and let p2(x) be the irreducible minimal polynomial of α^d where d =
2m/2+1.
▪Once again, these polynomials can be identified using Peterson’s table of
irreducible polynomials
▪The set of Kasami sequences is generated using the two m-sequences in a fashion
similar to the generation of Gold sequences
▪The number of Kasami sequences in the set is each 2^(m/2) having period N =
2^(m)-1
This sequence generator can produce eight Kasami sequences of length 63
 Walsh Sequences
Walsh–Hadamard sequences are obtained by selecting as sequences the rows of a
Hadamard matrix HM
For M = 2, the Hadamard matrix is

The walsh sequences are +1,+1 and +1,-1The rows in the Hadamard matrix define
the Walsh–Hadamard sequences, and have the property that they are mutually
orthogonal.
Larger Hadamard matrices are obtained using the recursion
Barker Sequence
The mirror images (or time reversed) sequences are also Barker sequences. Barker
sequences of other lengths do not exist. Barker sequences are specially designed
sequences that have almost ideal aperiodic autocorrelation functions, as defined in
(9.21). For the Barker sequences
Orthogonal Variable Spreading Factor Sequences
▪ The orthogonality properties are similar to Walsh–Hadamard sequences. In fact the set
of sequences is identical, and only their order is different.

▪ A code can be assigned for use if and only if no other code either on the path from the
specific code to the root of the tree, or on the subtree produced by the specific code, is
already being used.

▪ Hence, the total number of available codes is not fixed, but depends on the rate or
spreading factor of each physical channel.
Complementary Codes
 Digital Modulation
❑8PSK
❑ 16PSK
❑ 8QAM
❑16QAM
❑DQPSK

Textbook:- Advanced Communication Systems, Wayne Tomasi

[Chapter 2]
 8PSK

With 8-PSK, three bits are encoded, forming tribits and producing eight different output
phases. With 8-PSK, n = 3,M = 8, and there are eight possible output phases. To encode
eightdifferent phases, the incoming bits are encoded in groups of three,
called tribits (23 = 8).
8-PSK Transmitter
Consider the input sequence:- 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
Step 1:- The bits are split for I,Q, C channels

100111000 0

0
In Q channel the bits are 0 1 1
In I channel the bits are 0 1 0
In C channel the bits are 0 1 0
In C channel the bits are 1 0 1
Step 2:-The bits enter 2-to-4-level converter. Essentially, the 2-to-4-level
converters are parallel-input digital-to-analog converters (DACs).

▪2 input bits means 4 voltage levels.

▪ I bit and Q bit determine the polarities, while C
and C bits determine the voltage levels

I bit C bit I O/P Q bit C bit Q–

O/P
0 0 -0.541 0 1 -1.307
1 1 +1.307 1 0 +0.541
0 0 -0.541 1 1 +1.307
Step 3:- The output of the level converter and the reference oscillator are given as inputs to
product modulators

I Channel Product modulator output (

for 00 combination ) is -0.541*

Q channel Product modulator output (

for 01 combination) is -1.307*
Step 4: The outputs of I channel and Q channel are summed up
It can be seen that the angular
separation between any two adjacent
phasors is 45°, half what it is with
QPSK.

Therefore, an 8-PSK signal can

undergo almost a 22.5° phase shift
during transmission and still retain its
integrity.
For our example input sequence the waveform will be
 Bandwidth Considerations
With 8-PSK, because the data are divided into three channels, the bit rate in the I, Q, or C
channel is equal to one-third of the binary input data rate (fb/3)
 16-PSK
16-PSK is an M-ary encoding technique where M = 16; there are 16 different
output phases possible.

With 16-PSK, four bits (called quadbits) are combined, producing 16 different
output phases. With 16-PSK, n= 4 and M= 16; therefore, the minimum
bandwidth and baud equal one-fourth the bit rate ( fb/4).

With 16- PSK, the angular separation between adjacent output phases is only 22.5°.
Therefore, 16- PSK can undergo only a 11.25° phase shift during transmission and still
retain its integrity.
 8 QAM
Quadrature-amplitude modulation (QAM) is a form of digital modulation similar to PSK
except the digital information is contained in both the amplitude and the phase of the
transmitted carrier.

