The performance of a reduced length RAKE receiver for DS/SS communication over multipath fading channels with random path delays

Spread spectrum communication over a multipath fading channel usually outperforms narrowband communication because the number of resolvable paths is higher when the signal bandwidth is larger. Unfortunately, the complexity of the optimum RAKE receiver is proportional with the ratio of the channel delay spread to chip duration, which might be very large when the delay spread exceeds the symbol duration. The authors introduce a reduced complexity receiver and compare its the performance with the performances of the optimum RAKE receiver for spread spectrum communication and the receiver for narrowband communication.