The effect of timing jitter on MC-DS-CDMA

In this paper, we consider the effect of timing jitter on the performance of a multicarrier direct-sequence code-division multiple-access system for both uplink and downlink transmission, assuming orthogonal spreading sequences. Theoretical expressions are derived for the performance degradation caused by the timing jitter, in the presence of a multipath channel. Assuming an additive white Gaussian noise channel, perfect power control, and full load, it is shown that the performance degradation for the downlink transmission is independent of the number of subcarriers, of the spreading factor, and of the spectral contents of the jitter at the receiving mobile station, but only depends on the jitter variance. Under the same assumptions, we point out that, if the jitter spectra of all transmitting mobile stations are the same, the degradation on the uplink is the same as the degradation on the downlink.