Role of signal envelope distribution in predicting the performance of a multicarrier communication system

The peak-to-average power ratio of a signal is often used to determine the output power backoff needed to prevent spectral regrowth due the effects of nonlinear power amplifiers. It has been suggested that a better measure of the impact of a nonlinear amplifier on the transmitted signal is the envelope power distribution function. This paper presents simulation results for a multicarrier communication system showing how the peak-to-average power ratio and the envelope power distribution function change as the number of carriers increases, these results show that the envelope power distribution function is a better figure of merit than the peak-to-average power ratio for determining the impact of a nonlinear power amplifier on a communication system's BER.