With QAM, amplitude and phase-shift keying are combined in such a way that the positions
of the signaling elements on the constellation diagrams are optimized to achieve the greatest
distance between elements, thus reducing the likelihood of one element being misinterpreted
as another element

The minimum bandwidth required for 8-QAM is fb/3, the same as in 8-PSK and their
receiver structures are also same
8 QAM Transmitter
Consider the bit stream 000111

1. The bit splitter splits the bits

2. In the I channel the bits that enter that 2-4 level converter are 00, in the Q channel the bits
that enter are 00
3. Since I is 0 so the polarity of the voltage level is –ve, since C is 0 the voltage level is 0.541
4. Similarly in the Q channel, 00 gets converted to -0.541
5. The two voltage levels are sent to their respective product modulators and the output of the
product modulator are
-0.541sin(wc t) (I Channel) and -0.541cos(wc t) (Q Channel)
6. These signals are given as imputs to linear summer whose output is
= - 0.541sin(wc t) -0.541cos(wc t)
= -0.541 [ cos(wc t) + sin(wc t)]
Multiply and divide with
= -0.541 * * [ cos(wc t) + sin(wc t)]

= -0.765[ cos(45) cos(wc t) + sin(45) sin(wc t)]

 = -0.765[ cos(45) cos(wc t) + sin(45) sin(wc t)]
= -0.765 [ cos( wc t-45)]
= -0.765*sin(90 +45-wc t)
= 0.765 sin(wc t -135)

Repeating Steps 1 to 6 for 111 bit stream we have

= 1.31 [sin(wc t) +cos(wc t) ]
= 1.31 * [ cos(wc t) + sin(wc t)]

= 1.85*[sin(45) cos(wc t) + cos(45) sin(wc t)]

= 1.85*[sin (wc t+45)]
Comparison between 8 PSK and 8QAM

8-PSK 8 QAM
16 QAM
 DQPSK
It conveys data by changing the phase of the carrier wave. For BPSK and
QPSK there is an ambiguity of phase if the constellation is rotated by some
effect in the communications channel through which the signal passes.

This problem can be overcome by using the data to change rather than set the
phase.

For example, in differentially-encoded BPSK a binary '1' may be transmitted

by adding 180° to the current phase and a binary '0' by adding 0° to the
current phase. In differentially-encoded QPSK, the phase-shifts are 0°, 90°,
180°, -90° corresponding to data '00', '01', '11', '10'.
DQPSK Modulator
DQPSK De-Modulator
 Part 3
Direct sequence spread spectrum:

➢DS-CDMA Model,
➢Conventional receiver,
➢Rake Receiver ,
➢Synchronization in CDMA,
➢ Power Control,
➢Soft handoff,
➢Multiuser detection – Optimum multiuser detector, Linear multiuser detection
 DS-CDMA Model
Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)

• Each bit represented by multiple bits using spreading code

• Spreading code spreads signal across wider frequency band
— In proportion to number of bits used
— 10 bit spreading code spreads signal across 10 times bandwidth of 1 bit code
• One method:
— Combine input with spreading code using XOR
— Input bit 1 inverts spreading code bit
— Input zero bit doesn’t alter spreading code bit
— Data rate equal to original spreading code
DSSS Using BPSK

A BPSK signal can be represented as

Here A = Amplitude of the signal

d(t) is the data bit which can be 1 or -1

To produce the DSSS signal, we multiply the preceding by c(t), which is the PN
sequence taking on values of

At the receiver, the incoming signal is multiplied again by c(t).But c(t)xc(t) is 1 so at the
Receiver we can recover the signal as
Approximate
Spectrum of
DSSS Signal
Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
• Multiplexing Technique used with spread spectrum
• Start with data signal rate D
– Called bit data rate
• Break each bit into k chips according to fixed pattern specific to
each user
– User’s code
• New channel has chip data rate kD chips per second
• E.g. k=6, three users (A,B,C) communicating with base receiver R
• Code for A = <1,-1,-1,1,-1,1>
• Code for B = <1,1,-1,-1,1,1>
• Code for C = <1,1,-1,1,1,-1>
 CDMA Explanation
• Consider A communicating with base
• Base knows A’s code
• Assume communication already synchronized
• A wants to send a 1
– Send chip pattern <1,-1,-1,1,-1,1>
• A’s code
• A wants to send 0
– Send chip[ pattern <-1,1,1,-1,1,-1>
• Complement of A’s code
• Decoder ignores other sources when using A’s code to decode
– Orthogonal codes
 At the Reciever
• if the receiver R receives a chip pattern d = <d1, d2, d3, d4, d5, d6>, and
the receiver is seeking to communicate with a user u so that it has at hand
u’s code
• The receiver performs electronically the following decoding function:

For user A, chip code is <1,-1,-1,1,-1,1>, It sends bit 1, so the d = < -1,1,1,-1,1,-1 >
At the receiver
S(d) = (1*-1) + (-1*1)+ (-1*1)+ (1*-1)+ (-1*1)+ (1*-1) = -6
-6 will be decoded as 1
 B(data bit -1 -1 1 1 -1 -1
Decoding B 0)
bit when
C(data bit 1 1 -1 1 1 -1
both are 1)
transmitted Combined 0 0 0 2 0 -2
Signal
Received 1 1 -1 -1 1 1
Codeword
Multiplicat 0 0 0 -2 0 -2 -4
ion
 CDMA for DSSS
• n users each using different orthogonal PN
sequence
• Modulate each users data stream
– Using BPSK
• Multiply by spreading code of user
 The conventional receiver
▪ The conventional receiver is the classical detection method used in a
spread spectrum transmission technique.

