Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing with diversity for future wireless systems

This book was motivated by the fast emerging advantage of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and the attention it has received in recent years. The need for high-speed networks initiates new research directions on multi-carrier modulation techniques which will be employed in future wireless communications systems. OFDM was invented in the 60's via the work of Cimini and others. While at the time the idea was new and innovative, it was not fully utilised till now. The scenario is similar to the advancement of digital signal processing. Thinking back to the 90's when The Internet was thought to be a distant technology and "brick-size" analog mobile phones were the fashion of the day! Back in those days, maybe we all thought that OFDM was not possible because of its complexity and there was no market for it. However, after nearly four decades of thinking and rethinking, people started realising that OFDM could be and really can be the prime candidate for the next generation of wireless communications networks. Recently, extensive research has been performed to explore and reveal new insight into OFDM. Not only that, new ideas and new research directions have been introduced and initiated. A quick search in the INSPECT database can reveal some interesting facts. From 1990 to 2010, the number of OFDM journal papers is 4, 522, comparing with 2, 888 from 2005 to 2010, and 501 for the year to date. This means that the number in the last five years is about 2.5 times that from 1990 to 2010 which shows the research intensity around the world on OFDM and hence its importance and relevance to our lives.