Ofdm signal processing

1. What is OFDM and how it works?
2. How the signal is generated in OFDM?
3. What are the principles of OFDM?
4. What is the main advantage of OFDM?

What is OFDM and how it works?

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing is a method of data transmission where a single information stream is split among several closely spaced narrowband subchannel frequencies instead of a single Wideband channel frequency.

How the signal is generated in OFDM?

In OFDM the signal itself is first split into independent channels, modulated by data and then re-multiplexed to create the OFDM carrier. OFDM is a special case of Frequency Division Multiplex (FDM). As an analogy, a FDM channel is like water flow out of a faucet, in contrast the OFDM signal is like a shower.

What are the principles of OFDM?

The OFDM concept is based on spreading the high speed data to be transmitted over a large number of low rate carriers. The carriers are orthogonal to each other and frequency spacing between them are created by using the fast Fourier transform (FFT).

What is the main advantage of OFDM?

The main advantage of OFDM over single-carrier schemes is its ability to cope with severe channel conditions (for example, attenuation of high frequencies in a long copper wire, narrowband interference and frequency-selective fading due to multipath) without the need for complex equalization filters.