▪ It is simple and cheap to implement but its bit error rate performance is
degraded by the multiple access interference since no further processing is
used in the detection method to reduce or eliminate the interference

▪ The conventional receiver consists of a filter matched to the pulse shape

of the target user’s code sequence.
 The received signal is given by:

At the end of the m th symbol interval, the output signal is:

Substituting r(t) in the previous equation

Noise component Signal component

Let noise be represented as n(m)
The first term in the above expression is the transmitted symbol; the second term is the
interference resulting from (K−1) users sharing the CDMA channel. The last term represents
the noise sample at sampling instant m.
 Quick Revision

The symbol duration must be much larger than the delay spread so that
there is no ISI
Rake Receiver
▪In a spread spectrum communication operating at high spreading codes,
the delay between the multipath components is likely be equal to or
greater than one code pulse (chip) duration.

▪For efficient spreading code, the cross-correlation between successive

chips has to be low, meaning that the multipath components are
generally uncorrelated.

▪Consequently, it is feasible to resolve the strongest uncorrelated

components and enable the receiver to achieve L th order diversity.

▪A receiver that collects energy from the received components to provide

this diversity is acting somewhat similar to an ordinary garden rake.
▪Each correlator detects a time-shifted version of the original CDMA transmission, and
each finger of the RAKE correlates to a portion of the signal, which is delayed by at least
one chip in time from the other fingers.
▪A weighting network is used to provide a linear combination of the correlator output for
bit decision. Correlator 1 is synchronized to the strongest multipath m1. Multipath
component m2 arrived t1 later than m1 but has low correlation with m1.
▪Bit decisions based only a single correlation may produce a large bit error rate as the
multipath component processed in that correlator can be corrupted by fading

▪In a RAKE receiver, if the output from one correlator is corrupted by fading, the others
may not be, and the corrupted signal may be discounted through the weighting process.
The M decision statistics are weighted to form an overall decision statistics.
Synchronization in CDMA
Reliable data detection can only be carried out after the received spread-
spectrum is converted to its original narrowband equivalent.

The prime task of the receiver is therefore to generate a local

replica of the received spreading code to re-modulate or de-spread
the incoming signal

When the local code phase is time synchronized to the received

code to within a fraction of chip code phase offset, the received
spread-spectrum signal collapses in bandwidth and reverts to its
original narrowband form and the conventional detection
techniques can be applied to recover the data.
The process of synchronizing the local code and the received code is
commonly achieved in two stages: initially, the unknown phase of the
received code is aligned with the known phase of the local code
generated at the receiver, this is known as code acquisation
The acquisition process is random and the randomness is due to many
sources such as initial uncertainty about the code phase offset; channel
fading and interference; unknown carrier phase and frequency offset such
as Doppler

Once the incoming code is acquired, a verification process attests the

correct code phase which is continuously maintained by a closed loop
tracking system
 Power Control in CDMA
Near Far Effect
A phenomenon that degrades the service quality of a wireless network is
the Near–Far effect which occurs when the interference from a user
transmitting near the base station overpowers the weaker signal received
from a distant user. This is known as the Near–Far (N-F) effect
To examine the N-F effect in more detail, consider an interfering signal
with a received power (n) times higher than the power received from the
target user. The interfering signal will have approximately the same affect
on link capacity and system performance as (n) separate interferers, each
with signal power equal to the power of the target signal

Consequently, power control algorithm is essential in combating the N-F

effects to optimize system capacity
Power Control Schemes
 Soft Handoff In CDMA
Soft handover or soft handoff refers to a feature used by the CDMA and W-
CDMA standards, where a cell phone is simultaneously connected to two or
more cells (or cell sectors) during a call. If the sectors are from the same
physical cell site (a sectorised site), it is referred to as softer handoff.
 Multiuser Detection
The typical CDMA system, considers the information from the other
users as a simple AWGN noise while decoding the kth user.

This is a pessimistic approach and inhibits system capacity. The

multiuser detection method attempts to increase the system capacity
compared to the conventional, matched filter approach

Till the work of Verdu, it was thought that the optimum detector was
the matched filter per user.

But Verdu showed that the spreading code of the others can also be
used to decode the message of a user
Drawbacks of optimum Detector
- Grows increasingly complex as number of users increases
- Needs accurate information
- Requires k matched filters
 Linear Multi user Detection
The aim of a linear MUD is to implement a suboptimal detector that
can deliver the capacity increase of the optimal detectors but with low
complexity implementation using known filters.

A Linear MUD can be implemented as a FIR filter

A Linear Multi user Detector is also known as a MMSE detector