Frequency-Offset QAM for GFDM Out-of-Band Emission Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current GFDM systems face challenges in mitigating intercarrier and intersymbol interference, especially in time-frequency dispersive channels, and struggle to achieve low out-of-band radiation while maintaining good time-frequency localization.

Innovation Solution

A multicarrier radio transmitter using Frequency-Offset QAM modulation, where a frequency shift of half a subcarrier bandwidth is applied to adjacent subcarriers, along with pulse shaping and cyclic prefixes/suffixes, to reduce interference and out-of-band emissions.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional OFDM is used in ideal AWGN channels, then intersymbol interference and intercarrier interference are eliminated, but the system cannot cope with time-frequency dispersive channels and asynchronicities

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinterference-free transmissionVSAvoidchannel adaptability
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies Offset-QAM modulation which changes the timing parameter by offsetting the imaginary part of symbols by half a symbol duration relative to the real part. This parameter change enables the system to achieve good time-frequency localization and cope with time-frequency dispersive channels while maintaining interference mitigation capabilities

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces dynamic pulse shaping filters that can adapt to channel conditions. The use of time-shifted OQAM with adjustable offset parameters allows the system to dynamically adjust its time-frequency localization properties to match varying channel characteristics and asynchronicity levels

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

2Reliability

If good time-frequency localization is achieved in GFDM systems, then interference mitigation improves, but out-of-band radiation increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinterference mitigationVSAvoidout-of-band radiation
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSObject-generated harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies different pulse shaping filters to different parts of the signal spectrum. By using tailored pulse shaping functions for different subcarriers or signal regions, the system achieves good time-frequency localization where needed while controlling out-of-band radiation in other regions through localized filter design

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs asymmetric pulse shaping filters rather than symmetric ones. This asymmetry allows for optimized time-frequency localization characteristics that can achieve good interference mitigation performance while better controlling spectral leakage and out-of-band radiation through non-uniform energy distribution in the time-frequency plane

Inventive Principle:
Principle #4Asymmetry

Data Source

PatentEP3032790B1Generalized frequency division multiplexing radio transmission using frequency domain offset-qam
Publication Date: 2018.02.21 VODAFONE GMBH
  • EP3032790B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3032790B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3032790B1 patent drawing

AI summary

Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM) can use a conventional QAM modulation but the required good time-frequency localization can result in distorted reconstruction of complex-valued symbols sent at Nyquist rate. To mitigate this problem the use of Offset-QAM has been proposed as solution, in particular with a non-symmetric conjugate-root pulse-shaping filter. However, the use of time shifting in conventional Offset-QAM reduces the effect of using guard sub-symbols to achieve low out-of-band radiation. Therefore the invention proposes to use a frequency-domain Offset-QAM, i.e. the real and imaginary part are shifted against each other in frequency by half a subcarrier bandwidth, which in turn allows the use of guard symbols, i.e. a cyclic prefix and/or a cyclic suffix of complex valued samples, to achieve low out-of-band emission.